Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg ( , ; 28 January 1865 – 22 September 1952) was a Finnish jurist and academic who was one of the most important pioneers of republicanism in the country. He was the first president of Finland (1919–1925) and a liberal nationalist.

Ståhlberg was an important figure in the drafting of Finland's republican constitution. As a jurist, he anchored the state in liberal democracy, guarded the fragile germ of the rule of law, and embarked on internal reforms. In implementing the form of government of 1919, Ståhlberg piloted an independent Finland towards acting in world politics; in presidential-led foreign and security policy, he relied on international law and diplomacy.

It was only after the opening of private archives of President J. K. Paasikivi that it was realized that Ståhlberg had a very significant political role as an “éminence grise” until his death. He was asked for advice and opinions, which were also followed. Paasikivi highly valued Ståhlberg, and even described his predecessor in exaggerated words: “Ståhlberg was a man who never made mistakes”.

Biography

Early life

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| style="text-align:center;" | Johan Gabriel Ståhlberg<br />(1832–1873)<br />

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Ståhlberg was born in Suomussalmi, in the Kainuu region of the Grand Duchy of Finland, back when Finland was an autonomous principality under the rule of the Russian Empire. He was the second child of Johan (Janne) Gabriel Ståhlberg, an assistant pastor, and Amanda Gustafa Castrén. On both sides of his family, Ståhlberg's male forebears had been Lutheran clergymen. He was christened Carl Johan (), but later Finnicized his forenames to Kaarlo Juho, as did most Fennomans (i.e. the supporters of Finnish language and culture instead of Swedish).

thumb|upright|Young Kaarlo in the 1880s

Ståhlberg and his family lived in Lahti, where he also went for grammar school. Ståhlberg's father died when he was a boy, leaving his family in a difficult financial position. The family moved to Oulu, where the children entered school. Kaarlo's mother Amanda worked to support the family until her death in 1879.

Ståhlberg was inaugurated as the first President of the Republic on the following day, and reluctantly moved out of his home in Helsinki to take up residence in the Presidential Palace.

Ståhlberg had been a widower since 1917, but in 1920, as president, he married his second wife, Ester Hällström (1870–1950). He was also very formal and, due to his shyness, wrote everything he had to say in public beforehand. He also had a distaste for official occasions, and he did not like travel or state visits, which is why, despite invitations and exhortations, he made no visits abroad during his presidency and received only one guest, Estonian President Konstantin Päts in May 1922. The Estonian head of state's visit was the first official visit to independent Finland. Finland's Ambassador to Stockholm, Werner Söderhjelm, repeatedly offered Ståhlberg a visit to its western neighbor Sweden, but Ståhlberg maintained his position:The first official visit of the President of Finland abroad was made only by his successor, President L. K. Relander.

As the first President of the Republic, Ståhlberg had to form various presidential precedents and interpretations of how the office of President should be conducted. His term in office was also marked by a succession of short-lived governments. During his time as president, Ståhlberg nominated and appointed eight governments. These were mostly coalitions of the Agrarians and the National Progressive, National Coalition and Swedish People's parties, although Ståhlberg also appointed two caretaker governments. Importantly, Ståhlberg generally supported all the governments that he nominated, although he also sometimes disagreed with them.

He forced Kyösti Kallio's first government to resign in January 1924, when he demanded early elections to restore the full membership of Parliament – 200 deputies – and Kallio disagreed. The Parliament had lacked 27 deputies since August 1923, when the Communist deputies had been arrested on suspicions of treason.

Ståhlberg supported moderate social and economic reforms to make even the former Reds accept the democratic republic. He pardoned

most of the Red prisoners, despite the strong criticism that this aroused from many right-wing Finns, especially the White veterans

of the Civil War and several senior army officers. He signed into law bills that gave the trade unions an equal power with the employers' organizations to negotiate labour contracts, a bill to improve the public care for the poor, and the Lex Kallio law which distributed land from the wealthy landowners to the former tenant farmers and other landless rural people.

In foreign policy Ståhlberg was markedly reserved towards Sweden, largely as a consequence of the Åland crisis, which marked the early years of his presidency. He was also cautious towards Germany, and generally unsuccessful in his attempts to establish closer contacts with Poland, the United Kingdom and France.

Post-presidential life

thumb|upright|President Ståhlberg and his wife at the [[Helsinki Central Station after kidnapping. In the middle of picture his daughter Elli Ståhlberg stands behind them.]]

Ståhlberg did not seek re-election in 1925, finding his difficult term of office a great strain. He also believed that the right-wing and the monarchists would become more reconciled to the republic if he stepped down. According to the longtime late Agrarian and Centrist politician Johannes Virolainen, he believed that the incumbent president was too much favoured over the other candidates while standing for re-election.

Ståhlberg did not appreciate his presidential successor, Lauri Kristian Relander, at all, because Relander was the almost complete opposite of Ståhlberg. He would have preferred to have seen Risto Ryti as his successor; but when Relander was elected, he muttered:

He was offered the post of Chancellor of the University of Helsinki, but declined it, instead becoming a member of the government's Law Drafting Committee. He also served as a National Progressive member of Parliament again, as a member for the Uusimaa constituency from 1930 to 1933.

In 1930, activists from the right-wing Lapua Movement kidnapped him and his wife, attempting to send them to the Soviet Union, but the incident merely hastened the Lapua Movement's demise.

Ståhlberg was a National Progressive Party candidate in the 1931 Presidential election, eventually losing to Pehr Evind Svinhufvud by only two votes in the third ballot. He was also a candidate in the 1937 election, eventually finishing third.

thumb|Finnish ex-president Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg's birthday reception in 1950. The President-in-office [[J.K. Paasikivi congratulates him.]]

In 1946, Ståhlberg retired and became the legal adviser of President J. K. Paasikivi. Paasikivi often consulted Ståhlberg; for example, under the 1950 presidential election an emergency plan was planned to extend Paasikivi's term in parliament as president, which Ståhlberg condemned angrily in his letter to Paasikivi:Their last discussion occurred less than two weeks before Ståhlberg died. He died on 22 September 1952, and was buried in Helsinki's Hietaniemi cemetery with full honours.

Among Finnish Presidents, Ståhlberg is generally regarded as a moral and principled defender of democracy and of the rule of law, and as the father of the Finnish Constitution. His decision to voluntarily give up the presidency is also seen as a sign that he was not a power-hungry career politician.

In September 1959, a statue in honour of Ståhlberg was unveiled outside the Parliament House in Helsinki. The statue was created by the sculptor Wäinö Aaltonen.

An upcoming comedy film about Ståhlberg kidnapping called The Kidnapping of a President is in the development, and in the film, President Ståhlberg will be played by Pertti Sveholm.

Honours

Awards and decorations

  • : Grand Cross, with Collar, of the Order of the White Rose of Finland (25 July 1919)
  • : Grand Cross of the Order of the White Rose of Finland (16 May 1919)
  • Grand Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta
  • : Cross of Liberty III/1 (14 December 1920)

References

  • K. J. Ståhlberg in The Presidents of Finland