Urho Kekkonen

:Kekkonen redirects here. For the Finnish porn star, see Mariah Kekkonen.

Early political career

Politically, he was a nationalist and his ideological roots lay in the nationalistic student politics of the newly independent Finland and and the redicalism of the right. In 1933, Kekkonen joined the Agrarian League (later renamed the Centre Party). That year he also became a civil servant at the Ministry of Agriculture and made his first attempt to get elected to Parliament.

Related Topics:
Nationalist - Right - 1933 - Agrarian League - Civil servant - Parliament

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His second try to get elected into parliament succeeded in 1936 and he became Interior Minister. Kekkonen also served as Justice Minister from 1937 to 1939, where he commited a procedure that was known as the "Tricks of Kekkonen" (Kekkosen konstit) when he tried to ban the right-wing extremist Patriotic Peoples' Movement (Isänmaallinen Kansanliike, IKL). The procedure was not entirely legal and was halted by the Supreme Court.

Related Topics:
1936 - Interior Minister - Justice Minister - 1937 - 1939

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He was not a member of the cabinets during the Winter War or the Continuation War. He opposed the Moscow peace treaty in Parliament in March 1940 and during the Continuation War, he served as the director of the Karelian Evacuees' Welfare Centre from 1940 to 1943 and as the Ministry of Finance's commissioner for coordination from 1943 to 1945, his task being to rationalise public administration.

Related Topics:
Winter War - Continuation War - 1940 - 1943 - 1945

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In 1945, he again became Minister of Justice and had to deal with the war-responsibility trials. He also served as Speaker of the Eduskunta from 1948 to 1950.

Related Topics:
1945 - War-responsibility trials - Speaker of the Eduskunta - 1948 - 1950

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In the 1950 Presidential election, Kekkonen was chosen as the candidate of the Agrarian Party and conducted a vigorous campaign against the incumbent President Juho Kusti Paasikivi. Kekkonen received 62 votes in the electoral college, while Paasikivi was re-elected with 171. After the election Paasikivi appointed Kekkonen as Prime Minister. In all his four cabinets he emphasized his role to create and maintain friendly relations with the Soviet Union. This was called in foreign countries "Finlandization." He was authoritarian and embarrassed his opponents in public. He was ousted in 1953, although he returned as Prime Minister from 1954 to 1956.

Related Topics:
1950 - Juho Kusti Paasikivi - Electoral college - Cabinet - Soviet Union - Finlandization - 1953 - 1954 - 1956

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