That first phase of russification, meanwhile, had not stifled economic development in Finland. On the contrary, political oppression had forced the Finns to greater efforts. The land reform question had already come under discussion, and by the

spring of 1904 the sub-committee for the landless population had prepared a plan for making homesteads of the crown lands, which had restored hope among the dispossessed of getting land of their own. In addition, the state had purchased several large estates and had subdivided them among the landless. During the latter phases of this action the harvests had been excellent also, and that had improved the country's economic position. Special mention must also be made of the birth and rapid growth of the cooperative movement: the law permitting cooperatives had become effective in September 1901, and by the end of 1902 there were 51 registered cooperative associations, while three years later their number had grown to 559.

Intellectual life, too, had experienced an upswing. The illustrious name of Alexis Kivi already belonged to the past, to be sure, but now Juhani Aho was writing the best of his sketches, and Teuvo Pakkala his play, Tukkijoella (The Logging Stream), which had an unprecedented success, and no wonder, for in Finland almost every community had its own amateur theater. Johannes Linnankoski brought out his large-scale drama of ideas, The Eternal Struggle (Ikuinen taistelu) and his novel, The Song of the BloodRed Flower. Maila Talvio wrote her first significant work, Pimeän Pirtin Hävitys (The Destruction of the Dark Cabin), and the poet Eino Leino was beginning his brilliant ascent. Larin-Kyösti was already productive, and Otto Manninen became one of the great names of Finnish poetry. Joel Lehtonen broke into print, and the moral proclaimer of `love thy neighbor', author Arvid Järnefelt, stepped into the limelight. Another event signalling the advance of Finnish language culture was the new home for the National Theater, opened in 1902; and one of its actresses to enjoy Europe-wide fame at that time was Ida Aalberg. The name of Jean Sibelius was also already known far beyond Finland's borders. Of Finnish singers, Aino Ackte rose to the heights of fame, and Maikki Järnefelt and Ida Ekman enjoyed their share of renown. Finnish art had also proved its merit: sculptor Ville Vallgren achieved a name and a position in the art life of Paris, and in their native country the sculptures of R. K. Stigell and E. Vikström were enthusiastically received. Finnish painting reached even greater heights with a quartet of painters, Albert

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