"This is Helsinki" a Helsinki Travel Page by Jarra

The town of Helsinki was founded by King Gustavus Vasa of Sweden as a new trading post in southern Finland and a competitor to Tallinn in Estonia, the Hanseatic city on the opposite shore of the Gulf of Finland. Growth was slow, for despite the King's order, the medieval trading traditions were slow to change.

Russia's growing power in the 18th century and the founding of its new capital, St. Petersburg, not far from the Finnish border in 1703 were to have a decisive influence on the growth and future of the Finnish capital. In 1808 Sweden was forced to declare war on Russia as a result of the power politics of Napoleon and tsar Alexander I. Helsinki was occupied in the early days of the war and the Suomenlinna fortress surrendered. Finland was annexed to Russia as an Autonomous Grand Duchy in 1809.

For the town founded by Gustavus Vasa, the war was a major turning point. Helsinki was proclaimed the Finnish capital in 1812 and Finland's only university, which had been founded in Turku in 1640, was transferred to Helsinki in 1812.Helsinki soon became an administrative, university and garrison town, and the biggest industrial city in the land. By the beginning of the 20th century it had a population of over 100,000.

Finland declared its independence in 1917. This was immediately followed by civil war. At the end of January 1918, the government was forced to flee Helsinki. In May 1918 the war ended with victory for the government troops, led by General C.G.E. Mannerheim (1867-1951). The end of the war posed many challenges for the capital of the young, independent republic.

The independent republic developed briskly during the 1920s. The architecture of the 1920s and 1930s was marked by classicism and functionalism and was manifest in the new districts of T??l?. Helsinki Olympic Stadium was completed in 1938, but the games were postponed due to the war; Helsinki went on to host the games in 1952.

Finland became a member of the European Union in 1995, once again marking the start of a new era for the capital. Helsinki was one of the nine European Cities of Culture for the year 2000. In that year Helsinki celebrated its 450th anniversary, too.