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by wickedwillie on September 1st, 2004

wickedwillie

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What is "Finlandization"?

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  • by Too Much Time On My Hands on September 14th, 2004

    Too Much Time On My Hands

    According to Wikipedia (the encyclopedia entry is long, so I'm paraphrasing):

    Finlandization is a negative term that came out of 1960s and 1970s West German politics (Finnlandisierung in German). It refers to a country's decision to remain neutral, that is to not challenge powerful or potentially threatening countries nearby. The term comes from a reference to Finland's policy towards the Soviet Union.

    Finland had allied itself with Nazi Germany in 1940 for Germany's protection from the USSR. When it became clear that Germany was losing World War II, Finland realized that no other neighboring countries were strong enough to offer protection and switched to a policy of "I'll leave you alone if you leave me alone" regarding the Soviet Union. Of course, other Western countries were upset at what they perceived as Finland becoming too tolerant of Communism. West Germany debated this issue in particular, as they worried that "Finlandization" would spread throughout Europe as the USA scaled back their presence in the region.

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