The Gentle Music of Reason
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March 29 marked 200th anniversary of Finland’s incorporation into the Russian Empire. To say that this event is something of great concern to Russians these days might be a bit of a stretch, and although the event might not seem that important, what is important is that the anniversary provides an opportunity to reflect on the futility of colonialism and the eternal (and sometimes unpredictable) nature of international relations.
Right now it is difficult to imagine that less than a hundred years ago Finland was part of Russia. More precisely, while it is well known as an historical fact (I can’t vouch for what young people know, however), imagining it is quite difficult. EU membership, Nokia, top rankings in terms of quality of life – not to mention culture – everything from the Nobel for Martti Ahtisaari to Finnish pop music and the victory of Lordi at Eurovision, which is well known even by those who don’t follow pop music. The contrast with the rest of the former Russian and Soviet colonies, and even with the metropolis itself, is so striking that comparisons can’t even be made. But that’s how it was in reality; Finland never was part of Russia. Of course, the Grand Duchy was part of the empire, although it always stood apart, maintaining its autonomy and even its own constitution, which at the time was impossible to even dream of in the rest of the country. On the whole, Russia was the metropolis for the Finnish colony in the same way that Turkey was the metropolis for Greece, Austria was for the Czech lands and Britain for India. To be fair, we should note that the colonial status of Finland in comparison to these other examples was considerably more privileged. Nevertheless, when the colonial system began to live long, it became impossible to retain the Finns, although in all honesty, there was no point in doing so.
Before its incorporation into the Russian Empire, Finland spent five hundred years under Swedish rule. The Swedes had a significantly greater influence than the Romanovs did. They not only exploited Finland, but they also guaranteed a bridge for European integration. In 1990, the Finnish musician Ismo Alanko recorded an album called Kun Suomi putos puusta (When Finland Fell Down From a Tree), which depicted the cultural shock Finns experienced when they went from being one of the world’s agrarian backwaters to a leading high-tech country in less than a generation. For a century before it fell from the tree, the Finns were already part of western European civilization, whose relationship with Russia has always been complex.
We don’t have a distinct cultural commonality with Finland. We might know something about Baron Mannerheim, Sibelius and the Kaurismдki brothers, and young people might be able to name off two or three English-speaking groups. The most that we can recall is that Tove Jansson was a Swedish Finn. It is unlikely that the average Russian, for example, has ever heard of the struggle between Finnish terrorists and the imperial governors who began cracking down in the early 20th century – or of the tossing of Finland between its own monarchy and communism after the Revolution. Russians also don’t think about why Finland supported Germany in the Second World War, an issue that we don’t like to address given our triumphal patriotic frenzy (by the way, the Finns never handed Jews over to the Germans).
The Finnish obsession with tango or smash hits, local literature, the Finnish music scene, which in all honesty is larger and better than ours (unlike Russians, Finns know how to write good music and songs) – all of this is somehow distant from us, as if it were Guatemala or Botswana. It’s not even worth talking about language. Russians might find something familiar in German, but Finnish, the language that was so fascinating to Tolkien, is completely alien to us.
Today, Russia and Finland do not have any particular connection apart from their common border and, to a much lesser degree than was previously the case, our economic relations. What is more interesting is that this dissimilarity is not a hindrance to normal relations. It is difficult to call ours a friendship – between 1714 and 1739, Russian forces destroyed Finland four times. Jokes along the lines of “the Russians will come and take everything” were a typical example of Finnish black humor. Finns love black humor. Relations between Russia and Finland can best be described in the words of Brodsky, who spoke of “the gentle music of reason.”
Progressive Russians have always been taken with Finnish constitutionalism, and our “peaceful coexistence” during the Cold War bewildered the entire world. Even today, Russia is one of Finland’s main trading partners. While the Kremlin rejected Ahtisaari’s plan for Kosovo, Rosenergoatom is very close to the Finns, who are perhaps among the only people in Europe who do not fear Russian nuclear energy. Tourists from northwestern Russia flock to Finland for the major holidays, and the Sielun Veljet rock group bent back the Iron Curtain in 1985 and 1987 with concerts in Moscow’s Belyayevo. Metallica in Tushino and the Scorpions’ arrival might bring about more memories, but Sielun Veljet were the first.
The case of Finland has always been unique simply by virtue of the fact that everything came together so well, although now we need to realize that that’s no longer the case. In the 21st century, a number of Finlands have come into being. In a globalized world, even those counties that share nothing can nevertheless cooperate closely. For this, neither common borders, nor similar cultures, nor hundreds of years of interwoven history are needed. Mutual interest is sufficient.
There is nothing that prevents Russia from adopting the Finnish model everywhere from Argentina to South Africa, from Iceland to Indonesia. Of course, a lot depends on the partner, and with the Finns we have been very lucky. Nevertheless, the experience of Russian-Finnish relations has been quite good, despite the fact that two hundred years ago everything began with wars of conquest and what would be called a “hostile takeover” today.