How Finland Defeated Fascism in the 1930s

In the 1930s, a radical conservative political group almost succeeded in overthrowing Finland’s democracy:

Called the Lapua movement, it was a far-right group of Finns who sought to overthrow the republic, marginalize communists, and install an authoritarian government. They managed to disrupt Finland’s political order through threats of violence and symbolic kidnappings, in which they would capture political rivals and drive them to the Soviet border.

They earned the support of center-right and moderate politicians who believed they could harness the passion and support of this radical nationalist group. The movement also included prominent businessmen, newspaper owners, and key members of the military.

But after a few years, the country was able to right the ship:

Almost overnight, the Lapua movement collapsed. Within three years of its founding, this far-right faction was banned from Finnish politics, and democracy in Finland has been stable ever since.

You can read more about the Lapua movement and how it was defeated in this article about democracy’s “near misses”.

In November 1929, red-shirted communist youth paraded in the small Finnish village of Lapua, located in the country’s religious and conservative southern Ostrobothnian region. An angry mob of local farmers attacked the parade, stripped the participants of their shirts, and began beating the unlucky leftists. That seemingly isolated and chance incident sparked a “a series of events which proved almost fatal to parliamentary government in Finland.

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