After a brief introduction from Professor Mark Gilbert to the seminar series, Professor Pertti Ahonen explained that his goal in this seminar was to offer observations on Finland's application to join NATO as an ongoing political process, along with its links with history. More specifically, he draws on the lessons from history involved in that process.

He began by offering a brief outline of Finland's and Sweden's history with policies of neutrality. Finland has pursued a neutral status since the end of World War II, and, by reiterating what other scholars have said, Ahonen stated that WWII still serves as the central well for historical lessons in the Finnish context. The key lessons Finland took away from the war led to several concrete policies, namely staying out of armed conflict, maintaining correct relations and avoiding provocations with the Soviet superpower, and finally, above all, developing and maintaining its neutrality.

Finland's Cold War policy orientation was closely linked to presidents Juho Paasikivi and Urho Kekkonen, a policy which is often referred to as the Paasikivi-Kekkonen line. It was also fundamentally rooted in The Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1948, in which Finland obliged to resist any attack by "Germany or its allies" against Finland or against the USSR through Finland. In return, Finland could rely on USSR assistance, and crucially, it recognized Finland's desire to stay out of great power conflicts. This treaty, therefore, served as a tool of influence for the USSR as well as a basis for Finnish neutrality. A key lesson from this era came through increased criticism from the West and in part through the concept of "Finlandization," whereby the nation's supposed neutrality was one-sided, leaning strongly eastward and provided for a dangerous precedent for the West.

Following the Cold War, however, much changed. In the transformed geopolitical setting Finland began to define itself as an unambiguously Western country, though open advocacy for NATO membership remained rare. Ahonen argued that the problem in this regard is not that Finland's failure to apply for NATO membership before 2022, but rather its repeated and deliberate avoidance of an open debate on the matter.

Today, current President Sauli Niinistö has been know for his so-called telephone diplomacy with the Kremin. However, Ahonen stressed that although much has changed in Finnish foreign policy since the early 1990s, there are some unfortunate continuities from the Cold War – notably its refusal to undergo an open discussion of the NATO option.

For this reason, Ahonen noted the sudden shift in Finnish foreign policy earlier this year as a hasty policy reversal driven by external events. He continued to argue that, in the context of this application process, the lessons from history have constituted an obstacle to productive policy deliberation and formulation.

However, the mostly quiet, practical work behind the scenes was pushing Finland toward an ever-closer relationship with NATO, albeit political leaders' caution in public on the matter. Although many critics classify these steps as overly clandestine, Ahonen mentioned another perspective from Finnish scholars Matti Roitto and Antero Holmila, in viewing this pursuit positively as "liquid neutrality."

He concluded by arguing that, in the recent policy shift, long-standing history lessons simply fell by the wayside and lost their relevance in the rush of unanticipated events. The question of who led whom in this application process, along with many other questions, remain unanswered at this time. However, viewing the current events in the context of this history is key to such an understanding.



Full Audio:

History of the Present Series

hosted by Professor Mark Gilbert


SAIS Europe students, faculty, staff, and guests are allowed to attend in person at SAIS Europe, via B. Andreatta 3, Bologna. To participate online, please register for the webinar.

Pertti Ahonen is Professor of History at the Department of History and Ethnology at the University of Jyväskylä.

Pertti is a historian of modern Europe, particularly of contemporary Europe, with an emphasis on post-1945 Germany and Central Europe. He is interested in various aspects of Europe's recent history, including: the effects and consequences of the Second World War on the postwar world; migrations, in particular forced migrations, and their impact; political, social and cultural developments in Cold War Europe; comparative and transnational history; memory regimes and their political and other uses; and just about any aspect of the history of Germany.

Before joining the University of Jyväskylä in the summer of 2014, Ahonen spent many years abroad. He obtained his PhD in history from Yale University in 1999 and then taught history in the UK, first at the University of Sheffield (1999-2004) followed by the University of Edinburgh (2004-2014). He also spent several years in Central Europe as a visiting researcher in different locations, including Berlin, Vienna, Mainz and Bonn. His main publications include After the Expulsion: West Germany and Eastern Europe, 1945-1990 (Oxford UP, 2003) and Death at the Berlin Wall (Oxford UP, 2011).

At Jyväskylä he leads the research cluster in Postwar Studies, and he also works closely with Comparative Study of Political Cultures. Ahonen is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (UK) and a research member of the Finnish Historical Society. He is also an editorial board member of the journal Politics, Religion and Ideology.