Finland: Strange Redmates

Domestic politics in Finland has for years been based on two cardinal considerations: 1) that no Communists enter the Cabinet, and 2) that no Social Democrats become Premiers. The policies were well founded. In 1948, the last time that Communists were in the Cabinet, they tried to turn Finland into a Soviet satellite. As for the Social Democrats, the Russians developed a special loathing for them in the mid-50s and, as next-door neighbors, were able to bully the Finns into keeping them out of power. But last week, as a new four-party coalition government formally took office, Finland's...

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