During the Cold War, the term “Finlandization” was derogatory.
Sharing a 1,300-kilometre border with what was then the Soviet Union, Finland had to endorse (or at least not oppose) the U.S.S.R.’s foreign and military policy in order to retain some semblance of independence.
Finland wasn’t exactly a puppet state, but it wasn’t entirely free, either.
The term became a symbol of capitulation in the face of a powerful nation.
