Finnish History and Politics

History and Politics

207 practice questions, each with the answer and an explanation.

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Random questions from this topic, one at a time. You see the answer and the explanation straight after each one.

All 207 questions

  1. What is the capital of Finland?
  2. On which date does Finland celebrate its Independence Day?
  3. Which two languages are the national languages of Finland?
  4. How is the President of Finland chosen?
  5. What is the name of the Finnish parliament, which has 200 members?
  6. In which year did Finland join the European Union?
  7. Which currency does Finland use?
  8. Which of these countries shares a land border with Finland?
  9. When did Finland become a member of NATO?
  10. What is the Swedish name of the Finnish city of Turku?
  11. How many consecutive terms may a President of Finland serve?
  12. What does the Finnish Prime Minister do?
  13. What is special about the Åland Islands within Finland?
  14. Where does the Sámi Parliament of Finland have its seat?
  15. What does Kela, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland, do?
  16. What is the Finnish maternity package, introduced in 1938?
  17. What has been served to all pupils in Finnish comprehensive schools free of charge since 1948?
  18. In which year did Finnish women gain the right to vote and to stand for election?
  19. In which year did Finland become a member of the United Nations?
  20. Which Nordic organisation did Finland join in 1955?
  21. Which feature is typical of Finnish governments?
  22. From what age may citizens of Finland vote in national elections?
  23. What is required of male citizens in Finland by general conscription?
  24. What is the official residence of the President of Finland in Helsinki?
  25. What is the Finnish name for the Council of State, the government of Finland?
  26. Which list gives these events in the correct order: the Winter War, the Helsinki Olympics, EU membership, NATO membership?
  27. How many years passed between the declaration of independence in 1917 and Finland's NATO membership in 2023?
  28. Which system is used to elect the members of the Finnish parliament?
  29. How did the Constitution that came into force in 2000 change the role of the President?
  30. Why has Åland been demilitarised since the nineteenth century?
  31. Which pair of offices supervises that authorities act lawfully in Finland?
  32. Which statement about the euro in the Nordic countries is correct?
  33. Why do Finnish governments need to negotiate a joint programme after each election?
  34. What best describes the Nordic welfare model that Finland follows?
  35. In which year did the present Constitution of Finland come into force?
  36. In which year did Finland start to apply the Schengen rules, which removed passport checks at its borders with other member states?
  37. Complete the sentence about History of Finland with the correct year: After the Finnish War in ______, Finland was ceded to the Russian Empire, making this area the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland.
  38. Complete the sentence about History of Finland with the correct year: A civil war between the Finnish Red Guards and the White Guard ensued a few months later, with the Whites gaining the upper hand d…
  39. Complete the sentence about Finland under Swedish rule with the correct year: Finland was a part of Sweden from the Middle Ages until ______.
  40. Complete the sentence about Finland under Swedish rule with the correct year: Swedish rule ended in ______ in most of so-called Old Finland, the south-eastern part of the Finnish territories, as a res…
  41. Complete the sentence about Finland under Swedish rule with the correct year: Sweden ceded the remainder of Old Finland in ______, following the Hats' War.
  42. Complete the sentence about Finland under Swedish rule with the correct year: Swedish rule over the rest of Finland ended on 17 September ______, when the signing of the Treaty of Hamina ended the Fin…
  43. Complete the sentence about Treaty of Nöteborg with the correct year: Novgorod, in contrast, seems to have received a Swedish-language version, which was copied by Swedish envoys in ______.
  44. Complete the sentence about Treaty of Nöteborg with the correct year: In ______, the Finnish medievalist Jalmari Jaakkola challenged this view, arguing instead that the border ran northwest toward the…
  45. Complete the sentence about Finnish War with the correct year: King Gustav Adolf did this after securing an alliance with Britain on 8 February ______.
  46. Complete the sentence about Finnish War with the correct year: Meanwhile, on 30 December ______ Russia announced it would be forced to act should Sweden not give a clear reply.
  47. Complete the sentence about Johan Ludvig Runeberg with the correct year: From ______, he lived in Porvoo, where he served as professor of Latin literature in the Borgå gymnasium.
  48. Complete the sentence about Elias Lönnrot with the correct year: In botany, he is remembered as the author of the ______ Flora Fennica, the first scientific text written in Finnish rather than in Lati…
  49. Complete the sentence about Elias Lönnrot with the correct year: In the summer of ______, he lived in Sammatti as he prepared for the high school examination.
  50. Complete the sentence about Elias Lönnrot with the correct year: On 11 October ______, he enrolled in the Academy of Turku to study medicine.
  51. Complete the sentence about Johan Vilhelm Snellman with the correct year: Ennobled in ______, he is commemorated annually on his birthday, 12 May, which is celebrated as the Day of Finnish Identity.
  52. Complete the sentence about Johan Vilhelm Snellman with the correct year: By the time Snellman returned to Helsinki in ______, the political situation did not allow the university to employ him.
  53. Complete the sentence about Russification of Finland with the correct year: Finnish opposition to Russification was one of the main factors that ultimately led to Finland's declaration of independence…
  54. Complete the sentence about Russification of Finland with the correct year: In ______, the lost territory of Sweden became the Grand Duchy of Finland, an autonomous part of the Russian Empire.
  55. Complete the sentence about Russification of Finland with the correct year: The manifesto which Nicholas II issued on 15 February ______ was cause for Finnish despair.
  56. Complete the sentence about February Manifesto with the correct year: When Finland had been annexed to Russia in ______, Emperor Alexander I had promised that the old laws could stay in force.
  57. Complete the sentence about Finnish Civil War with the correct year: The Reds carried out an unsuccessful general offensive in February ______, supplied with weapons by Soviet Russia.
  58. Complete the sentence about Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim with the correct year: Ståhlberg in the first Finnish presidential elections in ______ but lost and quit politics.
  59. Complete the sentence about Kingdom of Finland with the correct year: During the Finnish Civil War of ______, Finnish Reds on friendly terms with Soviet Russia fought Finnish Whites who allied with th…
  60. Complete the sentence about Kingdom of Finland with the correct year: Prince Friedrich Karl of Hesse was elected to the throne of Finland on 9 October ______ by the Finnish parliament, but he never to…
  61. Complete the sentence about Kingdom of Finland with the correct year: In the March ______ election, with the Finnish left and socialists able to vote, republicans won a crushing victory.
  62. Complete the sentence about Kingdom of Finland with the correct year: Finland's status as a republic was confirmed in the Finnish Constitution of ______.
  63. Complete the sentence about Kingdom of Finland with the correct year: Finland declared independence from the Russian Empire on 6 December ______, during the Russian Civil War.
  64. Complete the sentence about Lapua Movement with the correct year: Led by Vihtori Kosola, it turned towards far-right politics after its founding and was banned after a failed coup d'etat attempt in __…
  65. Complete the sentence about Lapua Movement with the correct year: The order led to a higher level of communist activity in Finland in ______ like the so-called "Red Day" of August 1st when communists…
  66. Complete the sentence about Lapua Movement with the correct year: Late in November ______, the Young Communist League of Finland arranged meetings and protests in Ostrobothnian Lapua.
  67. Complete the sentence about Winter War with the correct year: After the Soviet military reorganized and adopted different tactics, they renewed their offensive in February ______ and overcame the Finn…
  68. Complete the sentence about Winter War with the correct year: Hostilities ceased in March ______ with the signing of the Moscow Peace Treaty in which Finland ceded 9% of its territory to the Soviet Un…
  69. Complete the sentence about Winter War with the correct year: After 15 months of Interim Peace, in June ______, Germany commenced Operation Barbarossa, and the Continuation War between Finland and the…
  70. Complete the sentence about Winter War with the correct year: World War I led to the collapse of the Russian Empire during the Russian Revolution of ______ and the Russian Civil War.
  71. Complete the sentence about Winter War with the correct year: On 6 December ______, the Senate of Finland declared the nation's independence.
  72. Complete the sentence about Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact with the correct year: Subsequently, rapprochement between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany began in early ______.
  73. Complete the sentence about Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact with the correct year: A week after signing the pact, on 1 September ______, Germany invaded Poland.
  74. Complete the sentence about Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact with the correct year: In March ______, the Soviet Union annexed parts of Karelia, Salla and Kuusamo following the Winter War against Finland.
  75. Complete the sentence about Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact with the correct year: Stalin's invasion of Bukovina in ______ violated the pact, since it went beyond the Soviet sphere of influence that had been…
  76. Complete the sentence about Continuation War with the correct year: The Finnish government refused, and the Red Army invaded Finland on 30 November ______.
  77. Complete the sentence about Moscow Armistice with the correct year: The Moscow Armistice was signed between Finland on one side and the Soviet Union and United Kingdom on the other side on 19 Septembe…
  78. Complete the sentence about Moscow Armistice with the correct year: The Armistice restored the Moscow Peace Treaty of ______, with a number of modifications.
  79. Complete the sentence about Moscow Armistice with the correct year: The final peace treaty between Finland and many of the Allies was signed in Paris in ______.
  80. Complete the sentence about Paris Peace Treaties, 1947 with the correct year: The Paris Peace Conference lasted from 29 July until 15 October ______.
  81. Complete the sentence about Paris Peace Treaties, 1947 with the correct year: Italy continued to govern Italian Somaliland as a UN trust territory until ______.
  82. Complete the sentence about Finlandization with the correct year: As early as ______, Shinzo Abe feared the Finlandization of Japan and South Korea by China due to its growing influence and power.
  83. Complete the sentence about Finlandization with the correct year: Only after Mikhail Gorbachev's ascent to Soviet leadership in ______ did the mass media in Finland gradually begin to criticize the So…
  84. Complete the sentence about Finlandization with the correct year: Finland joined the European Union in ______, adopting its Common Foreign and Security Policy.
  85. Complete the sentence about Finlandization with the correct year: Since joining NATO's Partnership for Peace programme in ______, cooperation with NATO has increased, including interoperability and pa…
  86. Complete the sentence about Paasikivi–Kekkonen line with the correct year: The Paasikivi Society was established in ______ to promote the doctrine in Finland and abroad.
  87. Complete the sentence about Paasikivi–Kekkonen line with the correct year: In April ______, Finland signed an Agreement of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance with the Soviet Union.
  88. Complete the sentence about Juho Kusti Paasikivi with the correct year: Hellsten Finnicized his name to Juho Kusti Paasikivi in ______.
  89. Complete the sentence about Juho Kusti Paasikivi with the correct year: Paasikivi left this post to become Director-in-Chief of Treasury of the Grand Duchy of Finland, a position he retained until ___…
  90. Complete the sentence about Urho Kekkonen with the correct year: Kekkonen was a member of the Parliament of Finland from ______ until his rise to the presidency.
  91. Complete the sentence about Mauno Koivisto with the correct year: After attending primary school, Koivisto worked a number of jobs, and at the beginning of the Winter War in ______ joined a field fire…
  92. Complete the sentence about Mauno Koivisto with the correct year: Together they had a daughter, Assi Koivisto, who was later voted to the electoral college during the ______ presidential election.
  93. Complete the sentence about Mauno Koivisto with the correct year: Koivisto graduated from the University of Turku with a Master of Arts degree and a licentiate in ______, and had plans to become a soc…
  94. Complete the sentence about Tarja Halonen with the correct year: Halonen was an extremely popular president, with her approval ratings reaching a peak of 88 percent in December ______.
  95. Complete the sentence about Tarja Halonen with the correct year: Tarja Halonen was born on 24 December ______ in the district of Kallio, which at the time was a traditional working-class area in centr…
  96. Complete the sentence about Sauli Niinistö with the correct year: Niinistö was the NCP candidate in the ______ presidential election, defeating Pekka Haavisto of the Green League with 62.6% of the vot…
  97. Complete the sentence about Sauli Niinistö with the correct year: Niinistö graduated from the Salon normaalilyseo high school in ______, after which he went to study at the University of Turku.
  98. Complete the sentence with the correct year: From there he graduated with a Master of Laws degree in ______.
  99. Complete the sentence about Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg with the correct year: Kaarlo's mother Amanda worked to support the family until her death in ______.
  100. Complete the sentence with the correct year: In ______ he graduated as a Bachelor of Arts in Law from the University of Helsinki.

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