Finland during the Second World War

Résumé du document

On December 6, 1917, Finland benefited from the disorder caused by the Bolshevik Revolution to declare its independence. Finland attached great importance to this independence and attempted to defend it from the vagaries of the Second World War. At the beginning of the war, Finland was a nationalistic, anti-Russian and anti-communist democracy and not a communist or fascist dictatorship. But Finland was trapped between two great powers that had a huge role in the Second World War: the USSR and Germany. Whereas the relations between Germany and Finland were not so bad, those between the Soviet Union and Finland, however, were very tense. Indeed, the two periods of forced Russification and memories of social upheaval during the civil war contributed to a strong mutual distrust. In addition, Stalin feared Nazi Germany attacks, and as the Soviet-Finnish border was located 32 kilometers from Leningrad, Finland could be a perfect base for a German attack. So in 1932, the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact with Finland. The agreement was confirmed in 1934 for a period of ten years. In anticipation of a possible conflict, the Finnish government bought on October 12, 1937, new warplanes to modernize its air force.

In April 1938, the Soviet Union initiated diplomatic negotiations with Finland to try to improve their mutual defense against Germany. The Soviets claimed their main fear of a German attack against Leningrad using Finland as a bridgehead. The situation did not change for a year, while Europe inevitably went toward war. On August 23, 1939, the Third Reich and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. This pact included a secret clause to share in "zones of influence" the countries situated between the two powers. In particular, Finland was in the area allocated to the Soviet Union while Poland was divided into two. In September 1939, Germany invaded Poland, setting off a symmetrical Soviet reaction: the country was divided according to the secret clause of the pact. Finland found itself caught between the USSR which wanted to install bases on its territory, in order to prevent a German invasion and Hitler's Germany that broke the nonaggression pact with the USSR.

Extraits

[...] Then, for Finland, appears the state of war against the USSR . Then Mannerheim, Marshal of the army, forms the army of Karelia and ordered to prepare an attack on Karelia, Ladoga. The Finnish soldiers pierce the Soviet troops and forcing soviets to withdraw. At the end of the summer of 1941, with the capture of Suojärvi, the last city of Ladoga Karelia was conquered by Finland. The East Karelia was occupied by the Finnish army, and with the return of pre-Winter-War borders, the dream of a great Finland is born again in the minds of Finns. [...]

[...] Thus, Finland accepts the idea of ​​cooperating with Germany and began new relations. Then, Finland was a tremendous asset to Hitler in order to attack the USSR. Thus, negotiations took place about a possible passage of German troops in Finland in exchange for weapons and other goods. Moreover, the USSR had also proposed to Finland to install troops on its territory to prevent a Russian invasion. Thus, for the German side and the Russian side, the nonaggression pact seemed broken. [...]

[...] The Winter War. On October the USSR resume the negotiations that it had initiated with Finland in April 1938 in order to prevent a German invasion across Finland. On 14 October, the Soviet foreign minister asked the special envoy of Finland Juho Kusti Paasikivi the lease of the port of Hanko for thirty years, which commanded the entrance to the Gulf of Finland and the Soviets could control it, making impossible its blockade by Nazi Germany. In total km are asked by the USSR to Finland, offering to give it in exchange 5527 km around Repola and Porajàrvi, a sparsely populated region of incomplete Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of Karelia. [...]

[...] Finland's participation in that war brings benefits to Germany. For example, the Finnish front to secure a northern territory where there were German troops. In addition, later, many Soviet soldiers were prisoners of the Finns, and it helped Germany. Moreover, relations between Finland the USSR were bad, and Hitler planned assistance from the Finnish army. In August 1940, Hitler feared that the Soviet Union attacks Finland first, and it is why Hitler removes arms embargo towards Helsinki. The negotiations we discussed above took place to allow a right of passage for German troops on Finnish territory. [...]

[...] It's the beginning of the Lapland War : indeed the Germans retreated from northern Finland to protect some mines, and they are ready to defend themselves. Many battles took place in Lapland. Approximately 100,000 people became refugees. Finally in November 1944, most of Lapland is released. However the German forces have implemented the policy of scorched earth in their retirement more than a third of homes in the area are destroyed, and the capital Rovaniemi was completely destroyed. III/ Finland manage to stay independent. An independence from Germany. [...]