The Scandinavian History Podcast

The two decades between the world wars transformed Scandinavian society. Democracy was firmly established and ambitious welfare programs were put in place. But there were also challenges, not least the global economic crisis in the early 1930s. The period was especially difficult in Finland, a country that was still reeling from a brutal civil war.

Civil wars tend to be particularly brutal conflicts, tearing communities apart. Sadly, the Finnish Civil War was no exception. When the fighting officially ended on 15 May 1918, the majority of the people who would die as a consequence of the war were actually still alive. The conflict claimed far more victims in the summer of 1918 than on the battlefield.