Finnish Items
World War I (1914-1918)
The region of Finland was a semi-autonomous Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire when World War I began in 1914. The people of Finland decided, in large part, to stay out of the war with only a few thousand volunteering to fight for Russia and Germany. After the 1917 Revolution in Russia the Finnish national assembly demanded greater independence from the provisional Russian government and was denied and dissolved. A second national assembly then declared independence from the Soviet government. The Soviets used the weakened state of Finland’s government to stage a coup on January 28, 1918. Socialist Red Guard militias fought pitched battles against the German backed, anti-Bolshevik White Guard. With support from the German Baltic Division the Finnish White Guard was able to defeat the Reds at the Battle of Viborg on April 28-29, 1917. The German military withdrew shortly after the 1918 Armistice. Throughout 1919 Finland waged small border conflicts with the Soviet Union but was excluded from full participation in the Russian Civil War and only achieved full independence through a Treaty with the Soviet Union in 1920.1
Daniel Roberts
World War II (1939-1945)
In 1939 the Soviet Union put military and diplomatic pressure on the government of Finland to cede land on the Karelian Isthmus. After the Soviet invasion of Poland these border clashes led to an outright Soviet invasion. The subsequent Finnish-Soviet War lasted throughout the winter of 1939-1940. The Finnish army was able to hold off the Soviet forces initially, however by late winter the Soviet regained the upper hand. The Finnish government signed a treaty and was forced to relinquish over 16,000 square miles.2 The war was a complete disaster for the Red Army, which lost over 200,000 men, 700 planes and 1,600 tanks. The Finns lost only 25,000 soldiers, and were only forced to sue for peace when the rest of Europe failed to come to their aid and an even larger Soviet force appeared to be standing on the brink of all out invasion.3
The Finnish government did not forget the invasion of 1939, and in 1941 the Finnish army joined Germany in its invasion of the Soviet Union. As Germany loomed closer to victory outside Moscow during the grim days of October and November 1941, Soviet Premier, Josef Stalin, attempted to make peace with the Finns to alleviate some of the pressure on Soviet defenders. However by this point the Finnish government held expansionist aims and refused a treaty to return to the 1939 border. Great Britain retaliated against the Finns by declaring war in league with Soviet requests. As the war turned in favor of the Soviets, the Finns repeatedly denied ever-greater territorial demands from the U.S.S.R. for peace. During the summer offensive of 1944 Soviet forces positioned on the 1940 border with Finland were poised to invade and conquer the entire country. Finland requested terms for peace and signed an armistice on September 14, 1944. Under these terms Finland returned to the post 1940 boundaries and lost even more territory to the Soviets, who occupied the Petsamo nickel mines and the Porkkala Naval Base. Furthermore, Finland was ordered to pay reparations to the Soviets, cease all diplomatic relations with Germany and intern any German soldier still in Finland.4
Daniel Roberts
