Social Democratic Party of Finland
Name in Finnish	Suomen Sosialidemokraattinen Puolue
Name in Swedish	Finlands Socialdemokratiska Parti
Leader	Eero Heinäluoma
Founded	1899
Headquarters	Saariniemenkatu 6 00530 HELSINKI FINLAND
Political Ideology	Social democratic
European Affiliation	Party of European Socialists
International Affiliation	Socialist International
Colours	Red
2006 Presidential Candidate	Tarja Halonen (incumbent)
Website	http://www.sdp.fi
See also	Finnish Politics Finnish Parliament Finnish Government Finnish President Political parties Elections This is a copyrighted and/or trademarked logo. ... Eero Olavi Heinäluoma (b. ... 1899 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Social democracy is a political ideology emerging in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from supporters of Marxism who believed that the transition to a socialist society could be achieved through democratic evolutionary rather than revolutionary means. ... Logo of the Party of European Socialists The Party of European Socialists (PES) (French: Parti socialiste européen (PSE); German: Sozialdemokratische Partei Europas (SPE); Spanish: Partido socialista europeo (PSE); Italian: Partito socialista europeo (PSE)) is a European political party whose members are 30 social democratic, socialist and labour parties of... The official symbol of Socialist International The Socialist International (SI) is an international organisation for social democratic and democratic socialist parties. ... Red is a color at the lowest frequencies of light discernible by the human eye. ... Tarja Kaarina Halonen (born December 24, 1943) is the current and first female President of Finland. ... Finland has a primarily parliamentary system, although the president also has some notable powers. ... The Eduskunta in Finnish, or the Riksdag in Swedish, is the Parliament of Finland. ... Finland is a republic with a representative democracy governed according to the principles of Parliamentarism. ... The President of Finland (Suomen Tasavallan Presidentti; Republiken Finlands President) is the Head of State of Finland. ... Political parties in Finland lists political parties in Finland. ... Politics of Finland See also [[List of political parties in Åland|political parties in Åland]]. Categories: Election related stubs | Elections in Finland | Finnish politics ...

The Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP) is one of the most influential political parties in Finland, along with the Centre Party and the Coalition Party. Some even debate that the SDP's influence is so extensive, that other polical parties are powerless to challenge it, and merely cooperate, regardless of whether they hold more seats or not. SDP's social democratic politics are generally more moderate than those of the other left-leaning party, the Left Alliance. A political party is an organization that seeks to attain political power within a government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns. ... The Centre Party (Finnish: Suomen Keskusta) is a centrist political party in Finland. ... The National Coalition Party (Kansallinen Kokoomus or Samlingspartiet) is a political party in Finland. ... Social democracy is a political ideology emerging in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from supporters of Marxism who believed that the transition to a socialist society could be achieved through democratic evolutionary rather than revolutionary means. ... The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view. ... The Left Alliance (Vasemmistoliitto in Finnish, Vänsterförbundet in Swedish) is a political party in Finland. ...

Since the disastrous Civil War in Finland of 1918, SDP lost some of its support, currently gaining on average about one-quarter of the vote. The Social Democratic Party has about 59,000 members. Eero Heinäluoma is the party's current chairman. Tarja Halonen was SDP's winning candidate for presidency of Finland in 2000. The Civil War in Finland was fought from January to May 1918, between the Reds (punaiset), i. ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... Eero Olavi Heinäluoma (b. ... Tarja Kaarina Halonen (born December 24, 1943) is the current and first female President of Finland. ... The President of Finland (Suomen Tasavallan Presidentti; Republiken Finlands President) is the Head of State of Finland. ... This article is about the year 2000. ...

SDP won 53 of the 200 seats in Parliament in the March 16, 2003 elections, which ended in a very close run with the Center Party. As a result, SDP's former chairman Paavo Lipponen became the Speaker of Parliament, and the Centre-chairwoman Anneli Jäätteenmäki became Prime Minister for a coalition Cabinet that also included the minor Swedish People's Party beside the two major partners. SDP has eight portfolios in the Cabinet. After two months Jäätteenmäki was switched for Matti Vanhanen due to a scandal. The Eduskunta in Finnish, or the Riksdag in Swedish, is the parliament of Finland. ... March 16 is the 75th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (76th in Leap years). ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Categories: Politics stubs | Liberal related stubs | Liberal parties | Finnish political parties | Nordic Agrarian parties ... Paavo Lipponen Paavo Tapio Lipponen (b. ... The term Speaker is usually the title given to the presiding officer of a countrys lower house of parliament or congress (i. ... Anneli Jäätteenmäki, Prime Minister 2003, MEP 2004- Anneli Tuulikki Jäätteenmäki (Master of Laws, born February 11, 1955 in Lapua) was the first female Prime Minister of Finland, in office April 17th, 2003, to June 18th, 2003. ... Sir Robert Walpole, the first Prime Minister A prime minister may be either: chief or leading member of the cabinet of the top-level government in a country having a parliamentary system of government; or the official, in countries with a semi-presidential system of government, appointed to manage the... A Cabinet is a body of high-ranking members of government, typically representing the executive branch. ... The Swedish Peoples Party (Svenska folkpartiet (SFP) in Swedish or Ruotsalainen kansanpuolue (RKP) in Finnish) is a Swedish minority and mainly liberal party in Finland. ... Matti Vanhanen Photo: Magnus Fröderberg/norden. ...

Note that despite the fact that "sosiaali" in Finnish has a long "a", the name of this party is spelt with a short "a", for historical reasons. The official name (as registered in Finland's party registry) is Suomen Sosialidemokraattinen Puolue / Finlands Socialdemokratiska Parti r.p.

History

SDP was founded in 1899, but came to remain a chiefly extra-parliamentary movement until the Universal suffrage of 1906, after which SDP's share of the votes and seats approached 50%. Unfortunately, the reform of the Parliament wasn't followed by Parliamentarism, which is why the party and its voters found themselves virtually without influence, despite the high turnouts. Inevitably this led to a decreased confidence in democratic methods and increased interest for the Revolution. After the two revolutions in Russia in 1917, the polarization between poor and wealthy in Finland grew even wider, and the support for revolutionary means increased rapidly - actually much faster than the party organization and the trade unions could follow. The Civil War in Finland followed in 1918, and resulted in virtually all party leaders on all levels becoming either killed, imprisoned or refugees abroad. In addition, the process leading to the Civil War, and the War itself, had stripped the party of its prestige, legitimacy, authority and respectability. Universal suffrage (also general suffrage or common suffrage) consists of the extension of suffrage, or the right to vote, to all adults, without distinction as to race, sex, belief, or social status. ... 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Voting is a method of decision making wherein a group such as a meeting or an electorate attempts to gauge its opinion—usually as a final step following discussions or debates. ... An aerial view of Parliament of India at New Delhi. ... A parliamentary system, or parliamentarism, is distinguished by the executive branch of government being dependent on the direct or indirect support of the parliament, often expressed through a vote of confidence. ... The neutrality of this article is disputed. ... It has been suggested that Revolutionary be merged into this article or section. ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Civil War in Finland was fought from January to May 1918, between the Reds (punaiset), i. ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... Prestige means good reputation or high esteem, although it originally meant a delusion or magicians trick (Latin præstigum). ... The word legitimacy comes from the Latin word legitimare and it has two uses: Legitimacy (political science) is whether or not people accept the validity of a law or ruling or the validity of a governing regime. ... In politics, authority generally refers to the ability to make laws, independent of the power to enforce them, or the ability to permit something. ...

Refugee Social Democrats founded the Communist Party of Finland in Moscow in 1918. The split in the Finnish political left seems permanent. The Communist Party of Finland (Finnish: Suomen kommunistinen puolue, Swedish: Finlands kommunistiska parti, abbreviated SKP) is a former political party endorsing communism in Finland. ... Moscow (Russian: Москва́, Moskva, IPA: ▶ (help· info)) is the capital of Russia, located on the river Moskva. ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ...

It became the life's work of Väinö Tanner to regain the reputation as a housetrained party, capable of serious matters - such as governing Finland. The result was a much more patriotic SDP, leaning a lot less to the left and relatively isolating it from its Nordic sister-parties. The political back-lash after the world depression following the Stock Market Crash of 1929 would however postpone SDP's rehabilitation until after President Svinhufvud's term. With the exception of a brief period in 1926, SDP was excluded from Cabinet participation beginning with Oskari Tokoi's Senate's unsuccessful claim of Finland's independence in 1917 until Kyösti Kallio's presidency 1937. During World War II however, the party played a central role in the government, symbolizing the national unity in response to the threat of the USSR and the Winter War in 1939-40. Väinö Tanner (March 12, 1881 – April 19, 1966) was a pioneer and leader in the Co-op Movement in Finland. ... Defense of the homeland is a commonplace of military patriotism: commemorating the students at the École Polytechnique, Paris, 1814 Patriotism denotes positive attitudes by individuals to their own nation, to its national homeland, its culture, its members, and to its interests. ... The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view. ... The Nordic countries (Greenland not shown) The Nordic countries is a term used collectively for five countries in Northern Europe. ... The Great Depression was a global economic slump that began in 1929 and bottomed in 1933. ... The 1929 stock market crash devastated economies worldwide The Wall Street Crash refers to the stock market crash that occurred on October 29, 1929, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange collapsed, leading eventually to the Great Depression. ... Pehr Evind Svinhufvud af Qvalstad (December 15, 1861 – February 29, 1944) was the President of Finland from 1931 to 1937. ... 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Oskari Tokoi Antti Oskari Tokoi (April 15, 1873, Perho, Finland- April 4, 1963, Fitchburg, Massachusetts, United States) was a Finnish politician. ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... Statue of K. Kallio in Helsinki Kyösti Kallio (April 10, 1873 – December 19, 1940) was the fourth President of Finland (1937-1940). ... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Combatants Allied Powers Axis Powers Commanders {{{commander1}}} {{{commander2}}} Strength {{{strength1}}} {{{strength2}}} Casualties 17 million military deaths 7 million military deaths World War II, also known as the Second World War (sometimes WW2 or WWII), was a mid-20th century conflict that engulfed much of the globe and is accepted as... Combatants Finland Soviet Union Commanders Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim Kliment Voroshilov, later Semyon Timoshenko Strength 180,000 450,000 Casualties 22,830 dead 43,600 wounded 1,000 captured 127,000+ dead or missing 265,000 wounded 3,100 captured The Winter War (also known as the Soviet-Finnish War... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

During the first few months of the Continuation War (1941-1944) the country, the parliament and the coalition Cabinet was divided on the question whether Finland's army should stop at the old border and thereby demonstratively refrain from any attempts of conquests. The country's dangerous position called however on national unity, and the party's leadership chose to refrain from any visible protests. This decision is often indicated as one of the main reasons behind the increased and cemented weakness of the Social Democrats, and the high percentage of Communist voters in the first elections after the Continuation War. The other main reason being the rebellion 1918 leading to the Civil War in Finland. The Continuation War was fought between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War II, from the Soviet bombing attacks on June 25, 1941, to cease-fire September 4, 1944 (on the Finnish side) and September 5 (on the Soviet side). ... For the movie, see 1941 (film) 1941 (MCMXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... The Civil War in Finland was fought from January to May 1918, between the Reds (punaiset), i. ...

After the Continuation War the Social Democratic party finally seemed to have become equally respected as any other party, although it remained obvious that the Soviet Union was more suspicious against SDP than against the "openly" bourgeois parties. In the presidential election of 1956, SDP's candidate Karl-August Fagerholm lost with only one single elector's vote to Urho Kekkonen. The Continuation War was fought between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War II, from the Soviet bombing attacks on June 25, 1941, to cease-fire September 4, 1944 (on the Finnish side) and September 5 (on the Soviet side). ... Bourgeoisie (RP [], GA []) in modern use refers to the wealthy or propertied social class in a capitalist society. ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Karl-August Fagerholm (born 31 December 1901, dead 22 May 1984) was Speaker of Parliament and three times Prime Minister of Finland (1948–50, 1956–57, 1958–59). ... Urho Kekkonen Urho Kaleva Kekkonen (September 3, 1900–August 31, 1986) was a Finnish politician who served as Prime Minister of Finland (1950-1953, 1954-1956) and later as President of Finland (1956–1981) and is many times referred as first dictator of Finland. ...

Prominent Social Democrats

• Oskari Tokoi
• Yrjö Sirola
• Väinö Tanner - Prime Minister, Foreign Minister during the Winter War
• Karl-August Fagerholm - Prime Minister, Speaker of Parliament
• Kalevi Sorsa - Prime Minister
• Mauno Koivisto - President 1982-1994
• Martti Ahtisaari - President 1994-2000
• Paavo Lipponen - Prime Minister 1995-2003 and Speaker of Parliament
• Tarja Halonen - President 2000--

Oskari Tokoi Antti Oskari Tokoi (April 15, 1873, Perho, Finland- April 4, 1963, Fitchburg, Massachusetts, United States) was a Finnish politician. ... Yrjö Elias Sirola (1876 - 1936) was a prominent Finnish Communist leader. ... Väinö Tanner (March 12, 1881 – April 19, 1966) was a pioneer and leader in the Co-op Movement in Finland. ... The Prime Minister (Finnish Pääministeri, Swedish: Statsminister) is the Head of Government in Finland. ... Combatants Finland Soviet Union Commanders Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim Kliment Voroshilov, later Semyon Timoshenko Strength 180,000 450,000 Casualties 22,830 dead 43,600 wounded 1,000 captured 127,000+ dead or missing 265,000 wounded 3,100 captured The Winter War (also known as the Soviet-Finnish War... Karl-August Fagerholm (born 31 December 1901, dead 22 May 1984) was Speaker of Parliament and three times Prime Minister of Finland (1948–50, 1956–57, 1958–59). ... Taisto Kalevi Sorsa (December 21, 1930 - January 16, 2004) was a Finnish politician who was Prime Minister of Finland four times: 1972-1975, 1977-1979, 1982-1983 and 1983-1987 and at the date of his death still held the Finnish record of most days of incumbency as prime minister. ... Mauno Henrik Koivisto (born November 25, 1923) was the President of Finland from 1982 to 1994. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari (born June 23, 1937) is a former President of Finland (1994–2000) and UN-diplomat, noted for his international peace work. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... Paavo Lipponen Paavo Tapio Lipponen (b. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Tarja Kaarina Halonen (born December 24, 1943) is the current and first female President of Finland. ... This article is about the year 2000. ...

Party Chairmen since 1945

• Onni Alfred Hiltunen - 1944-1946
• Emil Skog - 1946-1957
• Väinö Tanner - 1957-1963
• Rafael Paasio - 1963-1975
• Kalevi Sorsa - 1975-1987
• Pertti Kullervo Paasio - 1987-1991
• Ulf Ludwig Sundqvist - 1991-1993
• Paavo Lipponen - 1993-2005
• Eero Heinäluoma - 2005 -

Väinö Tanner (March 12, 1881 – April 19, 1966) was a pioneer and leader in the Co-op Movement in Finland. ... Rafael Paasio (Kustaa) (1903 - 1980), Finnish editor & political figure; prime minister of Finland 1966-1968, 1972. ... Taisto Kalevi Sorsa (December 21, 1930 - January 16, 2004) was a Finnish politician who was Prime Minister of Finland four times: 1972-1975, 1977-1979, 1982-1983 and 1983-1987 and at the date of his death still held the Finnish record of most days of incumbency as prime minister. ... Paavo Lipponen Paavo Tapio Lipponen (b. ... Eero Olavi Heinäluoma (b. ...

External links

• Official website (in Finnish)
• Official website (in English)