Anti-Finnish sentiment

{{Short description|Hostility, prejudice, discrimination or racism against Finland and Finnish culture}}

Anti-Finnish sentiment (sometimes known as Fennophobia) is the hostility, prejudice, discrimination or racism directed against Finns, Finland, or Finnish culture.

Estonia

In recent{{when|date=January 2023}} years, anti-Finnish sentiment has grown in Estonia, particularly in areas with many Finnish tourists and residents.

Finnish tourists and residents have experienced verbal harassment and at times physical violence.{{cite web | url=https://www.iltalehti.fi/ulkomaat/a/8be4846d-691a-4e98-a24a-f0879e40a6be | title=Jokin Tallinnassa muuttui parissa vuodessa - Vironsuomalaiset ilmapiirin kiristymisestä: "Enää ei arastella sanoa suoraan, jos suomalainen ei miellytä" |work=Iltalehti|lang=fi}}

Norway

Finns have been emigrating to Norway since at least the 11th century. There exists a Finnish minority in Norway, the Kvens. Speaking a Finnish dialect or a closely related Finnic language (their form of speech is now called Kven) was forbidden in Norway, and they experienced discrimination.{{Cite web|date=2008-03-27|title=Suomalaissyntyiset syrjittyinä Norjassa|url=https://www.mtvuutiset.fi/artikkeli/suomalaissyntyiset-syrjittyina-norjassa/1958832|access-date=2021-09-20|website=mtvuutiset.fi|language=fi}} Before WW2, Norway feared mass immigration and invasion from Finland. This was used as an excuse to discriminate against Kvens.{{Cite web|title=Nasjonalbiblioteket|url=https://www.nb.no/items/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2007011501058|access-date=2021-09-20|website=www.nb.no}}

Russia and the Soviet Union

The Russian word {{Lang|ru-latn|chukhna}} ({{wikt-lang|ru|чухна́}}) is a derogatory term for Finnish and Finnic people.{{Cite web|title=Tšuhna|url=https://www.suomisanakirja.fi/tšuhna|access-date=2021-09-20|website=www.suomisanakirja.fi|language=fi}} The ministry for foreign affairs of Russia called for Russians to not use the word.{{Cite web|title=Venäjän ulkoministeriö varoittaa: Älä käytä ryssä-sanaa – älä viittilöi, äläkä melua|url=https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-9527907|access-date=2021-09-20|website=Yle Uutiset|date=24 March 2017 |language=fi}}{{Cite web|last=Savolainen|first=Veikko|date=2017-03-24|title=Venäjän ulkoministeriö varoittaa sanomasta: - Hui, tsuhna ja ryssä!|url=https://puheenvuoro.uusisuomi.fi/rescordis/234108-venajan-ulkoministerio-varoittaa-sanomasta-hui-tsuhna-ja-ryssa/|access-date=2021-09-20|website=Uusi Suomi Puheenvuoro|language=fi}}{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

Ingrian Finns were heavily persecuted in Soviet Russia, including being subject to forced deportations.{{Cite web|date=2016-10-08|title=Inkerin kansan raskas tie – paluumuuton takaraja loppui tänä kesänä|url=https://www.is.fi/kotimaa/art-2000001920852.html|access-date=2021-05-28|website=Ilta-Sanomat|language=fi}} 8,000–25,000 Finns were killed during the Great Purge, including the Finnish Operation of the NKVD. (These numbers are estimates; official numbers might be much higher){{Cite web|url=https://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/art-2000007766248.html|title=Stalinin vainoissa kuolleiden tai kadonneiden suomalaisten vaiheiden selvittämistä jatketaan|date=2021-01-27|access-date=2022-01-06|website=Helsingin Sanomat|last=Torvinen|first=Pekka|language=Finnish}}

Agnessa Haikara wrote a documentary book Who is Knocking at Your Door? about Murmansk Finns and Kola Norwegians repressed in the Soviet Union, for which she was prosecuted in Russia.[https://yle.fi/a/74-20045701?origin=rss В Финляндии вышла запрещенная в РФ книга Агнессы Хайкара о репрессированных кольских финнах]

Sweden

During the 1960s and 1970s, there was a significant influx of Finnish economic migrants into Sweden. Between 1950 and 1980 the number of Finns in Sweden increased from 45,000 to over 300,000.{{cite web|url=https://www.is.fi/kotimaa/art-2000005198557.html|title=Lasse Lehtisen kolumni: Suomensukuisten pakolaisten pahat teot|first=Lasse|last=Lehtinen|date=8 May 2017|website=Ilta-Sanomat}} Attitudes towards Finnish immigrants were quite negative in Sweden. Derogatory expressions {{Lang|sv|en finne igen}} ('yet another Finn') and {{Lang|sv|finnjävel}} (equivalent to 'Finnish bastard' or 'Finnish devil') were commonly used.[https://keskustelu.suomi24.fi/t/5211876/en-finne-igen "En Finne Igen"] suomi24, December 28, 2007{{cite web|url=http://www.migranttales.net/too-many-finnish-politicians-and-parties-are-ignorant-of-their-countrys-migrant-and-refugee-history/|title=Too many Finnish politicians and parties are ignorant of their country's migrant and refugee history|date=September 29, 2014}} An anthology, {{Lang|sv|Finnjävlar}}, was published, in which 15 Finns in Sweden describe their lives and lives of their parents in Sweden.{{cite news|url=https://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=185&artikel=6537429|title=Finnjävlar-antologia kirjoittaa uusiksi Ruotsin suomalaisten historiaa - Sisuradio|first=Sveriges|last=Radio|newspaper=Sveriges Radio|date=10 October 2016}} In Sweden, the Tornedalians were also once seen as an inferior race and speaking Finnish was banned in school.

Both Finnish and Meänkieli (spoken in Meänmaa) became official minority languages of Sweden in 2000, and the Swedish state started an investigation into the historical treatment of Finns and Tornedalians in 2020.{{Cite web|url=https://www.is.fi/ulkomaat/art-2000006406912.html|title = SVT: Ruotsin hallitus selvittää suomalaisvähemmistön kohtelua – Suomalaisille tehtiin pääkallonmittauksia eikä suomen kieltä saanut puhua|date = 14 February 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.iltalehti.fi/ulkomaat/a/c5a9e043-110a-4d5d-88fd-f71fcb7a6954|title=Ruotsi aloittaa selvityksen suomalaisvähemmistön kohtelusta – rotubiologit määrittivät suomalaiset ruotsalaisia alempiarvoisiksi}}

=Finnjävel=

{{Lang|sv|Finnjävel}} (singular) and {{Lang|sv|finnjävlar}} (plural) are derogatory terms used in Sweden for Finnish immigrants, mostly during the 1950s and 1960s. In this context, jävel or djävel, meaning something like 'bastard', is a generic strong insult.{{cite web|url=https://www.helsinkidesignweek.com/series/artisans-created-all-the-plates-and-pieces-for-finnjavel-restaurant/|title=Artisans created all the dishes and other objects for Finnjävel restaurant|date=7 April 2016|website=Helsinki Design Week}}

United States

{{See also|Definitions of whiteness in the United States#Finnish Americans}}

The prominent role of Finnish immigrants in the 1907 and 1916 Mesabi Range strikes in Minnesota led to blacklisting of Finns. It was a time of anti-Finnish sentiment in the area, and one could see signs "No Indians or Finns allowed".{{cite web|last1=Scorich|first1=Jason|title=Mesaba Co-op Park|url=http://www.mnopedia.org/place/mesaba-co-op-park|website=MNopedia|publisher=Minnesota Historical Society|date=January 13, 2016}} They were also involved with the union, which the exploitative mining companies heavily disliked. In response to the union, the Finns earned a bad reputation among the companies. The fact that the Finnish language is a Finno-Ugric language and not related to most other European languages was used as proof that the Finns were not European, and thus fair subjects of discrimination.{{Cite web|date=2015-09-27|title=How Finnish immigrants battled racism to help build America|url=https://inktank.fi/china-swedes-forest-finns-and-the-great-migration-how-finnish-immigrants-helped-build-america/|access-date=2021-09-20|website=Ink Tank|language=en-GB}}{{Cite web|title=MPR: Finland Was a Poor Country|url=http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/199706/10_losurem_finnpoor/finnpoor2.htm|access-date=2021-09-20|website=news.minnesota.publicradio.org}}

= China Swede =

China Swede was a derogatory term used for Finnish immigrants in the United States during the early 1900s,{{cite web|url=http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/199706/10_losurem_finnpoor/finnpoor2.htm |title=MPR: Finland Was a Poor Country |website=News.minnesota.publicradio.org |date=1997-06-10 |access-date=2017-03-01}}{{cite web|last=Nybergh |first=Thomas |url=http://inktank.fi/china-swedes-forest-finns-and-the-great-migration-how-finnish-immigrants-helped-build-america/ |title=How Finnish immigrants battled racism to help build America |website=Inktank.fi |date=2015-09-27 |access-date=2017-03-01}} particularly in northern Minnesota and Upper Michigan.{{cite book|author1=Tristram McPherson|author2=David Plunkett|title=The Routledge Handbook of Metaethics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oBQwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT349|date=24 August 2017|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-351-81791-2|pages=349–}} Another term was roundhead.The Routledge Handbook of Metaethics, 2017, [https://books.google.com/books?id=oBQwDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22China+Swede%22&pg=PT394 p.934][http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/199706/10_losurem_finnpoor/finnpoor2.htm "Finland Was a Poor Country: Part 2 By Mary Losure and Dan Olson June 10, 1997"]

= Jackpine savage =

The term jackpine savage was used in northern Minnesota during the early 1900s, referring to the term Indian savage used for Native Americans. Finnish businesses were also harassed with the pretext that they were illegally dealing liquor to Native Americans.{{cite book|author=David R. Roediger|title=Working Toward Whiteness: How America's Immigrants Became White: The Strange Journey from Ellis Island to the Suburbs|date=8 August 2006 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bO44DgAAQBAJ|publisher=Hachette UK|pages=51–54|isbn=9780786722105 }}