Word: finlandization
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Denmark, Norway and Finland have prospered similarly, and in decades of unbroken Socialist rule they have also developed egalitarian, secure societies, virtually unscarred by slums, unemployment, curable disease and illiteracy. To Danes, their aim is to ensure "the greatest possible happiness for the greatest number of people"; to Norwegians, to guarantee "security regardless of personal success...
Nowhere else in Europe does good design make itself so universally felt. The north has produced few great artists of the stature of Edvard Munch; but architects such as Finland's Alvar Aalto and Denmark's Arne Jacobsen are among the world's most admired. Dozens of northern artisans-ceramists, glass blowers, weavers, cabinetmakers and silversmiths-have made Scandinavia an international synonym for elegant functionalism. Whether in a car or a carpet, Scandinavian artisans at their best blend traditionally solid craftsmanship with a daring use of form or clever technique...
...Scandinavia's royal families have played an influential part in the north's emergence from the traditional isolationism that ended with World War II. Since then, Norway and Denmark have bound themselves to Europe as charter members of NATO and EFTA, the Outer Seven trading bloc. Finland, Russia's only European neighbor that has not been plucked behind the Iron Curtain, has meticulously observed the neutrality agreement imposed on its government by Moscow after its valiant defense against the Red army. Nonetheless, the Finns are also associated with EFTA and have strong economic and emotional ties...
...fled to Moscow in 1921 when a Russian-model Bolshevik revolution was crushed in his own country, became secretary of the Comintern, then returned home to rule over fellow Finns as puppet president of the 68,900-sq.-mi. Karelo-Finnish Republic, carved out of the eastern portion of Finland by Russia during World War II. His shrewd bet on Khrushchev in the post-Stalin power struggles won him a return ticket to Moscow in 1956, a seat at the very top a year later, and finally that ultimate accolade of Communism, a niche for his ashes in the Kremlin...
...sped across Germany, Lenin telegraphed orders to his lieutenants. In Stockholm, there was a hasty meeting with Red agents, and time to buy an overcoat and a pair of shoes. Next evening, at twilight, the train pulled into St. Petersburg's dingy Finland Station, and Lenin stepped to the platform, unsure whether he was to be welcomed or arrested...