The Future (Map Game)/Finland

Republic of Finland, also known just as Finland, is a nation in Northern Europe. It is a republic which gained it's independence in 1917 from Russia. Finland is led by a president and a democratic government. Finland is mostly known for its neutrality and cold weather.

Relations
Allies: Russia, Sweden

Non-Aggression Pacts: None

International Organisations: Co-Founder of The Golden Commonwealth

Second Civil War
In 2015, Finland suffered its second civil war due to extreme dissent against the government. Strikes began in January which were ignored by the government and the first week of February was when the population grew tired of the government ignoring the population's demands. Police forces were put near the house of Parliament to stop the angry mobs from harming the building and politicians. Once the police were attacked in Helsinki, the government decided to increase the size of the military if the fighting grew beyond the capabilities of police forces. This was the last straw for the Finnish population and the people rose up. Most uprisings began in the southern half of the country, most notable uprising was in the city of Tampere where over 180,000 people rose up against the government. Tampere became the headquarters of the rebellion and the temporary capital of the rebel forces. The government kept the military out of the situation for almost a month until the police forces joined the rebels due to their overwhelming numbers and government ignoring the pleads of help from the police forces across the country. The government hesitated to call in the military but was forced to do so to save themselves from the angry population. As the military was increased to have 275,000 active personnel, the rebels would be easily defeated since the military were better equipped and partially better trained. The military and the rebels fought against each other on multiple occasions, most important battles were the battles of Tampere, Espoo, Vantaa and Turku. The military decided to begin an operation to secure a land route to Russia so that Russia might aid the government to defeat the rebels. The plan was to attack Kotka and Kouvola in the south while hitting Mikkeli in the north. The plan counted on the rebel forces to throw their largest groups to secure Kotka and Kouvola so the attack towards Mikkeli would be easy. If the army were able to retake Mikkeli, they'd be able to rush their forces to Lappeenranta, they could secure its harbor and old fortress and open up the old roads between Russia and Finland. The plan was put into action in August and it seemed like the plan would be successful since the resistance in South was very fierce. But once the troops that were to attack Mikkeli began to advance, they were ambushed by rebel forces from Jyväskylä and Lappeenranta, making the military forces being caught in between the two rebel forces. The plan was a failure once the rebels also launched an attack towards Hämeenlinna, between Tampere and Helsinki, since the military was called back to push the rebels back. After a devastating loss in Karelia and a narrow victory in Hämeenlinna, the military started to lose its ground and some ran and joined the rebels. In October, over 80,000 troops had joined the rebel side and the navy, though small, had joined the rebel side as well, hitting the coast of Helsinki from time to time. The military finally gave in and surrendered and the rebel forces marched to Helsinki and overthrew the government. Most politicians ran away before the rebels entered the city, the ones who remained were thrown into jail. A new government had been formed and the civil war was finally over.

A New Government
The new government made decisions on improving the working conditions, welfare laws were changed to work better and immigration problems were addressed. The population was satisfied with the new changes and the government gained a lot of support. The nation was once again unified and the economy grew more than anticipated. This allowed the government to secure the newly increased military size by the last government. The government also decides to bring back the Finnish mark back as a currency due to the weak state of euro and better control of the inflation if the mark would ever be getting into an inflation spree. The government also decided to take down the embargo on Russia, resuming the old trade which had been keeping Finland from going bankrupt for a long time. A defensive line was also planned by the military to protect the Karelian lands and the capital area if a war were to break out. The government also decides to stand down once the population so demands or once elections begin in 4 years.

The Golden Commonwealth and Cooperation with Other Countries
Finland, which had been preparing for a possible invasion from Russia, decided that it was a good idea to also bring diplomacy into the discussion, not just military preparations. Finnish government decided to send delegations to Sweden and Russia, which both were able to make an alliance and trade agreements with Finland. This secured the borders and the Baltic Sea for Finland and the population, alongside of the military, were able to relax since they had allies to protect them. Trade agreements were also planned out between Finland, Germany, France and United Kingdom which were to be ratified in 2016. As the world faced a global revolution, many countries were thrown into civil chaos and old governments and ways of thinking were thrown away, Finland found itself in a hard spot. The immediate threat to the Finnish population was most certainly the alliance between France, Germany and UK since they could pose a serious threat if they ever would decide to invade Sweden or Russia. Finland would be caught inbetween the fighting and would most likely suffer greatly. But since there were no hard evidence of a possible war in Europe, Finnish soldiers were sent to Iraq to help the Iraqi soldiers against ISIS. Iran being a very important oil exporter, Finland had no choice but to protect their friend. But since Iraq and Syria had trouble fighting ISIS, Finland couldn't defeat them either alone. So Finland began to ask for a coalition against ISIS, which grew extremely fast and powerful. Finland also decided to aid France in finding the cure for ebola. But then The Fifth International was formed. Finnish population was in the verge of mass panic since the memories of the Winter War and Soviet Union were still there. Finland saw the communist-socialist organisation growing and then it went to worse as France decided to apply for a membership of the Fifth International. Finnish government saw this as an immediate threat to the peace in Europe, most importantly, a threat to the welfare of Finland. Thus Finnish government contacted the Russian government and had a discussion about forming an organisation of their own, but which would not force the members to change their government nor their policies. The union was called The Golden Commonwealth, partially inspired by the British Empire. After the creation of the union, Finland set out to call in powerful nations to join this new organisation. Many joined quite quickly, some like Sweden and Bulgaria. After Germany and France showed their interest in the Commonwealth, Finnish population and government were once again able to relax since peace in Europe was more than secured. The Fifth International saw that a Cold War and possibly even a World War was a possibility between the two organisations so Finland decided to have talks with Russia about the Fifth International. An agreement was reached and good relations were to be held between the two organisations. Until USA invaded Mexico. This brought World War as close as it did during the Cuban Crisis. Finland called out all of the members to join and help defend US pre-war territories since the Commonwealth rules stated so. The crisis was averted after the dissolution of the Fifth International when they started to lose members, who later on applied for membership in the Commonwealth. Finland began to work hard with the members of the Commonwealth to decide what to do with the new applicants since many wanted them to join, while Finland feared that it could lead to fights within the Commonwealth. Thus Finland decided to propose the idea which France had said, and the Big Five Project began. Finland set that the Big Five would comprise of Finland, Russia and three strongest and most loyal countries of the Commonwealth.