Kyösti Kallio

Kyösti Kallio
Kallio in 1937
4th President of Finland
In office 1 March 1937 – 19 December 1940
Prime Minister	Aimo Cajander Risto Ryti
Preceded by	Pehr Evind Svinhufvud
Succeeded by	Risto Ryti
9th, 13th, 17th and 22nd Prime Minister of Finland
In office 7 October 1936 – 15 February 1937
President	Pehr Evind Svinhufvud
Preceded by	Toivo Mikael Kivimäki
Succeeded by	Aimo Cajander
In office 16 August 1929 – 4 July 1930
President	Lauri Kristian Relander
Preceded by	Oskari Mantere
Succeeded by	Pehr Evind Svinhufvud
In office 31 December 1925 – 13 December 1926
President	Lauri Kristian Relander
Preceded by	Antti Tulenheimo
Succeeded by	Väinö Tanner
In office 14 November 1922 – 18 January 1924
President	Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg
Preceded by	Aimo Cajander
Succeeded by	Aimo Cajander
11th, 13th, 16th, 19th, 21st and 24th Speaker of the Finnish Parliament
In office 21 October 1930 – 8 October 1936
Preceded by	Juho Sunila
Succeeded by	Väinö Hakkila
In office 1 February 1929 – 16 August 1929
Preceded by	Paavo Virkkunen
Succeeded by	Paavo Virkkunen
In office 3 September 1927 – 31 January 1928
Preceded by	Paavo Virkkunen
Succeeded by	Paavo Virkkunen
In office 2 May 1924 – 31 March 1925
Preceded by	Paavo Virkkunen
Succeeded by	Wäinö Wuolijoki
In office 6 September 1922 – 14 November 1922
Preceded by	Wäinö Wuolijoki
Succeeded by	Wäinö Wuolijoki
In office 8 May 1920 – 29 March 1921
Preceded by	Lauri Kristian Relander
Succeeded by	Wäinö Wuolijoki
Personal details
Born	(1873-04-10)10 April 1873 Ylivieska, Grand Duchy of Finland, Russian Empire
Died	19 December 1940(1940-12-19) (aged 67) Helsinki, Finland
Political party	Agrarian
Spouse	Kaisa Nivala
Children	6
Occupation	Farmer Bank clerk
Signature

Kyösti Kallio (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈkyø̯sti ˈkɑlːio], 10 April 1873 – 19 December 1940) was a Finnish politician who served as the fourth president of Finland from 1937 to 1940. His presidency included leading the country through the Winter War; while he relinquished the post of commander-in-chief to Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, he played a role as a spiritual leader. After the war, he became both the first President of Finland to resign and the only one to die in office, dying of a heart attack while returning home after submitting his resignation.

Kallio was the only president of Finland who did not have an academic or similar degree. He was a prominent leader of the Agrarian League party, and served as Prime Minister four times and Speaker of the Parliament six times. During his political career, he also served as a five-time Minister of Agriculture for most of the period between 1917 and 1922, including in the Independence Senate and the Civil War-era White cabinet, led a 1922 land reform to aid tenant farmers in acquiring their own land, and was a candidate in the 1931 presidential election before defeating incumbent president Pehr Evind Svinhufvud in the subsequent elections of 1937.

Biography

Early life

Kyösti Kallio, originally Gustaf Kalliokangas (forename Finland Swedish pronunciation: [ˈɡʉstɑːf], surname Finnish pronunciation: [ˈkɑlːioˌkɑŋːɑs]), was born in Ylivieska, Grand Duchy of Finland, which was an autonomous region of the Russian Empire at the time. His father Mikko Kalliokangas was a farmer and prominent local politician. Young Kyösti's life also included his father's unmarried and childless cousin, Anttuuna Kangas, or aunt Anttuuna, who arranged for the boy to go to Raahe's junior high school in 1886. After that, he was educated in Oulu where he became acquainted with Santeri Alkio, author and future ideologue of the Agrarian League.

Start of career

Kallio entered politics during the first Russification campaign of Finland as a member of the Young Finnish Party. He served in the Diet of Finland from 1904 to 1906 as a member of the Estate of the Peasantry. He joined the newly founded Agrarian League in 1906 and became one of its most prominent leaders.

Finland gains independence

After the February Revolution of 1917 dethroned Tsar Nicholas II, the Russian provisional government tasked Vice Admiral Adrian Nepenin with overseeing the change of government in Finland. Nepenin started by inviting a handful of Finnish politicians to discuss the situation on March 17. Kallio represented the Agrarian League; and when the Finnish politicians the next day sent a delegation to Saint Petersburg to negotiate a cessation to the Russification campaign, Kallio was again a member. The delegation was successful, and Finland was permitted to assemble a fully parliamentary Senate. Kallio came to serve as Agrarian minister in the Senate of Oskari Tokoi, which took office March 26. Most of his time was spent trying to mediate the agrarian strikes and finding foodstuffs for the country, while the First World War raised the prices in Europe.

After the Tsar had been dethroned, the Finnish Parliament had to decide whether the highest authority in the country had passed on to the Russian Provisional Government, the Finnish Parliament, or the Finnish Senate. The question led to serious strife between the right-wing and left-wing elements of the Parliament. Kallio initially supported the socialists in demanding that power transfer to the Parliament, but disapproved of their cooperation with Russian Bolsheviks and Mensheviks; and Kallio ultimately voted against the bill they had drafted. Nonetheless, the socialist proposal passed, which the Russian Provisional Government saw as an affront to their power; and Alexander Kerensky consequently dissolved the Finnish Parliament on September 8. Kallio and the Socialist senators resigned from the senate, which continued to operate under the leadership of E. N. Setälä.

After the October Revolution, the Finnish bourgeoisie were willing to compromise and give parliament the highest authority fearing Bolshevik rule would spread to Finland. Setälä's Senate resigned immediately after the question was settled. Kallio was again named Agrarian Minister in the Senate of P. E. Svinhufvud whose first priority was to declare Finland independent. On December 4 the Senate introduced a declaration of independence to the Parliament; and the next day Kallio wrote a resolution, which the Parliament passed with votes 100–88.

Civil war

During the Civil War in Finland, Kallio hid in red-dominated Helsinki, because he was at least nominally on the white side and therefore a "class enemy"; he formed a new senate (government) in Helsinki after German troops had defeated the reds in the city. Afterwards he became a moderate peace-maker and disapproved of retaliation against the reds. In his reconciliation speech in Nivala, Kallio said the following:

We have to create a Finland where there are no reds or whites, but only Finns who love their country, citizens of the Republic of Finland, who all feel like members of society and enjoy themselves here.

Formation of the republic

During the debates over the form of the new state in 1918, Kallio resigned from the senate because he supported a republic instead of constitutional monarchy. Eventually, the monarchist stand lost, and he returned to the Cabinet to become prime minister. He was a reformist who emphasized education, settlement, and land reform. His greatest achievement was "Lex Kallio" in 1922, legislation allowing the state to buy land to encourage new settlements, and to let the former tenant farmers and other landless rural people buy small farms (see, for example, Seppo Zetterberg et al., ed., "Suomen historian pikkujättiläinen").

Supported prohibition

He supported prohibition in Finland, and was dismayed when it was repealed in 1932.

Non-violent anti-communist

Kallio was an anti-communist, suppressing the Communist Party of Finland (SKP) in 1923. However, he resorted to legislative methods. When the violent right-wing Lapua Movement asked him to become their leader, he refused and was then instead subjected to their death threats.

President

Kallio was elected president with the votes of a centrist (Agrarian and Progressive) and social democratic coalition, which wanted to ensure that President Svinhufvud would not be re-elected. Kallio took the role of a parliamentarian president and avoided use of his personal power.

On the eve of the Winter War, when Marshal Mannerheim once again threatened to resign from his post as chairman of Finland's Defence Council due to a schism with the cabinet, Kallio convinced him to stay. During the war Kallio resisted the idea of giving up any territory to the Soviet Union, but was forced to agree to sign the Moscow Peace Treaty in 1940. His health began to fail – and his right arm was paralyzed – He was not active in the dealings with Germany leading to the Continuation War. On 27 August Kallio suffered a serious stroke. Prime Minister Risto Ryti took over his duties. Kallio's heart became weak while he knowingly took risks by agreeing to the formal farewell ceremonies.

Resignation and death

Kallio (centre, at the front) together with Mannerheim (left of Kallio) at the Helsinki railway station on December 19, 1940. Kallio had a fatal heart attack a few seconds after this photograph was taken by Hugo Sundström.

Kallio left a notice of resignation on 27 November 1940. He was planning to leave the capital and retire to his farm at Nivala after the farewell ceremonies on the evening of 19 December 1940; but he collapsed and died that night at the Helsinki Central Railway Station in the arms of his adjutant before a guard of honour while a band played the patriotic Finnish march Porilaisten marssi. One story tells that Kallio died in the arms of Marshal Mannerheim, but this is most likely part of the construction of Mannerheim's personal cult. In reality, Kallio died in the arms of his adjutant Aladár Paasonen and colonel A. F. Airo.

Religious views

President Kyösti Kallio playing tennis at Kultaranta

A significant part of Kallio's personality and a motive for the social reforms which he supported and promoted was his deep Christian faith, which he had adopted already at home, and which was deepened during his marriage to Kaisa Nivala, who was also a devout Christian. Although Kallio was often too busy to go to church, he prayed often when encountering difficulties in making political decisions, and some of these prayers he recorded in his diary. He also read Christian books with his wife and often discussed them by exchanging letters. He often referred to God in his speeches, and during the Winter War he asked the Finns who were serving their country to read the Bible. When he was forced to sign the harsh Moscow Peace Treaty in March 1940, Kallio quoted freely from the Book of Zechariah, saying:

"May my hand, which is forced to sign such a paper, wither."

His right arm was paralysed the following summer, and he was forced to switch his writing hand. In the Presidential Palace, shortly before leaving for Helsinki Central Railway Station for the last time, Kallio sang a hymn with his family.

Supplemental biography

Kyösti Kallio was deeply religious - he came from a pietist family - and was an absolute teetotaller. In 1932 he took the repellation of prohibition in Finland that had been in force since 1919 as a personal defeat. When Kallio was visiting the parliament of Hungary in his role as speaker of the parliament of Finland, he caused a complete shock to his hosts by requesting milk to drink at the official banquet. When Kallio became president, the largest change in the presidential palace in Finland was the complete stop of serving alcoholic beverages in all events. In addition, there was no dancing at any Indendence Day Reception during Kallio's time as president. When appointing Kaarlo Hillilä as the governor of the Lapland Province Kallio made him promise not to drink any alcohol. Kaisa Kallio's loom was taken into the presidential palace into the same room where Ellen Svinhufvud's loom had been taken away from shortly before.

When a condolence petition was being assembled in Nivala in 1904 in memory of the recently assassinated governor-general Nikolay Bobrikov, Kallio snatched the paper from the hand of the petitioner, tore it into pieces in front of him and threw it into the fire.

Kallio's religiousness and abstinence from alcohol gave him an image of a solemn and narrow-minded person. However, his close friends have described him as a social person who understood intelligent wordplay. In appropriate company, Kallio indulged in good-natured humour. In his youth, Kallio's favourite sport was cross-country skiing, and he won numerous prizes in skiing competitions. In his older years, Kallio raised racehorses, and even in his years as a government minister he successfully took part in races. In addition to this, Kallio had time to attend theatre plays and concerts.

In popular culture

Kallio was played by Ossi Ahlapuro in the 2001 television film Valtapeliä elokuussa 1940, directed by Veli-Matti Saikkonen.

Gallery

• 
  Kallio and Juho Niukkanen in 1920s.
• 
  Kallio speaking on the radio in 1930s.
• 
  Kallio in his office.
• 
  president Svinhufvud, president Kallio and marshal Mannerheim
• 
  Kallio stepping out of his car; Marshal Mannerheim stands left from him.
• 
  Kallio giving his New Year's speech in 1940.
• 
  The funeral of President Kyösti Kallio in 1940

Cabinets

• Kallio I Cabinet
• Kallio II Cabinet
• Kallio III Cabinet
• Kallio IV Cabinet

Kyösti Kallio
Armiger	Kyösti Kallio

Honours

Postage stamp of President Kallio from 1973.

Awards and decorations

• Grand Cross of the Order of the White Rose (Finland)
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Cross of Liberty
• Knight of the Order of the Seraphim (Sweden)
• Order of the Polar Star (Sweden)
• Order of the Falcon (Iceland)
• Collar of the Order of the White Star
• Cross of Liberty Military Leadership (Estonia)
• Cross of Liberty Civilian Service (Estonia)
• Order of the Cross of the Eagle
• Order of the Estonian Red Cross
• Order of the Three Stars (Latvia)
• Order of Merit (Hungary)
• Order of Polonia Restituta

External links

• Newspaper clippings about Kyösti Kallio in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW
• Kyösti Kallio in The Presidents of Finland