‘Independence Day of Finland’ (Finnish: itsenäisyyspäivä; Swedish: självständighetsdagen) is a national public holiday, and a flag flying day, held on 6 December to celebrate Finland‘s declaration of independence from the Russian Empire when the Bolsheviks took power in late 1917. The movement for Finland‘s independence started after the revolutions in Russia, caused by disturbances inside Russia from hardships connected to the First World War: this gave Finland an opportunity to withdraw from Russian rule. After several disagreements between the non-socialists and the social-democrats over who should have power in Finland, on 4 December 1917, the Senate of Finland, led by Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, finally made a Declaration of Independence which was adopted by the Finnish parliament two days later: Independence Day was first celebrated in 1917. However, during the first years of independence, 6 December in some parts of Finland was only a minor holiday compared to 16 May, the Whites’ day of celebration for prevailing in the Finnish Civil War. The left parties would have wanted to celebrate 15 November, because the people of Finland (represented by parliament) took power on 15 November 1917. When a year had passed since declaration of independence, 6 December 1918, the academic people celebrated the day. During the early decades of independence, the occasion was marked by patriotic speeches and special church services, but from the 1970s onwards, Independence Day celebrations have taken livelier forms, with shops decorating their windows in the blue and white of the Finnish flag, and bakeries producing cakes with blue and white icing. It is traditional for Finnish families to light two candles in each window of their home in the evening: this custom dates to the 1920s, but even earlier candles had been placed in Finnish windows on poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg’s birthday, as a silent protest against Russian oppression. A popular legend has it that two candles were used as a sign to inform young Finnish men, on their way to Sweden and Germany to become jägers, that the house was ready to offer shelter and keep them hidden from the Russians.
