Urho Kaleva Kekkonen (1900-1986) -- the
UKK to America's
JFK --
was the democratically
elected virtual dictator of
Finland between 1956 and 1981. His indisputable
achievement was managing to keep Finland
neutral and
independent
through the dark days of the
Cold War, but his legacy
of
Finlandization remains a controversial one.
The Great Bald One
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The Early Years
Born in the small town of Pielavesi, Kekkonen originally wanted to
be a writer but, not finding much success, became a journalist instead.
During the Finnish Civil War (1917-18), he was a war correspondant
and occasional combatant --
yes, at the tender age of 17 -- on the (victorious) White side.
He was (and would remain) an avid sportsman and won the Finnish
high-jump championship in 1924. He married author Sylvi Kekkonen in
1926.
A member of the Finnish Sports
Organization and the Finnish Olympic Committee, he started to exercise
his talent for politics at this time. He joined the Agrarian Party
in 1932, and in 1936 he completed a doctorate in law at the
University of Helsinki, was elected to Parliament and became
the second Minister of the Interior.
During World War II Kekkonen served as the director of the Karelian
evacuees' welfare center and later as the Ministry's commissioner for
coordination. He also started writing political essays under a variety
of pseudonyms, mostly in the respected magazine Suomen Kuvalehti.
In The Seat of Power
Kekkonen lost the 1950 presidential election to Juho Paasikivi but
became Prime Minister, a post he held for the next six years.
In 1956 he defeated Paasikivi, became president, and determined to
stay there.
Demokratia itse voi suorastaan synnyttää ja kehittää vaikeita valtiollisia
epäkohtia. Sellaisissa oloissa demokratian puoltajien on oltava valmiit
juuri kansanvallan säilyttämiseksi tarpeen tullen luopumaan jostakin
demokratialle vähemmän, tai ehkä enemmänkin, oleellisesta, voidakseen
pelastaa sen, minkä turvin kansanvalta voi sitä vastaan kohonneen myrsky
ajan säilyä ja sitten olosuhteitten rauhoituttua puhdistuneena ja
selkeentyneenä taas kehittyä demokratian sisäistä olemusta enemmän
vastaaviin muotoihin.
Democracy itself may cause the creation and development of difficult
national problems. In such conditions the defenders of democracy must,
precisely in order to maintain the power of the people, be willing to
temporarily abandon some of lesser, or perhaps even more important,
principles of democracy. This way the power of the people can be
maintained through
the storm and, once the coast is clear, it can develop again into a form
better matching the inner essence of democracy.
Kekkonen in 1933,
from Vuosisatani I, 1981 (my translation)
Kekkonen's overriding interest was
foreign affairs (read: the
Soviet Union), and during his presidency
foreign policy was set by
him and him alone.
All significant
decisions, in internal matters as well, had to pass through Kekkonen's
hands.
Ministers were disposable and Kekkonen did not hesitate
to dissolve
Parliament whenever it suited him to do so; this was
one of the Finnish president's many unusual powers and only after
UKK's departure was the political will to limit them found.
In terms of foreign policy, Kekkonen agreed with his predecessor
Paasikivi, and their approach became known as the Kekkonen-Paasikivi Line.
Kekkonen believed that Finland's chance for survival was in lying low,
agreeing with the Soviet Union over foreign policy issues as the price
of retaining independence, a capitalist economy and a democratic
system of government.
This approach,
accompanied by a loudly proclaimed policy of neutrality,
became known as Finlandization.
Naturally, such a policy of maintaining friendly relations with the
Soviet Union at almost any cost had its drawbacks. During Kekkonen's
term the Finnish media practiced self-censorship:
editorials or other opinions critical of the Soviet Union were simply
not published. It must be emphasized that this was not the result
of overt governmental coercion, ie. violators of the unspoken rule were
not jailed, but it was clearly the wish of Kekkonen and it was widely
respected -- as an individual, you might shout out anti-Soviet propaganda,
but then none of the major newspapers (or the government) would touch you
with a bargepole.
The highlight of Kekkonen's career was the Conference on Security and Cooperation (CSCE) in 1975, which marked a quiet turning point in the Cold War.
After the "spirit of Helsinki", the Great Powers were no longer
in hostile competition, but merely in detente, with
both East and West
more or less content to stay where they were. This, of course, suited
Finland (or at least Kekkonen) just fine. The other, hopefully more
permanent result of the conference was the Helsinki Convention
on Human Rights, in which all parties established a baseline of
human rights to respect.
The Fading Years
Kekkonen was re-elected in 1962 and 1968. When his term was
due to expire in 1974, Kekkonen strong-armed the Parliament into
extending his term until 1978, after which he was re-elected yet again.
A major force behind this series was the Soviets, who had learned to
trust Kekkonen and much preferred him to any of the alternatives.
After the 1960's the threat of a military takeover -- still very real
after the war -- had decreased considerably, but Kekkonen remained
extremely deferential to the Soviets. Due to his charisma, his
grip on the media and the simple fact that he had been president
for as long as most Finns could remember, a bit of a cult of personality
also started to develop aroud UKK, with small but formerly unthinkable
steps like publishing stamps and bills with his unmistakable bald
dome and gigantic black glasses on them.
During his last few terms
Kekkonen's mental and physical health started to fail, and there are
numerous anecdotes about Kekkonen bungling his speeches, eating
serviettes and and not even being able to recognize people. While the
media did their best to hide this from public view, to those around it
him it slowly became clear that he had become a liability to his nation.
He was finally induced to retire for medical reasons in 1981.
He died in 1986 at his
residence in Tamminiemi, Helsinki, the former presidential mansion
and now the Kekkonen Museum.
So What Does It All Add Up To?
A very good question. The jury is still out, as the Kekkonen archives
and his diaries are still being examined and nobody knows what may
turn up in the bowels of the Kremlin,
but the consensus seems to be moderate: there is no evidence to
indicate that Kekkonen was a paid Soviet stooge, but it seems
clear that -- especially in the later years -- Kekkonen's deference
to the Soviets and absolute refusal to violate the principle of
neutrality did Finland some harm. The Finnish economy, in particular,
had grown used to extensive trade with the Soviets under advantageous
conditions, and was thus hit very hard when the Communist regime
collapsed.
Just the same, Finland did avoid the fate of East Europe, and after
running around like a headless chicken for most of the 1980's
the Finnish government finally joined the EU. Ten years later, the
economy seems to be doing just fine again, so maybe it was a small
price to pay after all.