The Road to Continuation War

This thread follows mainly the timeline from the Finnish books of Talvisodan and Jatkosodan Kronikka (The Chronicles of Winter War and Continuation War). Some inserts posted by me are from Jatkosodan Pikkujättiläinen.

The Road to Continuation War, part 1: The Outset
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13.03.1940 The Winter War -Peace treaty is signed in Moscow during the early hours of the day. The treaty will come to effect at 11.00 hrs. The Soviet bombers make a run to Rovaniemi and Kemijärvi in Lapland. Finnish artillery silences at 11.00 hrs everywhere except in Group Talvela's section which is difficult to reach (both sides are still fully engaged). Finnish 12th Division interrupts its' counterattack. Soviets fire one last artillery barrage 11.00 hrs towards Suomussalmi. At Kuhmo, Finnish troops interrupt their attack against encircled Soviet forces there at 9.00 o'clock. At Salla, A Soviet battalion trying to envelope the Finnish units there, is surrounded. The fighting stops at 14.00 o'clock.

Sweden announces that the Swedish volunteers will remain in Finland for a while.

Germany announces that since the Russo-Finnish conflict has ended Germany will resume trade with Finland.

According to the treaty, Finland will cede following areas: the whole of the Karelian isthmus with the towns of Viipuri (Finland's 2nd largest city), Sortavala and Käkisalmi. The new border is summarily announced as this: "The whole of Karelian isthmus plus the town of Viipuri and the bay of Viipuri with all the islands, the western and northern shore areas of Lake Ladoga plus the village of Suojärvi. Several island in the Bay of Finland, an area east of Märkäjärvi plus the village of Kuolanjärvi and parts of Kalastajan- and Stradni-islands". The new border is almost the same as the border drawn in the Peace of Uusikaupunki (Nystad) 1721 which ended the Great Northern War.

The Soviet Union will also get Hanko for 30 years as a naval base and Soviet forces will withdraw from Petsamo in the far north.

This summary character of the ceded land areas and the Soviet withdrawal from Petsamo was to have repercussions in the near future.

Finland will cede 35 000 square kilometers of land which makes 10 percent of its' land mass plus a hefty amount of Finland's best arable land. 12 percent of Finnish population will lose their homes.

Foreign press writes about the peace:
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Finland has avoided destruction but the final outcome of Finland's destiny will be decided at the great war's end (Svenska Dagbladet, Sweden).

Why didn't Finland ask any help from foreign powers? Finland had to accept the Soviet terms otherwise the country would have faced worse destruction than Flanders during the Great War (Evening Standard, London).

The peace in Moscow is a sign of the democratic nations' incapability of helping a small freedom loving nation (New York Herald Tribune). The paper then accuses the US senate of being slow and hesitant in getting help for Finland.

The Soviet Union has achieved the war aims set. "The question has been the security of country's northern border and especially Leningrad's security". "Soviet Union has never wanted to insult the independence of other nations. The treaties with the Baltic countries saved these lands from being dragged into the war. Finland was offered the same treaty
but these negotiations were intercepted by Anglo-French imperialistic warmongers" , a quote from Molotov (Pravda, Soviet Union).

15.03.1940 The peace treaty is ratified in the Finnish parliament with the votes going 145 for and 3 against.

20.03.1940 Tass (A Sviet news agency) informs that a Scandinavian defence alliance would directed against Soviet Union and as such it is against the peace treaty made with Finland.
Adolf Hitler informs the Nordic countries that Germany is against any defensive alliances in Scandinavia.

26.03.1940 The Finnish army has fully retreated behind the new border.

28.03.1940 Soviet foreign minister, Molotov, warns Finland, Sweden and Norway to not form a defensive alliance.

02.04.1940 The commission formed from Finns and Soviets start to outline the new border in Viipuri.

09.04.1940 Germany invades Denmark and Norway (Operation Weserübung).

10.04.1940 The Soviet forces in Petsamo, near the Norwegian border, retreat into SU.

23.04.1940 Finland announces that the Helsinki Olympic Summer games are called off.

29.04.1940 Soviet Union and Finland sign a border agreement in Moscow.

And were off...this could be a long thread so I will post in several parts. Commenting is allowed or we could have a separate commenting thread.

 

So the situation is like this...

The Finns know in their bones that this war wasn't enough.

The only non-warring nation as a neighbour is Sweden.

Denmark has been run over and Norway is getting the same treatment.

Finland has made all the necessary treaties with the Soviets but the old scratch is coming back to knock at the door. In Soviet papers, the agitation-propaganda against Finland is still as rabid as it was before the Winter War.

Cool during the war, Germany starts becoming closer and is willing to sell foodstuff and most importantly...weapons. At first Germany ships all the war material which it confiscated during the Winter War according to the Molotov-Ribbentropp treaty.

Stay tuned as the plot thickens.

 

Nice post

 

I think its striking that Tass is so dead set against any form of Scandinavian defence pact. How this alliance can possibly be directed against the Soviet Union is beyond comprehension. So, if I have this correct, it was quite OK and proper for the Soviets to tear up alliances with Scandinavik nations, (as they did with Finland), but not OK for those same countries to actively band together for mutual defense purposes?

Notice, too, Germany treading the middle path by supporting this same attitude of the Soviets, yet at the same time, actively shipping strategic materials to Finland. Playing both ends against the middle in my view.

When you lose 12% of your nation, some of it's principle strategic bases AND significant portions of your population made homeless, does this not engender a lingering feeling of mistrust, rather than a spirit of co-operation with your new "friends", the Soviets?

Who, exactly, were the three delegates of the Finnish parliment voting against the agreement with the Soviets?....Far sighted people they must have been, with the writing very much on the wall.

And as for "Finland being offered the same treaty...." then why was The Winter War necessary in the first instance if the Soviets were so willing to negotiate before it?

I've read that the Leningrad press were particularly caustic when referring to the Finns. Maybe Artema is an example of the modern continuance of this from a very political point of view.

Great posting, and looking forward to more. The Finnish side of the conflict is not very well covered in the West, nor has it ever been, really, dominated as we have been by Russian opinions.

 

I think that if you want the whole story you need to get back at least af far as that, or even better to the founding of Leningrad. The 1939 border that close to a Russian city with a population of millions and former capital to boot doesn't look "natural".

The 1939 borders came out of the Russian revolution when the Red Army was fighting on multiple fronts against internal and external enemies and lost large amounts of territory to the emerging countries. AFAIK military action created those borders, not ethnicity. But then my knowledge of Scandinavian history is patchy at best.

Looking forward to more or your posts on the events between May 1940 and the beginning of the continuation war.

By coincidence my recent readings are very Baltic centric, just finished Operation Albion on the German capture of in the Baltic Islands (pretty enlightening about the WW1 German capabilities for conducting anphibious operations), and starting Freeing the Baltic about Royal Navy operations there in 1919.

 

Classic examples of Divide and Conquer. Both Germany and the Soviets wanted to have freedom of action in the North as later developments showed. Considering the timing of Weserubung.

The idea was of course that Soviet Union wanted Finland separated and isolated from the rest of the world to be dealt with later.

This was the 1st sign for the Finns that there will be trouble in the future.

 

The Road to Continuation War, part 2: The Murder in the Skies (May - June 1940)
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09.05.1940 British troops occupy Iceland and Faroe Islands.

10.05.1940 The invasion of the West. Germany launches Operation Gelbe.

15.05.1940 Holland surrenders.

21.05.1940 General Leonard Grandell travels to Germany to negotiate about arms purhases.

23.05.1940 On Finnish intiative, a mixed committee is founded to ponder about Finnish materiel and property from ceded areas.

25.05.1940 Soviet Union returns Finnish civilians captured and imprisoned during Winter War numbering about 1267 women, children and elderly civilians. The Finnish karelians have been in a "transition camp" in Soviet Karelia where over 50 civilians have died. The "campers" are physically weak and suffer from malnutrition.

28.05.1940 Belgium surrenders.

30.05.1940 Soviets return another patch of Finnish civilians, this time 490. Plus another 73 captured in Ishtmus and 559 civilians captured in Northern Finland.

02.06.1940 Soviets demand all the property Finns removed from Hanko before the area was given to the Soviets.

04.06.1940 Operation Dynamo ends (Dunkirk).

10.06.1940 Italy joins the war and invades France. The Norwegian army surrenders.

14.06.1940 German forces occupy Paris. A Finnish civilian commercial airplane is shot down in the Bay of Finland by Soviet fighters. ->

The Murder in the Skies
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A Finnish 2 -engine commercial airplane called "Kaleva" enroute to Tallinn, Estonia is shot down over the Bay of Finland on June 14. 1940. All crew and passengers are dead. The plane carried a US diplomatic courier carrying mail which the Soviets were anxious to capture. A Soviet submarine retrieves the mail sometime later.

The pilot's son who worked for Finnish-Swedish Television in Yle, Finland made a documentary about this incident in 1992. His motivation was of course trying to find out why a civilian airplane was attacked during peace (as a journalist) and why his father died (as a son).

Along with the crew, a US low level diplomat, used as a courier was also killed along with the other passengers. The reason for this was the diplomatic mail which courier was carrying. The mail most likely contained details of Soviet's strategic plans for the future (occupation of the Baltic countries and Bessarabia).

This was the 1st breach of peace between Finland and Soviet Union during the Interim Peace -period.
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15.05.1940 Soviets occupy Lithuania. The Soviet vice foreign minister, Dekazonov, leads Lithuania's sovjetiziation (sp?).

17.06.1940 Soviet troops march into Latvia and Estonia. Soviet vice prime minister, Vysisinki, takes command of Latvia and the infamous Andrei Zdanov in Estonia.

20.06.1940 France allows Japanese takeover of French Indochina.

22.06.1940 France signs armistice treaty with Germany in Compiegne.

23.06.1940 Soviet Union announces Finland that it is interested in taking over the Petsamo nickel mines from Finland (I'll write more about this later in part 3).

28.06.1940 Soviet Union occupies Bessariabia and Northern Bukovina. Rumania has been put under pressure by Germany and SU to cede the areas.

28.06.1940 Finland signs a trade treaty with SU.



to be continued...in part 3 which will deal with the Petsamo nickel incident.

 

Thanks for this informative thread, not much news yet, but I'm sensing, you are only getting started, so I'm looking forwardd to the continuation.

Vest

 

The Road to Continuation War, part 3: The Petsamo nickel -incident
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1921 a nickel deposit is discovered in Petsamo, Finland. In the 1930s the mining rights are owned by INCO, The International Nickel Company of Canada. The rights are given to INCO's British subsidiary Mond in 1934. During the Interim Peace (1940 - 41) the trust is represented by Petsamon Nikkeli Oy while the British still hold the rights.

During the Interim Peace both Germany and Soviet Union demanded the nickel for their armament industry. The Germans were willing to pay for it. The Soviets weren't.

June 23 1940 Soviet Union starts to show its' interest towards the Petsamo area. Finns are willing to split the production between Germany and SU but the Soviets say no. SU wants all the nickel and the expulsion of all the British personnel from the area.

December 19 A comission is established in Moscow in order to clear the nickel dispute between Finland and SU.

January 29 1941 the Soviets starts negotiating about the nickel. The Finnish ambassador in Moscow, J.K. Paasikivi suggest to the Finnish goverment that the Petsamo area could be traded to Soviet Union.

Because of this Mannerheim threatens to resign but president Ryti manages to keep Mannerheim in office (Petsamo was also an important port for Finland's foreign trade).

February 23 Finland is given a certain date to which the Soviets want Finland to solve the Petsamo case "according to Soviet Union's wishes".

March 27 Wipert von Blucher, the German ambassador informs the Finns that if the nickel negotiations break down, Finns have nothing to worry about.

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How does the actions of Soviet Union towards Finland rhyme with the Moscow Peace Treaty?

This is a clear case of Stalin getting involved with the Finns and their territorial possessions again.

The Petsamo nickel case is in direct violation against the Moscow Peace Treaty and in my opinion it was Soviet Union who broke the treaty first.​

 

In Dec 1940 as Molotov visited Hitler he demanded on behalf of the USSR that they would be allowed to take their part of the secret pact of Aug 1939, meaning that invasion of Finland was replanned. All these demands are just tightening the screw on Finland.