"From War to Cold War" - a Finnish-British Historians´ Conference in Helsinki

There are Finnish and British citizens still alive today who have shared the experience of being at war with each other. Winston Churchill, with clear regret, declared war on Finland on 7 December 1941 and this state lasted until the armistice of September 1944. Even after the peace, the dynamics of British and Finnish history drove the countries along diverging paths through the Cold War years. It took the last decade of the 20th century to bring both nations back together as co-members of the European Union, and their armed forces together as part of the same peace-keeping unit in Kosovo.

The first-ever Finnish-British Historians' Conference was conceived in the belief that the time is now ripe to look back calmly and critically at these dramatic stages of history: in search of new insights into each country's identity as well as their mutual relations. On 29-30 November 2001 at the premises of the University of Helsinki, leading British and Finnish historians of all generations will present new evidence and analyses, and will debate the meaning of events from the Second World War through to the hardening of the Cold War front-lines in the 1950's-70's. A broad, modern approach will be taken to the historical agenda, giving full value to political dimensions, public perceptions and non-governmental ties.

The academic proceedings of the conference are being co-organised by the Renvall Institute and Department of Social Science History of Helsinki University (convenor: Dr Juhana Aunesluoma), and the University of Aberdeen (convenor: Professor David Arter). British participants will include Professors Patrick Salmon and Anthony Upton, Mannerheim's biographer Dr John Screen, and a former British Ambassador to Helsinki from the Cold War years, Sir Andrew Stuart. Finnish participants include leading historians and analysts such as Professors Seppo Hentilä, Ohto Manninen, Jukka Nevakivi and Esko Salminen, as well as Minister Max Jakobson and Dr Pekka Visuri.

Official sponsorship and support for the event has been provided by the British Foreign Office - whose Historical Branch is sending an expert to participate - and the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja will personally host a lunch for the participants on 30 November. On the evening of 29 November British Ambassador Alyson Bailes will host a Gala Dinner where Colonel Arto Räty, Commander of Pori Brigade, will speak about modern-day bilateral military cooperation. The conference ends with a Panel Discussion on "Lessons of History" where the Finnish CDS Admiral Juhani Kaskeala, Max Jakobson, Erkki Toivanen, and Finland's Ambassador at London Pertti Salolainen will be among the contributors. In due course, it is hoped the papers contributed to the conference can be edited and made available to the general public in book form.

The conference’s working sessions will be open for media attendance and photography, and interviews may be requested with individual participants. Limited quantities of a special compilation of wartime documents from the British Foreign Office in facsimile are available from the British Embassy for those wishing to produce in-depth reports. For details of facilities and further information please e-mail to [email protected], [email protected], and/or [email protected].