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History, Science, and Interesting Information - The Great Library / The Exilian World Service
« on: August 09, 2010, 03:45:42 PM »
I live in Helsinki, the glorious capital of a land called Finnland.
Helsinki was founded in 1550 by swedish king Gustav I Vasa, originally ment to compete with baltic as a harbour for russian merchants. The city, however, remained small and poor until 1809, when tsar Aleksander I, by the request of his best frend Napoleon, seized Finland and moved its capital to Helsinki, which is closer to st. Petersburg.
Not long before the russian conquest had the swedes completed the mighty fortress of sveaborg (Viapori in finn.), wich raised the citys political status considerably. Aleksander and his successors also built the city great and filled its centre with palaces and cathedrals. (Maybe filled is not the quite right word, but they built a lot of stuff.)
In 1917, when the russian empire collapsed and Finland gained the long waited independence, Helsinki remained as the capital. When an open civil war broke out between the social classes, Helsinki was taken over by the working class. When the civil war was practically solved after the white (higher social class, the rich people) emerged victorious in the fierce street fighting at the battle of Tampere, Helsinki remained the last red (socialist) stronghold, until it was captured with the assistance of german troops (There are still bullet-sized holes in the door of the finnish national museum).
Yet Helsinki remained the capital of the finnish republic.
When the soviet union invaded in 1939, Helsinki was bombed several times. It also served as the headquarters of marshall Mannerheim, who lead the finns in several battles, which the russians felt humiliating (and for a reason). When the Mannerheim-line in the Kareliya eventually broken, Mannerheim spared Helsinki from conquest by signing a peace-treaty, in wich the soviet union gained "enough land to bury their dead."
Helsinki is located on the southern coast of Finland. It has a population on half a million souls, wich is very high, remembering that the entire Finland only holds the population of c. 5 000 000 people. Helsinki and the surrounding countryside covers all the farming-suitable land in Finland. As the capital it naturally holds the govermental buildings and the presidental palace.
Not much is really left to tell. I live there. The public rapid transit network sucks. And that should be it.
Helsinki was founded in 1550 by swedish king Gustav I Vasa, originally ment to compete with baltic as a harbour for russian merchants. The city, however, remained small and poor until 1809, when tsar Aleksander I, by the request of his best frend Napoleon, seized Finland and moved its capital to Helsinki, which is closer to st. Petersburg.
Not long before the russian conquest had the swedes completed the mighty fortress of sveaborg (Viapori in finn.), wich raised the citys political status considerably. Aleksander and his successors also built the city great and filled its centre with palaces and cathedrals. (Maybe filled is not the quite right word, but they built a lot of stuff.)
In 1917, when the russian empire collapsed and Finland gained the long waited independence, Helsinki remained as the capital. When an open civil war broke out between the social classes, Helsinki was taken over by the working class. When the civil war was practically solved after the white (higher social class, the rich people) emerged victorious in the fierce street fighting at the battle of Tampere, Helsinki remained the last red (socialist) stronghold, until it was captured with the assistance of german troops (There are still bullet-sized holes in the door of the finnish national museum).
Yet Helsinki remained the capital of the finnish republic.
When the soviet union invaded in 1939, Helsinki was bombed several times. It also served as the headquarters of marshall Mannerheim, who lead the finns in several battles, which the russians felt humiliating (and for a reason). When the Mannerheim-line in the Kareliya eventually broken, Mannerheim spared Helsinki from conquest by signing a peace-treaty, in wich the soviet union gained "enough land to bury their dead."
Helsinki is located on the southern coast of Finland. It has a population on half a million souls, wich is very high, remembering that the entire Finland only holds the population of c. 5 000 000 people. Helsinki and the surrounding countryside covers all the farming-suitable land in Finland. As the capital it naturally holds the govermental buildings and the presidental palace.
Not much is really left to tell. I live there. The public rapid transit network sucks. And that should be it.