Deutschland, Deutschland über alles : Tysk föreningsverksamhet i Finland och Sverige 1910-1950

The voluntary associations dealt with in this dissertation were ethnic clubs and societies promoting the interests of German immigrants in Finland and Sweden. The associations were founded at the end of the 19th century as well as at the beginning of the 20th century during a time in which migration was high, the civil society grew rapidly and nationalism flourished. The work includes over 70 different associations in Finland and Sweden with a number of members ranging from ten to at most 2, 500. The largest and most important associations were situated in Helsinki and Stockholm where also most of the German immigrants lived. The main aim of this work is to explore to what extent and how the changes in government in Germany during 1910 to 1950 were reflected in the structures and participants, financial resources and meeting places, networks and activities of the German associations in Finland and Sweden. The study also deals with how a collective German national identity was created within the German associations. The period between 1910 and 1950 has been described by Hobsbawm as the apogee of nationalism. Nationalism and transnationalism are therefore key elements in the work. Additionally the research deals with theories about associations, networking and identity. The analysis is mostly based on minutes of meetings, descriptions of festivities, annual reports and historical outlines about the associations. Archival sources from the German legations, the German Foreign Office, and Finnish and Swedish officials such as the police and the Foreign Offices are also used. The study shows that the collective national identity in the associations during the Weimar Republic mostly went back to the time of the Wilhelmine Empire. It is argued that this fact, the cultural propaganda and the aims of the Weimar Republic to strengthen the contacts between Germany and the German associations abroad, and the role of the German legations and envoys finally helped the small groups of NSDAP to infiltrate, systematically coordinate and finally centralize the German associational life in Finland and Sweden. The Gleichschaltung did not go as smoothly as the party wanted, though. There was a small but consistent opposition that continued to exist in Finland until 1941 and in Sweden until 1945. The collective national identity was displayed much more in Sweden than in Finland, where the associations kept a lower profile. The reasons for the profile differences can be found in the smaller number of German immigrants in Finland and the greater German propaganda in Sweden, but also in the Finnish association act from 1919 and the changes in it during the 1920s and 1930s. Finally, the research shows how the loss of two world wars influenced the associations. It argues that 1918 made the German associations more vulnerable to influence from Germany, whereas 1945 brought the associational life back to where it once started as welfare, recreational and school associations.

Endemic malaria: an 'indoor' disease in northern Europe

Background: Endemic northern malaria reached 68°N latitude in Europe during the 19th century, where the summer mean temperature only irregularly exceeded 16°C, the lower limit needed for sporogony of Plasmodium vivax. Because of the available historical material and little use of quinine, Finland was suitable for an analysis of endemic malaria and temperature. Methods: Annual malaria death frequencies during 1800–1870 extracted from parish records were analysed against long-term temperature records in Finland, Russia and Sweden. Supporting data from 1750–1799 were used in the interpretation of the results. The life cycle and behaviour of the anopheline mosquitoes were interpreted according to the literature. Results: Malaria frequencies correlated strongly with the mean temperature of June and July of the preceding summer, corresponding to larval development of the vector. Hatching of imagoes peaks in the middle of August, when the temperature most years is too low for the sporogony of Plasmodium. After mating some of the females hibernate in human dwellings. If the female gets gametocytes from infective humans, the development of Plasmodium can only continue indoors, in heated buildings. Conclusion: Northern malaria existed in a cold climate by means of summer dormancy of hypnozoites in humans and indoor transmission of sporozoites throughout the winter by semiactive hibernating mosquitoes. Variable climatic conditions did not affect this relationship. The epidemics, however, were regulated by the population size of the mosquitoes which, in turn, ultimately was controlled by the temperatures of the preceding summer.