The civil society formation and development in the city of Sortavala (1880-1939)

The article deals with the history of the civil society development in Sortavala at the end of the XIX century and during the period when the city was part of the independent Finland. The year of 1880 was taken as a starting period of our research because a city teachers’ seminary was founded during this year. Its establishment served as a powerful impetus to the formation of the civil society. By the beginning of the Winter War, the civil society in Sortavala was already quite well developed. After the end of the war, in 1940s the city was annexed by the Soviet Union and the Finnish population was completely evacuated. According to the results of our research, during this period the most popular among the city’s residents were sports, music and public educational organizations. The purpose of this article is to identify how the activities of these organizations were formed and changed. The study showed that in the last decades of its ”Finnish period” the city of Sortavala turned into a vibrant cultural and sports center with an active civil society