Socialist Labor Party of Finland

(SLPF; Suomen Sosialistinen Tyovaenpuolue), a party founded in June 1920 on the initiative of the Communist Party of Finland (CPF). The SLPF operated legally, and consequently members of the CPF, which was outlawed, joined it and worked in its directing organs. The party united left-wing forces in the Finnish labor movement. The party’s platform, adopted in 1920, provided for a peaceful transition to socialism. By 1922, the party had 40,000 members. N. Wallari became president of the SLPF in July 1922.

The SLPF led mass political campaigns, such as the “Hands Off Soviet Russia” movement, and was constantly subjected to police repression. In the 1922 elections it won 27 seats in the Finnish Diet. The SLPF was disbanded by the authorities in 1924 and officially banned in 1925.