Areas ceded by Finland to the Soviet Union

The Moscow Peace Treaty was signed by Finland and the Soviet Union on March 12, 1940. It marked the end of the Winter War. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (619x800, 52 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Winter War Moscow Peace Treaty (1940) ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (619x800, 52 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Winter War Moscow Peace Treaty (1940) ... March 12 is the 71st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (72nd in Leap years). ... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ... Combatants Finland Soviet Union Commanders Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim Kliment Voroshilov, later Semyon Timoshenko Strength 180,000 450,000 Casualties 22,830 dead 43,600 wounded 1,000 captured 127,000+ dead or missing 265,000 wounded 3,100 captured, 2000+ tanks {{{notes}}} The Winter War (also known as the...

Background

the Finnish government received the first tentative peace conditions from the Soviet Union (through Stockholm) on January 29. Until then, the Red Army had fought to occupy all of Finland. By this point, the Soviet government was prepared to temper its claims. The demands were that Finland cede the Karelian Isthmus, including the city of Viipuri, and Finland's shore of Lake Ladoga. The Hanko Peninsula was to be leased to the Soviet Union for 30 years. The Old town in Stockholm from the air (help· info) is the capital of Sweden, located on the east coast at the entrance of lake Mälaren. ... January 29 is the 29th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... The short forms Red Army and RKKA refer to the Workers and Peasants Red Army, (in Russian: Рабоче-Крестьянская Красная Армия - Raboche-Krestyanskaya Krasnaya Armiya), the armed forces first organized by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War in 1918. ... The Karelian Isthmus is the narrow stretch of land between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia. ... Not to be confused with the Danish town and county of Viborg in Jutland Viapori, a Finnish transcription of Sveaborg, better known as Suomenlinna castle Vyborg from the tower of the castle Vyborg (transcription of Russian Выборг) is a town with 70,000 inhabitants at Russias border to Finland... Map of lake Ladoga Towpath Bridge between Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega (from a photograph taken ca. ... Hanko, (Hangö in Swedish) in Finland is a small bilingual port town on the south coast of Finland, 130 kilometers west of Helsinki. ...

Finland rejected these demands, and intensified their pleas to Sweden, France and the United Kingdom for military support by regular troops. Although Finland in the long run had no chance against a country 50 times its size, the reports from the front still held out hope for Finland anticipating a League of Nations intervention. Positive signals, however inconstant, from France and Britain, and more serious expectations of troops from Sweden, for which plans and preparations had been made all through the 1930s, were further reasons for Finland not to rush into peace negotiations. (See Foreign Support for a detailed account.) The League of Nations was an international organization founded after the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. ... // Events and trends A public speech by Benito Mussolini, founder of the Fascist movement The 1930s were described as an abrupt shift to more radical lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the global depression. ... Combatants Finland Soviet Union Commanders Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim Kliment Voroshilov, later Semyon Timoshenko Strength 180,000 450,000 Casualties 22,830 dead 43,600 wounded 1,000 captured 127,000+ dead or missing 265,000 wounded 3,100 captured, 2000+ tanks {{{notes}}} The Winter War (also known as the...

In February 1940, Finland's Commander-in-Chief marshal Mannerheim expressed his pessimism about the military situation, prompting the government to start peace negotiations on February 29, the same day the Red Army commenced an attack against Viipuri. Commander-in-Chief (in NATO-lingo often C-in-C or CINC pronounced sink) is the commander of all the military forces within a particular region or of all the military forces of a state. ... C.G.E. Mannerheim Mannerheims equestrian statue by Mannerheimintie, a central road in downtown Helsinki, the capital of Finland C.G.E. Mannerheims autograph This article is about the statesman and Commander-in-Chief, for the noble families, please see Mannerheim (family) Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (June... February 29 is the 60th day of a leap year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 306 days remaining. ...

The Harsh Peace

On March 6, a Finnish delegation lead by Prime Minister Risto Ryti travelled to Moscow. During the negotiations, the Red Army broke through the Finnish defence lines around Tali and were close to surrounding Vyborg. March 6 is the 65th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (66th in Leap years). ... The Prime Minister (Finnish Pääministeri, Swedish: Statsminister) is the head of government in Finland. ... Risto Heikki Ryti (February 3, 1889 - October 25, 1956) was the president of Finland from 1940 to 1944. ... Moscow (Russian: Москва́, Moskva, IPA: (help· info)) is the capital of Russia and the countrys principal political, economic, financial, educational and transportation center, located on the river Moskva. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... A view of Vyborg from the castle tower Vyborg (Cyrillic: Выборг, Finnish: Viipuri, Swedish: Viborg, German: Wiburg) is a town with 70,000 inhabitants on the Karelian Isthmus in Russia, near the head of the Bay of Vyborg, 130 km to the northwest of Saint Petersburg, 38 km south from Russia...

The Peace Agreement was signed on the evening of March 12, Moscow time, i.e. 1 A.M. on March 13, Finnish time. The fighting ended at 11 A.M., Finnish time. March 12 is the 71st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (72nd in Leap years). ... March 13 is the 72nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (73rd in leap years). ...

Finland was forced to cede nearly all of Finnish Karelia (with Finland's industrial center, including Vyborg/Viipuri, Finland's second largest city; in total, nearly 10% of the territory), even though large parts were still held by Finland's army. 422,000 Karelians, 12% of Finland's population, lost their homes. Military troops and remaining civilians were hastily evacuated to inside the new border. Finnish Karelia, historically also Swedish Karelia or Carelia, is a historical province in eastern Finland. ...

Interestingly, there was also an area that the Russians captured during the war, which remained in Finnish hands according to the Peace Treaty: the city of Petsamo. However, the peace treaty also stipulated that Finland would grant free passage for Soviet civilians through Petsamo to Norway. The area of Petsamo (Pechenga in Russian) in northern Lapland, indigenously inhabited by Samis, came to Finland in 1920 and to the Soviet Union in 1944. ... The area of Petsamo (Pechenga in Russian) in northern Lapland, indigenously inhabited by Samis, came to Finland in 1920 and to the Soviet Union in 1944. ...

Finland also had to cede a part of the Salla area, the Finnish part of the Kalastajansaarento (Rybachi) peninsula in the Barents Sea, and in the Gulf of Finland the islands of Suursaari, Tytärsaari, Lavansaari and Seiskari. Finally, the Hanko Peninsula was leased to the Soviet Union as a naval base for 30 years. Salla is a municipality of Finland and is located in Lapland. ... Rybachiy Peninsula (Russian: Полуостров Рыбачий, Norwegian: Fiskerhalvøya, Finnish: Kalastajasaarento) is the Northernmost part of the European part of Russia. ... Map showing the location of the Barents Sea. ... The Baltic Sea The Gulf of Finland is an arm of the Baltic Sea that extends between Finland (to the north) and Estonia (to the south) all the way to the city of Saint Petersburg in Russia, where the river Neva drains into it. ... Hanko, (Hangö in Swedish) in Finland is a small bilingual port town on the south coast of Finland, 130 kilometers west of Helsinki. ... Modern Naval Tactics It is tempting to regard modern naval combat as the purest expression of tactics. ...

Contrary to common belief, the Soviet troop transfer rights by railway to the Hanko base were not granted in the peace treaty, but they were demanded first on July 9, after Sweden had acknowledged railway transit of Wehrmacht troops to occupied Norway. The matter of German troop transfer through Sweden and Finland was an important theme in Allied propaganda during World War II, and remains after the war one of the more controversial aspects of modern Scandinavian history beside Finlands co-belligerence with Nazi Germany in the Continuation War, and the... July 9 is the 190th day of the year (191st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 175 days remaining. ...

Additional demands were that any equipment and installation on the ceded territories were to be handed over. Thus Finland had to hand over 75 locomotives, 2,000 railroad cars, a number of cars, trucks and ships. The Enso industrial area, which was clearly on the Finnish side of the border, as it was drawn in the peace treaty, was also soon added to the Finnish losses of territory and equipments. A locomotive (from lat. ... Not to be confused with railcar. ... Enso (in Jääski) was a Finnish industrial town that was lost to the Soviet Union due to a unilateral Soviet reinterpretation of the Moscow Peace Treaty. ...

The new border was not arbitrary from the Soviet viewpoint.

• Before the war, Finland had been a leading producer of high quality pulp, which was an important raw material for explosives. Including the Enso factories, the Soviet Union captured 80% of Finland's production capacity.
• Finland had to cede 1/3 of her built hydroelectric power, mainly in the form of hydroelectric power plants in River Vuoksi, which was badly needed in Leningrad where the industry suffered a 20% shortage of electricity.
• The location of the new border was consistent with the Soviet defence doctrine, that envisioned taking the fight to enemy soil through counter attacks and pre-emptive strikes. This meant that an ideal border should not provide natural defensible barriers to the enemy; so instead of running through natural border locations like the Bay of Viipuri or the swamp region at the isthmus between Lake Saimaa and Lake Ladoga, the new border ran on the western side of those. But those positions were also very easy to encircle for an offensive enemy of the Red Army, which was soon to be shown.

The Finns were shocked by the harsh peace terms. It seemed as if more territory was lost in the peace than in the war, and the loss was in many ways some of the highest valued parts of Finland: Wood pulp is the most common material used to make paper. ... The River Vuoksi (Finnish) or River Vuoksa (Russian standard transcription) runs in the northernmost part of the Karelian Isthmus, from Lake Saimaa in southeastern Finland flowing into Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia. ... A preemptive attack (or preemptive war) is waged in an attempt to repel or defeat an imminent offensive or invasion, or to gain a strategic advantage in an impending (usually unavoidable) war. ... A Picture of Saimaa Saimaa, or Saimen in Swedish, is a lake in southeastern Finland. ... Map of lake Ladoga Towpath Bridge between Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega (from a photograph taken ca. ...

• Large parts of the most populated southern region of remaining Finland had been connected to the world via the Saimaa Canal system, that now was severed at Vyborg where it connects to the Gulf of Finland.
• The southern part of the lost area was Finland's industrial heart.
• Karelia is considered the heart and origin of the Finnish culture. Before the Winter War, the Soviet sovereignty over the main part of Karelia, and Stalinist atrocities there, was a major source of grief for many Finns. After the treaty, the rest of Karelia was lost also. This started the Karelian question.

Sympathy from the world opinion seemed to have been of little worth. A certain bitter disappointment became a common feature of the Finns' view of other nations, not the least the Swedes, who had offered plenty of sympathy but not lived up to their obligation to support Finland with blood. Saimaa Canal (Finnish: Saimaan kanava, Swedish: Saima kanal) is a canal in a system of 120 interconnected lakes in the south-central and south-east part of Finland. ... Areas ceded by Finland to the Soviet Union. ...

For better or for worse, the harsh terms made the Finns inclined to seek support from Germany, and made many Finns regard a revanche as justified. In the end, this might have been a necessary condition for Finland's survival in the World War.

Only a year later, in June 1941, hostilities resumed in the Continuation War. For the movie, see 1941 (film) 1941 (MCMXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1941 calendar). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

External link

• Text of the Moscow Peace Treaty