was lacking the real facts about Finland's intentions and the Finns' true feelings. The national feeling of unity reached down into even these communist circles quite strongly, and in the hellfire of the Winter War the feeling of unity was transformed into a simple sharing of the same fate, which spread from the battlefields after the 105-day war with the returning soldiers to the homefront, giving strength for enduring the violent tribulations of the years which were to follow.

Although the forces of unity seem able to influence the Finnish people only in moments of great ordeal, it is a consolation to know that they are always there as a deep undercurrent, which can, when needed, guide the ship of state out of storms. 16

On the cultural front, the birth of an independent Finland did not bring such radical changes as in the political and economic field, because precisely in the cultural field Finnish independence had been almost complete even during the era of Russian domination. Even during the periods of severest repressive measures, cultural activity had been left alone by and large, and in this respect the severing of ties between Russia and Finland mattered hardly at all, since cultural relations between the two had been of scant significance.

When the period of independence did begin, Finland already had men active in the cultural field, and she had institutions, reasonably sufficient. Nevertheless, the establishment of several new, significant cultural institutions did take place during the first few years of independence. In 1919, there was established in Turku a Swedish-language university, the privately endowed Abo Academy, and three years later the same city received a Finnish-language institution, the Turku University, also privately endowed. In Helsinki, private initiative led to the establishment of a Workers' Academy in 1924 and a Peoples' College in 1925 (the name was later changed to the Civic College), and in both institutions persons who have not passed the college entrance examinations normally required can matriculate. Both of these institutions now receive their financial support from the state, as does the Turku University in part. A teachers' college was established in 1934 in Jyväskylä. A Finnish-language business college was established as early as 1911, while a business college was established at the Abo Academy in 1927 and that same year a Swedish-language business college was founded in Helsinki.

The number of college students has increased rapidly during the years of independence. While in 1915 there were 4,216

16. Helsingin Sanomat, issue of 6 XII 1954.

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