Democratic Alternative was a political party in Finland. Deva was formed in 1986 by expelled members of the Communist Party of Finland and its mass front Finnish People's Democratic League. In 1990 Deva disintegrated and its members joined the Left Alliance, a merger of SKP and SKDL, founded earlier that year.
Socialist Workers' Party was a political party in Finland. The STP was founded in 1973 as split from Social Democratic Union of Workers and Smallholders (TPSL). STP emerged from a group that did not approve of the return of TPSL to the Social Democratic Party.
Finnish People's Democratic League was a Finnish political organisation with the aim of uniting those left of the Finnish Social Democratic Party. It was founded in 1944 as the anti-communist laws in Finland were repealed due to the demands of the Soviet Union, and lasted until 1990, when it merged into the newly formed Left Alliance. At its time, SKDL was one of the largest leftist parties in capitalist Europe, with its main member party, the Communist Party of Finland, being one of the largest communist parties west of the Iron Curtain. The SKDL enjoyed its greatest electoral success in the 1958 parliamentary election, when it gained a support of approximately 23 per cent and a representation of 50 MPs of 200 total, making it the largest party in the Eduskunta.
The Communist Party of Finland (Finnish: Suomen Kommunistinen Puolue, abbr. SKP; Swedish: Finlands kommunistiska parti, abbr. FKP) or New Communist Party of Finland (Finnish: Uusi Suomen Kommunistinen Puolue, abbr. USKP; Swedish: Finlands nya kommunistiska parti, abbr. FNKP) is a political party in Finland. It was founded in the mid-1980s as Communist Party of Finland (Unity) (Finnish: Suomen Kommunistinen Puolue (yhtenäisyys), abbr. SKPy; Swedish: Finlands kommunistiska parti (enhet), abbr. FKP(e)) by the former opposition of the old Communist Party of Finland (1918–1992). SKP has never been represented in the Parliament of Finland, but the party has had local councillors in some municipalities, including the city councils of major cities such as Helsinki and Tampere. SKP claims 2,500 members.
Karl Harald Wiik was a Swedish-speaking Finnish Social Democratic (SDP) leader. Elected to parliament numerous times between 1911 and the time of his death and Secretary of the SDP for more than a decade, Wiik is remembered as one of six radical SDP members of parliament expelled from the SDP in the aftermath of the Winter War with the Soviet Union.
Socialist Unity Party was a left-wing political party in Finland. The SYP was founded in March 1946 by socialists working inside the communist-dominated Finnish People's Democratic League (SKDL). Most of the founders were former members of the Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP). The SYP had many known politicians in its ranks but it never became a mass party. In 1955, the party split from the SKDL and was disestablished soon afterwards.
Taistoism was an orthodox pro-Soviet tendency in the mostly Eurocommunist Finnish communist movement in the 1970s and 1980s. The Taistoists were an interior opposition group in the Communist Party of Finland. They were named after their leader Taisto Sinisalo, whose first name means "a battle", "a fight" or "a struggle". Sinisalo's supporters constituted a party within a party, but pressure from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union prevented the party from formally splitting. The term taistolaisuus was a derogatory nickname invented by Helsingin Sanomat and was never used by the group themselves.
Taisto Jalo Sinisalo was a Finnish communist politician, MP of the SKDL (1962–1978), leader of the Communist Party of Finland’s hardline pro-Soviet faction and vice chairman of the party (1970–1982). After the SKP split in the 1980s, Sinisalo became the first chairman of the Communist Party of Finland (Unity) (SKPy).
Social Democratic Union of Workers and Smallholders was a political party in Finland. TPSL originated as a fraction of the Social Democratic Party of Finland, headed by Emil Skog and Aarre Simonen. Skog was the former chairman of SDP and was in dispute with the incumbent chairman, Väinö Leskinen. The party was founded in 1959, had seats in the parliament in 1959–1970 and was dissolved in 1973. It was generally identified as being politically between SDP and SKDL.
Left Group of Finnish Workers was a socialist political party in Finland. The party was active in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The group was founded by activists who had previously cooperated with the Communist Party of Finland (SKP). Niilo Wälläri, Eino Pekkala, Erkki Härmä and Kusti Kulo were some of the well-known leaders of the group. The group had supporters mainly in the southern industrial cities of Finland.
Radical People's Party was a Finnish radical populist socialist political party led by Ernesti Hentunen. The party was active in the 1940s and 1950s. The Radicals participated three times in the parliamentary elections and once in the municipal elections. They were left without MPs, but Hentunen served in the Helsinki City Council in 1948–1950. The party paper was Totuuden Torvi.
A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault". More generally, it is "a coalition especially of leftist political parties against a common opponent". But other alliances have used the term. And not all leftist or anti-fascist coalitions use the term "popular front".
Eurocommunism was a trend in the 1970s and 1980s within various Western European communist parties, which said they had developed a theory and practice of social transformation more relevant for Western Europe. During the Cold War, they sought to reject the influence of the Soviet Union and its communist party. The trend was especially prominent in Italy, Spain, and France.
The Left Party is a socialist political party in Sweden. On economic issues, the party opposes privatizations and advocates for increased public expenditures. In foreign policy, the party is Eurosceptic, being critical of the European Union and opposing Sweden’s entry into the eurozone. It attempted to get Sweden to join the Non-Aligned Movement in 1980, but did not succeed. The party is eco-socialist, and supports republicanism. It stands on the left wing of the political spectrum.
Eino Nikolai Kujanpää was a Finnish construction worker and politician. He was born in Tammela. He became a communist as a young man and in the late 1920s he went to the Soviet Union, where he studied at the International Lenin School and at the Communist University of the National Minorities of the West. He returned to Finland in 1936, was soon arrested and spent the years 1937 to 1940 and 1941 to 1944 in prison for political reasons. He was freed in 1944, when the Communist Party of Finland (SKP) was legalised as a result of the Moscow Armistice of 19 September 1944. He was then elected to the Parliament of Finland, where he represented the Finnish People's Democratic League (SKDL) from 1945 to 1951.
Ville Pessi was a Finnish communist politician. Pessi hailed from a proletarian family. He became involved in leftist politics in 1919. He joined the Communist Party of Finland (SKP) in 1924, when it was still illegal. Pessi served as secretary of the Socialist Youth League 1925-1927. He was twice sent by the party to the Soviet Union for studies. Soon after he came back to Finland he was arrested and spent the years from 1935 to 1944 in prison. He was freed as a consequence of the Moscow Armistice of 19 September 1944, when the SKP was legalised. He was elected as the general secretary of the SKP in 1944 and served in the post until 1969 when he was replaced by Arvo Aalto. He was a member of the Parliament of Finland from 1945 to 1966, representing the Finnish People's Democratic League (SKDL).
Markus Kainulainen was a Finnish communist politician. He was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Finland (SKP) and served as a Member of the Parliament of Finland from 1975 to 1979 and again from 1982 to 1983, representing the Finnish People's Democratic League (SKDL). After the SKP split in the 1980s, Kainulainen at first joined the Communist Party of Finland (Unity) (SKPy). The SKPy split in 1988 as well and Kainulainen was one of the leading organisers of a new party, Communist Workers' Party – For Peace and Socialism (KTP).
Ele Allan Alenius was a Finnish socialist politician. He was a Member of the Parliament of Finland for the Finnish People's Democratic League (SKDL) 1966–1977 and the Deputy Minister of Finance 1966–1970. Alenius was also the chairman of the SKDL 1967–1979.
Nestori Mattias (Matias) Nurminen was a Finnish carpenter and politician, born in Kokkola. He was a member of the Parliament of Finland from 1945 to 1962 and from 1966 to 1970, representing the Finnish People's Democratic League (SKDL). Nurminen was a member of the Communist Party of Finland (SKP). He became involved with the SKP in the 1920s, when it still was illegal in Finland. In 1930 he travelled to the Soviet Union, where he studied at the Communist University of the National Minorities of the West. In 1932 he returned to Finland and was imprisoned for political reasons from 1932 to 1937 and again from 1940 to 1944. The Moscow Armistice of 19 September 1944 led to the legalization of the SKP. Nurminen recovered his liberty and resumed his political activities. He was a presidential elector in the 1950, 1956 and 1943 presidential elections.
Socialism in Finland is thought to stretch back to the latter half of the 19th century in the Grand Duchy of Finland, with the radicalization of the labour movement and increasing industrialization of Finland.
