Finnish parliamentary election, 1945
Encyclopedia
Eduskunta election in 1945 was held from March 17 to 18, 1945. In Finland, the communists could for the first time since 1929 freely present their candidates. Through the Finnish People's Democratic League
, they were able to win over a large section of Social Democratic voters. The Patriotic People's Movement
had been forbidden by the time of the election. Prime Minister Paasikivi (National Coalition / independent) led a broad-based centre-left government which remained in office after the elections. He urged in February 1945 Finnish voters to elect "new faces" to Parliament, which they certainly did: almost half of the 200 deputies were new. Some wartime deputies, including Social Democrat Tanner and Agrarian Kalliokoski, decided voluntarily not to seek re-election, because under the new political climate (Finland's desire to establish friendly relations with the Soviet Union), their wartime political activities, including their association with the informal Finnish-German military alliance, looked suspicious. The right-wing and centrist parties had to campaign carefully, so as not to appear anti-Soviet, while the Communists could loudly and vigorously accuse the right-wing and centrist parties of accepting their ban from open political activity, which had lasted from 1930 to 1944. One major economic issue in these elections was the continued scarcity of goods caused by the wartime rationing. Communists promised the impoverished voters a quick improvement in their living standards, and also other major parties promised more prosperity in the starting peacetime. These promises were made despite the still limited Finnish foreign trade - World War II would only end in Europe in May and in Asia in September - and the heavy burden which the Soviet Union's war reparations payments imposed on the Finnish economy (see, for example, Seppo Zetterberg et al., eds., A Small Giant of the Finnish History / Suomen historian pikkujättiläinen, Helsinki: WSOY, 2003; Sakari Virkkunen, Finland's Presidents I / Suomen presidentit I, Helsinki: WSOY, 1994; Martti Turtola, Risto Ryti: A Life for the Fatherland / Risto Ryti. Elämä isänmaan puolesta, Helsinki: Otava, 1994).
Finnish People's Democratic League
Finnish People's Democratic League was a Finnish political organisation with the aim of uniting those left of the Finnish Social Democratic Party...
, they were able to win over a large section of Social Democratic voters. The Patriotic People's Movement
Patriotic People's Movement (Finland)
Patriotic People's Movement, abbreviated to IKL), was a Finnish nationalist and anti-communist political party. IKL was the successor of the previously banned Lapuan liike...
had been forbidden by the time of the election. Prime Minister Paasikivi (National Coalition / independent) led a broad-based centre-left government which remained in office after the elections. He urged in February 1945 Finnish voters to elect "new faces" to Parliament, which they certainly did: almost half of the 200 deputies were new. Some wartime deputies, including Social Democrat Tanner and Agrarian Kalliokoski, decided voluntarily not to seek re-election, because under the new political climate (Finland's desire to establish friendly relations with the Soviet Union), their wartime political activities, including their association with the informal Finnish-German military alliance, looked suspicious. The right-wing and centrist parties had to campaign carefully, so as not to appear anti-Soviet, while the Communists could loudly and vigorously accuse the right-wing and centrist parties of accepting their ban from open political activity, which had lasted from 1930 to 1944. One major economic issue in these elections was the continued scarcity of goods caused by the wartime rationing. Communists promised the impoverished voters a quick improvement in their living standards, and also other major parties promised more prosperity in the starting peacetime. These promises were made despite the still limited Finnish foreign trade - World War II would only end in Europe in May and in Asia in September - and the heavy burden which the Soviet Union's war reparations payments imposed on the Finnish economy (see, for example, Seppo Zetterberg et al., eds., A Small Giant of the Finnish History / Suomen historian pikkujättiläinen, Helsinki: WSOY, 2003; Sakari Virkkunen, Finland's Presidents I / Suomen presidentit I, Helsinki: WSOY, 1994; Martti Turtola, Risto Ryti: A Life for the Fatherland / Risto Ryti. Elämä isänmaan puolesta, Helsinki: Otava, 1994).
The Results
| Turnout | 74.9% | +8.3 |
|---|---|---|
| Voters | 1,710,251 |
| Party | MPs | Votes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| proportion | amount | |||||
| Social Democratic Party of Finland Social Democratic Party of Finland The Social Democratic Party of Finland is one of the three major political parties in Finland, along with the Centre Party and the National Coalition Party. Jutta Urpilainen is the current SDP leader. The party has been in the Finnish government cabinet for long periods and has set many... |
50 | −35 | 25.08% | −14.7 | 425,948 | −90,032 |
| Finnish People's Democratic League Finnish People's Democratic League Finnish People's Democratic League was a Finnish political organisation with the aim of uniting those left of the Finnish Social Democratic Party... |
49 | – | 23.47% | – | 398,618 | – |
| Agrarian League Centre Party (Finland) The Centre Party is a centrist and Nordic agrarian political party in Finland. It is one of the four largest political parties in the country, along with the Social Democratic Party , the National Coalition Party and the True Finns , and currently has 35 seats in the Finnish Parliament... |
49 | −7 | 21.35% | −1.5 | 362,662 | +66,133 |
| National Coalition Party National Coalition Party (Finland) The National Coalition Party is a liberal conservative political party in Finland founded in 1918.The National Coalition Party is one of the four largest parties in Finland, along with the Social Democratic Party, the Centre Party and the True Finns... |
28 | +3 | 15.04% | +1.5 | 255,394 | +79,179 |
| Swedish People's Party | 14 | −4 | 7.90% | −1.7 | 134,106 | +9,386 |
| National Progressive Party National Progressive Party (Finland) The National Progressive Party was a liberal political party in Finland from 1918 to 1951. The party was founded December 8 1918, after the Finnish Civil War, by the republican majority of the Young Finnish Party and the republican minority of the Finnish Party... |
9 | +3 | 5.17% | +0.4 | 87,868 | +25,481 |
| Smallholders' Party Small Farmers Party Party of Smallholders and Rural People , later renamed as the Small Farmers Party , was a political party in Finland. The party was founded in Seinäjoki on December 20, 1936, through the unification of Smallholders' Party of Finland , People's Party and Central League of Recession Committees... |
−2 | 1.18% | −1.0 | 20,061 | −7,722 | |
| Swedish Left Swedish Left The Liberal Swedish Party was a political party in Finland, working amongst the Swedish-speaking minority. The party founded in 1919 under the name of Swedish Left until the 1947... |
1 | +1 | 0.48% | +0.0 | 8,192 | +2,212 |
| Radical People's Party Radical People's Party (Finland) Radical People's Party was a Finnish populist political party led by Ernesti Hentunen. The party was active in the 1940s and 1950s and it was strongly personified by its eccentric chairman. The Radicals participated three times in the parliamentary elections and once in the municipal elections.... |
0.10% | – | 1,623 | – | ||
| Others | 0.23% | +0.1 | 3,904 | +2,400 | ||
| Total | 200 | -- | 100% | 1,698,376 | +401,057 | |
| Source: Tilastokeskus 2004; Votes of the Radical People's Party only in print | ||||||