1939 Finnish parliamentary election

General election Finland state-1920 parliamentary 1936 Finnish parliamentary election 1936 1945 Finnish parliamentary election 1945 All 200 seats in the Parliament of Finland 101 1–2 July 1939 130x130px Kaarlo Harvala 1927.jpg Kaarlo Harvala Social Democratic Party of Finland 83 seats, 38.59% 85 515,980 39.77% 2 1.18pp Pekka Ville Heikkinen, 1958 (cropped).jpg Pekka Heikkinen Agrarian League (Finland) 53 seats, 22.41% 56 296,529 22.86% 3 0.45pp Pekka Pennanen (cropped).jpg Pekka Pennanen National Coalition Party 20 seats, 10.36% 25 176,215 13.58% 5 3.22pp Sisäministeri Ernst_von Born 30.3.1940 (cropped).jpg Ernst von Born Swedish People's Party of Finland 21 seats, 11.20% 18 3 124,720 9.61% 1.59pp Vilho Annala portrait (cropped).jpg Vilho Annala IKL 14 seats, 8.34% 8 86,219 6.68% 6 1.66pp Aimo Cajander in 1939 (cropped).jpg Aimo Cajander National Progressive Party (Finland) 7 seats, 6.28% 6 62,387 4.81% 1 1.47pp Party of Smallholders and Rural People 2 seats, 2.60% 2 0 27,783 2.14% 0.46pp Aimo Cajander Prime Minister National Progressive Party (Finland) Prime Minister after election Aimo Cajander National Progressive Party (Finland) Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 1 and 2 July 1939.Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p606 978-3-8329-5609-7 Following the elections, the National Progressive Party-led government of Aimo Cajander continued in office. However, he was replaced by Risto Ryti's Progressive-led war government in December 1939. Background The leading issues were the distribution of the growing prosperity's benefits, the prospects for the centre-left coalition government's continuation, the right-wing opposition's criticism of the government's numerous and allegedly poorly prepared legislative proposals, and the Finnish national security under the threat of World War II. Prime Minister Cajander opposed the notable increase of defence spending before the elections, because that would require raising taxes. Finance Minister Väinö Tanner and Governor of the Bank of Finland, Risto Ryti, opposed the taking of a foreign loan to buy modern military equipment for the Finnish army, although the Finnish national debt in 1939 was among the lowest in the Western world. Most Finnish voters were apparently satisfied with the centre-left Cajander government's performance, because it received almost three-quarters of the seats. The voter turnout was the highest of the Finnish parliamentary elections of the 1920s and 1930s.Seppo Zetterberg et al., eds., A Small Giant of the Finnish History / Suomen historian pikkujättiläinen, Helsinki: WSOY, 2003Sakari Virkkunen, Finland's Presidents I / Suomen presidentit I, Helsinki: WSOY, 1994Martti Turtola, Risto Ryti: A Life for the Fatherland / Elämä isänmaan puolesta, Helsinki: Otava, 1994 Results File:1939 Eduskunta.svg Social Democratic Party 515980 85 +2 Agrarian League 296529 56 +3 National Coalition Party 176215 25 +5 Swedish People's Party 124720 18 –3 Patriotic People's Movement 86219 8 –6 National Progressive Party 62387 6 –1 Party of Smallholders and Rural People 27783 2 0 Swedish Left 5980 0 0 Others 1506 0 – 0 5029 1956807 Tilastokeskus 2004Tiedosto "595. Eduskuntavaalit 1927–2003 (Tilastokeskus 2004) References Category:Parliamentary elections in Finland Parliament Finland