Introduction

The introduction chapter locates the study within its historiographic context at the intersection of the history of modern European shipbuilding and the Cold War studies. The Finnish shipbuilding industry in the second half of the 20th century was part of the global economic and technical development, but the Cold War political considerations, geopolitical restrictions, and economic opportunities shaped the trajectory of industrialisation. The introduction chapter argues that the history of the Finnish shipbuilding was a history of Cold War industrialisation, but the Cold War in a small country and civilian industry presented itself as a different framework than in military powers and strategic industries. The introduction chapter also presents the sources and methodologies used in the study and discusses the special characteristics of source criticism in the Finnish Cold War history.