Finland's withdrawal from the war and the Lapland War. Soviet-Finnish War (1941-1944) Finnish-Soviet War 1941 1945

On August 18, 1940, military cooperation between Finland and Germany began.
On September 12, 1940, Finland and Germany agreed on the possibility of transit flights of the German Air Force through Finnish territory.
On October 1, 1940, an agreement was concluded between Finland and Germany on the supply of German weapons to the Finnish army. Before January 1, 1941, 327 artillery pieces, 53 fighters, 500 anti-tank rifles and 150,000 anti-personnel mines were delivered.
Supplies also came from the USA - 232 artillery pieces.
Since January 1941, 90% of Finland's foreign trade was oriented towards Germany.
In the same month, Germany brought to the attention of the Finnish leadership its intention to attack the USSR.

Review of Finnish troops. Spring 1941

On January 24, 1941, the Finnish parliament adopted a law on conscription, which increased the period of service in the regular troops from 1 to 2 years, and the conscription age was lowered from 21 to 20 years. Thus, in 1941 there were 3 conscripts of active military service at once.

On March 10, 1941, Finland received an official proposal to send its volunteers to the newly formed SS units and in April gave its positive response. An SS battalion (1,200 people) was formed from Finnish volunteers, which in 1942 - 1943. participated in battles against units of the Red Army on the Don and in the North Caucasus.

On May 30, 1941, the Finnish leadership developed a plan for the annexation of the so-called territory. "Eastern Karelia", which was part of the USSR (Karelo-Finnish SSR). Professor Jalmari Jaakkola, commissioned by the Finnish government, wrote a book-memoir “The Eastern Question of Finland”, which substantiated Finland’s claims to part of the territory of the USSR. The book was published on August 29, 1941.

In June 1941, the Finnish army received 50 anti-tank guns from Germany.

On June 4, 1941, in Salzburg, an agreement was reached between the Finnish and German commands that Finnish troops would enter the war against the USSR 14 days after the start of the Soviet-German military campaign.

On June 6, at the German-Finnish negotiations in Helsinki, the Finnish side confirmed its decision to participate in the impending war against the USSR.

On the same day, German troops (40,600 people) entered Finnish Lapland from Norway and settled in the Rovaniemi area.

On the same day, in Finnish Lapland, German troops (36th Mountain Corps) began moving to the USSR border, to the Salla region.

On the same day, a flight of 3 German reconnaissance aircraft began to be based in Rovaniemi, which over the next days made a number of flights over Soviet territory.

On June 20, a flight of 3 German reconnaissance aircraft began to be based at Loutenjärvi airfield (central Finland).

On June 21, Finnish troops (5,000 people with 69 guns and 24 mortars) landed on the demilitarized Åland Islands (Operation Regatta). The personnel (31 people) of the USSR consulate on these islands were arrested.

On the same day, the Finnish command received information about Germany’s intention to begin military operations against the USSR on June 22.

On June 22, the German Air Force bombed the territory of the USSR, moving through Finnish airspace using previously installed radio beacons and having the opportunity to refuel at the airfield in Utti. On the same day, Finnish submarines, together with German submarines, took part in mining the western part of the Gulf of Finland.

On June 25, Soviet aviation launched strikes on the territory of Finland, including the capital of the country, Helsinki. On the same day, Finland declared war on the USSR, becoming an ally of Germany in World War II. 41 Finnish aircraft were destroyed at the airfields. Finnish air defenses shot down 23 Soviet aircraft.

Turku Castle after the bombing on June 25, 1941
The new war against the USSR was called the “continuation war” (Jatkosota) in Finland.

By the beginning of hostilities, two Finnish armies were concentrated on the borders with the Soviet Union - on the Karelian Isthmus, the Southeastern Army under the command of General Axel Erik Heinrichs, and in Eastern Karelia, the Karelian Army under the command of General Lennart Karl Oesch. There were 470,000 soldiers and officers in the active army. The armored forces included 86 tanks (mostly Soviet captured ones) and 22 armored vehicles. Artillery was represented by 3,500 guns and mortars. The Finnish Air Force included 307 combat aircraft, of which 230 were fighters. The navy consisted of 80 ships and boats of various types. Coastal defense had 336 guns, and air defense had 761 anti-aircraft guns.

General Lenart Ash. 1941

The Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish Armed Forces was Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim.

In Finnish Lapland, the left flank of the Finnish troops was covered by the German 26th Army Corps.

On the Karelian Isthmus, the Finnish Southeastern Army (6 divisions and 1 brigade) was opposed by 8 divisions of the Red Army.

In Eastern Karelia, the Finnish Karelian Army (5 divisions and 3 brigades) was opposed by 7 divisions of the Red Army.

In the Arctic, German-Finnish troops (1 German and 1 Finnish division, 1 German brigade and 2 separate battalions) were opposed by 5 divisions of the Red Army.

Finnish soldiers on the way to the front. July 1941

As part of the Finnish army, in addition to the Finnish units themselves, a Swedish volunteer battalion (1,500 people) led by Hans Berggren took part. After the Swedish volunteer battalion returned to Sweden on December 18, 400 Swedish citizens remained to serve in the Finnish army until September 25, 1944, as part of a separate volunteer company.

Also, Estonian volunteers (2,500 people) served in the Finnish Armed Forces, of which on February 8, 1944, the 200th Regiment (1,700 people) was formed as part of the 10th Infantry Division under the command of Colonel Eino Kuusela. Until mid-August 1944, the regiment conducted combat operations on the Karelian Isthmus and near Vyborg. In addition, 250 Estonians served in the Finnish Navy.

On July 1, 1941, the Finnish 17th Division (including a Swedish volunteer battalion) launched attacks on a Soviet military base (25,300 men) on the Hanko Peninsula, which were successfully repelled by the Soviet garrison until December 1941.

On July 3, the Finnish submarine Vesikko, east of the island of Suursaari, sank the Soviet transport Vyborg (4100 GRT) with a torpedo. Almost the entire crew was saved (1 person died).

Finnish submarine Vesikko. 1941

On July 8, German troops (36th Mountain Corps), advancing from the territory of Finnish Lapland, occupied the desert mountain region of Salla. At this point, active hostilities on the northern section of the Soviet-Finnish border, controlled by German troops, stopped until the fall of 1944.

On July 31, British aircraft bombed Petsamo. Finland protested and withdrew its embassy in London. In turn, the British Embassy left Helsinki.

On July 1, 1941, fighting began in the Kandalaksha direction. The Finnish 6th Infantry and German 169th Infantry Divisions advanced 75 km into Soviet territory, but were stopped and went on the defensive, which they occupied until the end of the war.
On August 15, 1941, a Finnish patrol boat sank the Soviet submarine M-97.

Captured Red Army soldiers surrounded by Finnish soldiers. September 1941

By September 2, the Finnish army had reached the borders of Finland everywhere in 1939 and continued the offensive on Soviet territory. During the battles, the Finns captured more than a hundred Soviet light, amphibious, flamethrower, medium (including T-34) and heavy (KV) tanks, which they included in their tank units.

The Finnish army, having crossed the Soviet-Finnish border in 1939 and advanced further 20 km, stopped 30 km from Leningrad (along the Sestra River) and blocked the city from the north, carrying out a blockade of Leningrad together with German troops until January 1944.

The return of Finnish refugees (180,000 people) to the southern regions of Finland, formerly occupied by the USSR, began.

On the same day, a Finnish torpedo boat south of Koivisto sank the Soviet steamer Meero (1866 GRT). The crew was saved.

On September 4, Marshal Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim told the German command that the Finnish army would not participate in the assault on Leningrad.

On September 11, Finnish Foreign Minister Rolf Johan Witting informed the US Ambassador in Helsinki, Arthur Schoenfield, that the Finnish army would not participate in the assault on Leningrad.

On September 13, off the island of Ute (off the coast of Estonia), the Finnish flagship, the coastal defense battleship Ilmarinen, was struck by a mine and sank. 271 people died, 132 people were saved.

On September 22, Great Britain expressed a note to Finland about its readiness to return to friendly relations, subject to Finland’s cessation of hostilities against the USSR and the withdrawal of troops abroad in 1939.

On the same day, Marshal Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim, by order, banned the Finnish Air Force from flying over Leningrad.

On October 3, 1941, US Secretary of State Cordell Hull congratulated the Finnish Ambassador in Washington, Hjalmar Johan Fredrik Procope, on the “liberation of Karelia,” but warned that the United States opposed the Finnish army’s violation of the 1939 Soviet-Finnish border.

On October 24, the first concentration camp for the Russian population of Eastern Karelia was created in Petrozavodsk. Until 1944 The Finnish occupation authorities created 9 concentration camps, through which about 24,000 people (27% of the population) passed. Over the years, about 4,000 people died in concentration camps.

Russian children in a Finnish concentration camp.
On November 3, 1941, the Finnish minesweeper Kuha hit a mine near Porvo and sank.

On November 28, Great Britain presented Finland with an ultimatum demanding a cessation of hostilities against the USSR before December 5, 1941.

On the same day, the Finnish minesweeper Porkkala hit a mine in the Koivisto Sund Strait and sank. 31 people died.

On the same day, the Finnish government announced the inclusion of the USSR territory occupied by Finnish troops into Finland.

On December 6, Great Britain (as well as the Union of South Africa, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) declared war on Finland after refusing to cease hostilities against the USSR.

On the same day, Finnish troops captured the village of Povenets and cut the White Sea-Baltic Canal.

In 1941 - 1944 Germany supplied the Finnish Air Force with new aircraft designs - 48 Messerschmitt Bf 109G-2 fighters, 132 Bf 109G-6 fighters, 15 Dornier Do 17Z-2 bombers and 15 Ju 88A-4 bombers, which took part in the battles against the Red Army.

From January 3 to January 10, 1942, in the Medvezhyegorsk area, Soviet troops (5 rifle divisions and 3 brigades) carried out unsuccessful attacks on Finnish troops (5 infantry divisions).

Finnish infantrymen on the Svir River. April 1942

During the spring of 1942 and the beginning of the summer of 1944, local battles were fought on the Soviet-Finnish front.

By the spring of 1942, 180,000 older people had been demobilized from the Finnish army.

Since the summer of 1942, Soviet partisans began to carry out their raids into the interior of Finland.

Soviet partisans in Eastern Karelia. 1942

On July 14, 1942, the Finnish minelayer Ruotsinsalmi sank the Soviet submarine Shch-213.

On September 1, 1942, Finnish aircraft sank the Soviet patrol ship Purga on Lake Ladoga.

Finnish Italian-made fighter FA-19

On October 13, 1942, 2 Finnish patrol boats south of Tiiskeri sank the Soviet submarine Shch-311 (“Kumzha”).

On October 21, near the Åland Islands, the Finnish submarine Vesehiisi sank the Soviet submarine S-7 with a torpedo, from which its commander and 3 sailors were captured.

On October 27, near the Åland Islands, the Finnish submarine Iku Turso sank the Soviet submarine Shch-320 with a torpedo.

On November 5, 1942, in the area of ​​Åland Islands, the Finnish submarine Vetehinen sank the Soviet submarine Shch-305 (“Lin”) with a ramming attack.

On November 12, the 3rd Infantry Battalion (1,115 people) was formed from Red Army prisoners of war belonging to the Finnish peoples (Karelians, Vepsians, Komi, Mordovians). Since May 1943, this battalion took part in battles against Red Army units on the Karelian Isthmus.

On November 18, 3 Finnish torpedo boats in the Lavensaari roadstead sank the stationary Soviet gunboat "Red Banner".

By the end of 1942, on the territory of the USSR occupied by Finnish troops, there were 18 partisan detachments and 6 sabotage groups (1,698 people).

In the spring of 1943, the Finnish command formed the 6th infantry battalion, consisting of Finnish-speaking residents of the Leningrad region - Ingrians. The battalion was used for construction work on the Karelian Isthmus.
In March 1943, Germany demanded that Finland sign a formal commitment to a military alliance with Germany. The Finnish leadership refused. The German ambassador was recalled from Helsinki.

On March 20, the United States officially offered Finland its assistance in exiting the war against the USSR and the British Empire, but the Finnish side refused.

On May 25, 1943, the Finnish minelayer Ruotsinsalmi sank the Soviet submarine Shch-408.

In the summer of 1943, 14 partisan detachments carried out several deep raids into the interior of Finland. The partisans were given two interrelated strategic tasks: the destruction of military communications in the front-line zone and the disorganization of the economic life of the Finnish population. The partisans sought to inflict as much damage as possible on the Finnish economy and sow panic among the civilian population. During the partisan raids, 160 Finnish peasants were killed and 75 seriously wounded. The authorities issued an order for the urgent evacuation of the population from central Finland. Local residents abandoned livestock, agricultural equipment, and property. Haymaking and harvesting in these areas were disrupted in 1943. To protect populated areas, the Finnish authorities were forced to allocate military units.

On August 23, 1943, Soviet torpedo boats south of Tiiskeri sank the Finnish minelayer Ruotsinsalmi. Of the 60 crew members, 35 people were saved.

In August 1943, a tank division (Panssaridivisoona) was formed from 2 tank brigades with a total of 150 tanks (mainly captured T-26s), an assault gun brigade equipped with Finnish Bt-42s and German Sturmgeschütz IIIs, a Jaeger brigade and support units. which was headed by Major General Ernst Lagus (Ernst Ruben Lagus).

On September 6, 1943, Finnish torpedo boats sank a Soviet transport barge between Leningrad and Lavensaari. 21 people died.

On February 6, 1944, Soviet aviation bombed Helsinki (910 tons of bombs). 434 buildings were destroyed. 103 city residents were killed and 322 were injured. 5 Soviet bombers were shot down.

Fires in Helsinki caused by bombing. February 1944
On February 16, Soviet aviation bombed Helsinki (440 tons of bombs). 25 city residents died. 4 Soviet bombers shot down.

On February 26, Soviet aviation bombed Helsinki (1067 tons of bombs). 18 city residents died. 18 Soviet bombers were shot down.

On the same day, a Finnish patrol boat was sunk by Soviet aircraft in the Helsinki roadstead.

Women from the Lotta Svärd organization at an aerial surveillance post. 1944

On March 20, the United States offered Finland its mediation in peace negotiations. The Finnish government refused.

On March 21, the evacuation of the Finnish population from Eastern Karelia began. From here, about 3,000 former Soviet citizens were evacuated to the interior of Finland.

In total, up to 200,000 people were evacuated from the front-line zone to the north.

On March 25, former Finnish Ambassador to Stockholm Juho Kusti Paasikivi and Marshal Mannerheim's special representative Oscar Paul Enckell left for Moscow to negotiate peace with the USSR.

On April 1, 1944, the Finnish delegation returned from Moscow and informed the government of the Soviet conditions for concluding a bilateral peace: the 1940 border, the internment of German units, reparations in the amount of 600 million US dollars over 5 years. During the discussions, the last 2 points were recognized by the Finnish side as technically impracticable.

On April 18, 1944, the Finnish government gave a negative response to the Soviet conditions for concluding a peace treaty.

On May 1, 1944, Germany protested in connection with the Finnish side’s search for a separate peace with the USSR.

At the beginning of June 1944, Germany stopped grain supplies to Finland.

In June 1944, Germany supplied the Finnish army with 15 Pz IVJ tanks and 25,000 Panzerfaust and Panzerschreck anti-tank grenade launchers. The 122nd Wehrmacht Infantry Division was also transferred from Estonia to Vyborg.

June 10, 1944 troops of the Leningrad Front (41 rifle divisions, 5 brigades - 450,000 people, 10,000 guns, 800 tanks and self-propelled guns, 1,547 aircraft (not counting naval aviation), the Baltic Fleet group (3 marine brigades, 175 guns, 64 ships, 350 boats, 530 aircraft) and ships of the Ladoga and Onega flotillas (27 ships and 62 boats) began an offensive on the Karelian Isthmus. The Finnish army had 15 divisions and 6 brigades (268,000 people, 1930 guns and mortars, 110 tanks and 248 aircraft).

On June 16, Germany transferred 23 Ju-87 dive bombers and 23 FW-190 fighters to Finland.

On the same day, Soviet aircraft (80 aircraft) attacked the Elisenvaara railway station, killing more than 100 civilians (mostly refugees) and injuring more than 300.

From June 20 to 30, Soviet troops launched unsuccessful attacks on the Vyborg-Kuparsaari-Taipele defense line.

On the same day, Soviet troops (3 rifle divisions) unsuccessfully attacked Medvezhyegorsk.

On the same day, Soviet aircraft sank the Finnish torpedo boat Tarmo.

On the same day, the 122nd Wehrmacht Infantry Division stopped the advance of the Soviet 59th Army along the Vyborg Bay.

On the same day in Helsinki, German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop concluded an agreement with President Risti Heikko Ryti that Finland would not conduct separate peace negotiations.

On the same day, 42 Stug-40/42 self-propelled artillery units arrived from Germany to Finland.

From June 25 to July 9, 1944, there were fierce battles in the Tali-Ihantala area on the Karelian Isthmus, as a result of which the Red Army was unable to break through the defenses of the Finnish troops. The Red Aria lost 5,500 people killed and 14,500 wounded. The Finnish army lost 1,100 people killed, 6,300 wounded and 1,100 missing.

Finnish infantryman with a German Panzerschreck anti-tank rifle. Summer 1944

By the end of June 1944, the Red Army reached the Soviet-Finnish border of 1941.

From July 1 to July 10, 1944, Soviet troops captured 16 islands of the Bjork archipelago in the Vyborg Bay. The Red Army lost 1,800 people killed, and 31 ships were sunk during the fighting. The Finnish army lost 1,253 people killed, wounded and prisoners, and 30 ships were sunk during the fighting.

On July 2, near Medvezhyegorsk, Soviet troops surrounded the 21st Finnish brigade, but the Finns managed to break through.

On July 9 - 20, Soviet troops unsuccessfully tried to break through the defenses of Finnish troops on the Vouksa River - the bridgehead was captured only in the northern sector.

On the same day, the USSR notifies Sweden of its readiness to discuss the terms of an armistice with Finland.

On August 2, in the Ilomantsi area, the Finnish cavalry and 21st rifle brigades surrounded the 176th and 289th Soviet rifle divisions.

On August 4, 1944, Finnish President Risti Heikko Ryti resigned. Marshal Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim was elected as the new president.

On August 5, in the Ilomantsi area, the remnants of the 289th Soviet Rifle Division broke out of encirclement.

On August 9, the troops of the Karelian Front, during the offensive, reached the Kudamguba - Kuolisma - Pitkäranta line.

On August 25, Finland announced a severance of relations with Germany and turned to the USSR with a request to resume negotiations.

Finnish delegation to conclude a truce. September 1944

By the end of August 1944, during the fighting on the Karelian Isthmus and in South Karelia, Soviet troops lost 23,674 people killed and 72,701 wounded, 294 tanks and 311 aircraft. Finnish troops lost 18,000 killed and 45,000 wounded.

On September 4, 1944, the Finnish government made a radio announcement that it accepted Soviet preconditions and ceased hostilities along the entire front.

Soviet and Finnish officers after the armistice. September 1944

During the fighting against the USSR from June 28, 1941 to September 4, 1944, the Finnish army lost 58,715 people killed and missing. 3,114 people were captured, of which 997 people died. In total, in 1941 - 1944. About 70,000 Finnish citizens died.

Accurate data on the losses of Soviet troops on the Soviet-Finnish front in 1941 - 1944. no, but in the battles in Karelia in 1941 - 1944. and during the summer offensive of 1944, 90,939 people died on the Karelian Isthmus. 64,000 people were captured in Finnish captivity, of which 18,700 died.

After the end of World War II, the Paris Peace Treaty of 1947 required Finland to significantly reduce its Armed Forces. Thus, the number of military personnel was to be determined at 34,000 people. Then the tank division was disbanded. Also, until now, the Finnish Navy should not include submarines, torpedo boats and specialized assault ships, and the total tonnage of ships was reduced to 10,000 tons. Military aviation was reduced to 60 aircraft.

In the USSR, Ingrians were greeted with an orchestra. Vyborg, December 1944

55,000 Ingrians voluntarily returned to the USSR, as well as employees of the 3rd and 6th infantry battalions forcibly. The former were sent to settle in various regions of the RSFSR and Kazakhstan, and the latter were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment in camps.

Literature:
Finnish Army 1939 - 1945 // Magazine “Soldier at the Front”, 2005, No. 7.

Verigin S.G., Laidinen E.P., Chumakov G.V. USSR and Finland in 1941 - 1944: unexplored aspects of military confrontation // Russian History Magazine, 2009. No. 3. P. 90 - 103.

Yokipia M. Finland on the road to war. Petrozavodsk, 1999.

Meister Yu. War in Eastern European waters 1941 - 1943. M., 1995.

Abbott P., Thomas N., Chappell M. Germany's allies on the Eastern Front 1941 - 1945. M., 2001

Plan
Introduction
1 Title
2 Prerequisites
2.1 Foreign policy and alliances
2.2 Choosing an ally

3 Balance of power
3.1 Finland
3.2 USSR

4 War
4.1 Start of hostilities
4.1.1 Actions of German troops
4.1.2 Actions of Finnish troops

4.2 Finnish offensive of 1941
4.3 Political events in 1941-1943
4.4 Political events of January-May 1944
4.5 Soviet offensive in summer 1944
4.6 Finland's withdrawal from the war
4.6.1 Lapland War

5 Results of the war
5.1 Treatment of civilians
5.2 Treatment of prisoners of war
5.3 Other results

6 Coverage of the war in Finnish historiography
7 Coverage of the war in Soviet historiography
8 Memory of hostilities
9 Photo documents

Bibliography
Soviet-Finnish War (1941-1944)

Introduction

Defense in the Arctic and Karelia: Irreversible - 67,265
Sanitary - 68,448
Vyborg-Petrozavodsk strategic offensive operation:
Irrevocable - 23,674
Sanitary - 72,701

58,715 dead or missing
158,000 wounded

Great Patriotic WarInvasion of the USSR Karelia Arctic Leningrad Rostov Moscow Sevastopol Barvenkovo-Lozovaya Kharkov Voronezh-Voroshilovgrad Rzhev Stalingrad Caucasus Velikie Luki Ostrogozhsk-Rossosh Voronezh-Kastornoye Kursk Smolensk Donbass Dnieper Right Bank Ukraine Leningrad-Novgorod Crimea (1944) Belarus Leo ov-Sandomierz Iasi-Chisinau Eastern Carpathians Baltic States Courland Bucharest-Arad Bulgaria Debrecen Belgrade Budapest Poland (1944) Western Carpathians Eastern Prussia Lower Silesia Eastern Pomerania Moravian-Ostrava Upper Silesia Balaton Vienna Berlin PragueSoviet-Finnish War (1941-1944)Karelia Hanko Karelian Isthmus Petrazovodsk-Olonets Vyborg-PetrozavodskV independent war FinlandCivil War First Soviet-Finnish War Second Soviet-Finnish War Soviet-Finnish War 1939-1940 Soviet-Finnish War 1941-1944 Lapland War

The Soviet-Finnish War (1941-1944), or the Karelian Campaign, was fought between Finland and the USSR from June 25, 1941 to September 19, 1944. The ceasefire came into force on September 4, 1944 at 7.00 on the Finnish side, the Soviet Union ceased hostilities a day later, 5 September. Within 24 hours, Soviet troops captured the parliamentarians and those who laid down their arms. The incident was explained by a bureaucratic delay. The armistice agreement was signed on September 19, 1944 in Moscow. The final peace treaty was signed on February 10, 1947 in Paris.

In addition to the USSR, Finland was at war with Great Britain, Australia, Canada, Czechoslovakia, India, New Zealand and the Union of South Africa.

1. Title

In Finnish historiography, the term predominantly used to name these military actions "Continuation War"(Finnish jatkosota), which emphasizes its attitude to the Soviet-Finnish War (1939-1940) that ended shortly before, or Winter War. In Russian and Soviet historiography, the conflict is seen as one of the theaters of the Great Patriotic War, similarly, Germany viewed its operations in the region as an integral part of the Second World War.

2. Prerequisites

2.1. Foreign policy and alliances

The Moscow Peace Treaty of March 13, 1940, which ended the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939-1940, was perceived by the Finns as extremely unfair: Finland lost a significant part of the Vyborg province (Finnish: Viipurin lääni, unofficially called “Old Finland” in the Russian Empire). With its loss, Finland lost a fifth of its industry and 11% of its agricultural land. 12% of the population, or about 400 thousand people, had to be resettled from the territories ceded to the USSR. The Hanko Peninsula was leased to the USSR for a naval base. The territories are annexed to the USSR and on March 31, 1940, the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic is formed with Otto Kuusinen at its head.

Despite the conclusion of peace with the USSR, martial law remained in effect on Finnish territory due to the expanding Second World War in Europe, the difficult food situation and the weakened state of the Finnish army. In preparation for a possible new war, Finland intensified the rearmament of the army and the strengthening of new, post-war borders (Salpa Line). The share of military expenditures in the 1940 budget increased to 45%.

In April–June 1940 Germany occupied Norway. As a result of this, Finland lost sources of fertilizer supplies, which, along with a reduction in acreage due to the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939-1940, led to a sharp drop in food production. The shortage was compensated by purchases from Sweden and the USSR, which used delays in food deliveries to put pressure on Finland.

2.2. Ally selection

Germany's occupation of Norway, which cut off Finland from direct ties with Great Britain and France, led to the fact that from May 1940 Finland set a course to strengthen relations with Nazi Germany.

On June 14, the USSR sent an ultimatum to Lithuania demanding the formation of a pro-Soviet government and the introduction of additional Soviet troops. The ultimatum was set until 10 a.m. on June 15. On the morning of June 15, the Lithuanian government accepted an ultimatum. On June 16, similar ultimatums were adopted by the governments of Latvia and Estonia. At the end of July 1940, all three Baltic countries were included in the USSR.

Events in the Baltic states caused a negative reaction in Finland. As the Finnish historian Mauno Jokipi points out,

... It was clear that events similar to those in the Baltic could also await Finland. Juho Paasikivi (Finnish Ambassador to the USSR) wrote about this to the Minister of Foreign Affairs on July 22, 1940: “The fate of the Baltic countries and the way in which Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were turned into Soviet states and subordinated to the Soviet empire make me think about it all night long serious matter"

After some time, the USSR demanded from Finland a concession for the nickel mines in Petsamo (which actually meant the nationalization of the British company developing them) and the restoration of the demilitarized status of the Åland Islands.

On July 8, after Sweden signed a troop transit treaty with Germany, the USSR demanded similar transit rights from Finland to the Soviet base on the Hanko Peninsula. Transit rights were granted on September 6, demilitarization of the Åland Islands was agreed on October 11, but negotiations on Petsamo dragged on.

The USSR also demanded changes in the internal politics of Finland - in particular, the resignation of Väinö Tanner, the leader of the Finnish Social Democrats. On August 16, 1940, Tanner resigned from the government.

At this time, in Germany, at the direction of Adolf Hitler, the development of a plan for an attack on the USSR began, and Finland became of interest to Germany as a base for the deployment of troops and a springboard for military operations, as well as as a possible ally in the war against the USSR. On August 19, 1940, the German government ended the arms embargo on Finland in exchange for permission to use Finnish territory for the transit of German troops to Norway. Although there was still suspicion in Finland towards Germany due to its policies during the Winter War, she was seen Who? the only savior from the situation.

The first German troops began transporting through Finnish territory to Norway on September 22, 1940. The haste of the schedule is due to the fact that the passage of Soviet troops to Hanko began in two days.

In September 1940, Finnish General Paavo Talvela was sent to Germany, authorized by Mannerheim to conduct negotiations with the German General Staff. As V.N. Baryshnikov writes, during the negotiations an agreement was reached between the German and Finnish General Staffs on the joint preparation of an attack on the Soviet Union and waging war against it, which on the part of Finland was a direct violation of Article 3 of the Moscow Peace Treaty.

On November 12 and 13, 1940, negotiations between the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR V.M. Molotov and Adolf Hitler took place in Berlin, during which both sides noted that the transit of German troops led to a surge in pro-German, revanchist and anti-Soviet sentiments in Finland, and this “Finnish question " between the two countries may require a settlement. However, the parties agreed that a military solution does not satisfy the interests of both countries. Germany was interested in Finland as a supplier of nickel and timber. In addition, a military conflict, according to Hitler, would lead to military intervention from Sweden, Great Britain or even the United States, which would prompt Germany to intervene. Molotov said that it is enough for Germany to stop the transit of its troops, which contributes to anti-Soviet sentiments, then this issue can be resolved peacefully between Finland and the USSR. Moreover, according to Molotov, new agreements with Germany are not needed for this settlement, since, according to the existing German-Russian agreement, Finland is included in the sphere of interests of the USSR. Answering Hitler's question, Molotov stated that he envisioned a settlement within the same framework as in Bessarabia and in neighboring countries.

The Finnish leadership was informed by Germany that Hitler had rejected Molotov’s demand in November 1940 for a final solution to the “Finnish question,” which influenced How? on his further decisions.

“While in Berlin on special assignment in December 1940, General Paavo Talvela shared with me in a conversation that he was acting in accordance with the instructions of Mannerheim and that he began to express to General Halder his views on the capabilities that Germany could provide military support for Finland in its difficult situation"- writes the Finnish envoy to Germany T. Kivimäki.

In January 1941, the Chief of Staff of the German Ground Forces F. Halder negotiated with the Chief of the General Staff of Finland A.E. Heinrichs and General Paavo Talvela, which is reflected in Halder’s diaries: Talvela “asked for information on the timing of bringing the Finnish army into a state of hidden combat readiness for an offensive in the south-east direction”. General Talvela points out in his memoirs that on the eve of the war, Mannerheim was determined to attack directly on Leningrad. American historian Lundin wrote that in 1940-1941 “It was the most difficult thing for the political and military leaders of Finland to cover up their preparations for a war of revenge and, as we will see, for a war of conquest ».

Negotiations between the USSR and Finland on Petsamo had already been going on for over 6 months, when in January 1941 the Soviet Foreign Ministry stated that a solution should be reached as soon as possible. On the same day, the USSR stopped grain supplies to Finland. On January 18, the USSR Ambassador to Finland was recalled home, and negative information about Finland began to appear in Soviet radio broadcasts. At the same time, Hitler gave an order to German troops in Norway, in the event of an attack by the USSR on Finland, to immediately occupy Petsamo.

In the spring of 1941, Finland agreed with Germany on plans for joint military operations against the USSR. Finland expressed its readiness to join Germany in its war against the USSR, subject to several conditions:

· guarantees of Finnish independence;

· return of the border with the USSR to the pre-war (or better) state;

· continuation of food supplies;

· Finland is not an aggressor, that is, it enters the war only after being attacked by the USSR.

Mannerheim assessed the situation that had developed by the summer of 1941: ... The concluded agreement on the through transportation of goods prevented an attack from Russia. To denounce it meant, on the one hand, to rebel against the Germans, on whose relations the existence of Finland as an independent state depended. On the other hand, transfer fate into the hands of the Russians. Stopping the import of goods from any direction would lead to a severe crisis, which both Germans and Russians would immediately take advantage of. We have been pushed to the wall: choose one of the alternatives - Germany (which already betrayed us in 1939) or the USSR…. Only a miracle could help us get out of this situation. The first prerequisite for such a miracle would be the refusal of the USSR to attack us, even if Germany passes through the territory of Finland, and the second is the absence of any kind of pressure from Germany.

On May 25, 1941, at a meeting with the Finnish delegation, General Ferdinand Jodl stated that during the past winter and spring, the Russians brought 118 infantry, 20 cavalry, 5 tank divisions and 25 tank brigades to the western border and significantly strengthened their garrisons. He stated that Germany strives for peace, but the concentration of such a large number of troops obliges Germany to prepare for a possible war. They expressed the opinion that it would lead to the collapse of the Bolshevik regime, since a state with such a rotten moral core was unlikely to withstand the test of war. He suggested that Finland would be able to tie up a significant number of Red Army troops. The hope was also expressed that the Finns would take part in the operation against Leningrad.

To all this, the head of the delegation, Heinrichs, replied that Finland intends to remain neutral unless the Russians force it to change its position with their attack. According to Mannerheim’s memoirs, at the same time he responsibly stated:

I assumed the duties of commander-in-chief on the condition that we would not launch an attack on Leningrad

President Risto Ryti writes in his diary in September 1941 about the conditions for Finland’s entry into the war:

By this time, Mannerheim already enjoyed enormous authority in all layers of Finnish society, in parliament and government:

« Baron Mannerheim is a true military leader. This is a man of great courage, great courage, exceptional inner honesty and deep inner aristocratism, a man who, more than anyone else, should command people and lead them, when necessary, to death.” . Eristov G.N., guard general, colleague.

Mannerheim believed that Finland, even with general mobilization, could field no more than 16 divisions, while on its border there were at least 17 Soviet infantry divisions, not including border guards, with an almost inexhaustible resource for replenishment. On June 9, 1941, Mannerheim announced general mobilization.

On June 7, 1941, the first German troops involved in the implementation of the Barbarossa plan arrived in Petsamo. On June 18, hidden mobilization began in Finland. On June 20, the advance of Finnish troops to the Soviet-Finnish border was completed, and the Finnish government ordered the evacuation of 45 thousand people living in the border areas. On June 21, the head of the Finnish General Staff, Heinrichs, received formal notification from his German counterpart about the impending attack on the USSR.

“...So, the die is cast: we are an Axis power, and even mobilized for attack“,” wrote Member of Parliament V. Voyonmaa on June 13, 1941.

Finland followed a wrong policy in the eyes of Germany until 1939. Finland did not realize the danger of huge Russia, and that the only help was only in Germany. To avoid the Russian threat, Finland could, of course, sacrifice goods and ships located in England. Relations with England are now secondary.

3. Balance of power

3.1. Finland

· The South-Eastern Army, consisting of 6 divisions and 1 brigade (commander Erik Heinrichs) was deployed on the Karelian Isthmus.

· The Karelian army consisting of 5 divisions and 3 brigades (commander Karl Lennart Esch) was supposed to capture Eastern Karelia, advancing towards Petrozavodsk and Olonets.

· The Finnish Air Force consisted of about 300 aircraft.

On June 24, 1941, the Northern Front was created; on August 23, it was divided into the Karelian and Leningrad fronts.

· The 23rd Army of the Leningrad Front was deployed on the Karelian Isthmus. It consisted of 7 divisions, of which 3 were tank and motorized.

· The 7th Army of the Karelian Front was deployed in Eastern Karelia. It included 4 divisions.

· The Northern Front Air Force consisted of about 700 aircraft.

4.1. Start of hostilities

Actions of German troops

Plan Barbarossa began in the northern Baltic on the evening of June 21, when 7 German minelayers based in Finnish ports laid two minefields in the Gulf of Finland. These minefields were eventually able to trap the Soviet Baltic Fleet in the eastern Gulf of Finland. Later that evening, German bombers, flying along the Gulf of Finland, mined Leningrad harbor (Kronstadt roadstead) and the Neva. On the way back, the planes refueled at the Finnish airfield in Utti.

The location of Finnish, German and Soviet troops at the beginning of the war.

That same morning, German troops stationed in Norway occupied Petsamo. The concentration of German troops began on the border with the USSR.

On June 23, 16 Finnish volunteer saboteurs recruited by German Major Scheller were landed from two German Heinkel He 115 seaplanes, launched from Oulujärvi, near the locks of the White Sea-Baltic Canal. According to the Finns, the volunteers were dressed in German uniforms and had German weapons, since the Finnish General Staff did not want to have anything to do with sabotage. The saboteurs were supposed to blow up the gateways, however, due to increased security, they were unable to do this.

Actions of Finnish troops

Finland did not allow German troops to launch a direct attack from its territory, and German units in Petsamo and Salla were forced to refrain from crossing the border. There were occasional skirmishes between Soviet and Finnish border guards, but in general a calm situation remained on the Soviet-Finnish border.

On the morning of June 22, at about 6 a.m., Soviet bombers appeared in the Åland Islands area and tried to bomb the Finnish battleships Väinämöinen and Ilmarinen, the Alskari fortifications and the gunboat. The prepared Finnish army was introduced into the Åland Islands (see Operation Regatta).

On the same day, three Finnish submarines laid mines off the Estonian coast, and their commanders had permission to attack Soviet ships “if favorable conditions for an attack arise.”

On June 23, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR V. M. Molotov summoned the Finnish charge d'affaires Hynninen and asked him what Hitler's speech of June 22 meant, which spoke of German troops who “in alliance with Finnish comrades ... defend Finnish land." Hynninen could not give an answer. Then Molotov demanded that Finland clearly define its position - whether it was on the side of Germany or adhered to neutrality.

On June 24, the Commander-in-Chief of the German Ground Forces sent an instruction to the representative of the German command at the headquarters of the Finnish Army, which stated that Finland should prepare for the start of an operation east of Lake Ladoga.

A burned-out Soviet plane and its pilot. Utti, Lake Haukkajärvi, 21.7.1941

In the early morning of June 25, Soviet aviation forces, under the leadership of the commander of the Air Force of the Leningrad Military District, A. A. Novikov, launched a massive air strike on 18 airfields in Finland using about 300 aircraft. While repelling the raids that day, 26 Soviet bombers were shot down, and on the Finnish side, “the losses in people, not to mention the material damage, were great.” Novikov’s memoirs indicate that on the first day of the operation, Soviet aviation destroyed 41 enemy aircraft. The operation lasted six days, during which 39 airfields in Finland were hit. According to the Soviet command, 130 aircraft were destroyed in air battles and on the ground, which forced Finnish and German aircraft to be pulled to distant rear bases and limited their maneuver. According to Finnish archival data, the raid on June 25-30 did not cause significant military damage - only 12-15 Finnish Air Force aircraft received various damage. At the same time, civilian objects suffered significant losses and destruction - the cities of Southern and Central Finland were bombed, including Turku and Helsinki; Pori, one of the oldest architectural monuments in Finland, Abo Castle, was seriously damaged, in connection with which Finnish politicians and historians considered that Soviet bombing targeted cities, not airfields. The raid had an impact on public opinion in Finland and predetermined the further actions of the Finnish leadership.

A session of the Finnish parliament was scheduled for June 25, at which, according to Mannerheim's memoirs, Prime Minister Rangel was supposed to make a statement about Finland's neutrality in the Soviet-German conflict, but Soviet bombing forced him to declare that Finland was again in a state of defensive war with the USSR . However, troops were prohibited from crossing the border until midnight on July 28, 1941.

In 1987, Finnish historian Mauno Jokipi (Finnish fi: Mauno Jokipii) analyzed Soviet-Finnish relations of 1939-1941 in his work “Finland on the Road to War.” and came to the conclusion that the initiative to drag Finland into the war against the USSR on the side of Germany belonged to a narrow circle of Finnish military officers and politicians who considered such a development of events to be the only acceptable one in the current complex geopolitical situation.

4.2. Finnish offensive of 1941

The limit of the maximum advance of the Finnish army during the war of 1941-1944. The map also shows the borders before and after the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939-1940.

From the end of June to the end of September 1941, the Finnish army, in the course of a series of operations, occupied almost all the territories that were transferred to the USSR as a result of the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940, which was considered by the Finnish leadership as completely justified actions to return lost territories.

On July 10, Mannerheim wrote in his order No. 3 that “... During the War of Independence in 1918, he promised that he would not sheathe his sword until “Lenin’s last warrior and hooligan” was expelled from Finland and White Sea Karelia.”

On August 28, 1941, Wilhelm Keitel sent Mannerheim a proposal to take Leningrad by storm together with the Wehrmacht. At the same time, the Finns were asked to continue the offensive south of the Svir River in order to connect with the Germans advancing on Tikhvin. Mannerheim replied that Svir's transition did not correspond to the interests of Finland. To the German proposals, Finnish President Ryti, who arrived at headquarters, having listened to Mannerheim’s reminder that the latter had made refusal to storm the city a condition of his tenure as commander-in-chief, responded on August 28 with a categorical refusal to storm, which was repeated on August 31.

Finnish soldiers cross the border with the USSR, summer 1941.

On August 31, the Finns reached the old Soviet-Finnish border near Leningrad, thereby closing the half-ring blockade of the city from the north. The Soviet-Finnish border, which existed until 1939, was crossed by Finnish troops to a depth of 20 km, the Finns were stopped at the line of the Karelian fortified area. Mannerheim gave the order to the troops on the Karelian Isthmus to go on the defensive.

On September 4, 1941, the Chief of the Main Staff of the German Armed Forces, General Jodl, was sent to Mannerheim's headquarters in Mikkeli. But even then he received a refusal to allow Finns to participate in the attack on Leningrad. Instead, Mannerheim led a successful offensive in the north of Ladoga. On the same day, the Germans occupied Shlisselburg, closing the blockade of Leningrad from the south.

Also on September 4, the Finnish army began an operation to occupy eastern Karelia, and by the morning of September 7, the advanced units of the Finnish army under the command of General Talvel reached the Svir River. On October 1, Soviet units left Petrozavodsk. Mannerheim writes in his memoirs that he canceled the renaming of the city to Jaanislinna (“Onega Fortress”), as well as other settlements in Karelia that were not part of the Grand Duchy of Finland. He also issues an order prohibiting Finnish planes from flying over Leningrad.

With the stabilization of the situation on the Karelian Isthmus, on September 5, 2 Soviet divisions were transferred from this area to the defense of the southern approaches to Leningrad.

In Leningrad itself, work continued, in which about half a million residents participated on the southern approaches to the city. Shelters for the command were built on the northern outskirts, including in Mount Parnassus in Shuvalovo ((No AI|25|02|2011) and the Forestry Academy Park. The remains of these structures have survived to this day.

On September 6, Hitler, with his order (Weisung No. 35), stopped the advance of the Nord group of troops on Leningrad, which had already reached the suburbs of the city, calling Leningrad a “secondary theater of military operations.” Field Marshal Leeb had to limit himself to blockading the city and, no later than September 15, transfer all Gepner tanks and a significant number of troops to the Center group in order to launch an attack on Moscow “as quickly as possible.”

On September 10, Zhukov appears in the city to repel its assault. Leeb continues to strengthen the blockade ring, pulling Soviet troops away from helping the 54th Army that began the offensive.

Mannerheim categorically rejected proposals to subjugate the German troops, since in this case he would be responsible for their military operations. German troops in the Arctic tried to capture Murmansk and cut the Kirov railway, but this attempt failed for a number of reasons.

On September 22, the British government announced that it was ready to return to friendly relations with Finland, provided that it ceases hostilities against the USSR and returns to the 1939 borders. To this the answer was received that Finland was the defending party and therefore the initiative to end the war could not come from them.

On October 16, the Germans asked Mannerheim to support them in the attack on Tikhvin, and were refused. German troops, who took the city on November 9, without receiving support from the Finnish side, were forced to leave it on December 10.

On November 6, the Finns began construction of the Vyborg-Taipale defensive line (VT line) on the Karelian Isthmus.

On November 28, England presented Finland with an ultimatum, demanding a cessation of hostilities by December 5. Soon, Mannerheim received a friendly message from Churchill with a recommendation to de facto withdraw from the war, explaining this by the onset of winter cold. However, the Finns refused.

By the end of the year, the strategic plan of the Finnish command became clear to the Soviet leadership: to gain control over the “three isthmuses”: Karelian, Olonetsky and the isthmus between Onega and Segozero and gain a foothold there. At the same time, the Finns managed to capture Medvezhyegorsk (Finnish: Karhumäki) and Pindushi, thereby cutting the railway to Murmansk.

On December 6, the Finns captured Povenets at a temperature of −37° C, thereby stopping communication along the White Sea-Baltic Canal.

On the same day, Great Britain declared war on Finland, Hungary and Romania. In the same month, the British dominions - Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the Union of South Africa - declared war on Finland.

German failures near Moscow showed the Finns that the war would not end soon, which led to a drop in morale in the army. At the same time, it was not possible to exit the war through a separate peace with the USSR, since such a step would lead to a worsening of relations with Germany and the possible occupation of Finland.

Estimated whom? Finland mobilized about 16% of its population, setting a kind of record in world history. This had an extremely difficult impact on all aspects of the life of the state. In the fall of 1941, demobilization of older soldiers began, and by the spring of 1942, 180,000 people had been demobilized.

By the end of 1941, the front line had finally stabilized. Finland, having carried out a partial demobilization of the army, switched to defense on the achieved lines. The Soviet-Finnish front line stabilized until the summer of 1944.

4.3. Political events in 1941-1943

German soldiers in Rovaniemi, 1942.

By the end of August 1941, Finnish troops reached the old Soviet-Finnish border along its entire length. A further offensive in September led to conflicts within the army itself, in the government, parliament and society.

International relations deteriorated, especially with Great Britain and Sweden, whose governments in May-June received assurances from Witting (the head of the Finnish Foreign Ministry) that Finland had absolutely no plans to conduct a joint military campaign with Germany, and Finnish preparations were purely defensive in nature.

In July 1941, the countries of the British Commonwealth of Nations declared a blockade of Finland. On July 31, the RAF launched an airstrike against German troops in the Petsamo sector.

On September 11, Witting informed the US Ambassador to Finland, Arthur Shenfield, that the offensive operation on the Karelian Isthmus had been stopped at the old (before the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939-1940) border and that “ under no circumstances» Finland will not take part in the offensive operation against Leningrad, but will maintain a static defense pending a political resolution of the conflict. Witting drew Schönfield's attention, however, to the fact that Germany should not find out about this conversation.

Postage and charity stamp of Karelia, issued during the occupation by Finland in 1943.

On September 22, 1941, the British government, under the threat of declaring war, demanded that the Finnish government clear Finnish territory of German troops and withdraw Finnish troops from eastern Karelia to the 1939 border. Due to failure to comply with this requirement, war was declared by the mother country on December 6, 1941 on Independence Day of Finland, by Canada and New Zealand on December 7, 1941, and by Australia and South Africa on December 9, 1941.

Finland began an active search for ways to conclude peace in February 1943, after the German defeat in the Battle of Stalingrad. On February 2, the remnants of the 6th German Army capitulated, and already on February 9, the top leadership of Finland held a closed meeting of parliament, at which, in particular, it was stated:

The German forces are undoubtedly beginning to dry up... over the winter, Germany and its allies lost almost 60 divisions. It is unlikely that it will be possible to make up for such losses. Until now, we have linked the fate of our country with the victory of German weapons, but in connection with the development of the situation, it is better to get used to the possibility that we will once again be forced to sign the Moscow Peace Treaty. Finland does not yet have the freedom to pursue its own foreign policy line, and therefore must continue to fight.440.

Further developments in Finland are schematically presented below:

· On February 15, 1943, the Social Democrats issued a statement stating that Finland has the right to withdraw from the war at the moment it deems desirable and possible.

· On March 20, the US State Department officially offered its assistance in ensuring Finland's exit from the war. The proposal was rejected as premature.

· In March, Germany demanded that the Finns sign a formal commitment to a military alliance with Germany under the threat of cutting off the supply of weapons and food. The Finns refused, after which the German ambassador to Finland was recalled.

· At the beginning of June, Germany stopped supplies, but the Finns did not change their position. Deliveries resumed at the end of the month without any conditions.

· At the end of June, on the initiative of Mannerheim, the Finnish SS battalion, formed from volunteers in the spring of 1941 (participated in hostilities against the USSR as part of the 5th SS Viking Panzer Division), was disbanded.

· In July, contacts between the Finns and the USSR began through the Soviet embassy in Sweden (headed at that time by Alexandra Kollontai)

· In the fall of 1943, 33 prominent Finnish citizens, including several members of parliament, sent a letter to the president wishing the government to take steps to make peace. The letter, known as the "Address of the Thirty-Three", was published in the Swedish press.

· At the beginning of November, the Social Democratic Party issued a new statement, which not only emphasized Finland's right to withdraw from the war at its own discretion, but also noted that this step should be taken without delay.

4.4. Political events of January-May 1944

Marshal Mannerheim and President Ryti inspect troops in Enso (now Svetogorsk). June 4, 1944

In January-February, Soviet troops, during the Leningrad-Novgorod operation, lifted the 900-day blockade of Leningrad by German troops from the south. Finnish troops remained on the approaches to the city from the northern direction.

In February, Soviet long-range aviation launched three massive air raids on Helsinki: on the nights of February 7, 17 and 27; in total over 6000 sorties. Damage was modest - 5% of the bombs dropped within the city limits.

This is how the commander of long-range aviation (LAR) of the Supreme High Command Headquarters, Alexander Evgenievich Golovanov, describes the events: “I received instructions from Stalin that, simultaneously with supporting the offensive actions of the troops of the Leningrad Front, all necessary measures were taken to prepare a strike on the military-industrial facilities of Finland in such a way that the implementation of this task began within a matter of hours after receiving the order. The attack should be carried out on the port of Helsinki, the railway junction and military installations located on the outskirts of the city. Refrain from a massive strike on the city itself. Send several hundred aircraft for the first raid, and if necessary, if any arises, increase the number of aircraft participating in the raids... On the night of February 27, another blow was struck in the Helsinki area. If the mass of aircraft that took part in this raid struck Helsinki itself, then we can say that the city would cease to exist. The raid was a terrible and final warning. Soon I received an order from Stalin to stop the combat activities of the ADD on the territory of Finland. This was the beginning of negotiations on Finland’s withdrawal from the war.” .

On March 20, German troops occupied Hungary after it began sounding out the Western powers about the possibility of peace.

On April 1, with the return of the Finnish delegation from Moscow, the demands of the Soviet government became known:

· Border under the terms of the Moscow Peace Treaty of 1940;

· Internment, by the Finnish army, of German units in Finland until the end of April;

· Reparations of US$600 million to be paid over 5 years.

The stumbling block was the issue of reparations - after a hasty analysis of the capabilities of the Finnish economy, the size and timing of reparations were considered completely unrealistic. On April 18, Finland refused the Soviet proposals.

4.5. Soviet offensive in the summer of 1944

Finnish soldiers in the trenches near Ihantala. One of the soldiers holds a German Faustpatron

On June 10, 1944 (four days after the Allied landing in Normandy), the Vyborg-Petrozavodsk offensive operation began. The Finnish direction was of secondary importance for the Soviet command.472. The offensive in this direction pursued the goals of pushing Finnish troops back from Leningradas.296 and taking Finland out of the war before the attack on Germany.p.473.

Soviet troops, through the massive use of artillery, aviation and tanks, as well as with the active support of the Baltic Fleet, broke through one after another the Finnish defense lines on the Karelian Isthmus and took Vyborg by storm on June 20.

Finnish troops retreated to the third defensive line Vyborg-Kuparsaari-Taipale (also known as the “VKT Line”) and, due to the transfer of all available reserves from eastern Karelia, were able to take up a strong defense there. This, however, weakened the Finnish group in eastern Karelia, where on June 21 Soviet troops also went on the offensive and liberated Petrozavodsk on June 28.

On June 19, Marshal Mannerheim addressed the troops with a call to hold the third line of defense at all costs. " A breakthrough in this position,” he emphasized, “could decisively weaken our defensive capabilities.”

Throughout the Soviet offensive, Finland was in dire need of effective anti-tank weapons. Such funds could be provided by Germany, which, however, demanded that Finland sign an obligation not to conclude a separate peace with the USSR. On June 22, German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop arrived in Helsinki with this mission.

On the evening of June 23, while Ribbentrop was still in Helsinki, the Finnish government, via Stockholm, received a note from the Soviet government with the following content:

Since the Finns have deceived us several times, we want the Finnish government to convey a message signed by the President and the Foreign Minister that Finland is ready to surrender and appeal to the Soviet government for peace. If we receive this information from the Finnish government, Moscow is ready to receive the Finnish delegation.

Thus, the Finnish leadership was faced with a choice - it was necessary to choose either unconditional surrender to the USSR, or signing an agreement with Germany, which, according to Gustav Mannerheim, would increase the possibilities for an acceptable peace without conditions. p.464 The Finns preferred the latter, but to take it upon themselves The Finns did not want an obligation not to conclude a separate peace with the USSR.

As a result, on June 26, Finnish President Ryti single-handedly signed a letter in which it was stated that neither he (the president) nor his government would act to conclude a peace that Germany would not approve of.

Soviet soldiers are restoring a border sign on the border with Finland. June 1944

At the front, from June 20 to 24, Soviet troops unsuccessfully tried to break through the CGT line. During the battles, a weak point in the defense was revealed - near the village of Tali, where the terrain was suitable for the use of tanks. From June 25, the Soviet command massively used armored vehicles in this area, which made it possible to penetrate 4-6 km deep into the Finnish defense. After four days of continuous fighting, the Finnish army pulled the front line back from both flanks of the breakthrough and took up positions on the convenient, but not fortified Ihantala line.

On June 30, the decisive battle took place near Ikhantala. The 6th Division - the last Finnish unit transferred from Eastern Karelia - managed to take up positions and stabilized the defense - the Finnish defense stood, which seemed to the Finns themselves “a real miracle.”

The Finnish army occupied a line that was 90 percent across water obstacles ranging in width from 300 m to 3 km. This made it possible to create a strong defense in narrow passages and have strong tactical and operational reserves. By mid-July, up to three-quarters of the entire Finnish army was operating on the Karelian Isthmus.

From July 1 to July 7, an attempt was made to land troops through the Vyborg Bay on the flank of the VKT line, during which several islands in the bay were captured.

On July 9, the last attempt was made to break through the VKT line - under the cover of a smoke screen, Soviet troops crossed the Vuoksu River and captured a bridgehead on the opposite bank. The Finns organized counterattacks, but were unable to eliminate the bridgehead, although they did not allow it to be expanded. Fighting in this area continued until July 20. Attempts to cross the river in other directions were repulsed by the Finns.

On July 12, 1944, the Headquarters ordered the Leningrad Front to go on the defensive on the Karelian Isthmus. The troops of the Karelian Front continued the offensive, and by August 9 reached the line of Kudamguba, Kuolisma, Pitkyaranta..

4.6. Finland's withdrawal from the war

Signing of the Armistice Agreement of September 19, 1944. The photograph shows the signing of the Agreement by A. A. Zhdanov. September 19, 1944

On August 1, President Ryti resigned. On August 4, the Finnish parliament swore Mannerheim in as president of the country.

On August 25, the Finns requested from the USSR (through the Soviet ambassador in Stockholm) conditions for a cessation of hostilities. The Soviet government put forward two conditions (agreed with Great Britain and the USA):

1. immediate severance of relations with Germany;

On September 2, Mannerheim sent a letter to Hitler with an official warning about Finland's withdrawal from the war.

On September 4, the order of the Finnish high command to cease hostilities along the entire front came into force. The fighting between Soviet and Finnish troops ended.

On September 19, an Armistice Agreement was signed in Moscow with the USSR and Great Britain, acting on behalf of the countries at war with Finland. Finland had to accept the following conditions:

· return to the 1940 borders with an additional concession to the Soviet Union of the Petsamo sector;

· leasing the Porkkala Peninsula (located near Helsinki) to the USSR for a period of 50 years (returned to the Finns in 1956);

· granting the USSR rights to transit troops through Finland;

· reparations in the amount of 300 million US dollars, which must be repaid by supplies of goods within 6 years 484-487.

A peace treaty between Finland and the countries with which it was at war was signed on February 10, 1947 in Paris.

Lapland War

During this period, according to Mannerheim’s memoirs, the Germans, whose forces numbering 200,000 were in northern Finland under the command of General Rendulic, were unable to leave the country within the ultimatum set by the Finns (until September 15). As early as September 3, the Finns began transferring troops from the Soviet front to the north of the country (Kajani and Oulu), where German units are located, and on September 7, the Finns began evacuating the population from the north of Finland to the south and to Sweden. On September 15, the Germans demanded that the Finns surrender the island of Hogland, and after refusal they tried to seize it by force. The Lapland War began.

5. Results of the war

5.1. Treatment of civilians

Photo of the concentration camp (the so-called “resettlement” camp), located in Petrozavodsk in the area of ​​the Transshipment Exchange on Olonetskaya Street. The photograph was taken by war correspondent Galina Sanko after the liberation of Petrozavodsk in the summer of 1944, and was used by the Soviet side at the Nuremberg trials.

Both sides interned citizens based on their nationality during the war. Finnish troops occupied eastern Karelia for almost three years. The non-Finnish speaking population was interned in the occupied territories.

In total, about 24 thousand people of the local population from among the ethnic Russians were placed in Finnish concentration camps, of which, according to Finnish data, about 4 thousand died of hunger.( more details...)

The war did not spare the Finnish population either. About 180,000 residents returned to the territories retaken from the USSR starting in 1941, but after 1944 they and about 30,000 others were again forced to evacuate to the interior of Finland. ( more details...)

Finland accepted 65,000 Soviet citizens, Ingrians who found themselves in the German occupation zone. 55,000 of them, at the request of the USSR, returned in 1944 and were resettled in the Pskov, Novgorod, Velikiye Luki, Kalinin and Yaroslavl regions. A return to Ingria became possible only in the 1970s. Others ended up further away, for example in Kazakhstan, where back in the 1930s many Ingrian peasants who were, in the opinion of the authorities, unreliable were exiled.

Repeated evacuations of the local population carried out by the Finnish authorities, evictions and deportations carried out by the Soviet side, including the resettlement of residents from the central regions of Russia to the territory of the Karelian Isthmus, led to the complete destruction of farmsteads and the traditional land use system for these places, as well as the liquidation remnants of the material and spiritual culture of the Karelian ethnic group on the Karelian Isthmus

5.2. Treatment of prisoners of war

Of the more than 64 thousand Soviet prisoners of war who passed through Finnish concentration camps, according to Finnish data, more than 18 thousand died. According to Mannerheim’s memoirs, in a letter dated March 1, 1942, sent by him to the Chairman of the International Red Cross, it was noted that the Soviet Union refused join the Geneva Convention and did not guarantee that the lives of Finnish prisoners of war would be safe. Nevertheless, Finland will strive to strictly comply with the terms of the convention, although it will not be able to properly feed Soviet prisoners, since food rations for the Finnish population have been reduced to a minimum. Mannerheim states that during the exchange of prisoners of war after the armistice, it turned out that, by his standards, a very large number of Finnish prisoners of war died in Soviet camps before 1944 due to violations of living conditions.

The number of Finnish prisoners of war during the war, according to the NKVD, was 2,476 people, of which 403 people died in 1941-1944 while on the territory of the USSR. Providing prisoners of war with food, medicines, and medicines was equal to the standards for providing the wounded and sick of the Red Army. The main reasons for the death of Finnish prisoners of war were dystrophy (due to insufficient nutrition), and the long stay of prisoners in freight cars, which were practically not heated and were not equipped to contain people in them.

5.3. Other results

Finnish troops ensured the blockade of Leningrad from the north for three years. In his work, Baryshnikov N.I., with reference to “Akten zur deutschen auswartigen Politik. 1918-1945”, provides data that on September 11, 1941, Finnish President Ryti told the German envoy in Helsinki:

If St. Petersburg no longer exists as a large city, then the Neva would be the best border on the Karelian Isthmus... Leningrad must be liquidated as a large city.

Baryshnikov N.I. Siege of Leningrad and Finland. 1941-1945. St. Petersburg-Helsinki, 2002, p. 20

According to a post-war study for Finland prepared by the Library of Congress:

Despite the significant damage caused by the war, Finland was able to maintain its independence; nevertheless, if the USSR had been vitally interested in this, there is no doubt that Finnish independence would have been destroyed. Finland emerged from the war with an understanding of this fact and the intention of creating new and constructive relations with the USSR.

US Library of Congress Country Study "Finland, The Effects of the War"

6. Coverage of the war in Finnish historiography

Coverage of the war of 1941-1944 is inextricably linked with the history of the Soviet-Finnish War (1939-1940) (Winter War). There are different views on the events of history, with the exception of the views of the period of military censorship, from the opinion of communists to the opinion of the right. Even during the war, censorship allowed the publication of materials concerning the extradition to Germany of 77 refugees (not Finnish citizens), including 8 Jews, the Social Democrats made a public scandal out of this. Post-war Finnish researchers believe that the press of those years retained its role, despite censorship guard dog(fin. vahtikoira), and followed the chain of events.

Many researchers, politicians, former presidents of Finland come to the conclusion that Finnish policy could not prevent the German invasion of the USSR - policy in Europe in 1940-1941. defined by Hitler. According to these studies, Finland was only a victim of the current situation. The chances of avoiding war with the USSR, without the occupation of Finland by either Germany or the Soviet Union, are assessed as impossible. This concept quite soon received de facto official status in Finnish historiography (Finnish “ajopuuteoria”). In the 1960s it expanded into a more detailed version (Finnish: "koskiveneteoria"), detailing all relations with Germany and the Soviet Union. In Finland, numerous memoirs of military leaders and memories of soldiers, works by historians have been published, and feature films have been made (“Tali-Ihantala.1944”).

Some Finns are demanding the return of pre-war territories. There are also counter territorial claims.

Along with the term “continuation war,” the term “isolated war” was introduced. As the historian J. Seppenen wrote, the war “was an eastern campaign parallel to Germany.” Explaining this, he stated that Finland adhered to “a kind of neutrality”, expressed in the desire to maintain a political course: “to support actions against the East, while maintaining neutrality towards the West.”

7. Coverage of the war in Soviet historiography

Coverage of the war in the USSR changed over time. The beginning of the conflict with Finland in 1939-1940 in Soviet historiography was described as “help to Finnish workers and peasants and the overthrow of the White Guard government by force of arms.” This formulation is not mentioned further. The war of 1941-1944 was called the fight against the “imperialist plans of the Finnish-fascist invaders.” From the point of view of Finnish historians, Soviet historiography does not delve into the causes of events, and also remains silent and does not analyze the facts of the failure of defense and the formation of “cauldrons”, the bombing of Finnish cities, the circumstances of the capture of islands in the Gulf of Finland, the capture of parliamentarians after the ceasefire on September 5, 1944 Many battles are described in a couple of sentences (Somerin taistelu 07/8-11/1942, Kuuterselän taistelu 06/14/1944, Siiranmäki 06/16/1944, Battle of Tali-Ihantala 06/25-07/9/1944, Operaatio Tanne Ost 09/15/1944).

8. Memory of hostilities

On the battlefields of 1941-1944. (except for Hanko, everything is on Russian territory) there are monuments to fallen Finnish and Soviet soldiers, erected by tourists from Finland. On Russian territory, near the village of Dyatlovo (Leningrad Region), not far from Lake Zhelannoye, a monument in the form of a cross was erected in the form of a cross to Finnish soldiers who died on the Karelian Isthmus during the Soviet-Finnish and Great Patriotic War.

In addition there is Where? several mass graves of Finnish soldiers.

9. Photo documents

Photos from the Mannerheim Line website were taken by Finnish Sergeant Tauno Kähonen in 1942:

· The photo was taken near Medvezhyegorsk in the spring of 1942.

· The photo was taken in the spring and summer of 1942 on the Olonets Isthmus.

· Russian soldiers in the winter of 1941/42.

Bibliography:

1. Vologda region during the Great Patriotic War (Russian). Official website of the Government of the Vologda Region.

3. Manninen, Ohto, Molotovin cocktail-Hitlerin sateenvarjo, 1994, Painatuskeskus, ISBN 951-37-1495-0

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7. (fin.) Jussila, Hentilä, Nevakivi 2006, s. 208-209

8. Text of the Paris Peace Treaty with Finland in Wikisource.

9. (English) Peter Provis. "Finnish achievement in the Continuation War and after", Vol. 3 1999

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11. Finns- article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia

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16. (English) Eric Solsten and Sandra W. Meditz, editors. Finland: A Country Study, chapter “The Continuation War”. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1988

17. (English) Eric Solsten and Sandra W. Meditz, editors. Finland: A Country Study, chapter “The Establishment of Finnish Democracy”. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1988

18. (Finnish) Suomi kautta aikojen. - Helsinki: Otava, Oy Valitut Palat -Reader's Digest Ab, 1992. - P. 438-439. - 576 p. - ISBN 951-8933-60-Х

19. The Reich Foreign Minister to the German Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Schulenburg), Draft Telegram, RAM 37 g. Rs., Berlin, September 16, 1940.

20. Suomi kautta aikojen, p. 439

21. V. N. Baryshnikov, E. Salomaa.“Involvement of Finland in the Second World War” from the collection of articles “Crusade against Russia.” - M.: Yauza, 2005. - 480 p.

22. According to Article 3, the parties pledged “not to enter into alliances or participate in coalitions directed against one of the Contracting Parties”; see text of article 3

23. “Subject to announcement: USSR - Germany. 1939-1941: Documents and materials” / Compiled by Doctor of History. Felshtinsky Yu. G. - M.: Moscow. worker, 1991.-- 367 s.

24. “Documents of foreign policy.” T.23. Book 2. M., Historical and Documentary Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, 1995, p. 41-47, 63-71

25. (fin.) Kivimäki T. M. Suomalaisen poliitikon muistelmat. S. 205.

26. Halder F. War diary. Daily notes of the Chief of the General Staff of the Ground Forces 1939-1942 - M.: Voenizdat, 1968-1971

27. Halder F. War diary. T. 2. P. 306.

28. (fin.) Talvela P. Sotilaan elämä. Muistelmat. Osa 1. S. 271.

29. (English) Lundin C. L. Finland in the Second World War, 1957, S.112

30. Yu. Deryabin. The long-standing myth has finally burst. Independent Military Review, November 21, 2008.

31. (English) Kirby, D. G. Finland in the Twentieth Century: A History and an Interpretation. University of Minnesota Press. 2009. p. 135, ISBN 0-81-6658021.

32. Mannerheim, Carl Gustav Memoirs. M.: Vagrius Publishing House. 1999. ISBN 5-264-00049-2

33. (fin.) Ohto Manninen & Kauko Rumpunen, Risto Rytin päiväkirjat 1940-1944, 2006

34. Sokolov B.V. Secrets of the Finnish War.-M.: Veche, 2000.-416 pp.ill (16 pp.) (Military secrets of the twentieth century) ISBN 5-7838-0583-1

35. Voyonmaa V. Diplomatic mail. M., 1984. P. 32.

36. (English) Gunnar Åselius, “The rise and fall of the Soviet Navy in the Baltic, 1921-1941”, page 224; Routledge, 2005; ISBN 0714655406, 9780714655406

37. M. Jokipia Brotherhood in Arms: from Barbarossa to Finland's entry into the war. - Fragment from the book “Finland on the Road to War: A Study on Military Cooperation between Germany and Finland in 1940-1941.”

38. Halder, Franz. June 1941. War diary

39. YLE: Suomen tie jatkosotaan, TV-ohjelma - The road to war. TV broadcast 07/13/2010 05/22

40. Khazanov, Dmitry Borisovich Chapter 3. The first air operation of the Soviet Air Force in the Great Patriotic War // 1941. Bitter lessons: War in the air. - M.: Yauza, Eksmo, 2006. - 416 p. - P. 184-190. - (The Great Patriotic War: The Unknown War). - 6000 copies. - ISBN 5–699–17846–5

41. Novikov A. A. In the sky of Leningrad

42. (fin.) Arvi Korhonen, "Viisi sodan vuotta", 1973, ISBN 9510057053

43. (English) “1941: Germany attacks, Finland follows”

44. Geust K.-F. Soviet bombing of Finnish airfields in June 1941 in the initial stage of the “Continuation War” // From War to Peace: USSR and Finland 1939-1944.

45. S. P. Senchik. Border troops of the NKVD in battles on the Karelian Isthmus from June to September 1941

46. ​​Text of the order from 1941 in the Finnish Wikisource

47. Text of the order from 1918 in the Finnish Wikisource

48. http://heninen.net/miekka/p3_f.htm Order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief No. 3

49. Text of the order dated July 11, 1941, with Mannerheim’s own handwritten edits.

50. Vladimir Beshanov. Leningrad defense. ISBN 985-13-7439-3

51. According to Mannerheim’s memoirs, at that time there was no unity in the Finnish government regarding crossing the old Soviet-Finnish border, which was especially opposed by the Social Democrats. The need to ensure the security of Leningrad at one time led to the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939-1940, and crossing the old border would mean indirect recognition of the validity of the USSR’s fears

52. Field Directorate of the Leningrad Front Map of the situation on the front of the 23rd Army by the end of 09/11/1941. - Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. fund 217 inventory 1221 file 33, 1941.

53. Christian Centner.Chronik. Zweiter Weltkrieg. Otus Verlag AG, St. Gallen, 2007 ISBN 978-3-907200-56-8

54. Kemppainen. Mannerheim - marshal and president. Zvezda magazine. 1999, no. 10

55. Sokolov B. Unknown Zhukov: portrait without retouching in the mirror of the era. Minsk: Radiola-plus. 2000.-608 p. ("World at War") ISBN 985-448-036-4

56. (English) Karhumäki - Poventsa offensive operation, December 1941: 23:00 6th of December 1941 Jaegers and Finnish tanks steamrolled to town of Poventsa. Tanks secured the town .

57. Beshanov V.V. Leningrad Defense / V.V. Beshanov-M.: AST Publishing House LLC ISBN 5-17-013603-x and also Mn.: Harvest, 2005.-480 p.-(Military Historical Library) ISBN 985-13-2678 -x

58. Refusals to cross the old border on the Karelian Isthmus in Finnish infantry regiments in September 1941

59. (English) FAA attack on Petsamo to assist it ally the Soviet Union, July 1941

60. Mannerheim K.G. Memoirs. / Translated from Finnish by P. Kuijala (part 1), B. Zlobin (part II). (Russian). M.: Vagrius, 1999. (Published in abbreviation).

61. (English) Soviet air raids on Helsinki in February 1944

62. There are several possible explanations:

· According to Finnish researchers, this happened because the air defense system of the Finnish capital worked effectively.

· According to the Soviet version, the main purpose of the planned raids was to demonstrate to Finland the possible negative consequences if the war dragged on, so the bombings did not affect residential areas, so as not to embitter the civilian population. (See Collection of documents of the Supreme High Command during the Great Patriotic War. M., 1968. The stamp was removed in 2003; Reshetnikov V.V. “What happened, that happened,” p. 347)

63. Golovanov, Alexander Evgenievich Long-range bomber. - M..: "Delta NB", 2004.

64. Great Soviet Encyclopedia 3rd edition

65. Reshetnikov V.V. What happened, happened. (Russian). M.: Eksmo, Yauza, 2004..

66. History of the Second World War 1939-1945 in (12 volumes), volume 9, p. 26 - 40 (Chapter 3.)

67. Newspaper of former prisoners of fascism “Fate”, No. 107

68. See: Sulimin S. et al. Monstrous atrocities of the Finnish-fascist invaders on the territory of the Karelo-Finnish SSR. L., 1945; On both sides of the Karelian front, 1941-1944: Documents and materials / Institute of Language, Literature and History of the Karelian Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Scientific ed. V. G. Makurov. Petrozavodsk: Karelia, 1995; Shadrova L.V. The bitterness of childhood, the bitterness of death. Book of memory. War, captivity, concentration camps // Karelia 1941-1944. Podporozhye: “Svirskie Ogni”, 1998; Kostin I. A. Memories of life in occupied Zaonezhie. // Karelia in the Great Patriotic War. 1941-1945. Conference materials. Petrozavodsk, 2001. pp. 47-56; Laine A. Civilian population of eastern Karelia under Finnish occupation in the Second World War. // Karelia, the Arctic and Finland during the Second World War. Petrozavodsk, 1994. P. 41-43; Shlyakhtenkova T.V., Verigin S.G. Concentration camps in the system of occupation policy of Finland in Karelia 1941-1944. // Karelia in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945: Materials of the Republican Scientific and Practical Conference. Petrozavodsk, 2001. P. 37-46; Fate. A collection of memoirs of former juvenile prisoners of fascist concentration camps. / Ed.-comp. I. A. Kostin. Petrozavodsk, 1999; Lukyanov V. Tragic Zaonezhye. Documentary story. Petrozavodsk, 2004; Chumakov G.V. Finnish concentration camps for the civilian population of Petrozavodsk in 1941-1944. // Questions of the history of the European North. (People and power: problems of relationships. 80s of the XVIII-XX centuries). Collection scientific articles. Petrozavodsk: PetrSU Publishing House, 2005. pp. 142-151; and etc.

69. Laine, Antti, Suur-Suomen kahdet kasvot, 1982, ISBN 951-1-06947-0, Otava

70. Maanpuolustuskorkeakoulun historian laitos, Jatkosodan historia 1-6 , 1994

71. Home to exile. Research on the repatriation of Ingrian Finns to the Soviet Union in 1944-55. National Archives of Finland.

72. The Karelian Isthmus is an unexplored land. Parts 5 and 6. South-Western sector: Koivisto-Iohannes (Primorsk - Sovetsky) - St. Petersburg: IPK "Nova". 2006 −208 p. ISBN 5-86456-102-9

73. Ylikangas, Heikki, Heikki Ylikankaan selvitys Valtioneuvoston kanslialle,Government of Finland

74. Mannerheim. Memories

75. Konasov V. B. Finnish prisoners of war of the Second World War. Magazine “North” No. 11-12, 2002.

76. Baryshnikov N.I. [Siege of Leningrad and Finland. 1941-1945] St. Petersburg-Helsinki, 2002, p. 20

77. US Library of Congress Country Study: “Finland, The Effects of the War”

78. (Finnish) Suomi kautta aikojen. - Helsinki: Otava, Oy Valitut Palat -Reader's Digest Ab, 1992. - P. 445. - 576 p. - ISBN 951-8933-60-X

79. (Finnish) Itsenäinen Suomi-Seitsemän vuosikymmentä kansakunnan elämästä. - Helsinki: Otava, Oy Valitut Palat -Reader's Digest Ab, 1987. - P. 153. - 312 p. - ISBN 951-9079-77-7

80. (Finnish) Itsenäinen Suomi-Seitsemän vuosikymmentä kansakunnan elämästä. - Helsinki: Otava, Oy Valitut Palat -Reader's Digest Ab, 1987. - P. 152. - 312 p. - ISBN 951-9079-77-7

81. Itsenäinen Suomi-Seitsemän vuosikymmentä kansakunnan elämästä. - Helsinki: Otava, Oy Valitut Palat -Reader's Digest Ab, Helsinki, 1987. - P. 140. - 312 p. - ISBN 951-9079-77-7

82. Ajopuuväittely jatkunut pian 60 vuotta. Jatkosodan synty suomalaisen menneisyyden kipupisteenä (fin.) (pdf). University of Turku.

83. (Finnish) Itsenäinen Suomi-Seitsemän vuosikymmentä kansakunnan elämästä. - Helsinki: Otava, Oy Valitut Palat - Reader's Digest Ab, Helsinki, 1987. - P. 144. - 312 p. - ISBN 951-9079-77-7

84. “Exiled” Finns want to take away their pre-war lands from Russia

85. A.B.Shirokorad Lost lands of Russia. - Moscow: Veche, 2006. - P. 140. - 464 p. - ISBN 5-9533-1467-1

86. (fin.) Seppinen J. Suomen ulkomaankaupan ehdot 1939-1944. Hds, 1983, s. 118

87. (Finnish) Itsenäinen Suomi - Seitsemän vuosikymmentä kansakunnan elämästä. - Helsinki: Otava, Oy Valitut Palat - Reader's Digest Ab, 1987. - 312 p. - ISBN 951-9079-77-7

88. See: Sulimin S. et al. Monstrous atrocities of the Finnish-fascist invaders on the territory of the Karelo-Finnish SSR. L., 1945; On both sides of the Karelian Front, 1941-1944: Documents and materials

89. (Finnish) Kun Suomi taisteli. - Helsinki: Otava, Oy Valitut Palat - Reader's Digest Ab, 1989. - P. 266. - 430 p. - ISBN 951- 89-02-2

90. (Finnish) Kun Suomi taisteli. - Helsinki: Otava, Oy Valitut Palat - Reader's Digest Ab, 1989. - P. 386-388. - 430 p. - ISBN 951- 89-02-2

91. hike along the Karelian Isthmus, photo

92. Book of Memory of the Soviet-Finnish War 1939-1940

Forced to hand over 12% of its territory to the Soviet Union, Finland seeks to restore its lost borders. At the same time, Mannerheim's popularity in society and the government has grown greatly - any important government decisions are now made only with his consent. Martial law has not been lifted in Finland, so Mannerheim renews the army and begins construction of a new line of fortifications - now on the new border.

Hitler turns to Mannerheim with a request to allow German troops to settle on Finnish territory, such permission was given. Moreover, a joint German-Finnish command was introduced over the troops of both countries located in northern Finland.

The limit of the maximum advance of the Finnish army during the war of 1941-1944. The map also shows the borders before and after the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939−1940.

Mannerheim and Hitler in 1942.

In mid-June 1941, Mannerheim learned of a planned German attack on the Soviet Union. On June 17, mobilization was announced in Finland. Mannerheim stated that Finland intends to take part in the campaign against the USSR and not only “regain” all the territories captured by the USSR during the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939–1940, but also expand its borders to the White Sea and annex the Kola Peninsula. However, this did not stop him from further criticizing the Germans and preventing him from concentrating control of the Finnish troops in their hands. At the end of 1941, the Finnish army reached the old border and crossed it in eastern Karelia. By the morning of September 7, the advanced units of the Finnish army reached the Svir River. On October 1, Soviet units left Petrozavodsk. In early December, the Finns cut the White Sea-Baltic Canal. Further, after unsuccessful attempts to break through the Karelian fortified area and establish a blockade of Leningrad from the north, Mannerheim orders the offensive to be stopped, the front will stabilize for a long time. Mannerheim presented the theory that since the security of Leningrad was the main motive of the USSR for starting the Winter War, crossing the old border meant indirectly acknowledging the validity of these fears. Mannerheim refused to yield to German pressure and ordered troops to go on the defensive along the line of the old Soviet-Finnish border on the Karelian Isthmus. At the same time, the resumption of the Mannerheim Line begins, Finnish troops in the north are gradually being withdrawn from German command, and secret negotiations are being conducted with the USA and the USSR.

Soviet offensive

On June 9, the Vyborg-Petrozavodsk offensive operation of 1944 began. Soviet troops, through the massive use of artillery, aviation and tanks, as well as with the active support of the Baltic Fleet, broke one after another Finnish defense lines on the Karelian Isthmus and took Vyborg by storm on June 20.

Finnish troops retreated to the third defensive line of Vyborg-Kuparsaari-Taipale (also known as the “VKT line”) and, due to the transfer of all available reserves from eastern Karelia, were able to take up a strong defense there. This, however, weakened the Finnish group in eastern Karelia, where on June 21 Soviet troops also went on the offensive and liberated Petrozavodsk on June 28.

On June 19, Marshal Mannerheim appealed to the troops to hold the third line of defense at all costs. “A breakthrough in this position,” he emphasized, “could decisively weaken our defensive capabilities.”

On the Karelian Isthmus and Karelia, Finnish troops were forced to retreat, leaving even Vyborg. At first, Germany transfers some troops from Estonia to Karelia, but is subsequently forced to withdraw them. Finland urgently needs to get out of the war; moreover, certain successes have already been achieved in negotiations with the Soviet Union, which could be taken advantage of. Therefore, the Finnish leadership decides that the time has come to act actively, for starters - to concentrate military and political power in the same hands. On August 4, 1944, parliament by a special law proclaimed Marshal Mannerheim president of the country.

Soviet-Finnish war of 1941-1944.
Author: A. Isin. EC-4. Pavlodar region.

Soviet-Finnish War (1941-1944) (in Russian-language sources usually Soviet-Finnish
front of the Great Patriotic War, also the Karelian Front) was fought
between Finland and the USSR from June 25, 1941 to September 19, 1944.
During the war, Finland sided with the Axis countries in order to seize territory from
USSR to the “border of three isthmuses” (Karelian, Olonetsky and White Sea). Military
actions began on June 22, 1941, when, in response to the occupation by Finnish troops
demilitarized zone of the Åland Islands, Finnish troops were bombed
Soviet aviation.
On June 21-25, German naval and air forces operated from the territory of Finland against the USSR. Back on June 24 at a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
in Berlin it was stated that Finland was not waging war with the Soviet Union.

On June 25, the Soviet air force launched an air strike on 18 Finnish airfields and
several settlements. On the same day, the Finnish government announced that the country
is at war with the USSR. On June 29, Finnish troops began military operations against
The USSR and by the end of 1941 occupied a significant part of the territory of Karelia, including
capital Petrozavodsk.
In 1941-1944, Finnish troops took part in the siege of Leningrad.
By the end of 1941, the front had stabilized, and in 1942-1943 there were active battles in Finnish
there was no front. At the end of the summer of 1944, after heavy defeats suffered by the Allied
Germany, and the Soviet offensive, Finland proposed a ceasefire, which
came into force on September 4-5, 1944.
Finland emerged from the war with the USSR with the conclusion of an armistice agreement signed on 19
September 1944 in Moscow. After this, Finland, not satisfied with the speed of withdrawal
German troops from its territory, began military operations against Germany (Lapland
war).
The final peace treaty with the victorious countries was signed on February 10, 1947
years in Paris.
In addition to the USSR, Finland was at war with Great Britain,
Australia, Canada, Czechoslovakia, India, New Zealand and the Union of South Africa.
Italian units operating as part of the Finno-Italo-German flotilla on Lake Ladoga also took part in the battles.

On June 17, 1941, a decree was issued in Finland on the mobilization of the entire field army, and 20
June, the mobilized army concentrated on the Soviet-Finnish border. From 21
June 1941 Finland began to conduct military operations against the USSR. June 25, 1941
in the morning by order of the Air Force Headquarters of the Northern Front together with the Baltic Fleet aviation
delivered a massive attack on nineteen (according to other sources - 18) airfields
Finland and Northern Norway. Finnish Air Force and German 5th Air Force aircraft were based there.
air army. On the same day, the Finnish parliament voted for war with the USSR.
On June 29, 1941, Finnish troops, having crossed the state border, began a land
operation against the USSR.
Finnish soldiers cross the border with
USSR, summer 1941
Finnish self-propelled guns StuG III in Karelia

In the first 18 days of the offensive, the enemy's 4th Tank Group fought through more than 600
kilometers (at a rate of 30-35 km per day), crossed the Western Dvina and Velikaya rivers.
On July 4, Wehrmacht units entered the Leningrad region, crossing the Velikaya River and overcoming
strengthening the “Stalin Line” in the direction of Ostrov.
On July 5-6, enemy troops occupied the city, and on July 9 - Pskov, located 280 kilometers from
Leningrad. From Pskov, the shortest route to Leningrad is along the Kievskoye Highway, going
through Luga.
On July 19, by the time the advanced German units left, the Luga defensive line was
well prepared in engineering terms: defensive structures were built
with a length of 175 kilometers and a total depth of 10-15 kilometers. Defensive
the structures were built by the hands of Leningraders, mostly women and teenagers (men
went into the army and militia).
The German offensive was delayed at the Luga fortified area.
German soldiers in Rovaniemi, 1942.
Marshal Mannerheim and
President Ryti inspects troops in Enso
(now Svetogorsk). June 4, 1944

The command of the Leningrad Front took advantage of the delay of Gepner, who was waiting
reinforcements, and prepared to meet the enemy, using, among other things, the latest heavy
tanks KV-1 and KV-2, just produced by the Kirov plant. Only in 1941 was
More than 700 tanks were built and remained in the city. During the same time, 480 armored vehicles were produced
and 58 armored trains, often armed with powerful naval guns. On Rzhevsky
At the artillery range, a 406 mm caliber naval gun was found operational. It
intended for the lead battleship "Soviet Union", which was already on the slipway. This
The gun was used when shelling German positions. The German offensive was
suspended for several weeks. Enemy troops failed to capture the city on the move. This
the delay caused sharp dissatisfaction with Hitler, who made a special trip to the group
armies "North" with the aim of preparing a plan for the capture of Leningrad no later than September 1941. IN
In conversations with military leaders, the Fuhrer, in addition to purely military arguments, brought up many political
arguments. He believed that the capture of Leningrad would provide not only a military gain (control over
all Baltic coasts and the destruction of the Baltic Fleet), but will also bring huge
political dividends. The Soviet Union will lose a city that, being
the cradle of the October Revolution, has a special symbolic meaning for the Soviet state
meaning. In addition, Hitler considered it very important not to give the Soviet command the opportunity
withdraw troops from the Leningrad area and use them in other sectors of the front. He
hoped to destroy the troops defending the city.

In long, exhausting battles, overcoming crises in different places, German troops in
For a month they were preparing for the assault on the city. The Baltic Fleet approached the city with its 153
guns of the main caliber of naval artillery, as the experience of the defense of Tallinn has shown, in its own way
combat effectiveness superior to coastal artillery guns of the same caliber, also
numbering 207 guns near Leningrad. The city's sky was protected by the 2nd Air Defense Corps. Highest
the density of anti-aircraft artillery during the defense of Moscow, Leningrad and Baku was 8-10 times greater,
than in the defense of Berlin and London.
On August 14-15, the Germans managed to break through the marshy area, bypassing Luga
fortified area from the west and, having crossed the Luga River near Bolshoi Sabsk, enter the operational space
in front of Leningrad.
Finnish soldiers in the trenches near Ihantala. One
of the soldiers holding a German Faustpatron
.

On June 29, having crossed the border, the Finnish army began military operations on the Karelian Isthmus. 31
July began a major Finnish offensive in the direction of Leningrad. By early September
The Finns crossed the old Soviet-Finnish border on the Karelian Isthmus that existed before the signing of the 1940 peace treaty to a depth of 20 km, stopped at
border of the Karelian fortified area. Leningrad's connection with the rest of the country through territories
occupied by Finland was restored in the summer of 1944.
On September 4, 1941, the chief of the main staff was sent to Mannerheim's headquarters in Mikkeli
German Armed Forces General Jodl. Instead, Mannerheim led a successful
offensive in the north of Ladoga, cutting the Kirov railway and the White Sea-Baltic
canal in the area of ​​Lake Onega, thereby blocking the route for supplies of goods to Leningrad.

Blitzkrieg attempt failed.
This partly confirms that the Finns stopped on the orders of Mannerheim (according to him
According to his memoirs, he agreed to take the position of Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the troops
Finland, provided that it does not conduct an offensive against the city of Leningrad), at the turn
state border of 1939, that is, the border that existed between the USSR and
Finland on the eve of the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939-1940, on the other hand,
disputed by Isaev and N.I. Baryshnikov: The legend that the Finnish army put
only the task of returning what was taken away by the Soviet Union in 1940 was later invented in hindsight
number. If on the Karelian Isthmus the crossing of the border in 1939 was episodic
character and was caused by tactical tasks, then between Lakes Ladoga and Onega
the old border was crossed along its entire length and to great depth. (Isaev A.
B. Boilers of the 41st. The history of the Second World War that we did not know. - P. 54).
Back on September 11, 1941, Finnish President Risto Ryti told the German envoy in
Helsinki: “If St. Petersburg no longer exists as a large city, then the Neva would be
the best border on the Karelian Isthmus... Leningrad must be liquidated as a large
city" - from a statement by Risto Ryti to the German ambassador on September 11, 1941.

It was on September 4, 1941 that the city of Leningrad was subjected to the first artillery shelling from
side of the city of Tosno occupied by German troops. September 6, 1941 Hitler to his
order (Weisung No. 35) stops the advance of the North group of troops on Leningrad, already
reaching the suburbs of the city, and gives the order to Field Marshal Leeb to give everything
Gepner tanks and a significant number of troops in order to start “as quickly as possible”
attack on Moscow. Subsequently, the Germans, having given their tanks to the central section of the front,
continued to surround the city with a blockade ring, no more than
15 km, and moved on to a long blockade. In this situation, Hitler, who really represented
himself the huge losses that he would have suffered if he entered into urban battles, his decision doomed him
population to starvation.

On September 8, soldiers of the North group captured the city of Shlisselburg (Petrokrepost). From this day
The siege of the city began, which lasted 872 days. On the same day, German troops unexpectedly quickly
ended up in the suburbs of the city. German motorcyclists even stopped a tram on the southern
outskirts of the city (route No. 28 Stremyannaya St. - Strelna). But the city was ready for defense. All
During the summer, day and night, about half a million people created defense lines in the city. One of them,
the most fortified, called the “Stalin Line,” ran along the Obvodny Canal. Many houses
on defensive lines were turned into long-term strongholds of resistance.
On September 13, Zhukov arrived in the city, and took command of the front on September 14.
when the German offensive had already been stopped, the front was stabilized, and the enemy
canceled his decision to storm.

Finland began an active search for ways to conclude peace in February 1943, after
German defeat at the Battle of Stalingrad. On February 2, the remnants of the 6th German surrendered
army, and already on February 9, the top leadership of Finland held a closed meeting of parliament,
on which, in particular, it was stated: “The forces of the Germans are undoubtedly beginning to dry up... over the winter
Germany and its allies lost almost 60 divisions. It is unlikely that it will be possible to make up for such losses.
We have until now linked the fate of our country with the victory of German weapons, but in connection with
As the situation develops, it is better to get used to the possibility that we will once again be forced
sign the Moscow Peace Treaty. Finland does not yet have the freedom to conduct
own foreign policy line, and it must therefore continue to fight.”

Further developments in Finland are schematically presented below:
1. On February 15, 1943, the Social Democrats issued a statement indicating that
Finland has the right to withdraw from the war at the moment it considers desirable and
possible.
2. On March 20, the US State Department officially offered its assistance in ensuring exit
Finland from the war. The proposal was rejected as premature.
3. In March, Germany demanded that the Finns sign a formal military commitment
alliance with Germany under the threat of cutting off the supply of weapons and food. Finns
They refused, after which the German ambassador to Finland was recalled.
4. By March, President Ryti removed Greater Finland supporters from the government and
attempts began to reach an agreement with the USSR through the mediation of the United States and
Sweden. In 1943, these attempts were unsuccessful, as the Finns insisted on
maintaining the borders that existed before 1940.
5. At the beginning of June, Germany stopped supplies, but the Finns did not change their position.
Deliveries resumed at the end of the month without any conditions.
6. At the end of June, on the initiative of Mannerheim, the Finnish SS battalion was disbanded,
formed from volunteers in the spring of 1941 (participated in hostilities against
USSR as part of the 5th SS Panzer Division "Viking").
7. In July, contacts between the Finns and the USSR began through the Soviet embassy in Sweden.
8. In the autumn of 1943, 33 prominent Finnish citizens, including several
members of parliament, sent a letter to the president with the wish that the government
took steps to conclude peace. The letter known as the "Address of the Thirty-three" was
published in the Swedish press.
9. At the beginning of November, the Social Democratic Party issued a new statement, which did not
only the right of Finland to withdraw from the war at its own discretion was emphasized, but also
it was noted that this step should be taken without delay.

Mannerheim's categorical refusal to participate in what Germany started after Stalingrad
“Total war” found its understanding in the Wehrmacht command. So, sent in the fall to
Finland Jodl gave the following response to Mannerheim’s position: “Not a single nation has
greater duty than preserving his country. All other points of view must yield to this
path, and no one has the right to demand that any people begin to die in the name of another
people."
On December 1, 1943, at a conference in Tehran, US President F. Roosevelt asked I. Stalin,
whether he agrees to discuss the issue of Finland. Can the United States government
do anything to help get Finland out of the war? Thus began the conversation about
Finland between I. Stalin, W. Churchill and F. Roosevelt. The main result of the conversation: “great
Troika approved I. Stalin’s conditions for Finland.

In January - February, Soviet troops, during the Leningrad-Novgorod operation, lifted the 900-day blockade of Leningrad by German troops from the south. Finnish troops remained on the approaches
to the city from the north.
In February, Soviet long-range aviation launched three massive air raids on
Helsinki: on the nights of February 7, 17 and 27; in total over 6000 sorties. There was damage
modest - 5% of bombs dropped fell within the city limits.
On March 16, US President Roosevelt publicly expressed his wish for Finland to withdraw from the war.
On March 20, German troops occupied Hungary after it began to probe the western
powers regarding the possibility of concluding peace.
On April 1, with the return of the Finnish delegation from Moscow, the demands of the Soviet
governments:
1. Border under the terms of the Moscow Peace Treaty of 1940;
2. Internment, by the Finnish army, of German units in Finland until the end of April;
3. Reparations of US$600 million to be paid within 5
years.
4. The issue of reparations became a stumbling block - after a hasty analysis
capabilities of the Finnish economy, the size and timing of reparations were absolutely recognized
unreal.
On April 18, Finland refused the Soviet proposals.

On June 10, 1944, the Vyborg-Petrozavodsk offensive operation began. Finnish
the direction was secondary for the Soviet command. Offensive on this
direction pursued the goal of pushing Finnish troops away from Leningrad and withdrawing Finland
from the war to the attack on Germany.
Soviet troops, due to the massive use of artillery, aviation and tanks, as well as
active support of the Baltic Fleet, broke into one after another the Finnish defense lines on
Karelian Isthmus and took Vyborg by storm on June 20.
Finnish troops withdrew to the third defensive line Vyborg - Kuparsaari Taipale (also known as the "VKT Line") and, by transferring all available reserves from
eastern Karelia, were able to take up a strong defense there. This, however, weakened the Finnish
grouping in eastern Karelia, where on June 21 Soviet troops also went on the offensive
and on June 28 Petrozavodsk was liberated.
On June 19, Marshal Mannerheim addressed the troops with an appeal to hold on at all costs.
third line of defense. “A breakthrough in this position,” he emphasized, “can be decisive
way to weaken our defense capabilities."

Throughout the Soviet offensive, Finland was in dire need of effective
anti-tank weapons. Such funds could be provided by Germany, which, however,
demanded that Finland sign an obligation not to conclude a separate peace with the USSR. With this
On a mission on June 22, German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop arrived in Helsinki.
On the evening of June 23, while Ribbentrop was still in Helsinki, the Finnish government
via Stockholm received a note from the Soviet government with the following content:
Since the Finns have deceived us several times, we want the Finnish government
conveyed a message signed by the President and the Minister of Foreign Affairs that Finland
ready to surrender and turn to the Soviet government asking for peace. If we get from
Government of Finland this information, Moscow is ready to receive the Finnish delegation.
Thus, the Finnish leadership was faced with a choice - it was necessary to choose either
unconditional surrender to the USSR, or the signing of an agreement with Germany, which, according to
according to Gustav Mannerheim, would increase the possibilities for an acceptable peace without conditions.
The Finns preferred the latter, but to undertake obligations not to conclude a separate
The Finns did not want peace with the USSR.
As a result, on June 26, Finnish President Ryti single-handedly signed a letter in which he
it is said that neither he (the President) nor his government will act to conclude
a peace that Germany would not approve of

At the front, from June 20 to 24, Soviet troops unsuccessfully tried to break through the CGT line. During
battles, a weak point in the defense was revealed - near the village of Tali, where the terrain
was suitable for use in tanks. Since June 25, in this area, the Soviet command
massively used armored vehicles, which made it possible to penetrate deep into the Finnish defense by 4-
6 km. After four days of continuous fighting, the Finnish army pulled the front line back from both
flanks of the breakthrough and took positions on the convenient, but not fortified Ikhantala line.
On June 30, the decisive battle took place near Ikhantala. 6th Division - the last Finnish unit,
transferred from Eastern Karelia, - managed to take positions and stabilized the defense -
The Finnish defense held out, which seemed to the Finns themselves “a real miracle.”
The Finnish army occupied a line that was 90 percent over water obstacles,
having a width from 300 m to 3 km. This made it possible to create strong defenses in narrow passages and
have strong tactical and operational reserves. By mid-July on the Karelian Isthmus
Up to three-quarters of the entire Finnish army was active.
From July 1 to July 7, an attempt was made to land troops through the Vyborg Bay on the flank
the CGT line, during which several islands in the bay were captured.
On July 9, the last attempt was made to break through the VKT line - under the cover of smoke
curtains, Soviet troops crossed the Vuoksu River and captured a bridgehead on the opposite
shore. The Finns organized counterattacks, but were unable to liquidate the bridgehead, although they did not allow
expand it. Fighting in this area continued until July 20. Attempts to cross the river
in other directions they were repulsed by the Finns.
On July 12, 1944, the Headquarters ordered the Leningrad Front to go on the defensive in Karelian
isthmus. The troops of the Karelian Front continued the offensive and by August 9 reached
line Kudamguba - Kuolisma - Pitkäranta.

On August 1, 1944, President Ryti resigned. On August 4, the Finnish Parliament led
Mannerheim sworn in as president of the country.
On August 25, the Finns asked the USSR for conditions for a cessation of hostilities. Soviet
The government put forward two conditions (agreed with the UK and the US):
1. immediate severance of relations with Germany;
2. withdrawal of German troops by September 15, and in case of refusal - internment.
On September 2, Mannerheim sent a letter to Hitler with an official warning about the withdrawal
Finland from the war. On September 4, the order of the Finnish high command on
cessation of hostilities along the entire front. Fighting between Soviet and Finnish
the troops are over. The ceasefire came into force at 7.00 on the Finnish side, Soviet
The Union ceased hostilities a day later, on September 5. Soviet troops during the day
They captured parliamentarians and those who laid down their arms. The incident was explained
bureaucratic delay.
On September 19, an Armistice Agreement was signed in Moscow with the USSR and Great Britain,
acting on behalf of countries at war with Finland. Finland
accepted the following terms:
1. return to the 1940 borders with an additional concession to the Soviet Union of the Petsamo sector;
2. leasing the Porkkala Peninsula (located near Helsinki) to the USSR for a period of 50
years (returned to the Finns in 1956);
3. granting the USSR rights to transit troops through Finland;
4. reparations of 300 million US dollars, which must be repaid in supplies
goods for 6 years.
Peace Treaty between Finland and the countries with which it was at war,
was signed on February 10, 1947 in Paris.

In total, about 24 thousand people from the local population were placed in Finnish concentration camps.
ethnic Russians, of whom, according to Finnish data, about 4 thousand died of hunger. War is not
The Finnish population was also bypassed. About 180,000 residents returned to the lands recaptured from the USSR
territory since 1941, but after 1944 they and about 30,000 people again
forced to evacuate to the interior of Finland. Finland received 65,000
Soviet citizens, Ingrians who found themselves in the German occupation zone. 55,000 of them
At the request of the USSR, they returned in 1944 and were resettled in Pskov, Novgorod,
Velikiye Luki, Kalinin and Yaroslavl regions. The return to Ingria became
possible only in the 1970s. Others ended up further away, for example in Kazakhstan, where else in
In the 1930s, many Ingrian peasants who were, in the opinion of the authorities, unreliable were exiled.
Repeated evacuations of the local population carried out by the Finnish authorities,
evictions and deportations carried out by the Soviet side, including resettlement to
territory of the Karelian Isthmus of inhabitants from the central regions of Russia, led to
the complete destruction of farmstead farming and the traditional system for these places
land use, as well as the elimination of the remains of the material and spiritual culture of the Karelian
ethnic group on the Karelian Isthmus.
Photo of a Finnish concentration camp (so-called “resettlement” camp),
located in Petrozavodsk in the area of ​​the Transshipment Exchange on Olonetskaya
street. The photo was taken by war correspondent Galina Sanko after
liberation of Petrozavodsk in the summer of 1944, was used by the Soviet side
at the Nuremberg trials.

Of the more than 64 thousand Soviet prisoners of war who passed through Finnish concentration camps
camp, according to Finnish data, more than 18 thousand died. According to Mannerheim’s memoirs, in a letter
dated March 1, 1942, sent by him to the Chairman of the International Red Cross, was
noted that the Soviet Union refused to accede to the Geneva Convention and did not give
guarantees that the lives of Finnish prisoners of war will be safe. However, Finland
will strive to strictly comply with the terms of the convention, although it does not have the opportunity to properly
way to feed Soviet prisoners, since food rations for the Finnish population
reduced to a minimum. Mannerheim states that during the exchange of prisoners of war after
conclusion of the armistice it turned out that, by his standards, a very large number of Finnish
prisoners of war died in Soviet camps before 1944 due to violation of conditions
existence. The number of Finnish prisoners of war during the war, according to the NKVD,
amounted to 2,476 people, of which in 1941-1944, during their stay on the territory of the USSR,
403 people died. Providing prisoners of war with food, medicines,
medicines were equal to the standards for providing the wounded and sick of the Red Army.
The main causes of death of Finnish prisoners of war were dystrophy (due to
insufficient nutrition) and the long stay of prisoners in freight cars, with virtually no
heated and not equipped to contain people.

Signing of the Armistice Agreement dated 19
September 1944. The photograph shows
signing of the Agreement by A. A. Zhdanov. 19
September 1944
For the Motherland. Monument to Finnish
soldiers in wars with the USSR
1918-1945-Pos. Melnikovo.
Linen. region
Soviet military personnel
restoring the border sign
on the border with Finland. June 1944

Why did war break out again between Finland and the Soviet Union in 1941? Was the cause fascist revanchism, or the small country’s fear of losing independence? How did the hostilities unfold, and what price did Finland pay for all this?

In Finland, the war of 1941-44 against the Soviet Union is called a continuation war, that is, a continuation of the winter war of 1939-40. The Red Army attacked Finland on November 30, 1939. This became possible thanks to the secret additional protocol of the Soviet-German Pact of August 23, 1939, according to which Finland, following the example of the Baltic countries, fell into the zone of influence of the USSR. After the Winter War, the Soviet Union continued to put pressure on Finland and constantly sought Germany's consent to the final implementation of the agreement. Finland, in search of protection, was forced to hide under the wing of Germany.

The threat posed by the Soviet Union in relation to Finland arose due to different interpretations of the peace treaty, the accession of the Baltic countries to the Soviet Union in 1940 and the proposal of Foreign Minister V.M. Molotov, who called on German Chancellor A. Hitler to fully implement the agreement of the summer of 1939 regarding part of Finland. At first, Finland turned to Sweden and Western countries for help. The Soviet Union, citing the peace treaty, prevented the emergence of joint defense plans between Sweden and Finland. Great Britain, which fought alone against Germany in the summer of 1940, could not help Finland. Between May and June 1940, Germany captured Denmark and Norway.

The course of military operations in the Finnish wars of 1939-45. OFFENSIVE MAP OF THE 1941 CONTINUATION WAR AND 1942 WAR OF POSITION. The map depicts the advances of German troops in Northern Europe in 1941; the lines on which the offensive stopped; front lines in 1942 and the operational offensives of the Red Army towards Finland in the winter and spring of 1942. The Moscow Peace Treaty of March 12, 1940 obliged Finland to lease the territory on Cape Hanko to the Soviet Union for a naval base. The Soviet Union evacuated the base's military personnel in December 1941 to the Oranienbaum-Leningrad area. Original map by Rautio Ari, Progress of hostilities in the Finnish Wars 1939-45, Porvoo 2004. Photo: Ari Raunio

The Moscow Peace Treaty, signed after the Winter War in March 1940, contrary to the assurances of the Soviet Union, did not remove all the problems in relations between Finland and the USSR. In practice, only the Soviet Union had the right to interpret the short and condensed treaty, and these interpretations were perceived as a threat to Finnish independence. It was believed that the final goal of the USSR was the complete capture of Finland. Another confirmation of this was the decision of the top leadership of the Soviet Union to found the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic on March 31, 1940. A few days earlier, the Finnish language received the status of an official language in the republic. This new Soviet republic included territories seized by the Soviet Union from Finland after the Winter War.

In an effort to repel the threat posed by the Soviet Union, Finland fell into the arms of Germany. Finland requested military support, and Germany offered to return, with interest, the territories lost in the Winter War. To do this, Finland had to open a front in parallel with the German attack and provide its northern regions for an attacking bridgehead for the German army. It was assumed that it would be easy to conduct military operations from the territory of Finland in conditions when Germany was attacking the Soviet Union in other directions.

This prospect excited the thoughts of Finnish leaders. In addition to the territories lost during the Winter War, Finland was attracted by the lands of the Karelians related to the Finns, that is, there was talk of annexing the Karelian Soviet Republic to Finland. At the beginning of the Continuation War, both the Soviet Union and Finland thought it was a good idea to unite Finland and the Karelian Republic.

The successful winter war appears to have been the main reason why Germany did not require Finland to accept fascist ideology as a condition for joint military action. Finland retained a democratic form of government and remained a Western rule of law state throughout the war.

The Continuation War, which lasted more than three years, can be divided militarily into three stages: the war of attack in 1941, the war of position in 1942-44, and the war of reflection in 1944.

Planning an attack It was believed that it would mainly be accompanied by the retreat of units of the Red Army. It was believed that a massive attack by the Germans in the Leningrad direction would weaken the combat power of the Red Army on the Finnish border. It turned out differently - the battles became fierce. Finland lost 21,000 soldiers in 1941, that is, 2,000 more than during the entire winter war. The total Finnish losses in the Continuation War amounted to 60,000 people killed and died from wounds. The number of wounded reached almost 150,000.

Defensive actions of the continuation war of 1942-44. In the winter of 1944, the Red Army pushed German corps on the Leningrad Front to the Narva-Pepsijärvi line. The fourth strategic strike of the Red Army in 1944 was aimed at Finland. The Red Army, with its offensive, forced the Finnish units to retreat to the positions won in 1941. The power of the offensive was weakened as a result of the resistance of Finnish troops in the area of ​​​​the border established by the peace agreement after the winter war. The Red Army attacked German troops at Petsamo (Pechenga) in October 1944. Original map by Ari Raunio-Juri Kilin, Defensive Actions of the Continuation War 1942-44, Keuru 2008. Photo: Ari Raunio

Finland received a formal reason for the offensive in the summer of 1941, after Soviet aircraft bombed many Finnish cities on June 25. In fact, Finland had already pledged to provide the northern regions of the country for a German military bridgehead and promised to launch its own offensive in southern Finland. In secret military negotiations, Finland's actions were coordinated with the German attack on the Soviet Union, that is, the Barbarossa plan.

In June-July 1941, the corps of the German Army “Norway” began an offensive from Northern Finland to the northern regions of the USSR. The units under Finnish command launched a general offensive in the North Ladoga direction on July 10. Five days earlier, the division, under the command of the General Staff, began an offensive towards Rukajärvi.

Finnish troops, in addition to the territories lost in the winter war, captured the regions Karelian Soviet Republic. The offensive in the northern direction of the German Army “Norway” floundered along the entire front already in September. The Finnish corps, under the command of this German army, occupied Kestenga, with the support of German units. The advance of the army corps of the southern flank stopped in August on the approaches to Ukhtua (now Kalevala). The Finnish Army Corps was withdrawn from German command in the summer of 1942.

On the Karelian Isthmus In the first days of September, troops under the command of the Finnish General Staff stopped at the approaches to the old borders of the Principality of Finland, which seceded from Russia in 1918. Soviet Russia and Finland secured their borders with a peace treaty in 1920. In the northern part of Lake Ladoga Finnish units reached the old border during July-August, in September - to Svir and Petrozavodsk, in October-November - to the northern side of Medvezhyegorsk. The offensive on this line was stopped in early December. Great Britain declared war on Finland on December 6, 1941. The United States did not declare war on Finland, but relations between the countries were seriously tested during different periods of the war and were on the verge of breaking in the summer of 1944.

At the offensive stage, the Germans tried unsuccessfully to force the Finns to continue offensive operations, both on the Karelian Isthmus closer to Leningrad, and in the direction from Svir to the south, in order to join the German troops surrounding Leningrad. Supreme Commander Marshal Gustav Mannerheim rejected all German plans. Each time, before giving an answer, Mannerheim consulted with the President of the Republic, Risto Ryti.

The positional war lasted two and a half years. During this time, the Finns did not conduct a single offensive operation. A significant military action was the capture of the island of Suursaari (Gogland) in the Gulf of Finland in the winter of 1942. Finnish units repelled a series of attacks by the Red Army in January 1942 on the isthmus between Seesjärvi and Yajaninen and in April-May east of Svir. During the winter-spring of 1942, the German army repulsed the operational offensives of the Red Army in the direction of Pechenga and Kestenga. In the above-mentioned area of ​​military operations, the Finnish-German corps was commanded by Major General of the Finnish Army Hjalmar Siilasvuo.

In an effort to repel the threat posed by the Soviet Union, Finland fell into the arms of Germany. In an effort to repel the threat posed by the Soviet Union, Finland fell into the arms of Germany. Finland requested military support, and Germany offered to return, with interest, the territories lost in the Winter War. To do this, Finland had to open a front in parallel with the German attack and provide its northern regions for an attacking bridgehead for the German army. Photo: vainse/flickr.com/ccby2.0

From the summer of 1942 to the summer of 1944, military operations were limited to positional clashes. During the war Finland was ready to begin peace negotiations on the terms of returning the old borders before the winter war. The Soviet Union insisted on the boundaries of the Moscow Treaty of 1940.

Germany reacted sharply negatively to Finland’s attempts to make peace and, on the condition of continued military and food assistance, demanded that Finland continue to fight. The country experienced a shortage of food products that could only be obtained from Germany. The head of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, sought to speed up the 1944 winter negotiations with the massive bombing of Helsinki in February. Finnish parliament in April 1944 rejected the conditions put forward by the USSR, which assumed a return to the borders of the 1940 peace treaty and the expulsion of German troops from Northern Finland.

Stalin's fourth strategic strike in the summer of 1944

Big Offensive The Red Army's attack on Finland began on the Leningrad front with an attack on the Karelian Isthmus on June 10. The corps of the Karelian Front began ten days later an offensive on the isthmus between Svir, Segozero and Lake Onega.

On the first day of the main offensive, the troops of the Leningrad Front under the command of Colonel General L. Govorov captured an advanced Finnish defensive bridgehead, and five days later another one - the most fortified of all Finnish bridgeheads on the Karelian Isthmus. Govorov 18.6 was awarded the title of Marshal of the Soviet Union. Two days later, his corps took Vyborg.

After the loss of Vyborg, Finland was again ready for a truce with the USSR. Finland, however, interpreted the Soviet Union's response as a demand for unconditional surrender and decided to continue resistance. In order to ensure the receipt of military aid from Germany, President Risto Ryti sent a personal message to Adolf Hitler in which he confirmed that neither he nor the government he appointed would make a separate peace with the Soviet Union.

Finnish formations under the command of Lieutenant General Lennart Esch were able to stop the advance of the Red Army on the Karelian Isthmus on the Vyborg Bay and Vuoksa-Taipale line in mid-August. In mid-August, positional warfare began again on the Karelian Isthmus.

In the northern part of Ladoga, the corps of Lieutenant General Paavo Talvela slowly retreated fightingly to Ladoga and Karelia, where by the end of August the Finns managed to stop the advance of the troops of the Karelian Front under the command of Army General K. Meretskov on the Pitkäranta-Lemetti-Loimola line. The last big battles of the war were fought in the Ilomantsi region, where the units of Major General Erkki Raappan in early August pushed the corps of the Karelian Front back beyond the old border established by the peace treaty of 1920.

The war ended in September 1944 with an armistice, which was formalized by the Paris Peace Treaty in 1947. The 1944 truce was even harsher than the peace treaty signed after the winter war in Moscow on March 12, 1940.

President Ryti resigned during the battles near Ilomantsi. Parliament elected Mannerheim as the new president, who appointed a government headed by Prime Minister Hakzel. In early August, Finland agreed to the preconditions for peace negotiations presented by the Soviet Union. The guns on the fronts fell silent on September 4-5. Hakzel, who led the Finnish delegation at the peace talks in Moscow, was struck by paralysis in early September. Karl Enckel was appointed the new head of the delegation. An agreement on the cessation of hostilities between Finland and the Soviet Union was signed in Moscow on September 19. In Finnish history this agreement is called the “truce agreement”.

The war ended in September 1944 with an armistice, which was formalized by the Paris Peace Treaty in 1947. The war ended in September 1944 with an armistice, which was formalized by the Paris Peace Treaty in 1947. The 1944 truce was even harsher than the peace treaty signed after the winter war in Moscow on March 12, 1940. Photo: vainse/flickr.com/ccby2.0

Territorial concessions, control commission and war reparations

The terms of the treaty were harsh for Finland. Its provisions in some respects were stricter than the preliminary conditions.

In addition to the boundaries outlined by the Moscow Peace Treaty of 1940, Finland was forced to cede Petsamo (Pechenga) and lease the naval base at Porkkala, which was only 30 kilometers from the Finnish capital Helsinki, to the Soviet Union. The USSR decided in 1955 to abandon the naval base in Porkkala, leased for a period of 50 years. The units located there left the base, and in January 1955 the territory was returned to Finnish control.

The lost territories accounted for more than 10% of Finland's land area. Finland, which had a population of 4 million at the time, was forced to accommodate about 400,000 people from abandoned territories.

Finland was also obliged to expel the German army contingent, numbering almost 200,000 people, from the northern part of the country. The forced expulsion led to hostilities between German and Finnish units. About 1,000 more military personnel died in this Lapland War. The last German units left Finnish Lapland in April 1945.

Arrived in Finland to observe the implementation of the peace agreement Allied Control Commission. The commission was headed by Colonel General A. Zhdanov, in whose actions representatives of Great Britain did not interfere. At the request of the Soviet Union, President Ryti and some wartime political leaders, were sentenced by a war crimes tribunal to various terms of imprisonment. Ryti received 10 years in prison. President Mannerheim escaped the tribunal. Elected after him as president, J.K. Paasikivi pardoned Ryti in 1949.

The Control Commission left Finland in the autumn of 1947 after the ratification of the Paris Peace Treaty.

In addition to territorial concessions, Finland was obliged to pay significant war reparations, which in the most severe cases amounted to 16% of government spending. The last batch of reparation goods was sent to the Soviet Union in 1952.

Text: Ari Raunio, Reserve Lieutenant Colonel, Master of Science in Political Science