Finland 1917 and Ireland 1922

Both states ran parts of a government before they were independent. Finland had a century of home institutions. Ireland built a parallel government, with its own courts and a public bond, while still under British rule.

Why it matters: both built courts, money and a parliament before independence, and Ireland's were paid for by ordinary people and the diaspora.

Finland

• Built before independence: a Finnish-run Senate from 1809, its own currency (the markka) from 1860, Finnish as an official language from 1863, its own army around 1869 (dissolved by Russia in 1901), and a one-chamber parliament elected by universal suffrage, including women, in 1906. Grand Duchy of Finland
• Day one: Parliament approved the Declaration of Independence on 6 December 1917, with these institutions already working.

Ireland

Parallel government, 1919 to 1922

• Public bond (the Dáil loan): approved 4 April 1919 for £250,000. It raised £371,849, almost 50% over target. A separate loan in the US raised £1.1 million, but only about half reached Ireland. Banks were excluded, and it was sold to ordinary people. The campaign used 2 million leaflets, 500,000 prospectuses, 50,000 letters to wealthy people, newspaper ads and a film. Every subscription got an official receipt. Accounts were coded and kept in trusted friends' names because of raids. Irish Times
• Bond terms: 20 years at 5% interest, payable six months after international recognition. In 1924 the new state approved repayment in full with interest.
• What the money paid for: a small secretariat (seven staff by June 1919), new departments, ministers' pay, offices, diplomats abroad, the court system and defence.
• Parallel courts (Dáil Courts): set up by decree on 29 June 1920. About 900 parish courts and 77 district courts, plus four circuits and a supreme court. They applied the law as it stood on 21 January 1919 plus new Dáil decrees. Women could be judges. Republican police enforced them. Dáil Courts
• Hand-over: the parallel courts were wound up from 1922, pending cases were cleared by commissioners over two years, and the Courts of Justice Act 1924 created the court system that still largely exists.

After independence Irish Free State

• Day one: the treaty was ratified on 7 January 1922 and a Provisional Government was formed under Michael Collins. The Free State was established on 6 December 1922.
• Foreign affairs: joined the League of Nations on 10 September 1923.
• Defence: after the civil war, the military budget was cut by 82% from 1924 to 1929, and active forces fell from 28,000 to 7,000.
• Treasury: the Currency Act 1927 created its own pound, pegged one-to-one with sterling. New coins came out in December 1928.