In this study we elaborate on the IB research that has emphasized the importance of acknowledging contexts in theorizing about firm internationalization. We discuss two major theories in IB, the Uppsala model and the INV theory, with attention to their contexts and their takes of context as well as the ways in which IB research more widely has considered the contextuality of these theories. By applying contextual explanation, we then analyze the internationalization of a firm that developed from a small INV into an MNC in Finland, which developed together with the evolution of the company from a poor peasant-based society experiencing several wars, protectionism, and different economic cycles during its way into a welfare nation and a member of EU. We utilize company archives and rich secondary materials to embed the firm’s internationalization in its historical contexts. We debate the Uppsala model and the INV model as explanations of the 150 years’ storyline over time and show how firm internationalization is intertwined with changes in the historical contexts.