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.

The end of the war

Finland began to actively seek a way out of the war after the disastrous German defeat at Stalingrad in January–February 1943. Edwin Linkomies formed a new cabinet with the peace process as the top priority. Negotiations were conducted intermittently in 1943–44 between Finland and its representative Juho Kusti Paasikivi on the one side, and the Western Allies and the Soviet Union on the other, but no agreement was reached.

Related Topics:
Stalingrad - 1943 - Edwin Linkomies - Juho Kusti Paasikivi

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Instead, on June 9, 1944, the Soviet Union opened a major offensive against Finnish positions on the Karelian Isthmus and in the Lake Ladoga area (it was timed to accompany D-Day). On the second day of the offensive, the Soviet forces broke through the Finnish lines, and in the succeeding days they made advances that appeared to threaten the survival of Finland. Soviet troops occupied Petrozavodsk on June 28 1944. Before they retreated, Finns delivered food to people for two weeks. This is rare or even unequaled act in the war history.

Related Topics:
June 9 - 1944 - D-Day - Petrozavodsk - June 28

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Finland especially lacked modern anti-tank weaponry, which could stop heavy Soviet tanks, and German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop offered them in exchange for a guarantee that Finland would not again seek a separate peace. On June 26 President Risto Ryti gave this guarantee as a personal undertaking, which he intended to last for the remainder of his presidency. In addition to material deliveries, Hitler sent some assault gun brigades and a Luftwaffe fighter-bomber unit to temporarily support the most threatened defence sectors.

Related Topics:
Joachim von Ribbentrop - June 26 - Risto Ryti - This guarantee as a personal undertaking - Luftwaffe

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With new supplies from Germany, the Finns were now equal to the crisis, and halted the Russians in early July 1944, after a retreat of about one hundred kilometres that brought them to approximately the same line of defence they had held at the end of Winter War, the VKT-line (for "Viipuri–Kuparsaari–Taipale" running from Vyborg to River Vuoksi, and along the river to Lake Ladoga at Taipale), where the Soviet offensive was stopped in the Battle of Tali-Ihantala, in spite of nearly a third of their military machine being concentrated against the Finns. Finland had already become a sideshow for the Soviet leadership, who now turned their attention to Poland and southeastern Europe. The Allies had already succeeded in their landing in France and were pushing towards Germany, and the Soviet leadership did not want to give them a free hand in Central Europe. Although the Finnish front was once again stabilized, the Finns were exhausted and wanted to get out of the war.

Related Topics:
River Vuoksi - Taipale - Battle of Tali-Ihantala

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Mannerheim had repeatedly reminded the Germans that in case their troops in Estonia retreated, Finland would be forced to make peace even at very unfavourable terms. Soviet-occupied Estonia would have provided the enemy a favourable base for amphibious invasions and air attacks against Helsinki and other cities, and would have strangled Finnish access to the sea. When the Germans indeed withdrew, the Finnish desire to end the war increased. Perhaps realizing the validity of this point, initial German reaction to Finland's announcement of ambitions for a separate peace was limited to only verbal opposition.

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President Ryti resigned, and Finland's military leader and national hero, Carl Gustaf Mannerheim, was extraordinarily appointed president by the parliament, accepting responsibility for ending the war.

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On September 4 the cease-fire ended military actions on the Finnish side. The Soviet Union ended hostilities exactly 24 hours after the Finns. An armistice was signed in Moscow on September 19 between the Soviet Union and Finland. Finland had to make many limiting concessions: the Soviet Union regained the borders of 1940, with the addition of the Petsamo area; the Porkkala Peninsula (adjacent to Finland's capital Helsinki) was leased to the USSR as a naval base for fifty years (but returned in 1956), and transit rights were granted; Finland's army was to demobilize in haste, and Finland was required to expel all German troops from its territory. As the Germans refused to leave Finland voluntarily, the Finns had no choice but to fight their former supporters in the Lapland War.

Related Topics:
September 4 - Armistice - September 19 - Petsamo - Porkkala - Helsinki - 1956 - Lapland War

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