On 25 June 1941 the Continuation War started, a few days after the Germans had launched Operation Barbarossa
where they invaded the USSR.
As a co-billigerant Finland fought on the side of Germany to...
To achieve what actually?
Retake the lost territories of the Winter War or more?
What were Finland's war aims during the Continuation War?
There was the idea of Greater Finland.
Did the Finns want to achieve this? Did the Finns had similar ideas of expanding their territory just like the Germans and the Italians had at that time?
Keep watching to find out!
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Let's first discuss the concept of Greater Finland (Suur-Suomi) that would include all
speakers of Finnish and closely related languages.
Intrinsically linked was the thorny issue of East Karelia (or: Far Karelia) which is
a long-standing and complicated topic.
The Karelians were related to the Finns but their region had never been under full Finnish
control, so the Finns had no historical claim to this part of the USSR.
During the 1918 Finnish War of Independence / Finnish Civil War Karelians themselves were
divided: some wanted independence, others wanted to be part of Russia and others favored
union with Finland.
British and German presence during the conflict complicated things further.
Perhaps something to cover in the future.
A settlement between Soviet Russia and Finland was made on 14 October 1920.
“The Finns gave up their dreams of a Greater Finland in exchange for the Arctic Sea corridor
of Petsamo.
Otherwise, the pre-independence border between the two countries was reconfirmed.
The treaty brought formal peace to the Finnish–Soviet Russian relationship but did not erase mistrust
or the dreams of territorial gain.”
And in some Finnish circles the dreams of a Greater Finland weren't forgotten.
Did the Finnish government have such dreams in World War II as well?
The main reason for siding with the Axis as a co-belligerent in WW2 was not the possible
creation of a Greater Finland.
For Finland WW2 started when the Soviets invaded the country in November 1939: this was the
Winter War.
The Hitler Stalin Pact (a.k.a.
the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact) signed in August gave the USSR a free hand in Finland. Despite
the valliant resistance of the Finnish soldiers against the Soviet onslaught the Finns agreed
with the March 1940 Moscow Peace Treaty ceding several areas to the USSR.
Afraid that the Soviets would attack again, because of ongoing Soviet pressure, the Finnish
saw co-operation with Germany as the only way to secure their independence.
Did the Finns want to retake their lost territories ór realize a Greater
Finland?
For Germany it's easy to say why they invaded the USSR.
In the Barbarossa Directive its war aims are spelled out: destroying the Soviet Army in
Western USSR and establish a line from the Volga River to Archangel (A-A Line).
Industrial areas in the Urals could be taken care of by the Luftwaffe.
It's not easy to answer this question what the Finnish war aims were during the Continuation War due to several reasons:
Finnish civilian and military leaders were careful not to leave a paper trail in
their dealings with Germany.
They were very much aware that as a democratic state it didn't have much in common with the
totalitarian Nazi state, but they needed them to stand strong against another for them more
threatening totalitarian state: the Soviet Union.
Since post-war Finnish statements have little credence we therefore must look at statements
before and during the war.
Second, like mentioned before, Finland was a democracy were public opinion played
a large role.
This changed by the ebb and flow of the war.
When the Finnish forces were successful in the field more people believed in expanding
the wars aims.
When things went badly it led to pressure to reduce the war aims or end the war.
Thirdly, looking at historiography, writers had their own political persuasions and therefore
emphasized, de-emphasized or even dismissed certain statements or events.
Some historians argue Finland only wanted to recover the lost territories from the Winter
War (1939-40).
Actually, this view is embedded in the way the next war was named: Continuation War.
Which implies the second war was a continuation, a sequel as you will, of the
previous war.
“However, it is patently obvious from statements and events both before and during the war
that they hoped to come out of the war with much more than the territories lost in 1940.”
This raises the question: what exactly is meant by 'much more'?
What territories are we speaking of?
Are we talking about a possible creation of a Greater Finland?
The most ambitious statement was given by now president Risto Ryti in October 1941.
He stated that Finland desired to gain the whole of the Kola Peninsula as well as the
whole of Karelia and the future border should proceed along the Svir River, the southern
shore of Lake Ladoga, and finally along the Neva River where it entered in the Gulf of
Finland.
A few weeks later he told the German ambassador Finland didn't want to share a border with
the USSR and thus wanted the Germans to annex the regions south of Archangel.
Germany agreed with Finland taking the Kola Peninsula as long as the miniral resources
were shared.
And this brings us to the question of East Karelia.
Did the Finns want to take it or not?
Let's take a look at prominent figure Carl Mannerheim: Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish
Defence Forces.
His post-war memoirs are quiet about this issue.
However, in the order to his troops on 28 June 1941 he stated:
“Brothers-in-arms: Follow me for the last time, now that Karelia is rising, and Aurora
will light a new day for the Finns.”
On 7 July the Finnish radio carried the following message:
“We promise the Karelians that our sword will not rest until Karelia has been liberated.
[…] The freedom of Karelia and the Greater Finland is the goal that beckons us in this
mighty whirl of historical events.”
You can argue that this is proof the Finns wanted to take the whole of Karelia.
One aspect I must mention: it is also possible that these statements where made
to fire up the fighting spirit of the Finnish troops and did not nessesarily represent the
views of the entire Finnish military and civilian leadership.
In the months after the kick-off of both Operation Barbarossa and the Continuation War the Finns
retook their lost territories they lost to the USSR in the Winter War.
However, they advanced further.
In Finnish government circles there were heated debates between liberals and conservatives with different opinions
about what to do.
And these were also heavily influenced by the ebb and flow of the war.
One German general believed most Finns only wanted to retake the lost territories.
Among the military and academics there was hope for creating a Greater Finland.
However, as the Germans made more progress in the USSR during these summer months the
ranks of the more ambitious grew.
It seems that the Finns in general didn't realize that the outcome of their Continuation
War was fully dependent on the outcome of the German-Soviet War.
If the Germans failed to achieve their objectives it would jeopardize Finland's position as it eventually turned out.
But before it went bad the Finnish Army did manage to capture large parts of East Karelia
were they set up a military administration:
“The [Finnish] Government took measures in the direction of a Greater Finland by ethnically
cleansing the newly conquered lands.
The flight of almost 70 percent of Soviet Karelia’s population into the USSR left
only about 85,000 inhabitants, half of whom were deemed nationals, that is, ethnic Finns
and others who spoke Finnic languages such as Karelian and Veps.
The non-national half of the population, mostly Russian, was subjected to various resettlement
schemes.”
What this resettlement looked like and how it all played out I will cover in the future.
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