History: World War II Photography, Finnish Defense Forces, Finland

Furthermore, during the first several centuries of the Swedish expansion to the traditional lands of the Finns - up to the 16th century and beyond - only the south-western parts of the area known today as Finland (then the lands of the Finns reached also beyond today's borders of the Republic of Finland) had been reached by the Swedish expansion and thus had become part of the Swedish realm.
From 1352 until 1808 Finland was officially an integral part of the Swedish Realm, including first only the south-western lands inhabited by the Finns but expanding east as time went by.
Finnish soldiers fought in at least 38 known wars of Sweden, all of them having something to do with either power struggles within the Swedish royal family or struggles between Sweden and other nations.