Finland in the Second World War showed amazing endurance and courage. She fought not only with the USSR, but also with the West. For almost 5 years, from June 25, 1941 to April 27, 1945. Some historians are sure that the Winter War of 40 is also part of the Second World War. In this conflict, the Finns lost about 10% of their land. Part of the refugees remained in the USSR, and some Russians remained forever on Finnish territory.

Finnish losses amounted to about 27,000 people. There were 5 times more wounded and prisoners. More than a thousand people died from the bombing alone. According to general estimates for the entire period of hostilities, 81,000 Finnish inhabitants died. They were mostly military. Of this number, the civilian population also got it, their number is equal to 2000 people.

Now it is difficult to judge whether Finland took the right position in this battle, but I would like to note that the Finnish state found wisdom in itself and with the help of diplomacy, leverage in order to make peace with the Soviet Union. Probably, the influence of Germany was too great and it was created over several years, when there were no prerequisites for a war at all.

Finnish participation

Finland dreamed of creating a great power and wanted to annex not only Karelia, but also some lands of the Soviet territory. Due to the close proximity to the USSR, for some time she nurtured the idea of ​​capturing Leningrad.

The facts speak for themselves that the military leaders of Finland and Germany had long negotiations in 1936 and planned to carry out a joint takeover. After that, already in 1939, the Finns categorically declared that they no longer wanted to have any business with the Soviet Union, and would perceive any participation of the Soviet army as a challenge and the end of peace negotiations.

The strengthening of border zones on both sides began, and a month later they began to debate about revising the borders of states. The USSR offered to give the eastern part of Karelia to the Finns, while Finland asked for another territory. But these negotiations were interrupted. Germany intervened again and prevented an agreement between these countries.

The first shelling was not long in coming. Literally a month later, on November 26, Soviet troops carried out provocative military operations, and 4 days later war was declared on the Finnish lands. This event was also accompanied by the fact that the Soviet Union was to cross out the League of Nations.

The Finns received significant assistance from other states. About 12,000 volunteers came from different countries and about 8,000 soldiers personally from the Swedes. Great Britain handed over 75 military aircraft for use, France was also engaged in the supply of flight equipment, but already for money. Denmark supplied an anti-tank gun. South Africa donated 22 fighter jets. Belgium provided the Finns with machine guns.

The course of military events

The Finnish army proved to be skilled warriors, despite the fact that their numbers were ridiculous compared to the USSR army. After the Russian aviation raided the Finnish capital, the Finns had to go into deep defense. Due to the fact that the territory of the border was huge and amounted to almost 15,000 kilometers, it was difficult to defend.

The advantage of Finland was only that they knew the territory of the border very well. The Union planned to break through Petsamo, but experienced Finnish ski troops prevented a swift capture. The difficulty of the Soviet army was also in inaccurate maps and weather conditions.

The war was divided into three sectors:

1. The offensive of the USSR.
2. Several minor victories for Finland.
3. The main attack of the Soviet army.

The main factors of hostilities are the fronts of Karelia and Ladoga. It was not possible to quickly conquer Vyborg. Several times the Red Army lost in battles and the Finns kept Petsamo. Even during the beginning of the Second World War, the Finns supported the Germans for some time and their troops were located on the territory of Finland.

The Finns have been actively involved in the battles since 1941. When Estonia was occupied, the Finns deployed their armed detachment there. First, Lvov was captured, then Petrozavodsk. But even then, Stalin did not declare war on Finland and convinced the Prime Minister of Great Britain, which supported the USSR, of this.

The Finns took an active part in the battles at sea and during the blockade of Leningrad. Only when the Soviet army entered the territory of Germany, the Finns went on the defensive. According to unconfirmed reports, the Finns lost about 85,000 people, of which 2,500 were prisoners, a quarter of whom died in captivity.

It is impossible not to say about the Lapland War. The fighting was limited to skirmishes and the Germans understood that the Finns were not particularly eager to take an active part in the massacre. The passivity of Finland did not surprise the USSR. Moreover, it was regarded as complicity with the German army. The military leaders of the Union demanded that the Finns withdraw German troops from Finnish territory. The Germans left Finland, but before that they looted and burned many villages.

The Finns took an active part in swearing actions not only on the territory of Karelia, but also on the entire coast of Ladoga. When they managed to reach the coast, Lakhdenpokhya and Sortavala were captured in turn. Just at this time, the military leaders of Finland received a personal message from Churchill, in which he bitterly reported that Germany might have to declare war on Finland. Probably, even then it was necessary to think about the fact that it was not worth supporting the Germans.

Domestic politics

Finland's participation in the Second World War began because of the tension between these countries. In the midst of the war, the Finns began to experience difficulties in the internal way. There was a lack of food, and the army was not armed as quickly as we would like. I had to remove people from logging facilities. Historians speak of a figure of 60,000 people.

These difficulties continued until Finland's withdrawal from the war in 1944. The income of the nation was in the region of 77%, and the industry fell by almost 20%. In construction, things were even worse. Accounting for decline was almost 50%. This was due to internal devastation, besides, the German troops inflicted great damage on the border villages before leaving.

Experienced difficulties and agriculture. The land was emasculated and crop damage was almost 35%. The sale of Finnish goods also suffered and began to amount to no more than 35% of the pre-war. The Lapland War only exacerbated the situation. If we talk about the navy, then it suffered from mine cans for another 5 years after the end of the Second World War. Only in 1950 did a large-scale demining of the Finnish coast begin, especially the Gulf of Finland needed it.

"Continuation War" is called in Finland the participation of this country on the side of Nazi Germany in the war against the USSR in 1941-1944. It is a continuation of the Winter War of 1939-1940, during which the USSR captured the southeastern regions of Finland, which accounted for a tenth of the pre-war territory of this country. It was inhabited by 400 thousand people (one ninth of the population of Finland), almost all of them left their places of usual residence and settled in the rest of Finland. The ruling circles of this country set themselves the goal of returning the regions conquered by the Soviet Union. At that time, this task could only be accomplished with the help of Germany.

In turn, Hitler and his strategists considered Finland a convenient springboard for waging war against the USSR, primarily for encircling and capturing Leningrad from the north, as well as for capturing Murmansk. The Nazi leader promised support for Finland and the return of lost territories to it (in the future, all of Karelia and the Karelian Isthmus to the Neva would join Finland), but only on condition that it would take an active part in the war against the Soviet Union, and also provide its territory for the deployment of German troops. The close rapprochement between Germany and Finland was facilitated by the fact that Stalin did not abandon his previous plans for the complete annexation of Finland to the USSR.

Already in September 1940, the first German units appeared in Finland. Their presence in this country became one of the topics of the negotiations of the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs V.M. Molotov with Hitler during the visit of the first to Berlin on November 12-14, 1940. Hitler replied that the German troops were in Finland in transit, and they were sent to Norway occupied by the Germans. Molotov tried to enlist Hitler's support in the further capture of Finland by the Soviet Union, but Hitler refused. After that, Soviet-Finnish relations worsened again, and in January 1941 the USSR recalled its ambassador from Finland, leaving only a temporary chargé d'affaires.

Meanwhile, the Finnish General Staff was already closely cooperating with the German, agreeing on joint military operations. In early June 1941, Finland carried out a covert mobilization of its armed forces. However, Finnish President R. Ryti and Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal K. Mannerheim set Hitler the condition that Finland would enter the war only if the USSR attacked it. However, given the actions of the German army carried out against the Union from the territory of Finland, there were plenty of reasons to provoke the USSR into hostile actions against Finland.

Already on the evening of June 21, 1941, German ships based in the ports of Finland laid minefields in the Gulf of Finland. German planes also laid mines in front of the Kronstadt raid, and on the way back they refueled at Finnish airfields. On June 22, Finnish troops occupied the Aland Islands, which had been a demilitarized zone since 1920, in accordance with international treaties. On the same day, Soviet aircraft bombarded the Finnish military on the Åland Islands. Skirmishes with the Finns began on the border.

On the morning of June 25, Soviet aviation launched the first bombing strike on the territory of mainland Finland. This happened in response to the actions of the Luftwaffe, whose planes took off from Finnish airfields. According to the Finnish side, the main targets of the Soviet bombing were civilian targets in the capital and major cities. On the evening of June 25, the Finnish Parliament stated that the country was in a state of defensive war with the USSR. The Finns blocked the Soviet naval base on the Hanko Peninsula.

June 29 - July 1, German units and one Finnish division set out from the territory of Northern Finland in the direction of Murmansk and Kandalaksha. During July, parts of the main Finnish troops gradually began offensive operations. Against the backdrop of German victories, the Finns expected a quick defeat of the Soviet Union, but met with stubborn resistance from the Soviet army. It was especially strong in the Leningrad direction, where the Red Army relied on the fortifications of the former Finnish Mannerheim Line. Only at the end of August did the Finns manage to take Vyborg. The offensive between the Ladoga and Onega lakes was more successful. Already at the end of July, Finnish troops approached Petrozavodsk, but they were able to take it only at the beginning of October after fierce battles. Earlier, in early September, the Finns reached the Svir River and the old Soviet-Finnish border on the Karelian Isthmus, where they were forced to stop the offensive.

There is an opinion that Finland only intended to return the territories lost in the war of 1939-1940. But the real advance of the Finnish troops shows that her goal was more significant. The rejection by Mannerheim of the German proposals to go together to Leningrad and advance south of the Svir River is simply explained: the Finns did not have the strength left for this. In the country, 17.5% of the total population was mobilized, which led to a sharp drop in the level of production, only partially offset by supplies from Germany. In the 1941 campaign, the Finnish army lost 21,000 men alone, two thousand more than in the Winter War. After the capture of the city of Povenets, the extreme point of the White Sea-Baltic Canal, in December 1941, the Finnish army was forced to go on the defensive everywhere and carry out partial demobilization, otherwise the country would have collapsed.

The crossing by the Finns of the old border with the USSR provoked protests from Great Britain. On November 28, 1941, Churchill sent an ultimatum to Finland demanding that the troops be withdrawn. However, the Finns refused, and on December 6, England declared war on Finland. The United States did not follow the example of the British.

The defeat of the German troops near Leningrad in January 1944 forced the leadership of Finland to probe the ground for a separate peace with the USSR. However, the Soviet conditions - in addition to returning to the new border to give away some territories in the north - seemed excessive to the Finns. Only after the Red Army launched an offensive in Karelia and the Karelian Isthmus in the summer of 1944 did Finland agree to the demands put forward to it. President Ryti resigned, and Mannerheim negotiated with the USSR, whom the parliament elected as the new head of state. In addition to the cession of the Pechenga region, Finland had to internee or expel by force the German troops stationed on its lands, pay reparations in industrial goods in the amount of 300 million dollars (in 1948 the USSR reduced the amount of reparations to 226.5 million; the last payment took place in 1952) and execute judgment on the rulers who dragged her into the war against the Soviet Union.

About 60 thousand Finns died in the Great Patriotic War. The irretrievable losses of the Soviet troops of the Karelian Front, the 7th and 23rd armies amounted to more than 90 thousand people.

I went to the website of the Ministry of Defense (http://www.mil.ru/940/65186/66882/index.shtml) and read an interesting article there, although it was dated for 2009.

65th anniversary of Finland's exit from World War II in September 1944

Soon, namely on September 19, it will be 65 years since the signing of the armistice with Finland. Recall that this truce was the result of the defeat of Finland in the war, which she waged against the USSR on the side of Germany as one of her satellites. Of course, this point of view, which is official and generally accepted in Russia, is not at all the same in Finland. And not only in herself. For some reason, many want to present Finland's participation in World War II as one of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition, and limit military operations within the framework of World War II from September 1944 to April 1945. That is, military operations against the troops of Nazi Germany. There is even a corresponding term: "Lapland War". Everything else - namely: the military actions of the Finnish army in cooperation with the troops of the Army Group "North" on the Karelian Front is presented in the form of a "Continuation War", that is, liberation and absolutely fair. Let's try to understand this historical episode.

“The historical memory of the Second World War and Finland’s participation in it has been subjected to quite deliberate distortion for several decades both in public assessments of the ruling circles of this country and in the statements of many representatives of its intellectual elite, which, of course, affects the mass consciousness of the Finnish people in in general. At the same time, it is characteristic that the events of 1939-1940 and 1941-1944, which played an insignificant role on the scale of the world war in a secondary theater of operations, are given a crucial significance in Finland not only for the national history of this small northern country, but also for the entire “Western civilization and democracy”, and the state that fought on the side of Nazi Germany and lost the war appears almost as the winner and “savior of Europe from Bolshevism”. Moreover, the very fact that Finland was an ally of fascist Germany in the Second World War is clumsily denied: it was supposedly just a “military comrade-in-arms”. However, such verbal balancing act can deceive only those who themselves wish to be deceived: the joint nature of goals and actions, the coherence of the plans of the two “comrades-in-arms”, including the post-war division of the USSR, are widely known. However, attempts to “rewrite history”, despite the obvious facts, continue.” Thus, on March 1, 2005, during an official visit to France, Finnish President Tarja Halonen spoke at the French Institute of International Relations, where she “introduced the listeners to the Finnish view of the Second World War, based on the thesis that for Finland the World War meant a separate war against the Soviet Union, during which the Finns managed to maintain their independence and defend a democratic political system. The Russian Foreign Ministry was forced to comment on this speech by the head of the neighboring country, noting that “this interpretation of history has become widespread in Finland, especially in the last decade,” but that “there is hardly any reason to make adjustments to history books around the world, erasing references to that during the Second World War, Finland was among the allies of Nazi Germany, fought on its side and, accordingly, bears its share of responsibility for this war. To remind the President of Finland of the historical truth, the Russian Foreign Ministry suggested that she “open the preamble to the Paris Peace Treaty of 1947, concluded with Finland by the “Allied and Associated Powers”.

“At the same time, not only Finnish politicians, but also a number of historians adhere to this slippery position. However, in recent years, the topics of the crimes of the Nazi ally, “inconvenient” for the Finnish side, have increasingly become the property of both the scientific community and the public. Among them are not only the extreme cruelty and inhumanity of the treatment of Soviet prisoners of war, but also the general policy of the Finnish occupation regime in the occupied Soviet territories with openly racist attitudes towards the Russian population and an orientation towards its extermination. Today, many materials have been published with documentary evidence of the victims of the Finnish occupiers, including juvenile prisoners of concentration camps. However, unlike the government of modern Germany, the official position of the Finnish side is not to recognize these actions of its army and the occupation administration as crimes against humanity, and the concentration camps in the assessments of Finnish historiography appear almost like sanatoriums.

“The propaganda justification for the start of the “Continuation War” by Finland is well known, reflected primarily in the order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish Army K.-G. Mannerheim dated June 27, 1941 on the start of hostilities together with the German army against the USSR. The main leitmotif of this document was a revanchist attitude aimed at revising the results of the "Winter" war of 1939-1940. Mannerheim calls the USSR an enemy and accuses that he “did not consider the world permanent from the very beginning”, that Finland was “the object of shameless threats”, and that the goal of the USSR was “the destruction of our dwellings, our faith and our Fatherland, ... the enslavement of our people." “The concluded peace,” Mannerheim proclaims, “was only a truce that has now ended. ...I call you to a holy war with the enemy of our nation. ... Together with the powerful military forces of Germany, as brothers in arms, we set out with determination on a crusade against the enemy in order to secure a secure future for Finland.” The same order contains a hint of this future - to Great Finland right up to the Ural Mountains, although here only Karelia is the object of claims so far. “Follow me for the last time,” Mannerheim urges, “now that the people of Karelia are rising again and a new dawn is dawning for Finland.” And in the July order, he already directly states: “Free Karelia and Great Finland shimmer before us in a huge whirlpool of world-historical events.”

Indeed, in the Vyborg region, Finnish troops stopped at the old border. According to the memoirs of K. Mannerheim, at that time there was no unity in the Finnish government about crossing the old Soviet-Finnish border, which was especially opposed by the Social Democrats. The need to ensure the security of Leningrad at one time led to the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940, and crossing the old border would mean an indirect recognition of the validity of the USSR's fears. So, I would have to admit many other things, which I didn’t want to do.

In addition, as A.B. Shirokorad notes, a further offensive against Leningrad would require an assault on the well-prepared fortifications of the Karelian fortified area (KaUR), for which the Finns were not ready.

However, in the Petrozavodsk direction, where there were no powerful fortifications, on September 4, 1941, the Finnish army launched an operation to occupy eastern Karelia, and by the morning of September 7, the forward units of the Finnish army under the command of General Talvel reached the Svir River. On October 1, the Soviet units left Petrozavodsk. In early December, the Finns cut the White Sea-Baltic Canal. This territory has never been part of Finland, although historically part of its population was made up of Finno-Ugric peoples. A terror regime was established in the occupied territories, directed against the non-Finnish-speaking population.

Contrary to the recently widespread myth about K. Mannerheim - the "savior of Leningrad", Finnish troops, together with the Germans, participated in the blockade of the city for three years, covering the northern direction. As early as September 11, 1941, Finnish President Ryti told the German envoy in Helsinki: “If St. Petersburg no longer exists as a large city, then the Neva would be the best border on the Karelian Isthmus ... Leningrad must be liquidated as a large city.”

Ultimately, the front line stabilized until 1944.

Brief chronicle of the events of 1944:

In January-February 1944, Soviet troops during the Leningrad-Novgorod operation completely lifted the 900-day blockade of Leningrad by German and Finnish troops.

In February, Soviet long-range aviation undertook three massive air raids on Helsinki: on the night of 6/7, 16/17, 26/27 February; in total over 6000 sorties. The damage was modest - 5% of the dropped bombs fell within the city. The Finnish side claims that this is the result of good air defense work. The Soviet version - the destruction of the city was not planned in principle. It was a show of strength. Therefore, not a single bomb fell on residential areas.

On April 1, with the return of the Finnish delegation from Moscow, the demands of the Soviet government became known: 1) The border on the terms of the Moscow Peace Treaty of 1940; 2) Internment, by the forces of the Finnish army, of German units in Finland until the end of April; 3) Reparations in the amount of 600 million US dollars to be paid within 5 years.

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

On August 1, President Ryti resigned. On August 4, Mannerheim was sworn in as President of Finland by the Finnish Parliament.

On August 25, the Finns asked (through the USSR ambassador in Stockholm) on what conditions their exit from the war was possible. The Soviet government put forward two conditions (agreed with Great Britain and the USA): 1) an immediate severance of relations with Germany; 2) the withdrawal of German troops before September 15, and in case of refusal - internment. There was no demand for unconditional surrender.

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

On September 3, the Finns began to transfer troops from the Soviet front to the north of the country (Kajaani and Oulu), where the German units are located.

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

On September 15, the Germans demanded that the Finns surrender the island of Gogland, and after the refusal they tried to capture it by force. The German troops stationed in northern Finland did not want to leave the country, as a result of which the Finnish army, together with the Red Army, fought against them, which ended only in April 1945 (the Lapland War).

On September 19, an Armistice Agreement with the USSR was signed in Moscow. Finland had to accept the following conditions: 1) return to the borders of 1940 with an additional concession to the Soviet Union of the Petsamo sector; 2) the leasing of the Porkkala peninsula (located near Helsinki) by the USSR for a period of 50 years (returned to the Finns in 1956); 3) granting the USSR the right to transit troops through Finland; 4) reparations in the amount of 300 million US dollars, which must be repaid by the supply of goods within 6 years.

So, “a radical change in the course of the war and the obviousness of its prospects by 1944 forced the Finns to search for a peace that would not end for them in a national catastrophe and occupation. Finland's exit from the war was forced, carried out as a result of the victories of the Red Army over Germany and its allies, under the threat of bombing Finnish cities and the Soviet offensive on Finnish territory. The Finns had to accept a number of preconditions, including the severance of relations with Germany, the withdrawal or internment of German troops, the withdrawal of the Finnish army to the borders of 1940, and a number of others. It is significant that the motivation for entering the war and leaving it was practically the opposite. In 1941, Field Marshal Mannerheim inspired the Finns with plans to create Greater Finland and swore that he would not sheathe his sword until he reached the Urals, and in September 1944 he justified himself before his ally A. Hitler for being forced to withdraw “little Finland” from the war: “... I came to the conclusion that the salvation of my people obliges me to find a way out of the war quickly. The general unfavorable development of the military situation increasingly limits Germany's ability to provide us with timely and sufficient assistance at the right time ... We Finns are no longer even physically able to continue the war ... The big offensive launched by the Russians in June devastated all our reserves. We can no longer afford such bloodshed that would endanger the continued existence of little Finland... If this four million people are broken in war, there is no doubt that they are doomed to extinction. I cannot expose my people to such a threat." The delusions of grandeur have passed. And the cure for this disease was the successful offensive of the Soviet troops, which pushed the Finns back to their pre-war borders. Having fielded 530 thousand people against the USSR, Finland lost 58.7 thousand killed and missing, 158 thousand wounded.

As stated in the Post-War Study for Finland by the Library of Congress: “Despite the significant damage caused by the war, Finland was able to maintain its independence; nevertheless, had the USSR been vitally interested in this, there is no doubt that Finnish independence would have been destroyed. Finland came out of the war with an understanding of this fact and the intention to create new and constructive relations with the USSR.

Today, however, many Finnish politicians (and not only Finnish, and not only politicians) prefer to forget the lessons of the past war, taking advantage of the fact that modern Russia is not the Soviet Union. A very dangerous misconception. Russia is always Russia, no matter how it is called.

History of World War II Tippelskirch Kurt von

4. Finland's exit from the war

4. Finland's exit from the war

The political agreement reached at the end of June between the President of Finland and Ribbentrop, and the cessation by the Russians in mid-July of their offensive on the Karelian Isthmus, led only to a short-term internal political detente in Finland. When the number of catastrophic failures of the German troops on the Eastern Front increased sharply, and the supply of weapons, due to the Germans' own difficulties, began to decline more and more, those political movements that insisted on Finland's withdrawal from the war quickly began to gain the upper hand in the country again. Even Field Marshal Mannerheim himself was deeply convinced of the need to end the war. On August 1, President Ryti resigned, as a result of which the Finns, in their opinion, were released from the promise made to Hitler and allegedly concerning Ryti himself, and regained freedom of action in the foreign policy arena. Mannerheim became president and negotiations with the Soviet Union were resumed.

In a dignified message, the new president informed Hitler on September 2 that Finland could not continue the struggle any longer, as she risked further casualties and threatened the very existence of her people. Therefore, he, the president, considers it his duty to lead his people out of the state of war, even if his explanations do not meet with recognition and approval from Hitler. Mannerheim found warm words of gratitude for the German army, which, as he wrote, was in Finland only as an assistant and brother-in-arms, and not as an instrument of violence. He also expressed his conviction that the behavior of the German troops in this foreign country would go down in the history of Finland as, perhaps, the only example of correct and cordial relations under such conditions.

After the Finnish Sejm, by 113 votes to 46, accepted the conditions under which the Soviet Union agreed to Finland's withdrawal from the war, the September 4 truce came into force. Finland was to re-recognize the 1940 border and cede the Petsamo (Pechenga) region to the Soviet Union, demobilize the army within two months, break off relations with Germany and undertake to disarm and transfer to the Soviet Union as prisoners of war all German troops who, after 15 September will still remain on Finnish territory.

Such a hasty withdrawal of German troops from Finland was technically unfeasible, unless, of course, the Germans left everything to their fate. Seven German divisions were located on the front from the White Sea to the Rybachy Peninsula. Their stronger southern wing in such a short period of time could not be transferred either through Rovaniemi and Kusamo to the ports of Oulu, Kemi and Tornio in the north of the Gulf of Bothnia, or through the entire region of Lappi to the Norwegian border. To a certain extent, this, however, was due to the fact that Hitler, not wanting to leave Northern Finland, deliberately delayed the evacuation. He did not find it necessary to reckon with the Finns, who had become traitors in his eyes, even if German interests had not suffered at all from this. He ordered to continue to hold the defense along the Western Litsa River in the Far North and to organize a gradual withdrawal to the north-west of the remaining two corps, which were supposed to first create a flank cover with the front to the south. In addition, he ordered a surprise attack on the island of Sur-Sari in the Gulf of Finland, in order to further use this island as a naval base. On the night of September 14-15, troops landed on the island. However, the Finns, forced by the terms of the armistice to resist, did not allow the landing of the second echelon and, with the support of Russian aviation, threw the German units that had already landed into the sea. By this and other unfriendly acts, the Finns, who had hitherto tried as far as possible not to complicate the position of the German troops, were deeply offended. In addition to everything, on September 15, the condition they had accepted to intern and hand over to the Russians all the German units remaining on their territory came into force. They were practically unable to fulfill this condition, nevertheless they had to at least try, so as not to become violators of the terms of the armistice and avoid the danger of turning their country into a battlefield between Germans and Russians. The consequence of this was not only increased tension in relations with the headquarters of the German army in Rovaniemi, headed since June after the death of Dietl by Colonel General Rendulich, but soon an open armed conflict between the two former brothers in arms.

Only after the creation of a flank cover in Central Finland, the southernmost of the German corps - the 18th Mountain Rifle Corps - began to withdraw in mid-September, which was then joined by the 36th Army Corps. The latter, however, when withdrawing through the Salla, was subjected to strong pressure from the Russians and found himself in a rather critical situation: one of his divisions was surrounded and only with great difficulty rejoined the main forces. In early October, the Finns landed in the ports of the Gulf of Bothnia, at the same time going on the offensive on a broad front against the German flank cover in order to cut off the German troops.

Hitler continued to persist in his desire to hold on to Northern Finland. Despite Minister Speer's statement that German industry could do without Petsam nickel, he demanded that the 20th Mountain Army create a defense, including the Western Litsa River, Lake Inari and the northwestern tip of Finland. A powerful blow, inflicted by the Russians through an enveloping maneuver from the south over what was considered impassable terrain, overturned the defenses on Zapadnaya Litsa and split the 19th Mountain Rifle Corps into two parts. As a result of this blow, the Russians advanced so far in a southwestern direction that a threat loomed over the escape routes of the corps defending in the center. The destruction that threatened the 19th corps forced Hitler to finally give permission for the withdrawal of all three corps. In the north, the Russians advanced only as far as Petsamo, in the central sector they stopped west of Salla. From the south, the offensive of the Finns continued, repeatedly, especially near Rovaniemi, leading to intense battles with them. The natural destruction of artificial structures in such cases, undertaken by the German troops to cover the retreat, as well as the political persecution that began, led to an increase in anti-German sentiments in the Finnish troops and to a rather sad end to the military commonwealth.

The pressure from the Finnish troops began to weaken only after the demobilization of the Finnish army began in early November. Of the food stocks accumulated in the Far North and the huge amount of military equipment of all three types of German armed forces, only a fraction could be exported through the northern ports. The departure was complicated by the difficulties of the polar night and winter, which, fortunately, came unusually late this time. With part of its forces, the army continued to hold the northwestern tip of Finland until 1945. The 19th Mountain Rifle Corps withdrew to Narvik. The rest of the divisions, after long marches through northern Norway, were transferred by rail to Oslo, and from there to Denmark, and subsequently took part in the final battles on German soil.

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The first battles of the Crimean War in Finland The Crimean War began in Finland in the spring of 1854, when the ice came down from the bays. Immediately after the liberation of the water area from the ice, a powerful Anglo-French squadron appeared here, whose task was to prepare the invasion

Accordingly, it during 1941 - 1944. was a military ally of Germany.

As of June 22, 1941, a grouping of German-Finnish troops with a total number of 407.5 thousand people (the equivalent of 21.5 divisions, of which 17.5 Finnish divisions and 4 German divisions) was deployed for the war against the USSR in Finland.

On June 22, 1941, Germany and its allies attacked the USSR. The Great Patriotic War began. At 7:15 a.m. on June 22, 1941, the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR sent a directive to the armed forces, which contained an instruction not to take action against Finland: "in relation to Finland and Romania, until special instructions, raids should not be done."

Beginning on June 22, 1941, German Luftwaffe bombers began to use Finnish airfields. The first 43 German aircraft made an intrusion into the airspace of the USSR from the airspace of Finland at about 4:00 on June 22, 1941 over the Karelian Isthmus. On the same day, 16 Finnish saboteurs were landed from two German Heinkel He 115 seaplanes that took off from Oulujärvi near the locks of the White Sea-Baltic Canal.

On June 22-23, 1941, aircraft from Finnish airspace crossed the border of the USSR and conducted active air reconnaissance of Karelia.

On June 25, 1941, the aircraft of the Northern Fleet and the Baltic Fleet launched an air raid with bombing attacks on 19 airfields in Finland, on which German and Finnish aircraft were located. A session of the Finnish parliament was scheduled for June 25, at which, according to Mannerheim's memoirs, Prime Minister Rangell was supposed to make a statement about Finland's neutrality in the Soviet-German conflict, but Soviet bombing gave him reason to declare that Finland was again in a state of defensive war with USSR. However, the troops were forbidden to cross the border until 24:00 on July 28, 1941.

On the same day, June 25, 1941, Sweden agreed to allow German troops to pass from Norwegian territory through Swedish territory to Finland. Later, volunteers began to arrive from Sweden to Finland, from which the Swedish volunteer battalion was formed, which took part in the war against the USSR.

On June 26, 1941, Finnish President R. Ryti announced that Finland "is in a state of war with the USSR."

On June 28, 1941, the German-Finnish troops launched an offensive in the Murmansk direction, and hostilities began in the Arctic. In addition, with the aim of conducting propaganda for the population of the USSR, a radio station began operating in Helsinki.

On the night of July 1, 1941, the Finnish army launched an offensive in order to reach Lake Ladoga.

On July 10, 1941, the commander-in-chief of the Finnish army, Mannerheim, publicly swore that he would “not sheathe his sword” and would not stop the war until the Finnish troops liberated the White Sea and Olonets Karelia.

On the same day, July 10, 1941, the German-Finnish Karelian army launched an offensive in two diverging directions - on Olonets and Petrozavodsk. The Soviet command was not able to provide assistance to the 7th Army of Lieutenant General F.D. Gorelenko due to the difficult situation on other fronts.

In the summer and autumn of 1941, the Finnish army, taking advantage of the good moment of diverting the main forces of the Red Army, returned the territories lost in the Soviet-Finnish War and continued the offensive, reaching Lake Onega and blocking Leningrad from the north.

Great Britain, which signed the Moscow Agreement with the USSR on joint military operations against Germany on July 12, 1941, launched an air strike on the German-Finnish forces in Petsamo and Kirkenes on July 30-31, 1941 without declaring war:

British naval aviation sank 2 and damaged 1 ship of the merchant fleet, the loss of British aviation from fighters and air defense fire amounted to 16 aircraft.

After the release of the Finnish troops to the coast of Lake Ladoga, the creation of the Finnish naval forces began in this area. On August 2, 1941, the command post of the Finnish flotilla was deployed to Lyaskelya. Only in the period up to August 6, 1941, the Finns transported 4 self-propelled barges, two tugs (which were later converted into minelayers) and about 150 motor boats to Lake Ladoga by land, and batteries of 88-mm and 100-mm long-range guns were installed on the coast . On August 10, 1941, the Finns captured the city and port of Lahdenpohja. On August 15, 1941, the Finns captured the city and port of Sortavala, to which the headquarters of the Finnish flotilla was relocated (a maneuverable naval base remained in Lahdenpokhya). In the future, the Finns fought against the Ladoga military flotilla.

In addition to Karelia, the Finns took part in the hostilities in other sectors of the Eastern Front:

In September 1941, the 187th Finnish security detachment (187 Sicherungsgruppe) was created in the occupied territory of Estonia, which entered the operational subordination of the German 18th Army and was used to protect facilities, patrol the area and fight Soviet partisans in the rear of the 18th Army Wehrmacht. The unit was recruited on a voluntary basis, the personnel signed a contract for service within 12 months.

At the end of September 1941, Finnish troops surrounded and on October 2, 1941 captured Petrozavodsk.

On November 8, 1941, JV Stalin, in a letter to the Prime Minister of Great Britain, directly raised the question of why Great Britain, as an ally of the USSR, did not declare war on Finland.

On November 29, 1941, Churchill sent a personal letter to Marshal Mannerheim, in which he stated "with regret" that "in a few days we will be forced to declare war on Finland."

On December 2, 1941, Mannerheim sent a letter to Churchill stating that Finland would not withdraw troops to the 1939 borders.

The Finns participated in the hostilities against the Northern Fleet, the blockade of Leningrad and the shelling of the "Road of Life".

After the defeat of the Germans near Moscow, the Finns went on the defensive. This led to the stabilization of the front until 1944.

In January 1942, the Finnish SS volunteer battalion was sent to the eastern front, he participated in the hostilities against the USSR as part of the troops of the Army Group South. The battalion fought the first battles on the front near the Mius River. In total, from the creation to the disbandment of the battalion, 1,500 Finnish volunteers served in it, of which 222 were killed and 557 were wounded in the war against the USSR.

On January 3, 1942, the Medvezhyegorsk offensive operation of the Soviet troops began, which lasted until January 10, 1942.

In February 1942, two companies of Finns were part of the German garrison in the city of Dorogobuzh.

In order to disrupt navigation on Lake Ladoga, in 1942 the German military command created its own naval forces on Lake Ladoga: the "Operational Headquarters" Fore-Ost "", which received the German "flotilla of boats" KM "" (six German mines minelayers, as well as boats of Finnish construction) and the German "flotilla of assault landing barges" (the first fifteen 144-ton assault landing barges of Siebel were transferred to Ladoga from Helsinki on July 15, 1942, the flotilla went on its first campaign on October 9, 1942). Italy sent the 12th detachment of MAS small torpedo boats to Lake Ladoga, they arrived on June 22, 1942.

On April 24, 1942, Soviet troops launched an offensive operation in the Kestenga area, which continued until May 11, 1942. Two Soviet offensives were not successful, but they depleted the enemy's reserves and forced him to abandon his own offensives.

On June 22, 1942, on the basis of the German army "Lapland" in Finland, the 20th mountain army was created, under which the "Abvergruppe-214" began to operate.

During 1942, Finland continued to receive military goods and raw materials from the countries of the Western Hemisphere through Sweden, since Great Britain, when implementing a naval blockade of Germany and Germany's allied countries, allowed cargo to pass to Sweden. According to incomplete data, only during 1942, in addition to 6.2 thousand tons of cotton from Brazil, 426 tons of rubber from Argentina and Brazil, 450 tons of copper and asbestos from Canada, Finland received 400 tons of tungsten, manganese, high-quality gasoline, 16 thousand bags of coffee, sugar, tobacco and wool.

Breaking the blockade of Leningrad in January 1943 forced the military command of Finland to refuse to participate in the attack on the Murmansk railway (although Mannerheim had repeatedly promised Hitler that Finland would go on the offensive "immediately after the fall of Leningrad").

The victory of the Soviet troops at Stalingrad led to changes in the mood in the ruling circles of Finland. On February 3, 1943, an emergency meeting was held at the Finnish Headquarters on the issue of events on the Soviet-German front. All participants in the meeting unanimously came to the conclusion that the war had reached a turning point and Finland should think about withdrawing from the war. Since that time, the Finnish side has increasingly begun to declare the "separate" nature of the war against the USSR.

In February 1943, on the territory of Finland, 9 km from the city of Rovaniemi, an Abwehr intelligence school was opened, which was subordinate to the “Abwehrgroup-214” and until the disbandment at the end of 1943 was engaged in the training of intelligence officers and saboteurs for German military intelligence.

In 1943-1944, the German anti-submarine position Nargen - Porkkala-Udd was created to block the actions of Soviet submarines.

On March 12, 1943, the US ambassador to the USSR handed over to the Soviet government the US proposal to conclude a separate peace between the USSR and Finland through the mediation of the United States. This proposal was in direct violation of the Anglo-Soviet Treaty of May 26, 1942, which stipulated that the Allied countries could not negotiate a separate peace with Germany and her allies except by mutual agreement. The Soviet government rejected the US government's proposal and informed the UK government of this US initiative.

The defeat of the German troops on the Kursk Bulge increased anxiety in the ruling circles of Finland. On August 20, 1943, 20 Finnish public and political figures signed and sent to the President of Finland R. Ryti a memorandum in which they insisted on Finland's withdrawal from the war

In the summer of 1943, negotiations between Finland and the United States began through the Finnish embassy in Lisbon on the possibility of Finland withdrawing from the war.

In 1944, based on the experience gained during the construction of the defensive line "VT", the construction of the defensive line "VKT" began.

On January 14, 1944, the Leningrad-Novgorod strategic offensive operation of the Soviet troops began.

On February 8, 1944, the 200th Infantry Regiment of the Finnish Army (Jalkaväkirykmentti 200) was formed from Estonians in Finland, which participated in the hostilities against the USSR in Karelia and after August 1, 1944 was transferred to Estonia.

Already in mid-February 1944, when Soviet troops inflicted a serious defeat on the German Army Group North, the ruling circles of Finland thought about changing their political course in connection with the prospect of defeating Germany, but at the same time they still hoped to wait for a favorable situation to exit the war.

On March 16, 1944, US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt called on Finland to withdraw from the war and sever relations with Germany, but the Finns ignored this statement. Ultimately, during World War II, the United States did not declare war on Finland.

On June 9, 1944, the Red Army launched the Vyborg-Petrozavodsk offensive operation against the Finnish troops.

On June 21, 1944, the troops of the Karelian Front launched the Svir-Petrozavodsk offensive operation, with the aim of defeating the grouping of Finnish troops between the Onega and Ladoga lakes and liberating southern Karelia.

On June 25, 1944, the battle of Tali-Ihantala began on the Karelian Isthmus, which lasted until July 9, 1944.

On June 26, 1944, Finnish President Risto Ryti and German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop signed the "Ribbentrop-Ryti Agreement", according to which it was guaranteed that Finland would not conduct peace negotiations with the USSR as long as Ryti held the presidency (while during the war elections in Finland could not be held), in exchange for the supply of weapons to the Finns.

The actions of the Soviet troops led to the liberation of Karelia from the invaders and the hasty retreat of the Finns to pre-war positions: rather quickly, the Soviet troops reached the state border of 1940.

In August 1944, in accordance with an agreement between Berlin and Bern, a group of Finnish soldiers was sent to Switzerland for treatment together with 450 German soldiers and officers.

On August 4, 1944, Finnish President R. Ryti resigned, and Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim took over his position.

On August 25, 1944, the USSR received an official request for an armistice from the Finnish government.

Already in 1943, Germany assumed that Finland would go over to the side of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition. In the winter of 1943 - 1944 German troops in northern Finland prepared routes and plans for a retreat to Norway.

On September 3, 1944, the Finnish command ordered its troops to start deploying to start hostilities against the German troops in Finland.

On September 4, units of the 26th army and 18th mountain corps of the Wehrmacht began to withdraw from Finnish territory to Norway. Together with them, but only to Sweden, 56,500 Finns were evacuated, fearing the entry of the Red Army into the hinterland of Finland. Refugees brought 30,000 heads of cattle to Sweden.

On September 11, the German and Finnish command agreed on the peaceful nature of the withdrawal of German troops from Finland according to the plan outlined in the negotiations and on the transport provided by the Finnish side.

The German command, contrary to agreements with the Finnish side, tried to maintain its positions in Finland by force.

On September 15, German troops (2,700 men led by Captain 2nd Rank Karl Conrad Mecke) attempted to capture the island of Hogland in the Gulf of Finland. The Finnish garrison (1612 men led by Lieutenant Colonel Martti Juho Miettinen, 42 guns, 6 heavy mortars and 24 machine guns) not only repulsed the attack of the German landing, but forced him to surrender. The loss of the Finnish troops - 37 killed, 15 missing and 68 wounded. The losses of the German troops - 155 killed and 1231 captured. The German landing flotilla (40 ships) lost 9 ships. The attempt to capture the island of Hogland caused a wave of anti-German sentiment in Finland.

On the same day, Finland declared war on Germany. This was determined not only by the attack of German troops on the Finnish garrison of Gogland Island, but also by the terms of the armistice with the USSR, which was confirmed by the 2nd paragraph of the Moscow Peace Treaty of September 19, 1944, according to which Finland undertook to disarm the German ground, sea and air armed forces remaining in Finland after September 15, 1944, and transfer their personnel to the USSR as prisoners of war. The fulfillment of this paragraph logically led Finland to the beginning of hostilities against Germany, which began at the end of September 1944. In Finland, this military campaign was called the Lapland War (Lapin sota).

The Finnish grouping of troops (60,000 people) in Lapland was led by Lieutenant General Hjalmar Fridolf Siilasvuo (Hjalmar Fridolf Siilasvuo). She was opposed by German troops (213,000 people) under the command of Colonel General Lothar Rendulic (Lothar Rendulic)

On September 28, near the town of Pudasjärvi, the Finnish battalion tried to capture the bridge over the Olhavanioki River, but the German sappers resisted and blew up the crossing. During the battle, two Wehrmacht soldiers were killed, and two were captured. The Finns lost five people killed.

On October 1, 1944, Finnish troops (12,500 people) landed in the port of Tornio on the Swedish-Finnish border.

On October 2, German troops (7,000 people, 11 captured French Somua S35 tanks) attacked the positions of Finnish troops in the vicinity of Tornio. The Finns retreated, but captured 30 Wehrmacht soldiers.

On October 3, the German Air Force bombarded the port of Tornio. Losses of the Finnish troops - 2 ships, 3 killed and 20 wounded. The German command ordered the capture of 262 hostages from among the local residents and demanded their exchange for 30 German prisoners of war captured by the Finns on October 2.

On October 4, the German Air Force bombarded Tornio. The loss of the Finnish troops - 60 killed and 400 wounded.

On October 4-8, German troops unsuccessfully attacked Tornio. The losses of the German troops - 600 killed and 337 prisoners. Losses of Finnish troops - 376 killed.

On October 13, the German command issues an order according to which, during the retreat, the German troops must use the scorched earth tactics, destroying cities and villages, blowing up bridges and railways.

On October 17, Finnish troops entered Rovaniemi.
On October 26-30, the Finnish 11th Infantry Regiment carried out a series of attacks against the SS Mountain Regiment Reinhard Heydrich near the village of Munio, after which the latter retreated. Losses of the Finnish troops - 63 killed. The losses of the German troops - 350 killed.

At the end of October 1944, Finland began to demobilize its army. 12,000 Finnish soldiers and officers remained in Lapland with 800 machine guns, 100 mortars and 160 artillery pieces. They did not conduct active hostilities against the German troops, who gradually retreated to Norway.

During the period of hostilities from September 1944 to April 1945, Finnish troops lost 774 people killed, 262 were missing and 3,000 were wounded. German troops lost 950 killed, 2,000 wounded and 1,300 captured.