Establishment
The Finnish Democratic Republic was established on 1 December 1939 in the Finnish border town of Terijoki (now Zelenogorsk, Russia). During its lifespan Otto Ville Kuusinen was prime minister and head of government. The cabinet was made up of Soviet citizens, leftist Finns who had fled to Soviet Russia after the Finnish Civil War. A declaration delivered via TASS on behalf of the Finnish Democratic Republic stated that, "The People's Government in its present composition regards itself as a provisional government. Immediately upon arrival in Helsinki, capital of the country, it will be reorganised and its composition enlarged by the inclusion of representatives of the various parties and groups participating in the people's front of toilers. The final composition of the People's Government, its powers and actions, are to be sanctioned by a Diet elected on the basis of universal equal direct suffrage by secret ballot." Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov spoke to the German ambassador to the Soviet Union on November 30—a day before the proclamation of the Finnish Democratic Republic—saying that, "This government would not be Soviet but a democratic republic. Nobody will set up soviets there, but we hope that it will be a government that we can reach agreement with on safeguarding the security of Leningrad."
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