Country: Russia
Group: Karelian
Date Finalized: Spring 2024
Team: Esha Kubavat (lead), Kate Edwards, Hajer Rahee, Julia Curtiss, Monica Hallock, Brandon Neverez
Content Warning: Forced Away
Approximate Time Period: 1900s-1990s
The Karelian people are an ethnic minority group in Russia. Karelia is a region that borders Finland. Since the early 1900’s, the Finnish and Russian governments have fought over the Karelian region (Minority Rights Group, 2020). In the 1920’s, the Karelian people fled Russia and moved into Finland and later Sweden because of poor treatment by the Russian government (Jalagin, 2021). In 1940, after Russia annexed Finnish territory, around 420,000 Karelian people were forced to leave Russia and were resettled them in Finland (Carlson, 2003). The Karelian people are currently working within the Russian government to support their indigenous languages and cultures. They are registered in the Russian government as a ‘foreign agent’ and aim to regain their cultural agency (Minority Rights Group, 2020).
Data Quality: The data quality for the Karelian forced away write-up is rated a 3 because of the amount of evidence and peer-reviewed academic journals articles.
Sources
- Minority Rights Group. (2020). Karelians. Minority Rights Group. Retrieved April 12, 2023, from https://minorityrights.org/minorities/karelians/
- Carlson, C. (2003). Finland: Soviet Annexation of Karelia Still a Taboo Subject. Radio Free Europe. Retrieved April 12, 2023 from https://www.rferl.org/a/1103688.html#:~:text=The%20entire%20population,annexation%20of%20Karelia
- Jalagin, S. (2021). Nimble Nationalism: Transgenerational Experiences of East Karelian Refugees in Finland and Sweden. Springer. Retrieved April 12, 2023 from https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-69882-9_11