Saturday, April 21, 2007

Finland Agrarian reform

During the interwar years Finland, to a much greater extent than the rest of the Nordic countries, was an agrarian country. In 1918, 70 percent of the population was employed in agriculture and forestry, and by 1940 the figure was still as high as 57 percent. Paper and wooden articles were Finland's most important export commodities. By the Smallholdings Law of 1918 and by land reform in 1922, which allowed the expropriation of estates of more than 495 acres (200 hectares), an attempt was made to give tenant farmers and landless labourers their own smallholdings. More than 90,000 smallholdings were created, and since then the independent smallholders, who form the majority of the Agrarian Party (now the Centre Party), have been a major factor in Finnish politics.
www.britannica.com/eb/article-26099/Finland

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