Dated events associated with this case. Each event is a shared record: the same event appears identically wherever it is relevant.
· Declaration
The Senate of Finland presented a declaration of independence from Russia, asserting Finland's place "as an independent nation at the side of other peoples of the world," which Parliament approved on 6 December 1917.
Significance here: The declaration that began Finland's independence from Russia amid the Russian Revolution.
· Recognition
The Council of People's Commissars of Soviet Russia recognised Finnish independence, a decision confirmed by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, becoming the first state to recognise Finland.
Significance here: The first formal international recognition of Finnish independence, by the state from which Finland had declared independence.
· Recognition
Sweden and France recognised Finnish independence on 4 January 1918, and Germany followed on 6 January 1918.
Significance here: Extended international recognition of Finnish independence in the weeks before civil war broke out.
· Conflict episode
The Finnish Civil War, fought between the Reds and the German- and Swedish-backed Whites from 27 January to 15 May 1918, caused a disputed total of roughly 36,000-38,000 deaths, including thousands of executions and prison-camp deaths after the fighting ended.
Significance here: The internal conflict that followed within weeks of independence, whose casualty toll is not resolved to a single figure.
Dates show their real precision. Approximate or uncertain dates are labelled and never converted into an exact day.