Short+history

ANCIENT FINLAND​ The first humans arrived in Finland about 7,000 BC after the end of the last ice age. The earliest Finns were stone-age hunters and gatherers. Over the millennia successive waves of people entered Finland. After 2,500 BC people in Finland lived by farming. About 1,500 BC they learned to make tools and weapons from bronze. About 500 BC people in Finland learned to use iron. However the Finns had little or no contact with the classical civilisations of Greece and Rome

FINLAND IN THE MIDDLE AGES However the Swedes were keen to conquer Karelia. In 1293 they sent an expedition under Marshal Torgils Knutsson. At first they were successful but in 1381 the Novgorodians counterattacked. The two sides made peace in 1323. Karelia remained in Novgorodian hands. The recorded history of Finland began in the 12th century. By 1120 Christian missionaries were operating there. They were prepared to use force to convert Finland! The Swedish king Eric led a crusade in 1157. An Englishman, Bishop Henry of Uppsala, assisted him. Henry stayed after the Swedish soldiers left and he was martyred. Later he became the patron saint of Finland. However in 1172 the Pope said that the Finns would convert then renounce their faith as soon as their enemies had left. He advised the Swedes to subject the Finns by permanently manning fortresses in Finland. FINLAND 1500-1800 Helsinki was founded in 1550.Then came the Great Northern War of 1709-21. In 1713 the Russians invaded Finland and marched across it. The Swedish-Finnish army made a last stand at Storkyro but was defeated. The Russian occupation from 1713 to 1721 is known as the Great Wrath. Wealthy Finns fled to Sweden but peasants could not escape. King Charles XII ordered the Finns to start guerrilla warfare against the Russians, which naturally led to reprisals. In 1721 peace was made but Charles XII had to surrender the south-eastern part of Finland to Russia.