Continuation War

The Continuation War was fought between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War II, from the Soviet bombing attacks on June 25, 1941, to cease-fire September 4, 1944 (on the Finnish side) and September 5 (on the Soviet side). The United Kingdom declared war on Finland on December 6, 1941, but did not participate actively. Material support from, and military cooperation with, Nazi Germany was critical for Finland's struggle with its larger neighbour. The war was formally concluded by the Paris peace treaty of 1947.

Conclusion

In retrospect the Continuation War can be seen as the result of a series of political miscalculations by the Finnish leadership in which Finland's martial abilities clearly outshone her diplomatic skills. However, many commentators also hold that Finland was a victim of bad luck in addition to any failings on its own part, being forced to make a choice in a situation when any of the available alternatives would result in being attacked by either side. It has been claimed that not joining the war with Germany against Soviet Union would almost certainly have lead to occupation attempts by either side of that great conflict, and thus Finland's involvement anyway.

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It is also claimed that after the fall of the Soviet Union, it has become clear that Finland, maybe more by luck than by skill, happened to make the right choice after the Winter War by fervently seeking to reverse the German disinterest. This claim rests on the idea that Soviet occupation, and a fate surely worse than that of the other Border States, would otherwise have been unavoidable.

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The aged Field Marshal Mannerheim might have been responsible for a couple of misjudgements, for instance the infamous Sword scabbard declaration in the Order of the Day of July 10, 1941, but at the end of the war he had earned a remarkable reputation among former foes and allies, in Finland as well as abroad, which to a considerable degree eased Finland's extrication from a potentially disastrous undertaking.

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In any event, Finland's fate was no worse than any other country struck by the World War — quite the contrary. Only 2,000 Finnish civilians were killed during World War II, and only relatively narrow border regions had been conquered by force. For nearly three years until June 20, 1944, when Vyborg fell, not one major Finnish town was besieged or occupied. During the war there were three capital cities of belligerent European countries that were not occupied by force at some stage: London, Moscow and Helsinki.

Related Topics:
June 20 - 1944 - London - Moscow - Helsinki

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After the war, Finland preserved her independence while adjusting her foreign policy to avoid offence to the USSR, now the world's second superpower, a concession which the Soviet government reciprocated by surrendering part of its gains from the postwar settlement and refraining from too obvious intrusions in Finland's domestic affairs. Finland also signed a pact of co-operation and mutual assistance that guaranteed that in the event of a war between the western powers and the Soviet Union, Finland would defend her territory and airspace against the western powers. To Moscow, an independent Finland linked to her by a military pact was seemingly a price worth paying for keeping Sweden formally neutral in the Cold War, a quid pro quo that for forty years safeguarded wider Soviet strategic interests in the region.

Related Topics:
Her foreign policy - Superpower - Moscow - Cold War

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