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
Soviet-Finnish War 1941-1944 |
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Finland, Karelo-Finnish SSR, Leningrad region, Murmansk region and Vologda region |
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Third Reich |
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Finland |
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Commanders |
|
Popov M. M. |
Gustav Mannerheim |
Khozin M. S. |
Nicholas von Falkenhorst |
Frolov V. A. |
Eduard Dietl |
Govorov L. A. |
Eduard Dietl |
Meretskov K. A. |
Lothar Rendulic |
Strengths of the parties |
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Northern Front (from 08/23/41 divided into the Karelian and Leningrad fronts): 358,390 people Baltic Fleet 92,000 people |
530 thousand people |
Unknown; only in Defense in the Arctic and Karelia: Irrevocable - 67,265 Sanitary - 68,448 Vyborg-Petrozavodsk strategic offensive operation: Irrevocable - 23,674 Sanitary - 72,701 Civilian losses: 632,253 dead in Leningrad |
Army: 58,715 killed or missing 158,000 wounded 2,377 prisoners as of April 22, 1956 were still in captivity |
Soviet-Finnish War (1941-1944)(in Russian-language sources usually Soviet-Finnish front Great Patriotic War, also Karelian Front) was fought between Finland and the USSR from June 25, 1941 to September 19, 1944.
During the war, Finland took the side of the Axis countries with the goal of seizing territory from the USSR up to the “border of the three isthmuses” (Karelian, Olonetsky and White Sea). Hostilities began on June 22, 1941, when, in response to Finnish troops occupying the demilitarized zone of the Åland Islands, Finnish troops were bombed by Soviet aircraft. 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 populated areas. On the same day, the Finnish government announced that the country was 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 its 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 no active battles on the Finnish front. In the late summer of 1944, following heavy defeats suffered by the allied Germany and the Soviet offensive, Finland proposed a ceasefire, which came into effect on September 4–5, 1944.
Finland emerged from the war with the USSR with the conclusion of an armistice agreement, signed on September 19, 1944 in Moscow. After this, Finland, not satisfied with the speed of the withdrawal of 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 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-Italian-German flotilla (Naval Detachment K) on Lake Ladoga also took part in the battles.
Name
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; The Finnish offensive was planned by the Germans as part of Plan Barbarossa.
In Finnish historiography, the term predominantly used to name these military actions "continuation war"(fin. jatkosota), which emphasizes her attitude to the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939-1940, which ended shortly before, or Winter War.
Russian historian Baryshnikov points out that the period of the war of 1941-1944 was “obviously aggressive” on the Finnish side, and the “paradoxical” sounding term “continuation war” appeared after Finland entered the war for propaganda reasons. The Finns planned the war as short and victorious and until the fall of 1941 they called it the “summer war” (see the work of N. I. Baryshnikov, with reference to Olli Vehviläinen).
Prerequisites
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, in the Russian Empire unofficially called “Old Finland”). 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 1941 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.
Prerequisites for the conflict
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,
On June 23, the USSR demanded from Finland a concession for the nickel mines in Petsamo (which actually meant the nationalization of the British company developing them). Soon the USSR also demanded the signing of a separate agreement with the USSR on 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.
Preparing Finland for joint action with Germany
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 Finland was still suspicious of Germany due to its policies during the Winter War, it was seen as 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 parties noted that the transit of German troops led to a surge of 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 rejected Molotov's demand in November 1940 for a final solution to the “Finnish question,” which influenced his further decisions.
“While in Berlin on special assignment in December 1940, General Paavo Talvela told me that he was acting in accordance with Mannerheim's instructions and that he had begun to express to General Halder his views on such possibilities that Germany could provide military support to Finland in its difficult situation"- writes the Finnish envoy to Germany T. Kivimäki.
On December 5, 1940, Hitler told his generals that they could count on Finland's participation in Operation Barbarossa.
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" According to the joint plan of January 30, the Finnish offensive was to begin no later than the moment the German army crossed the Dvina (during the war, this event occurred at the end of June 1941); five divisions were to advance in the west of Ladoga, three in the east of Ladoga, and two in the direction of Hanko.
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;
- returning the border with the USSR to its pre-war (or better) state;
- continued 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:
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:
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 partial mobilization - the first order concerned the reservists of the covering troops.
On June 7, 1941, the first German troops involved in the implementation of the Barbarossa plan arrived in Petsamo. On June 17, the order was given to mobilize the entire field army. 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 colleague 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.
During the first half of 1941, the Finnish border guard recorded 85 overflights of Soviet aircraft over its territory, of which 13 were in May and 8 from June 1 to 21.
War plans
USSR
On March 19, 1928, north of Leningrad, at a distance of 20 km, construction of a defensive line began in the Pargolovo-Kuyvozi area, which soon became known as KaUR - Karelian fortified area. The work began by order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR No. 90. The first secretary of the regional committee of the CPSU(b)S was appointed responsible for organizing the work. M. Kirov and commander of the Leningrad Military District M. N. Tukhachevsky. Construction was not limited to the outskirts of the city, but extended to the entire Karelian Isthmus all the way to Ladoga. By 1939, the work, carried out in an atmosphere of heightened secrecy, was completed.
However, by the beginning of the war, 50 percent of the fortifications had been dismantled. At the same time, the south of the city began to be considered the most threatened direction, where plans had recently been made to create a city center. In the northern regions (Park of the Forestry Academy, Shuvalovskaya Mountain), the construction of bunkers began, and in the city, the creation of defense lines running parallel to the Neva.
Finland
The Finnish government assumed a quick victory of the Third Reich over the USSR. The extent of Finnish plans to seize Soviet territory is a matter of debate. Finland's official goal was to regain territories lost as a result of the Winter War. There is no doubt that Finland was going to capture much more. Ryti in October 1941 informed Hitler's envoy Schnurre (German. Schnurre), that Finland wants to get the entire Kola Peninsula and Soviet Karelia with the border:
- from the shore of the White Sea near Onega Bay south to the southern tip of Lake Onega;
- along the Svir River and the southern shore of Lake Ladoga;
- along the Neva to the mouth.
Ryti agreed that Leningrad should be destroyed, with the possible preservation of a small part of it as a German trading port.
Already in February 1941, the German command knew that Finland planned to deploy four army corps on the southern sector of the front with five divisions attacking Leningrad, two advancing in the direction of Lake Onega and two on Hanko.
The Finnish command wanted to avoid responsibility for the outbreak of hostilities at all costs. Thus, massive operations from Finnish territory were planned to begin eight to ten days after the German attack, in the expectation that Soviet opposition to Germany during this time would provide a pretext for Finland to declare war.
Balance of power
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.
Germany
- Army "Norway"
USSR
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.
- Baltic Fleet
War
The beginning of the Barbarossa plan
The implementation of 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 part of the 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.
On the morning of the same day, German troops stationed in Norway occupied Petsamo. The concentration of German troops began on the border with the USSR. At the beginning of the war, Finland did not allow German troops to launch a ground attack from its territory, and German units in the Petsamo and Salla area were forced to refrain from crossing the border. There were only occasional skirmishes between Soviet and Finnish border guards.
At 4:30 on June 22, the Finnish landing force, under the cover of warships, crossed the border of territorial waters and invaded the demilitarized zone of the Åland Islands ( English). At about 6 o'clock in the morning, Soviet bombers appeared in the Aland Islands area and tried to bomb the Finnish battleships Väinämöinen and Ilmarinen, a gunboat, and also Fort Als-kar. 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.”
At 7:05 am, Finnish sea vessels were attacked by Soviet aircraft near the island. Sottunga of the Åland archipelago. At 7:15 a.m. bombs fell on Fort Alskar, located between Turku and Aland, and at 7:45 a.m. four planes attacked Finnish transports near Korpo (Kogro).
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 airlocks, but due to increased security they were unable to do this.
At first, the USSR tried to prevent Finland from entering the war by diplomatic methods: 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 on June 22, which spoke about the Germans, meant. troops who “in alliance with Finnish comrades ... defend Finnish land,” but 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. The border guards were ordered to open fire only after the start of the Finnish attack.
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.
On the same day, the Soviet embassy was evacuated from Helsinki.
Raids 25-30 June
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 an air strike on Finnish territory, mainly on Luftwaffe bases, using about 300 bombers. 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 aviation 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, on which several series of raids were carried out, including Turku (4 waves), Helsinki, Kotka, Rovaniemi, Pori. One of the oldest architectural monuments in Finland, Abo Castle, was seriously damaged. Many of the bombs were incendiary thermite.
The number of targets bombed on June 25 allowed Air Force specialists to assume that such massive raids required many weeks of study. For example, in Turku, a power plant, port, docks, and airfield were scouted as targets. In this regard, Finnish politicians and historians believe that the targets of Soviet bombing were cities, not airfields. The raid had the opposite effect on public opinion in Finland and predetermined the further actions of the Finnish leadership. Western historians view this raid as militarily ineffective and a gross political mistake.
A session of the Finnish parliament was scheduled for June 25, at which, according to Mannerheim’s memoirs, Prime Minister Rangell was supposed to make a statement about Finland’s neutrality in the Soviet-German conflict, but Soviet bombing gave him reason 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. On June 25, Prime Minister Rangell in parliament, and President Ryti the next day in a radio address, stated that the country had become the target of an attack and was actually in a state of war.
In 1987, Finnish historian Mauno Jokipii analyzed Soviet-Finnish relations between 1939 and 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.
Finnish offensive of 1941
On June 29, a joint offensive of Finnish and German troops began from the territory of Finland against the USSR. On the same day, the evacuation of the population and production equipment from Leningrad began. 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. Mannerheim’s memoirs say that, having heard a reminder that he had made refusal to storm the city a condition of his tenure as commander-in-chief, Finnish President Ryti, who arrived at headquarters, responded to German proposals on August 28 with a categorical refusal to storm, which was repeated on August 31.
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 since 1918, was crossed by Finnish troops in some places 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 from the 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.
The Soviet command, in connection with the stabilization of the situation on the Karelian Isthmus, transferred two divisions from this area to the defense of the southern approaches to Leningrad on September 5.
In Leningrad itself, work continued on the southern approaches to the city, in which about half a million residents participated. Shelters for the command were built on the northern outskirts, including in Mount Parnassus in Shuvalovo 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 von 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. Von Leeb continues to strengthen the blockade ring, pulling Soviet troops away from helping the 54th Army that began the offensive.
In his memoirs, Mannerheim writes that he 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 it.
According to Mannerheim, on October 16, the Germans asked to support them in the attack on Tikhvin, but were refused. German troops, who took the city on November 9 and did not receive support from the Finnish side, were forced to leave it on December 10.
On November 6, the Finns began construction of the Vammelsuu-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 (Fin. 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.
By the end of the summer of 1941, mobilization had reached 650,000 people, or about 17.5% of Finland's population of 3.7 million, setting a record of sorts in world history. This had an extremely difficult impact on all aspects of the life of the state: the number of workers in industry fell by 50%, in agriculture by 70%. Food production in 1941 fell by a third. 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, Finnish casualties amounted to 80% of the potential annual conscripts.
Already in August 1941, the Finnish military attaché in Washington said that a Finnish “separate” war could end in a separate peace.
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.
Reactions of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition
The Finns counted on the support of Great Britain and especially the United States. Ryti compared Finland's position in the war with the USSR with the position of America in the war with England in 1812: the Americans fought against the British in America, but they were not allies of Napoleon.
At the end of June 1941, US Secretary of State Cordell Hull did congratulate the Finns on their successful advance to the old borders, but within two months, when Finnish plans, far beyond the return of territories lost during the Winter War, became obvious, congratulations gave way to warnings. The threat of the Finns cutting the railway to Murmansk became too dangerous for Great Britain and their (then virtual) ally, the USA. Churchill noted in the fall of 1941: “the Allies cannot allow the Finns, acting as a German satellite, to cut the main line of communication with the West.” On November 29, 1941, Churchill invited Mannerheim to withdraw from the war; the latter responded with a firm refusal.
Unfortunately for both sides, U.S.-Finnish relations continued to deteriorate as the U.S. entered the war. The condition for improving relations between the United States was the severance of relations between Finland and Hitler and the promise of the return of all territories seized from the USSR (except for those that went to the USSR under the Moscow Treaty). However, as the Germans continued to hold the initiative on the Eastern Front, Finland responded with vague words.
Participation in the siege of Leningrad
For three years, Finnish troops ensured the blockade of Leningrad from the north, although at first the Finnish leadership expected the fall of the city in the fall of 1941. In his work, Baryshnikov N.I., with reference to “Akten zur deutschen auswärtigen Politik. 1918-1945” (source not verified - June 8, 2012), provides data that on September 11, 1941, Finnish President Ryti told the German envoy in Helsinki:
The actions of Finnish and German troops blocked the city from almost all communications connecting it with the rest of the USSR. Together with Germany, a naval blockade of the city was established, cutting off its connection with neutral states. On land, Finnish troops blocked the communication routes between Leningrad and the rest of the USSR: along the railway that went through the Karelian Isthmus and north of Lake Ladoga to Petrozavodsk, in December 1941 the Kirov railway connecting the city with Murmansk and Arkhangelsk was cut; supply routes by inland waterways were blocked - the White Sea-Baltic Canal was cut with the capture of Povenets on December 6, 1941, and the Volga-Baltic waterway, which before the war was the main route for delivering goods by inland waters to Leningrad, was also cut.
Political events in 1941-1943
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.
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:
Further developments in Finland are schematically presented below:
- 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 deems desirable and possible.
- On March 20, the US State Department officially offered its assistance in securing 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.
- By March, President Ryti removed supporters of “Greater Finland” from the government and attempts began to reach an agreement with the USSR through the mediation of the USA and Sweden. In 1943, these attempts were unsuccessful, as the Finns insisted on maintaining the borders that existed before 1940.
- In early 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.
- In early 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.
Mannerheim’s categorical refusal to participate in the “Total War” launched by Germany after Stalingrad found its understanding in the Wehrmacht command. Thus, Jodl, sent to Finland in the fall, gave the following response to Mannerheim’s position:
On December 1, 1943, at a conference in Tehran, US President F. Roosevelt asked I. Stalin if he agreed to discuss the issue of Finland. Can the United States government do anything to help get Finland out of the war? Thus began a conversation about Finland between I. Stalin, W. Churchill and F. Roosevelt. The main result of the conversation: the Big Three approved I. Stalin’s conditions for Finland.
Political events of January - May 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 Headquarters of the Supreme High Command A.E. 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 further need 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 planes 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.
On June 10, 1944 (four days after the Allied landing in Normandy), the Vyborg-Petrozavodsk offensive operation began. The Finnish direction was secondary for the Soviet command. The offensive in this direction was intended to push Finnish troops away from Leningrad and to take Finland out of the war before the attack on Germany.
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, with the start of the Svir-Petrozavodsk operation, the troops of the Karelian Front 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:
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. The Finns preferred the latter, but the Finns did not want to take on obligations 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.
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 Kudamguba - Kuolisma - Pitkyaranta line.
Finland's withdrawal from the war
On August 1, 1944, President Ryti resigned. On August 4, the Finnish parliament swore Mannerheim in as president of the country.
On August 25, the Finns asked the USSR (through the Soviet ambassador in Stockholm) for conditions for a cessation of hostilities. The Soviet government put forward two conditions (agreed with Great Britain and the USA):
- immediate severance of relations with Germany;
- 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 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. The ceasefire came into force at 7.00 on the Finnish side, the Soviet Union ceased hostilities a day later, on September 5. Within 24 hours, Soviet troops captured the parliamentarians and those who laid down their arms. The incident was attributed to a bureaucratic delay.
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 accepted the following conditions:
- return to 1940 borders with additional cession of the Petsamo sector to the Soviet Union;
- 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 of US$300 million, to be repaid in goods over 6 years;
- Lifting the ban on the Communist Party.
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 recollections, the Germans, whose forces of 200,000 people were in northern Finland under the command of General Rendulic, did not leave the country within the ultimatum set by the Finns (until September 15). On September 3, the Finns began transferring troops from the Soviet front to the north of the country (Kajani and Oulu), where German units were located, and on September 7, the Finns began evacuating the population from the north of Finland to the south and 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 and lasted until April 1945.
Results of the war
Treatment of civilians
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.
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.
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.
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.
Trial of Finnish war criminals
Political results
According to a Library of Congress study of the war's impact on Finland:
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 views of the communists to the views 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, despite censorship, its role 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 virtually official status in Finnish historiography (Fin. "ajopuuteoria"). In the 1960s it expanded to a more detailed version (fin. "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.”
Soviet and Russian historiography does not distinguish the war with Finland of 1941-1944 from the Great Patriotic War. The USSR's initiative in the war against Finland on June 25 was hushed up in the USSR; the raid on June 25, 1941 was called “imaginary.”
Coverage of the war in the USSR changed over time. In the 1940s, the war was called the fight against the “imperialist plans of the Finnish-fascist invaders.” Subsequently, the role of Finland in the Great Patriotic War, including the siege of Leningrad, was practically not considered in detail due to the unspoken attitude “not to touch on the negative aspects of relations between the USSR and Finland.” 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 .
Memory of the war
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 are several mass graves of Finnish soldiers.
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.
In culture
- Cuckoo - the relationship between the film's characters develops against the backdrop of the final stage of the Soviet-Finnish war
- The Road to Rukajärvi - the film gives a Finnish interpretation of the events in eastern Karelia in the fall of 1941.
- And the dawns here are quiet - the second episode of the film contains an artistic description of “local battles” in Karelia in 1942.
During World War II, Finland was an ally of Germany. On September 22, 1940, a technical agreement was signed between Germany and Finland; it provided for the transportation of German equipment, sick people and vacationers from German troops in Norway through Finnish territory. Berlin began supplying to Finland. Gradually, Germany took the main place in the foreign economic sphere of Finland, the German share began to account for 70% of the country's foreign trade turnover. In October 1940, the Finnish government allowed the recruitment of volunteers into the SS troops.
In January 1941, the Finnish parliament passed a conscription law that increased the length of service in the regular forces from one year to two years. On June 9, 1941, the Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish Armed Forces, Marshal Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim, issued an order for partial mobilization, which concerned the reservists of the covering troops. On June 17, general mobilization began in Finland. On June 21, Finnish units landed on the Åland Islands, which were a demilitarized zone. On June 25, the Soviet Air Force attacked airfields and enterprises owned by the Germans in Finland. The Finnish government declared war on the USSR. On June 28, Finnish troops went on the offensive.
German poster addressed to the Finns during the Lapland War. The ironic inscription on the poster: “Als dank bewiesene für nicht Waffenbrüderschaft!” (“Thank you for the proven lack of fighting camaraderie!”)
At the beginning of 1942, the Soviet Ambassador to Sweden A. M. Kollontai, through the Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs Gunther, made an attempt to establish contacts with the Finnish government. At the end of January, President Risto Heikki Ryti and Marshal Mannerheim discussed the possibility of holding preliminary negotiations with the Soviet Union and came to the conclusion that any contacts with Moscow were unacceptable.
On March 20, 1943, the American government approached Finland with an offer to act as a mediator in negotiations for a peace agreement (the United States was not at war with Finland). The Finnish government, having reported the proposal to Berlin, refused. However, the mood of the Finnish military-political elite began to change as the German troops failed on the eastern front. In the summer of 1943, Finnish representatives began negotiations with the Americans in Portugal. The head of the Finnish Foreign Ministry, Karl Henrik Wolter Ramsay, sent a letter to the American State Department with assurance that Finnish troops would not fight with American soldiers if they entered Finnish territory after landing in Northern Norway.
Gradually, the war frenzy subsided and was replaced by defeatist sentiments; plans for the construction of “Greater Finland” had to be forgotten. At the beginning of November 1943, the Social Democratic Party issued a statement in which it not only emphasized Helsinki's right to withdraw from the war at will, but also stated that this step should be taken without delay. In mid-November 1943, Secretary of the Swedish Foreign Ministry Bucheman informed Ambassador Kollontai that the Finnish government wanted peace with the USSR. November 20 A.M. Kollontai asked Bucheman to inform the Finnish authorities that Helsinki could send a delegation to Moscow for negotiations. The Finnish government began studying the Soviet proposal. At the same time, the Swedish government announced that it was ready to provide food assistance to Finland in the event that attempts to begin negotiations with the Soviet Union with the aim of concluding a peace agreement lead to a cessation of German supplies. The Finnish government's response to Moscow's proposal stated that Helsinki was ready to conduct peace negotiations, but could not give up territories and cities that were vital for Finland. Thus, Mannerheim and Ryti agreed to conduct peace negotiations with the Soviet Union, but from the position of victors. The Finns demanded the transfer to Finland of the territories lost as a result of the Winter War and which were part of the USSR on June 22, 1941. In response, Kollontai said that only the Soviet-Finnish border of 1940 could be the starting point for negotiations. At the end of January 1944, State Councilor Juho Kusti Paasikivi went to Stockholm for informal negotiations with the Soviet side. The Finnish government has again raised the issue of the 1939 borders. The arguments of Soviet diplomacy were not successful.
The arguments of Soviet long-range aviation turned out to be more significant. On the night of February 6–7, 1944, the Soviet Air Force attacked the Finnish capital. 728 Soviet bombers took part in the operation, they dropped 910 tons of bombs on the city (among them were four FAB-1000 bombs, six FAB-2000 and two FAB-5000 - high-explosive bombs weighing 1000, 2000, 5000 kg). More than 30 major fires broke out in Helsinki. Various military facilities, a gas storage facility, the Strelberg electromechanical plant and much more were on fire. A total of 434 buildings were destroyed or seriously damaged. The Finnish authorities managed to notify the population of the city 5 minutes before the start of the attack, so civilian casualties were insignificant: 83 killed and 322 wounded. On February 17, a second powerful airstrike was carried out on Helsinki. It wasn't as strong as the first one. The Soviet Air Force dropped 440 tons of bombs on the city. On the night of February 26-27, 1944, another powerful raid on the Finnish capital took place: 880 aircraft took part in it, 1067 tons of bombs were dropped (including twenty FAB-2000). The Finnish air defense system could not cope with such force and was ineffective. The aces transferred from Germany, the Me-109G squadron, also could not help. During three raids, the Soviet Air Force lost 20 aircraft, including losses due to technical faults.
At the end of February, Paasikivi returned from Stockholm. However, the Finnish leadership still tried to argue over territorial issues. Then the Swedish government intervened. The head of the Swedish Foreign Ministry, Gunther, the head of government, Linkomies, and then the king himself turned to the Finns with a proposal to accept the USSR’s proposals, since Moscow’s demands were minimal. Sweden demanded that the Finnish government determine its position by March 18.
On March 17, 1944, the Finnish government, through Sweden, turned to the USSR and asked for more detailed information about the minimum conditions for a peace agreement. On March 25, Advisor Paasikivi and Foreign Minister Oskar Karlovich Enkel flew over the front line on the Karelian Isthmus on a Swedish plane and arrived in the Soviet capital. A little earlier, Mannerheim gave the order to evacuate the population, property and equipment from Karelia and the occupied Karelian Isthmus.
Finnish infantrymen in the city of Tornio, Finland, in battle with German units during the Lapland War. The town of Tornio was the center of brutal street fighting at the beginning of the Lapland War between Finland and Germany. In the photo, the closest soldier is armed with a Mosin-Nagant 1891/30 rifle, and the farthest soldier is armed with a Suomi M/3 submachine gun
On April 1, Paasikivi and Enkel returned to the Finnish capital. They informed the government that the main condition for peace was to accept the boundaries of the Moscow Treaty of March 12, 1940 as a basis. German troops that were stationed in Finland were to be expelled or interned. In addition, Finland had to pay 600 million US dollars in reparations over a 5-year period (the amount was proposed to be repaid in goods). On April 18, Helsinki refused to accept Moscow's conditions. Shortly after this, Deputy Foreign Minister Vyshinsky made a radio statement in which he said that Helsinki had rejected the USSR’s peace proposals and that now all responsibility for the consequences lay with the Finnish leadership.
Meanwhile, by the end of April 1944, the situation of the Finnish armed forces was critical. Beyond Vyborg, the Finnish troops did not have serious fortifications. All healthy men under the age of 45 inclusive were already mobilized for war. On June 10, 1944, the Red Army went on the offensive on the Karelian Isthmus and captured Vyborg on June 20. On June 28, Soviet troops liberated Petrozavodsk. Finland faced the threat of complete military defeat and occupation.
The Finnish government asked Germany for help. On June 22, Ribbentrop arrived in the Finnish capital. President Ryti gave a written commitment not to conclude a peace treaty without the consent of Berlin. But on August 1, Risti Heikko Ryti resigned and Mannerheim took his place. On August 8, the government of Edwin Linkomies was dissolved, and Andres Werner Hackzel was elected as the new prime minister. On August 25, Helsinki asked Moscow to resume peace negotiations. On August 29, the Soviet embassy in Sweden conveyed Moscow's response: Finland had to break off relations with Germany; withdraw German troops by September 15; send a delegation for negotiations to the USSR.
On September 3, the head of the Finnish government addressed the people on the radio and announced the decision to begin negotiations with the USSR. On the night of September 4, the Finnish leadership made a statement on the radio and announced that it accepted the preliminary conditions of the Soviet Union, broke off relations with Nazi Germany and agreed to the withdrawal of German troops. The Finnish military command announced that it would cease hostilities as of 8 a.m. on September 4.
During the Lapland War, German troops under the command of General Lothar Rendulic used scorched earth tactics. In Lapland, 30% of buildings were destroyed, and the city of Rovaniemi, the birthplace of the Finnish Father Frost - Joulupukki, was completely destroyed. About 100,00 civilians became refugees
On September 8, 1944, a Finnish delegation arrived in the Soviet capital. It included head of government Andreas Hackzel, Minister of Defense Karl Walden, Chief of the General Staff Axel Heinrichsa and Lieutenant General Oskar Enckel. The USSR was represented by People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs V. M. Molotov, member of the State Defense Committee K. E. Voroshilov, member of the Military Council of the Leningrad Front A. A. Zhdanov, representatives of the NKID M. M. Litvinov, V. G. Dekanozov, head of the Operations Department of the General Staff S M. Shtemenko, commander of the Leningrad naval base A. P. Alexandrov. The UK was represented by Ambassador Archibald Kerr and Councilor John Balfour. On September 9, Hakzel fell seriously ill, so negotiations began only on September 14. Subsequently, the Finnish delegation was headed by Foreign Minister Karl Enkel. On September 19, an armistice agreement was signed in Moscow between the Soviet Union and Great Britain on the one hand and Finland on the other.
Main terms of the agreement:
Helsinki pledged to disarm German troops that would remain on Finnish territory after September 15 and hand over their personnel to the Soviet command as prisoners of war;
- The Finnish government undertook to intern all German and Hungarian nationals;
- Finland provided its airfields for the Soviet Air Force to conduct combat operations against the Germans in the North and Baltic;
- The Finnish army was supposed to switch to a peaceful position in two months;
- The provisions of the peace treaty of March 12, 1940 were restored;
- Finland pledged to return to the Soviet Union the Petsamo (Pechenga) region, which the Soviet government twice (in 1920 and 1940) ceded to the Finns;
- The USSR received the right to lease the Porkkala-Udd peninsula for a 50-year period to create a naval base there. The Soviet government had to pay 5 million Finnish marks annually for rent;
- The agreement between the USSR and Finland on the Åland Islands of 1940 was restored. According to the agreement, the Finnish side was obliged to demilitarize the Åland Islands and not provide them to the armed forces of other states.
- Finland pledged to immediately return all Soviet and allied prisoners of war and internees. The Soviet Union was returning all Finnish prisoners;
- Finland pledged to compensate for the damage caused to the USSR. The Finns had to repay the amount of 300 million US dollars in goods within six years;
- Finland has pledged to restore all legal rights, including property rights, of citizens and states of the United Nations;
- Finland pledged to return to Russia all exported valuables and property, both of individuals and the state;
- The Finnish government had to transfer military property to Germany and its allies, including military and merchant ships;
- Finland provided its merchant fleet and the required materials and products in the interests of the allies;
- In Finland, all fascist, pro-German and paramilitary structures, organizations and societies were dissolved.
Finnish infantry is loaded onto transport in the port of Oulu for landing in Tornio
Lapland War (September 1944 – April 1945)
It should be noted that the German command was prepared for a negative scenario for the development of events in Finland. In 1943, the Germans began to make plans in the event of a separate agreement between Finland and the USSR. It was decided to concentrate a military group in Northern Finland in order to retain the nickel mines in the Petsamo region (they were located near the modern village of Nikel in the Murmansk region). In the winter of 1943-1944. The Germans carried out large-scale work in the north of Finland and Norway, building and improving roads and creating warehouses.
There were few German troops in inner Finland. Aviation units were present at the front, and the main German forces were stationed in the Arctic. The Finnish government's fulfillment of the terms of the armistice agreement with the USSR and Great Britain led to a number of conflicts with German troops (they were called the “Lapland War”). So, on September 15, the Germans demanded the surrender of the Finnish garrison on the island of Gogland (an island in the Gulf of Finland). Having been refused, German troops tried to capture the island. The Finnish garrison received strong support from the Soviet Air Force; Soviet pilots sank four German self-propelled landing barges, a minesweeper and four boats. Deprived of reinforcements and naval support, German forces of about a battalion surrendered to the Finns.
In northern Finland, the German command was slow to withdraw its troops to Norway (Lothar Rendulic's 20th Army launched Operation Northern Lights to bring troops into Norway only began on October 4), and several clashes occurred with the Finns. On September 30, the Finnish 3rd Infantry Division under the command of Major General Pajari landed in the port of Røytä near the city of Torneo. At the same time, the Shyutskorites (militia, members of the Security Corps) and soldiers on vacation attacked the Germans in the city of Torneo. After a stubborn clash, German troops left the city. On October 8, Finnish troops occupied the city of Kemi. On October 16, Finnish units occupied the village of Rovaniemi, and on October 30, the village of Muonio. German troops, leaving Finland, used scorched earth tactics. Vast areas were devastated and Rovaniemi was completely destroyed. The last German formations left Finnish territory in April 1945.
On October 7, the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation began, during which the forces of the Karelian Front and the Northern Fleet attacked German troops in northern Finland in the Petsamo region and northern Norway. This accelerated the evacuation of German troops from Finland.
The insignificance of the fighting of the Finnish troops against the Wehrmacht is evidenced by a comparison of the scale of losses of the armed forces of Finland and the USSR during the fighting in the North. The Finns lost from mid-September 1944 to April 1945 about 1 thousand people killed and missing, and about 3 thousand wounded. German troops during the Lapland “War” lost about 1 thousand dead and more than 3 thousand wounded and prisoners. During the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation, the Soviet army lost about 6 thousand people killed, the German army - about 30 thousand soldiers.
Finnish soldiers plant the national flag on the border with Norway after the last German troops left Finnish territory. April 27, 1945
Some fought with numbers, and some with skill. The monstrous truth about the losses of the USSR in World War II Sokolov Boris Vadimovich
Finnish losses
Finnish losses
In the Soviet-Finnish, or Winter, War in November 1939 - March 1940, the Finnish army lost 18,139 killed, 1,437 died from wounds and illnesses, 4,101 missing and 43,557 wounded survivors, out of 337 thousand called up. army. Of the 4,101 missing, 847 returned from Soviet captivity, and 1,820 were officially declared killed. 1,434 Finnish military personnel are currently listed as missing. Since 16 Finnish prisoners of war died in Soviet captivity, 847 returned to their homeland, and 20 remained in the USSR, the total number of those killed among the missing can be estimated at 3,218 people. The total number of those killed will then be 21,357, those who died from wounds and diseases - 1,437, those who died in captivity - 16. The total irretrievable losses of the Finnish armed forces in the Winter War can be estimated at 22,810 dead. In addition, foreign volunteers fought on the Finnish side. Of 8,680 Swedish citizens, 33 were killed and 185 were wounded. Of 695 Norwegians, 2 were killed. Of 1,010 Danes, 5 were killed. Of 72 American Finns, 3 were killed and 5 were wounded. The 346 Hungarians who fought on the Finnish side suffered no losses. Also in the Finnish army were about 350 former subjects of the Russian Empire - White Sea and Olonets Karelians and Ingrian Finns. A partisan battalion was formed from them, which never entered into battle. In addition, other volunteers fought in the Finnish army and did not suffer any combat losses. These are 56 Estonians, 51 Belgians, 18 German citizens, 17 Dutch, 13 English, 7 Italians, 6 Poles, 6 Swiss, 4 Latvian citizens, 3 Luxembourg citizens, 2 French citizens, 2 Spanish citizens and 1 person each from Yugoslavia, Romania, Czechoslovakia and Portugal, as well as 15 Russian emigrants with Nansen passports of stateless persons. It is possible that Russian emigrants were also among the citizens of European countries who came to Finland as volunteers. The Finnish ground forces lost 17,005 killed, 3,781 missing and 44,414 wounded, the navy - 1013, 282 and 2204, respectively, and the aviation - 47, 28 and 54. In addition, 33 people were killed and 44 were wounded in the rear units, and The casualties of the Reserve troops of the Commander's Headquarters were 41 killed, 10 missing and 78 wounded. Finnish researchers estimate civilian casualties in the Winter War at 1,029 people. This number includes mainly victims of Soviet air raids on Helsinki and other cities, as well as 65 Finnish merchant marine sailors who died on ships sunk and 68 female nurses. We estimate Soviet losses in the Winter War at 164.3 thousand killed and died from wounds and in captivity out of more than 1 million Soviet troops who participated in the war. The Finnish command estimated Soviet losses at 200 thousand dead and missing. Higher estimates of irretrievable losses of Soviet troops of 230–270 thousand dead seem to us to be significantly overestimated. According to various estimates, from 5546 to 6116 Red Army soldiers were captured in Finnish captivity. Of this number, 5,465 returned to their homeland (of which 158 were shot on charges of espionage and treason), up to 111 prisoners may have died in captivity, and a certain, unspecified number of prisoners remained in Finland. Therefore, it is impossible to establish the exact number of Soviet prisoners who died in captivity.
In the continuation war with the Soviet Union, which Finland fought from June 1941 to September 1944, 475 thousand people were drafted into the Finnish armed forces. During the Continuation War, between June 15, 1941 and September 30, 1944, the Finnish armed forces suffered 38,677 battlefield deaths, 13,202 deaths from wounds, 6,577 missing and 259 captured. The total number of dead and missing was 58,715. The Finnish command estimated Soviet losses in killed and missing at 265 thousand people, not counting prisoners. 997 of 3114 prisoners died in captivity, or 32.0%. Thus, the total losses of the Finnish armed forces in the Continuation War in killed and deceased can be estimated by subtracting the 2,117 surviving prisoners from the 58,715 dead and missing, to 56,598 people. 64,188 Red Army soldiers were captured in Finnish captivity. Of these, 18,677, or 29.1%, died. It should also be taken into account that 1,407 Finnish volunteers served in the SS troops and 256 of them died.
In the continuation war in 1941, the irretrievable losses of Finnish troops amounted to 26,355 people, in 1942 - 7,552 people, in 1943 - 3,779, in 1944 until May 31 - 1,297, and from June 1 to September 30 - 19,732. In addition In addition, the loss of wounded amounted to about 158 thousand people.
Finnish civilian casualties in 1941–1944, mainly as a result of Soviet bombing, amounted to just over 900 killed and 2,700 wounded in Soviet bombing, and a further 190 victims of Soviet partisan attacks in Northern Finland.
1,036 Finnish soldiers died, went missing or were captured fighting the Germans during the so-called Lapland War from October 1, 1944 to May 31, 1945. Of this number, 774 were killed and died from wounds, 224 were missing and 38 were captured prisoners alive. Thus, the total death toll can be estimated at 998 dead. The losses in the wounded in the Lapland War amounted to about 3 thousand people. This war took place in northern Finland, where German troops held part of Finnish territory. Of the total number of casualties killed and wounded in the Continuation War and the Lapland War, the navy accounted for only 2.27%, or 4.7 thousand people, and the Air Force accounted for 0.5%, or 1,100 people. In the fleet, 86% of losses occurred in coastal units, which most often fought as infantry. In the ground army, 90% of losses were infantry.
We estimate the irretrievable losses of Finland during the Second World War at 81.8 thousand people, of which 2.1 thousand people were civilians.
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From the author's bookBulgarian losses The losses of Bulgarian troops during occupation service in Yugoslavia and Greece in 1941–1944, mainly as a result of clashes with local partisans, amounted to about 3 thousand people. According to the Bulgarian communists, more than 15 thousand.
From the author's bookGreek casualties According to official Greek data from the National Reparations Council, the losses of the Greek armed forces were 13,327 dead, 62,663 wounded and 1,290 missing during the Italo-Greek War of 1940–1941, 1,100 killed in Greek units,
From the author's bookSwedish losses During World War II, 8,680 Swedish volunteers served in the Finnish army, of whom 33 died. About 1,500 Swedish citizens also served in the Finnish army during the Continuation War of 1941–1944. Taking into account the fact that in this war the Finnish army died
From the author's bookAppendix 5. Meeting at the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks of the commanding staff to collect experience in combat operations against Finland on April 17
From the author's bookLosses... At any feast, amid the noise and din of the departed, remember; Although they are invisible to us, they see us. (I.G.) ...When I was awarded the highest officer rank, my son Seryozha and my friend and wife’s brother, Lieutenant Colonel of the Medical Service Ruzhitsky Zhanlis Fedorovich, rejoiced most of all.
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 July 26, a Finnish gunboat attacked the Soviet minesweeper TSH-283 and sank it.
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. Mannerheim’s memoirs say that, having heard a reminder that he had made refusal to storm the city a condition of his tenure as commander-in-chief, Finnish President Ryti, who arrived at headquarters, responded to German proposals on August 28 with a categorical refusal to storm, which was repeated on August 31.
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 since 1918, was crossed by Finnish troops in some places 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 from the 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.
Finnish soldiers cross the border with the USSR, summer 1941.
The Soviet command, in connection with the stabilization of the situation on the Karelian Isthmus, transferred two divisions from this area to the defense of the southern approaches to Leningrad on September 5.
In Leningrad itself, work continued on the southern approaches to the city, in which about half a million residents participated. Shelters for the command were built on the northern outskirts, including in Mount Parnassus in Shuvalovo 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 von 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. Von Leeb continues to strengthen the blockade ring, pulling Soviet troops away from helping the 54th Army that began the offensive.
In his memoirs, Mannerheim writes that he 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 it.
According to Mannerheim, on October 16, the Germans asked to support them in the attack on Tikhvin, but were refused. German troops, who took the city on November 9 and did not receive support from the Finnish side, were forced to leave it on December 10.
On November 6, the Finns began construction of the Vammelsuu-Taipale defensive line (VT line) on the Karelian Isthmus.
On November 11, the troops on the Olonets Isthmus received an order for such construction.
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.
By the end of the summer of 1941, mobilization had reached 650,000 people, or about 17.5% of Finland's population of 3.7 million, setting a record of sorts in world history. This had an extremely difficult impact on all aspects of the life of the state: the number of workers in industry fell by 50%, in agriculture by 70%. Food production in 1941 fell by a third. 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, Finnish casualties amounted to 80% of the potential annual conscripts.
Already in August 1941, the Finnish military attaché in Washington said that a Finnish “separate” war could end in a separate peace.
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.