Pori Airport ( Finnish : Porin lentoasema ) ( IATA : POR , ICAO : EFPO ) is an airport in Pori , Finland . The airport is located 1.4 nautical miles (2.6 km; 1.6 mi) south of the Pori town centre. It has two check-in desks, and a cafeteria service. During 2011 Pori Airport served 54,056 passengers, an increase of 25.2% from previous year. However, in 2014 it was down to 24 983.
164-434: During Continuation War , Pori airfield was used by Luftwaffe . The aviation equipment depot Feldluftpark 3/XI Pori operating at the airfield was from where Germans dispatched aircraft to the north and carried out major overhauls. The airport is at an elevation of 13 metres (43 ft) above mean sea level . It has two asphalt paved runways : 12/30 measures 2,351 by 60 metres (7,713 ft × 197 ft) and 17/35
328-535: A definition of "indirect aggression" became one of the sticking points between the parties, and by mid-July, the tripartite political negotiations effectively stalled while the parties agreed to start negotiations on a military agreement, which the Soviets insisted had to be reached at the same time as any political agreement. One day before the military negotiations began, the Soviet Politburo pessimistically expected
492-587: A guarantee to Poland that "if any action clearly threatened Polish independence, and if the Poles felt it vital to resist such action by force, Britain would come to their aid". Hitler was furious since that meant that the British were committed to political interests in Europe and that his land grabs such as the takeover of Czechoslovakia would no longer be taken lightly. His response to the political checkmate would later be heard at
656-526: A limousine operated by the NKVD to travel to Red Square . The limousine arrived close to Stalin's office and was greeted by Alexander Poskrebyshev , the chief of Stalin's personal chancellery. The Germans were led up a flight of stairs to a room with lavish furnishings. Stalin and Molotov greeted the visitors, much to the Nazis' surprise. It was well known that Stalin avoided meeting foreign visitors, and so his presence at
820-486: A meta-analysis by Finnish historian Olli-Pekka Vehviläinen [ fi ] . He likewise refuted the so-called "driftwood theory" that Finland had been merely a piece of driftwood that was swept uncontrollably in the rapids of great power politics. Even then, most historians conclude that Finland had no realistic alternative to co-operating with Germany. On 20 May, the Germans invited a number of Finnish officers to discuss
984-503: A political agreement than could Britain and France. The Soviet Union, which feared Western powers and the possibility of "capitalist encirclements", had little hope either of preventing war and wanted nothing less than an ironclad military alliance with France and Britain to provide guaranteed support for a two-pronged attack on Germany. Stalin's adherence to the collective security line was thus purely conditional. Britain and France believed that war could still be avoided and that since
1148-542: A rally in Wilhelmshaven : "No power on earth would be able to break German might, and if the Western Allies thought Germany would stand by while they marshalled their ' satellite states ' to act in their interests, then they were sorely mistaken". Ultimately, Hitler's discontent with a British-Polish alliance led to a restructuring of strategy towards Moscow. Alfred Rosenberg wrote that he had spoken to Hermann Göring of
1312-488: A secret German–Soviet pact. On 23 August, a ten-year non-aggression pact was signed with provisions that included consultation, arbitration if either party disagreed, neutrality if either went to war against a third power and no membership of a group "which is directly or indirectly aimed at the other". The article "On Soviet–German Relations" in the Soviet newspaper Izvestia of 21 August 1939, stated: Following completion of
1476-560: A single pro-Soviet candidate listed for many positions, and the resulting people's assemblies immediately requesting admission into the Soviet Union, which was granted. (The Soviets annexed the whole of Lithuania, including the Šešupė area, which had been earmarked for Germany.) Finally, on 26 June, four days after the armistice between France and Nazi Germany , the Soviet Union issued an ultimatum that demanded Bessarabia and unexpectedly Northern Bukovina from Romania. Two days later,
1640-514: A small part of Galicia east of the San River , around Przemyśl , were returned to Poland . Of all the other territories annexed by the Soviet Union in 1939–1940, those detached from Finland (Western Karelia , Petsamo ), Estonia ( Estonian Ingria and Petseri County ) and Latvia ( Abrene ) remain part of Russia, the successor state to the Russian SFSR and the Soviet Union after the collapse of
1804-511: A two-front war, which changed the strategic situation from that in World War I, and that Britain should accept his demands on Poland. On 25 August, Hitler was surprised when Britain joined a defense pact with Poland . Hitler postponed his plans for an invasion of Poland on 26 August to 1 September. In accordance with the defence pact, Britain and France declared war on Germany on 3 September. On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland from
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#17328727408751968-713: Is 801 by 30 metres (2,628 ft × 98 ft). The Finnish Aviation Academy is a flight school based at Pori Airport. As is the Satakunta Parachute club "Satakunnan Laskuvarjourheilijat". Flight training for private pilots (PPL/LAPL-licences) is given by local flight school Porin Lentotilaus Oy. [REDACTED] Media related to Pori Airport at Wikimedia Commons Continuation War Soviet victory Asia-Pacific Mediterranean and Middle East Other campaigns Coups Finland Iceland Norway The Continuation War , also known as
2132-562: Is one common element in the ideology of Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union: opposition to the capitalist democracies" or that "it seems to us rather unnatural that a socialist state would stand on the side of the western democracies". At the same time, British, French, and Soviet negotiators scheduled three-party talks on military matters to occur in Moscow in August 1939 that aimed to define what
2296-573: The Academic Karelia Society , supported a Greater Finland ideology. This ideology of a Greater Finland mostly composed of Soviet territories was augmented by anti-Russian sentiments. The details of the Finnish preparations for war are still somewhat opaque. Historian William R. Trotter stated that "it has so far proven impossible to pinpoint the exact date on which Finland was taken into confidence about Operation Barbarossa" and that "neither
2460-583: The Bolshevik Revolution and Vladimir Lenin , the first leader of the new Soviet Russia , recognised the independence of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. Moreover, facing a German military advance, Lenin and Trotsky were forced to agree to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk , which ceded many western Russian territories to Germany. After the German collapse, a multinational Allied-led army intervened in
2624-572: The City of London [British financiers] and the English shopkeepers." The agreement stunned the world. John Gunther , in Moscow in August 1939, recalled how the news of the 19 August commercial agreement surprised journalists and diplomats, who hoped for world peace. They did not expect the 21 August announcement of the non-aggression pact: "Nothing more unbelievable could be imagined. Astonishment and skepticism turned quickly to consternation and alarm". The news
2788-589: The Finnish Ladoga Naval Detachment , as well as numerous shore batteries, had been stationed on Lake Ladoga since August 1941. Finnish Lieutenant General Paavo Talvela proposed on 17 May 1942 to create a joint Finnish–German–Italian unit on the lake to disrupt Soviet supply convoys to Leningrad. The unit was named Naval Detachment K and comprised four Italian MAS torpedo motorboats of the XII Squadriglia MAS , four German KM-type minelayers and
2952-624: The Hertsa region ) followed. Stalin's invasion of Bukovina in 1940 violated the pact, since it went beyond the Soviet sphere of influence that had been agreed with the Axis. The territories of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union following the 1939 Soviet invasion east of the Curzon line remained in the Soviet Union after the war and are now in Ukraine and Belarus . Vilnius was given to Lithuania. Only Podlaskie and
3116-718: The Intelligence Division 's Detached Battalion 4 and by local units, patrolled behind Soviet lines. Soviet partisans , both resistance fighters and regular long-range patrol detachments, conducted a number of operations in Finland and in Eastern Karelia from 1941 to 1944. In summer 1942, the USSR formed the 1st Partisan Brigade. The unit was 'partisan' in name only, as it was essentially 600 men and women on long-range patrol intended to disrupt Finnish operations. The 1st Partisan Brigade
3280-468: The Interim Peace . By the terms of the treaty, Finland ceded 9% of its national territory and 13% of its economic capacity to the Soviet Union. Some 420,000 evacuees were resettled from the ceded territories. Finland avoided total conquest of the country by the Soviet Union and retained its sovereignty. Prior to the war, Finnish foreign policy had been based on multilateral guarantees of support from
3444-717: The Katyn massacre , 22,000 members of the military as well as intellectuals were executed, labelled "nationalists and counterrevolutionaries" or kept at camps and prisons in western Ukraine and Belarus . In mid-June 1940, while international attention focused on the German invasion of France , Soviet NKVD troops raided border posts in Lithuania , Estonia and Latvia . State administrations were liquidated and replaced by Soviet cadres, who deported or killed 34,250 Latvians, 75,000 Lithuanians and almost 60,000 Estonians. Elections took place, with
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#17328727408753608-623: The Leningrad Military District was commanded by Lieutenant General Markian Popov and numbered around 450,000 soldiers in 18 divisions and 40 independent battalions in the Finnish region. During the Interim Peace, the Soviet Military had relaid operational plans to conquer Finland, but with the German attack, Operation Barbarossa, begun on 22 June 1941, the Soviets required its best units and latest materiel to be deployed against
3772-572: The Moscow Peace Treaty . Numerous reasons have been proposed for the Finnish decision to invade, with regaining territory lost during the Winter War regarded as the most common. Other justifications for the conflict include Finnish President Risto Ryti 's vision of a Greater Finland and Commander-in-Chief Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim 's desire to annex East Karelia . On 22 June 1941, the Axis invaded
3936-474: The New York Times reported Japanese anger and French communist surprise over the pact. The same day, however, Tolischus filed a story that noted Nazi troops on the move near Gleiwitz (now Gliwice ), which led to the false flag Gleiwitz incident on 31 August 1939. On 28 August 1939, the New York Times was still reporting on fears of a Gleiwitz raid. On 29 August 1939, the New York Times reported that
4100-582: The New York Times reported a Soviet buildup on its Western frontiers by moving 200,000 troops from the Far East . On 22 August, one day after talks broke down with France and Britain, Moscow revealed that Ribbentrop would visit Stalin the next day. The Soviets were still negotiating with the British and the French missions in Moscow. With the Western nations unwilling to accede to Soviet demands, Stalin instead entered
4264-652: The Red Army invaded Finland, launching the Winter War with the aim of annexing Finland into the Soviet Union. The Soviets formed the Finnish Democratic Republic to govern Finland after Soviet conquest. The leader of the Leningrad Military District, Andrei Zhdanov , commissioned a celebratory piece from Dmitri Shostakovich , Suite on Finnish Themes , to be performed as the marching bands of
4428-580: The Second Soviet-Finnish War , was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union during World War II . It began with a Finnish declaration of war on 25 June 1941 and ended on 19 September 1944 with the Moscow Armistice . The Soviet Union and Finland had previously fought the Winter War from 1939 to 1940, which ended with the Soviet failure to conquer Finland and
4592-424: The Soviet Union , with a secret protocol establishing Soviet and German spheres of influence across Northern Europe. The pact was signed in Moscow on 24 August 1939 (backdated 23 August 1939) by Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov and German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop . The treaty was the culmination of negotiations around the 1938–1939 deal discussions , after tripartite discussions with
4756-666: The Soviet invasion of Poland . After a short war ending in military defeat for Poland, Germany and the Soviet Union drew up a new border between them on formerly Polish territory in the supplementary protocol of the German–Soviet Frontier Treaty . In March 1940, parts of the Karelia and Salla regions in Finland were annexed by the Soviet Union following the Winter War . The Soviet annexation of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and parts of Romania ( Bessarabia , Northern Bukovina and
4920-766: The Spanish Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War , but the Soviets supported the Spanish Republic . Thus, the Spanish Civil War became a proxy war between Germany and the Soviet Union. In 1936, Germany and Japan entered the Anti-Comintern Pact . and they were joined a year later by Italy , despite Italy having previously signed the Italo-Soviet Pact . On 31 March 1939, Britain extended
5084-594: The Supreme Soviet had failed on its first day of convening to act on the pact. The same day, the New York Times also reported from Montreal , Canada, that American Professor Samuel N. Harper of the University of Chicago had stated publicly his belief that "the Russo-German non-aggression pact conceals an agreement whereby Russia and Germany may have planned spheres of influence for Eastern Europe". On 30 August 1939,
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5248-525: The Vuoksi River to the east and encircled the Soviet forces defending Vyborg. Finnish forces captured Vyborg on 29 August. The Soviet order to withdraw from Vyborg came too late, resulting in significant losses in materiel, although most of the troops were later evacuated via the Koivisto Islands . After suffering severe losses, the Soviet 23rd Army was unable to halt the offensive, and by 2 September
5412-629: The siege of Leningrad began on 8 September. The Finnish Army of Karelia started its attack in East Karelia towards Petrozavodsk , Lake Onega and the Svir River on 9 September. German Army Group North advanced from the south of Leningrad towards the Svir River and captured Tikhvin but were forced to retreat to the Volkhov River by Soviet counterattacks. Soviet forces repeatedly attempted to expel
5576-772: The "Finnish question" to which Molotov responded that it would mirror the events in Bessarabia and the Baltic states. Hitler rejected that course of action. During the Finnish presidential election in December 1940, Risto Ryti was elected to be president largely due to interference by Molotov in Ryti's favour since he had signed the Moscow Peace Treaty as prime minister. On 18 December 1940, Hitler officially approved Operation Barbarossa, paving
5740-661: The 1934 German–Polish declaration of non-aggression and the 1935 Anglo–German Naval Agreement . In mid-March 1939, attempting to contain Hitler's expansionism, the Soviet Union, Britain and France started to trade a flurry of suggestions and counterplans on a potential political and military agreement. Informal consultations started in April, but the main negotiations began only in May. Meanwhile, throughout early 1939, Germany had secretly hinted to Soviet diplomats that it could offer better terms for
5904-509: The 1939 border. Finnish and German troops were a threat to the Kirov Railway and the northern supply line between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union. On 25 October 1941, the US demanded that Finland cease all hostilities against the USSR and to withdraw behind the 1939 border. In public, President Ryti rejected the demands, but in private, he wrote to Mannerheim on 5 November and asked him to halt
6068-450: The Allies that Finnish troops would halt their advance in the next few days. The reply did not satisfy London, which declared war on Finland on 6 December. The Commonwealth nations of Canada, Australia, India and New Zealand soon followed suit. In private, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had sent a letter to Mannerheim on 29 November in which Churchill was "deeply grieved" that
6232-586: The Axis powers. The Finnish plans for the offensive in Ladoga Karelia were finalised on 28 June 1941, and the first stages of the operation began on 10 July. By 16 July, the VI Corps had reached the northern shore of Lake Ladoga , dividing the Soviet 7th Army, which had been tasked with defending the area. The USSR struggled to contain the German assault, and soon the Soviet high command, Stavka (Russian: Ставка ), pulled all available units stationed along
6396-474: The British would have to declare war on Finland because of the British alliance with the Soviets. Mannerheim repatriated British volunteers under his command to the United Kingdom via Sweden. According to Clements, the declaration of war was mostly for appearance's sake. Unconventional warfare was fought in both the Finnish and Soviet wildernesses. Finnish long-range reconnaissance patrols , organised both by
6560-574: The Continuation War including Curtiss Hawk 75s , Fokker D.XXIs , Dornier Do 22 flying boats, Morane M.S. 406 bombers, and Focke-Wulf Fw 44 Stieglitz trainers; in total the Finnish Air Force had 550 aircraft by June 1941, approximately half being combat. By September 1944, despite considerable German supply of aircraft, the Finns only had 384 planes. Even with the increase in supplied aircraft,
6724-471: The Finnish torpedo-motorboat Sisu . The detachment began operations in August 1942 and sank numerous smaller Soviet watercraft and flatboats and assaulted enemy bases and beach fronts until it was dissolved in the winter of 1942–43. Twenty-three Siebel ferries and nine infantry transports of the German Einsatzstab Fähre Ost were also deployed to Lake Ladoga and unsuccessfully assaulted
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6888-716: The Finnish Army had reached the old 1939 border . The advance by Finnish and German forces split the Soviet Northern Front into the Leningrad Front and the Karelian Front on 23 August. On 31 August, Finnish Headquarters ordered II and IV Corps, which had advanced the furthest, to halt their advance along a line that ran from the Gulf of Finland via Beloostrov – Sestra – Okhta – Lembolovo to Lake Ladoga. The line ran past
7052-412: The Finnish border into the beleaguered front line. Additional reinforcements were drawn from the 237th Rifle Division and the Soviet 10th Mechanised Corps , excluding the 198th Motorised Division [ ru ] , both of which were stationed in Ladoga Karelia, but this stripped much of the reserve strength of the Soviet units defending that area. The Finnish II Corps started its offensive in
7216-410: The Finnish forces lost no aircraft. Although the USSR claimed that the airstrikes were directed against German targets, particularly airfields in Finland, the Finnish Parliament used the attacks as justification for the approval of a "defensive war". According to historian David Kirby, the message was intended more for public opinion in Finland than abroad, where the country was viewed as an ally of
7380-526: The Finnish government of persecuting the communist Finland–Soviet Union Peace and Friendship Society and soon afterward publicly declared support for the group. The society organised demonstrations in Finland, some of which turned into riots. Russian-language sources from the post-Soviet era, such as the study Stalin's Missed Chance , maintain that Soviet policies leading up to the Continuation War were best explained as defensive measures by offensive means. The Soviet division of occupied Poland with Germany,
7544-452: The Finnish leadership wanted to preserve the spirit of unanimity that was felt throughout the country during the Winter War. The divisive White Guard tradition of the Finnish Civil War 's 16 May victory-day celebration was therefore discontinued. The Soviet Union had received the Hanko Naval Base , on Finland's southern coast near the capital Helsinki, where it deployed over 30,000 Soviet military personnel. Relations between Finland and
7708-426: The Finnish, as it was considered an ally of the Soviet Union. Nonetheless, the Finnish government sought to restore diplomatic relations with Germany, but also continued its Western-orientated policy and negotiated a war trade agreement with the United Kingdom. The agreement was renounced after the German invasion of Denmark and Norway on 9 April 1940 resulted in the UK cutting all trade and traffic communications with
7872-419: The Finns from their bridgehead south of the Svir during October and December but were repulsed; Soviet units attacked the German 163rd Infantry Division in October 1941, which was operating under Finnish command across the Svir, but failed to dislodge it. Despite these failed attacks, the Finnish attack in East Karelia had been blunted and their advance had halted by 6 December. During the five-month campaign,
8036-471: The Finns nor the Germans were entirely candid with one another as to their national aims and methods. In any case, the step from contingency planning to actual operations, when it came, was little more than a formality". The inner circle of Finnish leadership, led by Ryti and Mannerheim, actively planned joint operations with Germany under a veil of ambiguous neutrality and without formal agreements after an alliance with Sweden had proved fruitless, according to
8200-399: The Finns regarding the lend-lease deliveries to Murmansk. The offensive and its three sub-operations failed to achieve their objectives. Both sides dug in and the arctic theatre remained stable, excluding minor skirmishes, until the Soviet Petsamo–Kirkenes Offensive in October 1944. The crucial arctic lend-lease convoys from the US and the UK via Murmansk and Kirov Railway to the bulk of
8364-545: The Finns suffered 75,000 casualties, of whom 26,355 had died, while the Soviets had 230,000 casualties, of whom 50,000 became prisoners of war. The German objective in Finnish Lapland was to take Murmansk and cut the Kirov (Murmansk) Railway running from Murmansk to Leningrad by capturing Salla and Kandalaksha . Murmansk was the only year-round ice-free port in the north and a threat to the nickel mine at Petsamo. The joint Finnish–German Operation Silver Fox ( German : Unternehmen Silberfuchs ; Finnish: operaatio Hopeakettu )
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#17328727408758528-442: The German forces fighting in Lapland from the Army of Norway and create the Army of Lapland, commanded by Colonel General Eduard Dietl. In June 1942, the Army of Lapland was redesignated the 20th Mountain Army . In the early stages of the war, the Finnish Army overran the former 1939 border, but ceased their advance 30–32 km (19–20 mi) from the center of Leningrad. Multiple authors have stated that Finland participated in
8692-400: The Germans and so abandoned plans for a renewed offensive against Finland. The 23rd Army was deployed in the Karelian Isthmus, the 7th Army to Ladoga Karelia and the 14th Army to the Murmansk – Salla area of Lapland. The Northern Front also commanded eight aviation divisions . As the initial German strike against the Soviet Air Forces had not affected air units located near Finland,
8856-418: The League of Nations and Nordic countries , but this policy was considered a failure. After the war, Finnish public opinion favored the reconquest of Finnish Karelia . The government declared national defence to be its first priority, and military expenditure rose to nearly half of public spending. Finland both received donations and purchased war materiel during and immediately after the Winter War. Likewise,
9020-401: The Munich Agreement, the resulting increase in German military supply needs and Soviet demands for military machinery made talks between the two countries occur from late 1938 to March 1939. Also, the third Soviet five-year plan required new infusions of technology and industrial equipment. German war planners had estimated serious shortfalls of raw materials if Germany entered a war without
9184-541: The Nazi emissaries stepped off the plane, a Soviet military band played " Deutschland, Deutschland über Alles ". The Nazi arrival was well planned, with all aesthetics in order. The classic hammer and sickle was propped up next to the swastika of the Nazi flag that had been used in a local film studio for Soviet propaganda films. After stepping off the plane and shaking hands, Ribbentrop and Gustav Hilger along with German ambassador Friedrich-Werner von der Schulenburg and Stalin's chief bodyguard, Nikolai Vlasik , entered
9348-453: The Nordic countries. With the fall of France , a Western orientation was no longer considered a viable option in Finnish foreign policy. On 15 and 16 June, the Soviet Union occupied the Baltic states almost without any resistance and Soviet puppet regimes were installed. Within two months Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were incorporated into the USSR and by mid–1940, the two remaining northern democracies, Finland and Sweden, were encircled by
9512-415: The Polish government feared that if the Red Army entered Polish territory, it would never leave. On 19 August, the 1939 German–Soviet Commercial Agreement was finally signed. On 21 August, the Soviets suspended the tripartite military talks and cited other reasons. The same day, Stalin received assurances that Germany would approve secret protocols to the proposed non-aggression pact that would place
9676-457: The Red Army would be parading through Helsinki. After Finnish defenses surprisingly held out for over three months and inflicted stiff losses on Soviet forces, under the command of Semyon Timoshenko , the Soviets settled for an interim peace . Finland ceded parts of Karelia and Salla (9% of Finnish territory), which resulted in approximately 422,000 Karelians (12% of Finland's population) losing their homes. Soviet official casualty counts in
9840-447: The Red Army. The Wehrmacht rapidly advanced deep into Soviet territory early in the Operation Barbarossa campaign, leading the Finnish government to believe that Germany would defeat the Soviet Union quickly. President Ryti envisioned a Greater Finland, where Finns and other Finnic peoples would live inside a "natural defence borderline" by incorporating the Kola Peninsula , East Karelia and perhaps even northern Ingria . In public,
10004-414: The Romanians acceded to the Soviet demands, and the Soviets occupied the territories. The Hertsa region was initially not requested by the Soviets but was later occupied by force after the Romanians had agreed to the initial Soviet demands. The subsequent waves of deportations began in Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina . At the end of October 1939, Germany enacted the death penalty for disobedience to
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#173287274087510168-461: The Soviet Union . Three days later, the Soviet Union conducted an air raid on Finnish cities which prompted Finland to declare war and allow German troops in Finland to begin offensive warfare. By September 1941, Finland had regained its post–Winter War concessions to the Soviet Union in Karelia . The Finnish Army continued its offensive past the 1939 border during the invasion of East Karelia and halted it only around 30–32 km (19–20 mi) from
10332-441: The Soviet Union also needed to secure the frontier in the Soviet–Japanese Border Wars . On 17 September, the Red Army invaded Poland , violating the 1932 Soviet–Polish Non-Aggression Pact , and occupied the Polish territory assigned to it by the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. That was followed by co-ordination with German forces in Poland. Polish troops already fighting much stronger German forces on its west desperately tried to delay
10496-416: The Soviet Union and German Reich issued a joint declaration in which they declared: After the Government of the German Reich and the Government of the USSR have, by means of the treaty signed today, definitively settled the problems arising from the collapse of the Polish state and have thereby created a sure foundation for lasting peace in the region, they mutually express their conviction that it would serve
10660-401: The Soviet Union as "inevitable". Concerns over the possible existence of a secret protocol were expressed first by the intelligence organizations of the Baltic states only days after the pact was signed. Speculation grew stronger when Soviet negotiators referred to its content during the negotiations for military bases in those countries (see occupation of the Baltic States ). The day after
10824-433: The Soviet Union attempted to negotiate with Finland to cede Finnish territory on the Karelian Isthmus and the islands of the Gulf of Finland , and to establish a Soviet military base near the Finnish capital of Helsinki . The Finnish government refused, and the Red Army invaded Finland on 30 November 1939. The same day, Field Marshal C. G. E. Mannerheim , who was chairman of Finland's Defence Council at
10988-405: The Soviet Union remained strained after the signing of the one-sided peace treaty, and there were disputes regarding the implementation of the treaty. Finland sought security against further territorial depredations by the USSR and proposed mutual defence agreements with Norway and Sweden , but these initiatives were quashed by Moscow. After the Winter War, Germany was viewed with distrust by
11152-432: The Soviet Union was so weakened by the Great Purge that it could not be a main military participant. Many military sources were at variance with the last point, especially after the Soviet victories over the Japanese Kwantung Army in the Manchuria. France was more anxious to find an agreement with the Soviet Union than Britain was. As a continental power, France was more willing to make concessions and more fearful of
11316-403: The Soviet Union were being ruled by " Jewish Bolshevik " masters. Hitler had spoken of an inevitable battle for the acquisition of land for Germany in the east. The resulting manifestation of German anti-Bolshevism and an increase in Soviet foreign debts caused a dramatic decline in German–Soviet trade. Imports of Soviet goods to Germany fell to 223 million ℛ︁ℳ︁ in 1934 by
11480-415: The Soviet Union would wear each other out and put an end to both regimes. For Germany, an autarkic economic approach and an alliance with Britain were impossible and so closer relations with the Soviet Union to obtain raw materials became necessary. Besides economic reasons, an expected British blockade during a war would also create massive shortages for Germany in a number of key raw materials. After
11644-403: The Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and France had broken down, and committed neither government would aid or ally itself with an enemy of the other, for the next 10 years. Under the Secret Protocol, Poland was to be shared, while Lithuania , Latvia , Estonia , Finland and Bessarabia went to the Soviet Union. The protocol also recognized the interest of Lithuania in the Vilnius region . In
11808-467: The Soviet Union. According to the protocol, Lithuania would be granted its historical capital, Vilnius , which was part of Poland during the interwar period . Another clause stipulated that Germany would not interfere with the Soviet Union's actions towards Bessarabia , which was then part of Romania . As a result, Bessarabia as well as the Northern Bukovina and Hertsa regions were occupied by
11972-560: The Soviet Union. Outlines of the actual plan were revealed in January 1941 and regular contact between Finnish and German military leaders began in February. Additionally in January 1941, Moscow again demanded Finland relinquish control of the Petsamo mining area to the Soviets, but Finland, emboldened by a rebuilt defence force and German support, rejected the proposition. In the late spring of 1941,
12136-547: The Soviet Union." In 2014, author Jeff Rutherford described the city as being "ensnared" between the German and Finnish armies. British historian John Barber described it as a "siege by the German and Finnish armies from 8 September 1941 to 27 January 1944 [...]" in his foreword in 2017. Likewise, in 2017, Alexis Peri wrote that the city was "completely cut off, save a heavily patrolled water passage over Lake Ladoga" by "Hitler's Army Group North and his Finnish allies." The 150 speedboats, two minelayers and four steamships of
12300-503: The Soviet forces continued throughout World War II. The US supplied almost $ 11 billion in materials: 400,000 jeeps and trucks; 12,000 armored vehicles (including 7,000 tanks, which could equip some 20 US armoured divisions); 11,400 aircraft; and 1.59 million t (1.75 million short tons) of food. As a similar example, British shipments of Matilda, Valentine and Tetrarch tanks accounted for only 6% of total Soviet tank production, but over 25% of medium and heavy tanks produced for
12464-659: The Soviet invasion of the Polish Kresy , the secret protocol of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was modified by the German–Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Demarcation , allotting Germany a larger part of Poland and transferring Lithuania, with the exception of the left bank of the River Scheschupe , the "Lithuanian Strip", from the envisioned German sphere to the Soviet sphere. On 28 September 1939,
12628-543: The Soviet occupation of the Baltic states and the Soviet invasion of Finland during the Winter War are described as elements in the Soviet construction of a security zone or buffer region from the perceived threat from the capitalist powers of Western Europe. Other post-Soviet Russian-language sources consider establishment of Soviet satellite states in the Warsaw Pact countries and the Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1948 as
12792-460: The Soviet radio station at Minsk , allegedly "for urgent aeronautical experiments". Hitler declared at Danzig: Poland never will rise again in the form of the Versailles treaty . That is guaranteed not only by Germany , but also ... Russia . In the opinion of Robert Service , Stalin did not move instantly but was waiting to see whether the Germans would halt within the agreed area, and
12956-614: The Soviet sphere. One week later, Germany invaded Poland , leading to the United Kingdom and France declaring war on Germany. The Soviet Union invaded eastern Poland on 17 September. The Soviet government turned its attention to the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, demanding that they allow Soviet military bases to be established and troops stationed on their soil. The Baltic governments acquiesced to these demands and signed agreements in September and October. In October 1939,
13120-544: The Soviet supply. On 31 March 1939, in response to Germany's defiance of the Munich Agreement and the creation of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia , Britain pledged its support and that of France to guarantee the independence of Poland, Belgium, Romania, Greece and Turkey. On 6 April, Poland and Britain agreed to formalise the guarantee as a military alliance , pending negotiations. On 28 April, Hitler denounced
13284-441: The Soviets and integrated into the Soviet Union. At the signing, Ribbentrop and Stalin enjoyed warm conversations, exchanged toasts and further addressed the prior hostilities between the countries in the 1930s. They characterised Britain as always attempting to disrupt Soviet–German relations and stated that the Anti-Comintern Pact was aimed not at the Soviet Union but actually at Western democracies and "frightened principally
13448-531: The Soviets could deploy around 700 aircraft supported by a number of Soviet Navy wings. The Red Banner Baltic Fleet , which outnumbered the navy of Germany ( Kriegsmarine ), comprised 2 battleships, 2 light cruisers, 47 destroyers or large torpedo boats, 75 submarines, over 200 smaller crafts, and 682 aircraft (of which 595 were operational). The Finnish Army ([Maavoimat] Error: {{Lang}}: invalid parameter: |links= ( help ) ) mobilised between 475,000 and 500,000 soldiers in 14 divisions and 3 brigades for
13612-541: The Soviet–German trade and credit agreement, there has arisen the question of improving political links between Germany and the USSR. There was also a secret protocol to the pact, which was revealed only after Germany's defeat in 1945 although hints about its provisions had been leaked much earlier, so as to influence Lithuania. According to the protocol, Poland, Romania, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland were divided into German and Soviet " spheres of influence ". In
13776-684: The USSR in 1991. The territories annexed from Romania were also integrated into the Soviet Union (such as the Moldavian SSR , or oblasts of the Ukrainian SSR ). The core of Bessarabia now forms Moldova . Northern Bessarabia , Northern Bukovina and the Hertsa region now form the Chernivtsi Oblast of Ukraine. Southern Bessarabia is part of the Odessa Oblast , which is also now in Ukraine. The pact
13940-495: The USSR made a number of goodwill gestures to prevent Finland from completely falling under German influence. Ambassador Ivan Stepanovich Zotov [ ru ] was replaced with the more conciliatory and passive Pavel Dmitrievich Orlov [ ru ] . Furthermore, the Soviet government announced that it no longer opposed a rapprochement between Finland and Sweden. Those conciliatory measures, however, did not have any effect on Finnish policy. Finland wished to re-enter
14104-415: The Winter War. He further stated that the term 'Continuation War' was created at the start of the conflict by the Finnish government to justify the invasion to the population as a continuation of the defensive Winter War. The government also wished to emphasise that it was not an official ally of Germany, but a 'co-belligerent' fighting against a common enemy and with purely Finnish aims. Vehviläinen wrote that
14268-493: The agreement would specify on the reaction of the three powers to a German attack. The tripartite military talks , started in mid-August, hit a sticking point on the passage of Soviet troops through Poland if Germans attacked, and the parties waited as British and French officials overseas pressured Polish officials to agree to such terms. Polish officials refused to allow Soviet troops into Polish territory if Germany attacked; Polish Foreign Minister Józef Beck pointed out that
14432-453: The air force was constantly outnumbered by the Soviets. The Army of Norway , or AOK Norwegen , comprising four divisions totaling 67,000 German soldiers, held the arctic front, which stretched approximately 500 km (310 mi) through Finnish Lapland. This army would also be tasked with striking Murmansk and the Kirov (Murmansk) Railway during Operation Silver Fox . The Army of Norway
14596-471: The attacks targeted civilians, killing 200 and injuring 50, including children and elderly. Between 1942 and 1943, military operations were limited, although the front did see some action. In January 1942, the Soviet Karelian Front attempted to retake Medvezhyegorsk (Finnish: Karhumäki ), which had been lost to the Finns in late 1941. With the arrival of spring in April, Soviet forces went on
14760-431: The authenticity of the government's claim changed when the Finnish Army crossed the old frontier of 1939 and began to annex Soviet territory. British author Jonathan Clements asserted that by December 1941, Finnish soldiers had started questioning whether they were fighting a war of national defence or foreign conquest. By the autumn of 1941, the Finnish military leadership started to doubt Germany's capability to finish
14924-409: The balance of the 1940 treaty, though some historians consider that it had wider territorial goals under the slogan "shorter borders, longer peace" (Finnish: "lyhyet rajat, pitkä rauha" ). During the war, the Finnish leadership generally referred to the Germans as "brothers-in-arms" but also denied that they were allies of Germany – instead claiming to be "co-belligerents". For Hitler, the distinction
15088-465: The border of the German and Soviet spheres of influence, in violation of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. In response to that new situation, Molotov visited Berlin on 12–13 November 1940. He requested for Germany to withdraw its troops from Finland and to stop enabling Finnish anti-Soviet sentiments. He also reminded the Germans of the 1939 pact. Hitler inquired how the Soviets planned to settle
15252-411: The capture of Warsaw. Consequently, Polish forces could not mount significant resistance against the Soviets. On 18 September, The New York Times published an editorial arguing that "Hitlerism is brown communism, Stalinism is red fascism ...The world will now understand that the only real 'ideological' issue is one between democracy, liberty and peace on the one hand and despotism , terror and war on
15416-428: The case of German aggression. The Soviets proposed to consider that a political turn towards Germany by the Baltic states would constitute an "indirect aggression" towards the Soviet Union. Britain opposed such proposals because they feared the Soviets' proposed language would justify a Soviet intervention in Finland and the Baltic states or push those countries to seek closer relations with Germany. The discussion of
15580-516: The centre of Leningrad . It participated in besieging the city by cutting the northern supply routes and by digging in until 1944. In Lapland , joint German-Finnish forces failed to capture Murmansk or cut the Kirov (Murmansk) Railway. The Soviet Vyborg–Petrozavodsk offensive in June and August 1944 drove the Finns from most of the territories that they had gained during the war, but the Finnish Army halted
15744-495: The city of Vilnius and its environs. On 8 October 1939, a new Nazi-Soviet agreement was reached by an exchange of letters between Vyacheslav Molotov and the German ambassador. The Baltic states of Estonia , Latvia , and Lithuania were given no choice but to sign a so-called "Pact of Defence and Mutual Assistance", which permitted the Soviet Union to station troops in them. After the Baltic states had been forced to accept treaties, Stalin turned his sights on Finland and
15908-614: The city. However, in 2009 British historian Michael Jones disputed Baryshnikov's claim and asserted that the Finnish Army cut off the city's northern supply routes but did not take further military action. In 2006, American author Lisa Kirschenbaum wrote that the siege started "when German and Finnish troops severed all land routes in and out of Leningrad." According to Clements, Mannerheim personally refused Hitler's request of assaulting Leningrad during their meeting on 4 June 1942 . Mannerheim explained to Hitler that "Finland had every reason to wish to stay out of any further provocation of
16072-491: The civil war (1917–1922). On 16 April 1922, the German Weimar Republic and the Soviet Union agreed to the Treaty of Rapallo in which they renounced territorial and financial claims against each other. Each party also pledged neutrality in the event of an attack against the other with the Treaty of Berlin (1926) . Trade between the two countries had fallen sharply after World War I, but trade agreements signed in
16236-402: The coming negotiations to go nowhere and formally decided to consider German proposals seriously. The military negotiations began on 12 August in Moscow, with a British delegation headed by the retired admiral Sir Reginald Drax , French delegation headed by General Aimé Doumenc and the Soviet delegation headed by Kliment Voroshilov , the commissar of defence, and Boris Shaposhnikov , chief of
16400-512: The coordination of Operation Barbarossa. The participants met on 25–28 May in Salzburg and Berlin and continued their meeting in Helsinki from 3 to 6 June. They agreed upon Finnish mobilisation and a general division of operations. They also agreed that the Finnish Army would start mobilisation on 15 June, but the Germans did not reveal the actual date of the assault. The Finnish decisions were made by
16564-606: The culmination of the Soviet defence plan. Western historians, such as Norman Davies and John Lukacs , dispute this view and describe pre-war Soviet policy as an attempt to stay out of the war and regain the land lost due to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk after the fall of the Russian Empire . On 31 July 1940, Adolf Hitler gave the order to plan an assault on the Soviet Union, meaning Germany had to reassess its position regarding both Finland and Romania. Until then, Germany had rejected Finnish requests to purchase arms, but with
16728-506: The dangers of an agreement between the Soviet Union and Germany. The contrasting attitudes partly explain why the Soviets have often been charged with playing a double game in 1939 of carrying on open negotiations for an alliance with Britain and France but secretly considering propositions from Germany. By the end of May, drafts had been formally presented. In mid-June, the main tripartite negotiations started. Discussions were focused on potential guarantees to Central and Eastern Europe in
16892-528: The day, the Sword Scabbard Declaration , in which he pledged to liberate Karelia; in December 1941 in private letters, he made known his doubts of the need to push beyond the previous borders. The Finnish government assured the United States that it was unaware of the order. According to Vehviläinen, most Finns thought that the scope of the new offensive was only to regain what had been taken in
17056-497: The deployment was a deliberate violation of the treaty, according to Finnish historian Mauno Jokipii . On the morning of 22 June, Hitler's proclamation read: "Together with their Finnish comrades in arms the heroes from Narvik stand at the edge of the Arctic Ocean. German troops under command of the conqueror of Norway , and the Finnish freedom fighters under their Marshal's command, are protecting Finnish territory." Following
17220-425: The deposit had already been granted to a British-Canadian company and so the demand was rejected by Finland. The following month, the Soviets demanded that Finland destroy the fortifications on the Åland Islands and to grant the Soviets the right to use Finnish railways to transport Soviet troops to the newly acquired Soviet base at Hanko. The Finns very reluctantly agreed to those demands. On 24 July, Molotov accused
17384-508: The exiled Norwegian government and more than once criticised German occupation policy in Norway. Relations between Finland and the United States were more complex since the American public was sympathetic to the "brave little democracy" and had anticommunist sentiments. At first, the United States sympathised with the Finnish cause, but the situation became problematic after the Finnish Army had crossed
17548-467: The fact that England and France are responsible for the continuation of the war, whereupon, in case of the continuation of the war, the Governments of Germany and of the USSR shall engage in mutual consultations with regard to necessary measures. On 3 October, Friedrich Werner von der Schulenburg , the German ambassador in Moscow, informed Joachim Ribbentrop that the Soviet government was willing to cede
17712-579: The foreigners who joined Finnish ranks. Infantry Regiment 200 , called soomepoisid ("Finnish boys"), mostly Estonians, and the Swedes mustered the Swedish Volunteer Battalion . The Finnish government stressed that Finland was fighting as a co-belligerent with Germany against the USSR only to protect itself and that it was still the same democratic country as it had been in the Winter War. For example, Finland maintained diplomatic relations with
17876-551: The former 1939 border, and approximately 30–32 km (19–20 mi) from Leningrad; a defensive position was established along this line. On 30 August, the IV Corps fought the Soviet 23rd Army in the Battle of Porlampi and defeated them on 1 September. Sporadic fighting continued around Beloostrov until the Soviets evicted the Finns on 5 September. The front on the Isthmus stabilised and
18040-477: The front in Finland, a total of 149 divisions and 3,050,000 soldiers were deployed for the rest of Operation Barbarossa. In the evening of 21 June 1941, German mine-layers hiding in the Archipelago Sea deployed two large minefields across the Gulf of Finland. Later that night, German bombers flew along the gulf to Leningrad, mining the harbour and the river Neva , making a refueling stop at Utti , Finland, on
18204-438: The front lines were generally stalemated. In September 1942, the USSR attacked again at Medvezhyegorsk, but despite five days of fighting, the Soviets only managed to push the Finnish lines back 500 m (550 yd) on a roughly 1 km (0.62 mi) long stretch of the front. Later that month, a Soviet landing with two battalions in Petsamo was defeated by a German counterattack. In November 1941, Hitler decided to separate
18368-415: The general staff. Without written credentials, Drax was not authorised to guarantee anything to the Soviet Union and had been instructed by the British government to prolong the discussions as long as possible and to avoid answering the question of whether Poland would agree to permit Soviet troops to enter the country if the Germans invaded. From April to July, Soviet and German officials made statements on
18532-508: The half of Poland east of the Vistula River as well as Latvia , Estonia , Finland and Bessarabia in the Soviet sphere of influence. That night, Stalin replied that the Soviets were willing to sign the pact and that he would receive Ribbentrop on 23 August. On 25 August 1939, the New York Times ran a front-page story by Otto D. Tolischus , "Nazi Talks Secret", whose subtitle included "Soviet and Reich Agree on East". On 26 August 1939,
18696-477: The hostile states of Germany and the Soviet Union. On 23 June, shortly after the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states began, Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov contacted the Finnish government to demand that a mining licence be issued to the Soviet Union for the nickel mines in Petsamo or, alternatively, permission for the establishment of a joint Soviet-Finnish company to operate there. A licence to mine
18860-400: The importance of the fact that they had opposed and fought the Germans in various ways for a decade prior to signing the pact. Molotov tried to reassure the Germans of his good intentions by commenting to journalists that "fascism is a matter of taste". For its part, Germany also did a public volte-face regarding its virulent opposition to the Soviet Union, but Hitler still viewed an attack on
19024-465: The inner circle of political and military leaders, without the knowledge of the rest of the government. Due to tensions between Germany and the Soviet Union, the government was not informed until 9 June that mobilisation of reservists would be required. Finland never signed the Tripartite Pact . The Finnish leadership stated they would fight against the Soviets only to the extent needed to redress
19188-500: The invasion, commanded by Field Marshal ( sotamarsalkka ) Mannerheim. The army was organised as follows: Although initially deployed for a static defence, the Finnish Army was to later launch an attack to the south, on both sides of Lake Ladoga, putting pressure on Leningrad and thus supporting the advance of the German Army Group North through the Baltic states towards Leningrad. Finnish intelligence had overestimated
19352-618: The island of Sukho , which protected the main supply route to Leningrad, in October 1942. Molotov%E2%80%93Ribbentrop Pact The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , officially the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , and also known as the Hitler–Stalin Pact and the Nazi–Soviet Pact , was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and
19516-498: The latter city. Stalin had decided in August that he was going to liquidate the Polish state, and a German–Soviet meeting in September addressed the future structure of the "Polish region". Soviet authorities immediately started a campaign of Sovietisation of the newly acquired areas. The Soviets organised staged elections, the result of which was to become a legitimisation of the Soviet annexation of eastern Poland. Eleven days after
19680-616: The launch of Operation Barbarossa at around 3:15 a.m. on 22 June 1941, the Soviet Union sent seven bombers on a retaliatory airstrike into Finland, hitting targets at 6:06 a.m. Helsinki time as reported by the Finnish coastal defence ship Väinämöinen . On the morning of 25 June, the Soviet Union launched another air offensive, with 460 fighters and bombers targeting 19 airfields in Finland; however, inaccurate intelligence and poor bombing accuracy resulted in several raids hitting Finnish cities, or municipalities, causing considerable damage. 23 Soviet bombers were lost in this strike while
19844-532: The meeting showed how seriously that the Soviets were taking the negotiations. In late July and early August 1939, Soviet and German officials agreed on most of the details of a planned economic agreement and specifically addressed a potential political agreement, which the Soviets stated could come only after an economic agreement. The German presence in the Soviet capital during negotiations can be regarded as rather tense. German pilot Hans Baur recalled that Soviet secret police followed every move. Their job
20008-585: The mid-1920s helped to increase trade to 433 million ℛ︁ℳ︁ per year by 1927. At the beginning of the 1930s, the Nazi Party 's rise to power increased tensions between Germany and the Soviet Union, along with other countries with ethnic Slavs , who were considered " Untermenschen " (subhuman) according to Nazi racial ideology . Moreover, the antisemitic Nazis associated ethnic Jews with both communism and financial capitalism , both of which they opposed . Nazi theory held that Slavs in
20172-447: The more isolationist Stalinist regime asserting power and by the abandonment of postwar Treaty of Versailles military controls, both of which decreased Germany's reliance on Soviet imports. In 1935 Germany, after a previous German–Polish declaration of non-aggression , through Hermann Goring proposed a military alliance with Poland against the Soviet Union, but this was rejected. In 1936, Germany and Fascist Italy supported
20336-581: The north of the Karelian Isthmus on 31 July. Other Finnish forces reached the shores of Lake Ladoga on 9 August, encircling most of the three defending Soviet divisions on the northwestern coast of the lake in a pocket (Finnish: motti ); these divisions were later evacuated across the lake. On 22 August, the Finnish IV Corps began its offensive south of II Corps and advanced towards Vyborg (Finnish: Viipuri ). By 23 August, II Corps had reached
20500-511: The north, Finland, Estonia, and Latvia were assigned to the Soviet sphere. Poland was to be partitioned in the event of its "political rearrangement": the areas east of the Pisa , Narew , Vistula , and San rivers would go to the Soviet Union, and Germany would occupy the west. Lithuania, which was adjacent to East Prussia , was assigned to the German sphere of influence, but a second secret protocol, agreed to in September 1939, reassigned Lithuania to
20664-499: The now-famous front-page picture of Molotov signing the treaty with a smiling Stalin looking on. The same day, German diplomat Hans von Herwarth , whose grandmother was Jewish, informed Italian diplomat Guido Relli and American chargé d'affaires Charles Bohlen of the secret protocol on the vital interests in the countries' allotted "spheres of influence" but failed to reveal the annexation rights for "territorial and political rearrangement". The agreement's public terms so exceeded
20828-527: The offensive in August 1944. Hostilities between Finland and the USSR ceased in September 1944 with the signing of the Moscow Armistice in which Finland restored its borders per the 1940 Moscow Peace Treaty and additionally ceded Petsamo and leased the Porkkala Peninsula to the Soviets. Furthermore, Finland was required to pay war reparations to the Soviet Union , accept partial responsibility for
20992-663: The offensive on the Svir River front, in the Kestenga (Finnish: Kiestinki ) region further north in Lapland as well as in the far north at Petsamo with the 14th Rifle Division 's amphibious landings supported by the Northern Fleet . All Soviet offensives started promisingly, but due either to the Soviets overextending their lines or stubborn defensive resistance, the offensives were repulsed. After Finnish and German counterattacks in Kestenga,
21156-509: The offensive. Mannerheim agreed and secretly instructed General Hjalmar Siilasvuo and his III Corps to end the assault on the Kirov Railway. Nevertheless, the United States never declared war on Finland during the entire conflict. On 12 July 1941, the United Kingdom signed an agreement of joint action with the Soviet Union. Under German pressure, Finland closed the British legation in Helsinki and cut diplomatic relations with Britain on 1 August. On 2 August 1941, Britain declared that Finland
21320-641: The other." On 21 September, Marshal of the Soviet Union Voroshilov , German military attaché General Köstring , and other officers signed a formal agreement in Moscow co-ordinating military movements in Poland, including the "purging" of saboteurs and the Red Army assisting with destruction of the "enemy". Joint German–Soviet parades were held in Lviv and Brest-Litovsk , and the countries' military commanders met in
21484-471: The pact was signed, the Franco-British military delegation urgently requested a meeting with Soviet military negotiator Kliment Voroshilov . On 25 August, Voroshilov told them that "in view of the changed political situation, no useful purpose can be served in continuing the conversation". The same day, Hitler told the British ambassador to Berlin that the pact with the Soviets prevented Germany from facing
21648-429: The potential for the beginning of political negotiations, but no actual negotiations took place. "The Soviet Union had wanted good relations with Germany for years and was happy to see that feeling finally reciprocated", wrote the historian Gerhard L. Weinberg . The ensuing discussion of a potential political deal between Germany and the Soviet Union had to be channeled into the framework of economic negotiations between
21812-434: The potential pact with the Soviet Union: "When Germany's life is at stake, even a temporary alliance with Moscow must be contemplated". Sometime in early May 1939 at Berghof , Ribbentrop showed Hitler a film of Stalin viewing his military in a recent parade. Hitler became intrigued with the idea of allying with the Soviets and Ribbentrop recalled Hitler saying that Stalin "looked like a man he could do business with". Ribbentrop
21976-621: The proposed frontier was introduced with the slogan "short border, long peace". Some members of the Finnish Parliament, such as members of the Social Democratic Party and the Swedish People's Party , opposed the idea, arguing that maintaining the 1939 frontier would be enough. Mannerheim often called the war an anti-Communist crusade, hoping to defeat " Bolshevism once and for all". On 10 July, Mannerheim drafted his order of
22140-402: The prospect of an invasion of Russia, that policy was reversed, and in August, the secret sale of weapons to Finland was permitted. Military authorities signed an agreement on 12 September, and an official exchange of diplomatic notes was sent on 22 September. Meanwhile, German troops were allowed to transit through Sweden and Finland. This change in policy meant Germany had effectively redrawn
22304-433: The request, but Hitler himself agreed. Annual grain deliveries of 180,000 t (200,000 short tons) equaled almost half of the Finnish domestic crop. On 25 November 1941, Finland signed the Anti-Comintern Pact , a less formal alliance, which the German leadership saw as a "litmus test of loyalty". Finland maintained good relations with a number of other Western powers. Foreign volunteers from Sweden and Estonia were among
22468-419: The return leg. In the early hours of 22 June, Finnish forces launched Operation Kilpapurjehdus ("Regatta"), deploying troops in the demilitarised Åland Islands. Although the 1921 Åland convention had clauses allowing Finland to defend the islands in the event of an attack, the coordination of this operation with the German invasion and the arrest of the Soviet consulate staff stationed on the islands meant that
22632-460: The siege of Leningrad (Russian: Блокада Ленинграда ), but the full extent and nature of their participation is debated and a clear consensus has yet to emerge. American historian David Glantz writes that the Finnish Army generally maintained their lines and contributed little to the siege from 1941 to 1944, whereas Russian historian Nikolai Baryshnikov [ ru ] stated in 2002 that Finland tacitly supported Hitler's starvation policy for
22796-478: The strength of the Red Army, when in fact it was numerically inferior to Finnish forces at various points along the border. The army, especially its artillery, was stronger than it had been during the Winter War but included only one armoured battalion and had a general lack of motorised transportation; the army possessed 1,829 artillery pieces at the beginning of the invasion. The Finnish Air Force ( Ilmavoimat ) had received large donations from Germany prior to
22960-476: The terms of an ordinary non-aggression treaty—requiring that both parties consult with each other, and not aid a third party attacking either—that Gunther heard a joke that Stalin had joined the anti-Comintern pact. Time Magazine repeatedly referred to the Pact as the "Communazi Pact" and its participants as "communazis" until April 1941. Soviet propaganda and representatives went to great lengths to minimize
23124-520: The time, assumed the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish Defence Forces . The USSR was expelled from the League of Nations and was condemned by the international community for the illegal attack. Foreign support for Finland was promised, but very little actual help materialised, except from Sweden. The Moscow Peace Treaty concluded the 105-day Winter War on 13 March 1940 and started
23288-418: The true interest of all peoples to put an end to the state of war existing at present between Germany on the one side and England and France on the other. Both Governments will, therefore, direct their common efforts, jointly with other friendly powers if the occasion arises, toward attaining this goal as soon as possible. Should, however, the efforts of the two Governments remain fruitless, this would demonstrate
23452-645: The two countries , since close military and diplomatic connections that existed before the mid-1930s had been largely severed. In May, Stalin replaced his foreign minister from 1930 to 1939, Maxim Litvinov , who had advocated rapprochement with the West and was also Jewish , with Vyacheslav Molotov to allow the Soviet Union more latitude in discussions with more parties, instead of only Britain and France. On 23 August 1939, two Focke-Wulf Condors , containing German diplomats, officials, and photographers (about 20 in each plane), headed by Ribbentrop, descended into Moscow. As
23616-406: The war exceeded 200,000 although Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev later claimed that the casualties may have been one million. Around that time, after several Gestapo–NKVD conferences , Soviet NKVD officers also conducted lengthy interrogations of 300,000 Polish POWs in camps that were a selection process to determine who would be killed. On 5 March 1940, in what would later be known as
23780-495: The war mainly because of the Soviet invasion of Finland during the Winter War, which the League of Nations and Nordic neutrality had failed to prevent due to lack of outside support. Finland primarily aimed to reverse its territorial losses from the 1940 Moscow Peace Treaty and, depending on the success of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, to possibly expand its borders, especially into East Karelia . Some right-wing groups, such as
23944-516: The war quickly. The Finnish Defence Forces suffered relatively severe losses during their advance and, overall, German victory became uncertain as German troops were halted near Moscow . German troops in northern Finland faced circumstances they were unprepared for and failed to reach their targets. As the front lines stabilised, Finland attempted to start peace negotiations with the USSR. Mannerheim refused to assault Leningrad, which would inextricably tie Finland to Germany; he regarded his objectives for
24108-507: The war to be achieved, a decision that angered the Germans. Due to the war effort, the Finnish economy suffered from a lack of labour, as well as food shortages and increased prices. To combat this, the Finnish government demobilised part of the army to prevent industrial and agricultural production from collapsing. In October, Finland informed Germany that it would need 159,000 t (175,000 short tons ) of grain to manage until next year's harvest. The German authorities would have rejected
24272-603: The war, and acknowledge that it had been a German ally. Finland was also required by the agreement to expel German troops from Finnish territory, which led to the Lapland War between Finland and Germany. On 23 August 1939, the Soviet Union and Germany signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact in which both parties agreed to divide the independent countries of Finland, Estonia , Latvia , Lithuania , Poland , and Romania into spheres of interest , with Finland falling within
24436-452: The way for the German invasion of the Soviet Union, in which he expected both Finland and Romania to participate. Meanwhile, Finnish Major General Paavo Talvela met with German Colonel General Franz Halder and Reich Marshal Hermann Göring in Berlin, the first time that the Germans had advised the Finnish government, in carefully-couched diplomatic terms, that they were preparing for war with
24600-702: The west, rumoured existence of the Secret Protocol was proven only when it was made public during the Nuremberg trials . A week after signing the pact, on 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland . On 17 September, one day after a Soviet–Japanese ceasefire came into effect after the Battles of Khalkhin Gol , and one day after the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union approved the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Stalin , stating concern for ethnic Ukrainians and Belarusians in Poland, ordered
24764-414: The west. Within a few days, Germany began conducting massacres of Polish and Jewish civilians and POWs, which took place in over 30 towns and villages in the first month of the German occupation. The Luftwaffe also took part by strafing fleeing civilian refugees on roads and by carrying out a bombing campaign. The Soviet Union assisted German air forces by allowing them to use signals broadcast by
24928-539: Was able to infiltrate beyond Finnish patrol lines, but was intercepted, and rendered ineffective, in August 1942 at Lake Segozero . Irregular partisans distributed propaganda newspapers, such as Finnish translations of the official Communist Party paper Pravda (Russian: Правда ). Notable Soviet politician Yuri Andropov took part in these partisan guerrilla actions. Finnish sources state that, although Soviet partisan activity in East Karelia disrupted Finnish military supply and communication assets, almost two thirds of
25092-462: Was conducted by the governments of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier . The policy immediately raised the question of whether the Soviet Union could avoid being next on Hitler's list. The Soviet leadership believed that the West wanted to encourage German aggression in the East and to stay neutral in a war initiated by Germany in the hope that Germany and
25256-599: Was confident that its capitulation could be attained without great effort. The Soviets demanded territories on the Karelian Isthmus , the islands of the Gulf of Finland and a military base near the Finnish capital, Helsinki , which Finland rejected. The Soviets staged the shelling of Mainila on 26 November and used it as a pretext to withdraw from the Soviet–Finnish Non-Aggression Pact . On 30 November,
25420-531: Was intended to demonstrate British support for its Soviet ally. From September to October in 1941, a total of 39 Hawker Hurricanes of No. 151 Wing RAF , based at Murmansk, reinforced and provided pilot-training to the Soviet Air Forces during Operation Benedict to protect arctic convoys. On 28 November, the British government presented Finland with an ultimatum demanding for the Finns to cease military operations by 3 December. Unofficially, Finland informed
25584-485: Was irrelevant since he saw Finland as an ally. The 1947 Paris Peace Treaty signed by Finland described Finland as having been "an ally of Hitlerite Germany" during the Continuation War. In a 2008 poll of 28 Finnish historians carried out by Helsingin Sanomat , 16 said that Finland had been an ally of Nazi Germany, six said it had not been and six did not take a position. The Northern Front (Russian: Северный фронт ) of
25748-537: Was met with utter shock and surprise by government leaders and media worldwide, most of whom were aware of only the British–French–Soviet negotiations, which had taken place for months; by Germany's allies, notably Japan; by the Comintern and foreign Communist parties; and Jewish communities all around the world. On 24 August, Pravda and Izvestia carried news of the pact's public portions, complete with
25912-469: Was started on 29 June 1941 by the German Army of Norway, which had the Finnish 3rd and 6th Divisions under its command, against the defending Soviet 14th Army and 54th Rifle Division . By November, the operation had stalled 30 km (19 mi) from the Kirov Railway due to unacclimatised German troops, heavy Soviet resistance, poor terrain, arctic weather and diplomatic pressure by the United States on
26076-519: Was terminated on 22 June 1941, when Germany launched Operation Barbarossa and invaded the Soviet Union, in pursuit of the ideological goal of Lebensraum . The Anglo-Soviet Agreement succeeded it. After the war, Ribbentrop was convicted of war crimes at the Nuremberg trials and executed. Molotov died in 1986. The outcome of World War I was disastrous for both the German and the Russian empires. The Russian Civil War broke out in late 1917 after
26240-491: Was the thanks he got for having done his best for us to get him into prison. We knew perfectly well it was forbidden to take tips." In early August, Germany and the Soviet Union worked out the last details of their economic deal and started to discuss a political agreement. Both countries' diplomats explained to each other the reasons for the hostility in their foreign policy in the 1930s and found common ground in both countries' anticapitalism with Karl Schnurre stating: "there
26404-551: Was then given the nod to pursue negotiations with Moscow. Hitler's fierce anti-Soviet rhetoric was one of the reasons that Britain and France decided that Soviet participation in the 1938 Munich Conference on Czechoslovakia would be both dangerous and useless. In the Munich Agreement that followed the conference agreed to a German annexation of part of Czechoslovakia in late 1938, but in early 1939 it had been completely dissolved. The policy of appeasement toward Germany
26568-413: Was to inform authorities when he left his residence and where he was headed. Baur's guide informed him: "Another car would tack itself onto us and follow us fifty or so yards in the rear, and wherever we went and whatever we did, the secret police would be on our heels." Baur also recalled trying to tip his Russian driver, which led to a harsh exchange of words: "He was furious. He wanted to know whether this
26732-445: Was under enemy occupation, which ended all economic transactions between Britain and Finland and led to a blockade of Finnish trade. The most sizable British action on Finnish soil was the Raid on Kirkenes and Petsamo , an aircraft-carrier strike on German and Finnish ships on 31 July 1941. The attack accomplished little except the loss of one Norwegian ship and three British aircraft, but it
26896-749: Was under the direct command of the German Army High Command ( OKH ) and was organised into Mountain Corps Norway and XXXVI Mountain Corps with the Finnish III Corps and 14th Division attached to it. The German Air Force High Command ( OKL ) assigned 60 aircraft from Luftflotte 5 (Air Fleet 5) to provide air support to the Army of Norway and the Finnish Army, in addition to its main responsibility of defending Norwegian air space. In contrast to
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