Hear it pronouncedContinuation War
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The Continuation War (Finnish: jatkosota, Swedish: fortsättningskriget, Russian: Советско-финская война) (25 June 1941 – 19 September 1944) was the second of two wars fought between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War II.
At the time the name was used to make clear its perceived relationship to the preceding Winter War of 30 November 1939 to 13 March 1940, the first of two wars fought between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War II. The Soviet Union, however, perceived the war merely as one of the fronts of the Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany and its allies.[5] Similarly, Germany saw its own operations in the region as a part of its overall war efforts of World War II.
The United Kingdom declared war on Finland on 6 December 1941, followed by its Dominions shortly afterwards. The Continuation War is a rare case of democracies declaring war on other democracies, although the British forces were not major participants in the war. Germany took part by providing critical material support and military cooperation to Finland. The United States did not fight or declare war against either party, but sent substantial matériel to the Soviet Union for use in the war effort against Germany and its allies.
Hostilities between Finnish and Soviet forces ended in September 1944, and the formal conclusion of the Continuation War was ratified by the Paris peace treaty of 1947.
Contents |
[ Introduction
Finland adopted the concept of a "parallel war" whereby it sought to pursue its own objectives in concert with, but separate from, Nazi Germany.
Major events of World War II, and the tides of war in general, had significant impact on the course of the Continuation War:
- Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa) is closely connected to the Continuation War's beginning.
- The Allied invasion of France (Battle of Normandy) was coordinated[citation needed] with the Soviet major offensive against Finland (9 June 1944 – 15 July 1944).
- The subsequent US/Soviet race to Berlin brought about the end of the Continuation War by rendering Northern Europe irrelevant.
[ Background
[ Before World War II
Although East Karelia has never been part of a modern Finnish state, a significant part of its inhabitants were Finnic-speaking Orthodox Karelians. After the Finnish declaration of independence, voices arose advocating the annexation of East Karelia to "rescue it from oppression". This led to a few incursions to the area (Viena expedition and Aunus expedition), but these were unsuccessful. Finland unsuccessfully raised the question of East Karelia several times in the League of Nations.
In non-leftist circles, Imperial Germany's role in the "White" government's victory over rebellious Socialists during the Finnish Civil War was celebrated, although most preferred British or Scandinavian support over that of Germany. The security policy of an independent Finland turned first towards a cordon sanitaire, whereby the newly independent nations of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland would form a defensive alliance against the USSR, but after negotiations collapsed, Finland turned to the League of Nations for security. Contacts with the Scandinavian countries also met with little success. In 1932, Finland and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact, but even contemporary analysts considered it worthless.
The 1920 peace agreement was broken by the Soviet Union in 1937 when it stopped Finnish ships traveling between Lake Ladoga and the Gulf of Finland via the Neva River. The free use of this route for merchant vessels had been one of the articles in the agreement.
[ Winter war
The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in 1939 enabled the Soviet Union to threaten to invade Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland without German interference. The three Baltic countries soon gave in to Soviet demands, but Finland refused. As a result, on 30 November 1939, the Soviet Union attacked Finland. Condemnation by the League of Nations and by countries all over the world had no effect on Soviet policy. International help to Finland was planned, but very little actual help materialized.
The Moscow Peace Treaty, which was signed on 12 March 1940, ended the Winter War. The Treaty was severe for Finland. A fifth of the country's industry and 11% of agricultural land were lost, as was Viipuri, the country's second largest city. Some 12% of Finland's population had to be moved to the Finnish side of the border. Hanko was leased to the Soviet Union as a military base. However, Finland had avoided having the Soviet Union annex the whole country.
[ Interim peace
The Moscow Peace Treaty, in 1940, was a shock to the Finns. It was perceived as the ultimate failure of Finland's foreign policy, which had been based on multilateral guarantees for support. Binding bilateral treaties were now sought and formerly frosty relations, such as with the Soviet Union and the Third Reich, had to be eased. Public opinion in Finland longed for the re-acquisition of Finnish Karelia, and put its hope in the peace conference that was assumed would follow World War II. The term Välirauha ("Interim Peace") became popular after the harsh peace was announced.
Although the peace treaty was signed, the state of war and censorship was not revoked because of the widening world war, the difficult food supply situation, and the poor shape of the Finnish military. This made it possible for president Kyösti Kallio to ask Field Marshal Mannerheim to remain commander-in-chief and supervise rearmament and fortification work. During 1940, Finland received material purchased and donated during and immediately after the Winter War. Military expenditures rose in 1940 to 45% of Finland's state budget. A war trade treaty with Britain had little effect due to German occupation of Norway and Denmark on 9 April 1940 (Operation Weserübung).[6] These occupations have left Finland and Sweden encircled by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. From May 1940, Finland pursued a campaign to reestablish good relations with Germany. Finnish media not only refrained from criticism of Nazi Germany, but also took an active part in this campaign. Dissent was censored. After the fall of France, the campaign was stepped up.
On the other hand, the relations between Finland and the Soviet Union remained sour. The implementation of the Moscow Peace Treaty created a number of problems. The forced return of evacuated machinery, locomotives, and rail cars, disagreement on a number of issues created by the new border, such as fishing rights and the usage of Saimaa Canal, heightened the distrust.
Unbeknownst to Finland, Adolf Hitler had started to plan an invasion of the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa). He had not been interested in Finland before the Winter War, but now he saw the value of Finland as a base of operations, and perhaps also the military value of the Finnish army. In the first weeks of August, German concerns of a likely immediate Soviet attack on Finland caused Hitler to lift the arms embargo. Negotiations were initiated concerning German troop transfer rights in Finland in exchange for arms and other material. For the Third Reich, this was a breach of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, as well a breach of the Moscow Peace Treaty for Finland. Soviet negotiators had insisted that the troop transfer agreement (to Hanko) should not be published making it easy for the Finns to keep a troop transfer agreement with the Germans secret until the first German troops arrived.
Despite the Soviet leadership having promised the Finns during the signing of the Moscow Peace treaty that the Soviet Union would not intervene in Finnish domestic policy,[citation needed] the reality of the interim peace period showed the opposite. After the ceasefire the Soviets demanded the Finnish industrial town of Enso, which clearly was on the Finnish side of the peace treaty border;[citation needed] the Finns accepted and handed over the town. The Soviet involvement in Finnish domestic politics continued with open Soviet support for the extreme left wing organization SNS Friendship Union Soviet-Finland, which was campaigning for Finland to join the Soviet Union. The Soviets also successfully demanded that the Finnish minister Väinö Tanner resign and that, during the Finnish presidential election of 1940, neither Mannerheim, Kivimäki, Tanner nor Svinhuvud were to be candidates. On a meeting with Mannerheim in 1940, Hitler claimed, that the Soviet foreign minister Molotov had asked Hitler for a free hand to 'solve the Finnish question', during one of his visits to Berlin.[7][verification needed]
Negotiations over Petsamo nickel mining rights had dragged on for six months when the Soviet Foreign Ministry announced in January 1941 that the negotiations had to be concluded quickly. On the same day, the Soviet Union interrupted its grain deliveries to Finland. Soviet ambassador Zotov was recalled home 18 January and Soviet radio broadcasts started attacking Finland. Germans in northern Norway reported on 1 February that the Soviet Union had collected 500 fishing ships in Murmansk, capable of transporting a division. Hitler ordered troops in Norway to occupy Petsamo (Operation Renntier) immediately if the Soviet Union started attacking Finland.
Finland offered half of the mine to Soviets and demanded a guarantee that no anti-government agitation would be done in the mines. This was not enough for Soviets and when Mannerheim declared that any additional concessions would endanger the defence of the country and threatened to resign if those were done, the Finnish side decided to let the negotiations lapse when there was no movement from the Soviet positions.
After the failure of the nickel negotiations, diplomatic activities were halted for a few months. The period did, however, see an increased German interest in Finland.
One sign of the interest was the recruitment of one battalion of Finnish volunteers to the German Waffen-SS, with approval of the Finnish government. It has been concluded[who?] that the battalion served as a token of Finnish commitment to cooperation with Nazi Germany. The agreement was that the Finnish volunteers would not be sent to fight against British or Greek forces (the only European nations at war with Germany at the moment of signing) and had the duration of two years. This battalion, named the Finnisches Freiwilligen Bataillon fought as part of SS Division Wiking in the Ukraine and Caucasus. When the time of service was up, the battalion was pulled back from the front in May 1943 and was transported to Tallinn and further to Hanko where it was disbanded on 11 July. The soldiers were then transferred into different units of the Finnish army.
The German Foreign Ministry sent Ludwig Weissauer to Finland 5 May, this time to clarify that war between Germany and the Soviet Union would not be launched before spring 1942. Finnish leadership forwarded the message to the Swedes and the British. When the war broke out only a couple of months later, both Swedish and British governments felt that the Finns had lied to them.
In the spring of 1941, joint battle plans were discussed with Germany, as well as communications and securing sea lanes. Finland made significant requests for material aid. Finland was willing to join Germany against Soviet Union with some prerequisites: a guarantee of Finnish independence, the pre-Winter War borders (or better), continuing grain deliveries, and that Finnish troops would not cross the border before a Soviet incursion. The arrival of German troops participating in Operation Barbarossa began on 7 June in Petsamo. Prior to the war, the Germans offered Mannerheim command over the German troops in Finland, around 80,000 men. Mannerheim declined, because if he accepted, he and Finland would be tied to the German war aims.[8]
The Finnish parliament was informed of this for the first time on 9 June, when the first mobilization orders were issued for troops needed to safeguard the forthcoming general mobilization phases. On June 20, the government of Finland ordered the evacuation of 45,000 civilians from the Soviet border region. On 21 June, Finland's chief of the General Staff, Erik Heinrichs, was finally informed by his German counterpart that the attack was to begin.
[ Course of the war
[ Finnish offensive of 1941
Operation Barbarossa had already commenced in the northern Baltic by the late hours of June 21, when German minelayers, which had been hiding in the Finnish archipelago, laid two large minefields across the Gulf of Finland.[9][10] These minefields ultimately proved sufficient to confine the Soviet Baltic Fleet to the easternmost part of the Gulf of Finland. Later the same night, German bombers flew along the Gulf of Finland to Leningrad and mined the harbour and the river Neva. On the return trip, these bombers landed for refueling on an airfield in Utti. Finland was concerned that the Soviet Union would occupy Åland so Operation Kilpapurjehdus ("Regatta") was launched in the early hours of June 22 to occupy Åland for Finland instead. Soviet bombers launched attacks against Finnish ships during the operation, but no damage was inflicted. Finnish submarines also laid six small minefields at 8:00–10:00 between Suursaari and Estonian coast according to pre-war defensive plans of Finland and Estonia.[citation needed]
On June 21 mobilized Finnish units began to concentrate at the Finnish-Soviet border, where they were arranged into defensive formations upon arrival. Finland mobilized 16 infantry divisions, one cavalry brigade, and two "Jäger" brigades, which were standard infantry brigades, except for one battalion in the 1st Jäger Brigade (1.JPr), which was armoured using captured Soviet equipment. There was also a handful of separate battalions, mostly formed from border guard units and used mainly for reconnaissance. Soviet military plans estimated that Finland would be able to mobilize only 10 infantry divisions, as it had done in the Winter War, but they failed to take into account the material Finland had purchased between the wars and the training of all available men. German forces were also present in northern Finland: Two mountain divisions at Petsamo and two infantry divisions at Salla. On June 22 another German infantry division moved in from Oslo through Sweden towards Ladoga Karelia, although one reinforced regiment was later redirected to Salla.
On the morning of June 22, the German Gebirgskorps Norwegen started Operation Renntier and began its move from Northern Norway to Petsamo. Finland did not allow direct German attacks from its soil to the Soviet Union, so German forces in Petsamo and Salla were ordered to hold their fire. There was occasional individual and group level exchange of small arms fire between Soviet and Finnish border guards, but otherwise the front was quiet.
Mobilization on the Soviet side of the border was underway since June 18. The Karelian Isthmus was covered by the Soviet 23rd Army, which consisted of the 50th, the 19th Corps and the 10th Mechanized Corps, together with 5 infantry, 1 motorized and 2 armored divisions. Ladoga Karelia was defended by the 7th Army consisting of 4 infantry divisions. In the Murmansk-Salla region the Soviet Union had the 14th Army with 42nd Corps, consisting of 5 infantry divisions (1 as reserve in Archangelsk) and 1 armored division. The Red Army also had around 40 battalions of separate regiments and fortification units in the region, which were not part of its divisional structure. Leningrad was garrisoned by 3 infantry divisions and one mechanized corps.
The initial devastating German strike against the Soviet Air Force had not affected air units located near Finland, so the Soviets could field nearly 750 planes as well as a part of the 700 planes of the Soviet Navy against 300 Finnish planes. In the morning of June 25, the Soviet Union launched a major air offensive against 18 Finnish cities with 460 planes, mainly hitting civilian targets[11] and airfields. The Soviet Union claimed the attack was directed against German targets in Finland,[12] however, the British embassy verified that only Finnish targets were hit in Southern and Middle Finland, where the embassy had many informants. The attack failed to hit any German targets. At the same time, Soviet artillery stationed in the Hanko base began to shell Finnish targets, and a minor Soviet infantry attack was launched over the Finnish side of the border in Parikkala. A meeting of the Finnish parliament was scheduled for June 25, where Prime Minister Rangell had intended to present a notice about Finland's neutrality in the Soviet-German war, but the Soviet bombings led him to observe instead, that Finland was once again at war with the Soviet Union. The Continuation War had begun.
The war against Germany did not go as well as pre-war Soviet war games had envisioned, and soon the Soviet High Command had to call all available units to the rapidly deteriorating front line. Because of this, the initial air offensive against Finland could not be followed by a supporting land offensive, as originally planned. Moreover, the 10th Mechanized Corps with two armoured divisions and 237th Infantry division were withdrawn from Ladoga Karelia, thus stripping reserves from defending units.
[ Reconquest of Ladoga Karelia
