The National Progressive Party (; ) was a

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

political party in Finland from 1918 to 1951. The party was founded 8 December 1918, after the

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War was a civil war in Finland in 1918 fought for the leadership and control of the country between Whites (Finland), White Finland and the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (Red Finland) during the country's transition fr ...

, by the republican majority of the

Young Finnish Party The Young Finnish Party or Constitutional-Fennoman Party ( or ) was a liberal and nationalist political party in the Grand Duchy of Finland. It began as an upper-class reformist movement during the 1870s and formed as a political party in 1894. ...

and the republican minority of the

Finnish Party The Finnish Party () was a Fennoman conservative political party in the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland and independent Finland. Born out of Finland's language strife in the 1860s, the party sought to improve the position of the Finnish langu ...

(the next day the monarchists of both parties founded the

National Coalition Party The National Coalition Party (NCP; , Kok; , Saml) is a liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative List of political parties in Finland, political party in Finland. It is the current governing political party of Finland. Founded in 1918, the ...

.) In December 1918, the National Progressive Party adopted a social liberal programme that contained a wide range of progressive proposals. Amongst others, these included land reform, state job creation work and unemployment schemes, state participation in the provision of housing-building schemes and compulsory sickness insurance pensions, legislation guaranteeing contracts, conditions of work and a minimum wage, and a progressive income and wealth tax to pay for this social reform programme. As noted by one study, “The spirit of the NPP’s programme, in short, was clearly that of social liberalism.” Later programmes adopted by the National Progressive Party contained a number of reformist proposals as well.National Progressive Party programmes from 1918-1945 (In Finnish)
/ref> Famous members of the party included

Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg 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 ...

and

Risto Ryti Risto Heikki Ryti (; 3 February 1889 – 25 October 1956) was a Finnish people, Finnish politician who served as the fifth president of Finland from 1940 to 1944. Ryti started his career as a politician in the field of economics and as a politica ...

, the first and fifth

Presidents of Finland The president of the Republic of Finland (; ) is the head of state of Finland. The incumbent president is Alexander Stubb, since 1 March 2024. He was elected president for the first time in 2024. The president is directly elected by universa ...

, and

Sakari Tuomioja Sakari Severi Tuomioja (29 August 1911, Tampere – 9 September 1964, Helsinki) was a Finnish politician and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of Finland between 1953–1954 and as Minister for Foreign Affairs between 1951–1952 and as th ...

. The National Progressive Party finished its existence in early 1951, as most of its active members had joined the

People's Party of Finland Liberal People's Party (from 2001 ''Liberals''; ) was a Conservative liberalism, conservative-Liberalism and centrism in Finland, liberal List of political parties in Finland, political party in Finland, founded in 1965 as a reunification of the P ...

. A minority group including Sakari Tuomioja founded the Liberal League.

Election results

References

1918 establishments in Finland 1951 disestablishments in Finland Finland 1918 Defunct political parties in Finland Liberal parties in Finland Radical parties Political parties disestablished in 1951 Political parties established in 1918 Political parties of the Russian Revolution {{Europe-liberal-party-stub