Lecture VI : RUSSIA AND FINLAND IN THE WORLD WAR II

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Lecture VI RUSSIA AND FINLAND IN THE WORLD WAR
II

• In the framework of the course Crucial Issues of
  Russian Political History from the early XXth
  century up the present time
• Sergey Verigin, Ass. Prof.
• Petrozavodsk State University

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Contents list

• I. Karelia and Finland in the Winter War
  (1939-1940)
• II. Finnish occupation of the Eastern (Russian)
  Karelia during the Second World War (1941-1944)

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I. Karelia and Finland in the Winter
War(1939-1940)

• In spring and autumn of 1939 the negotiations on
  the boundary issues between the USSR and Finland
  took place in Moscow. The Soviet government,
  motivated by the necessity to provide safety of
  Leningrad, raised a question on the territorial
  reciprocity. They suggested that Finland would
  exchange the Karelian Isthmus and several islands
  in the Finnish Gulf to the USSR for twice as much
  territory of the Soviet Karelia.
• After all unsuccessful attempts to get the
  agreement on these suggestions, the Soviet
  government decided to solve this issue by means
  of war.

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I. Karelia and Finland in the Winter
WarMolotov-Ribbentrop non-aggression pact.
Stalin government's purposes

• August 1939 - non-aggression pact between
  USSR-Germany (Molotov-Ribbentrop), signed .
• According this pact, Germany and Soviet Union
  divided the Europe on the spheres of their
  interests. Finland, as well as Baltic countries
  was adopted in the sphere of influence of the
  Soviet Union.
• Stalin Government had two main purposes before
  the War Company against Finland
• official purpose is to move away border from
  Leningrad. In 1939 Leningrad was situated only in
  36 kilometres from border with Finland. Stalin
  constantly stressed that Leningrad had a risk
  from invasion of Finnish troops.
• nonofficial purpose is to try to transfer
  socialism from USSR into Finland. According this
  goal Soviet political leaders decided to form the
  Finnish People's Government from the Finnish
  immigrants, who were revolutionaries. They
  emigrated from Finland to Soviet Russia after the
  defeat of Workers Revolution in Finland in 1918.
  Most of the Finnish immigrants lived on the
  territory of Leningrad district and the Karelian
  Autonomy Soviet Socialist Republic.
• Also the Finnish People Army was created
  for helping to Finnish People's Government.
• Soviet leadership hoped that Finnish
  People's Army and Finnish People's Government
  under the leadership of Kuusinen would be
  supported by the population of Finland.

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Kuusinen's Soviet Finnish government and its
objectives

• At the beginning of the Winter Company the Soviet
  press reported that the People's Government of
  Finland under the leadership of Otto V. Kuusinen
  had been formed in the town of Terioki, occupied
  by the Red Army. (Terioki was the first finnish
  town, which was occupied Red Army).
• To realise Stalin's plan the pro-Soviet
  government of Kuusinen had to function even for
  show. In these circumstances the role of Karelia
  and its Communist Party organisation was great.
• However, most of famous Finns were killed during
  the period of the second part of 1930s., in the
  period of Stalin's repression (Gulling, Rovio
  etc)
• And only O. Kuusinen who worked in Kommintern was
  well known in Finland, but another members of
  Finnish People's Government were not famous among
  the population of Finland. The first president of
  PSU, Tuure Lehen was one of the members of
  Finnish People's Government, he was a minister of
  Internal Affairs.
•  Stalin had some problems with the formation of
  Finnish People's Government, so Armas Aikia, a
  Finnish poet, became a minister of Agriculture of
  Finnish People's Government.

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Otto Kuusinen (1881-1964)
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Treaty between the USSR and Kuusinen's
government. Formation of Finnish Democratic
Republic

• December 1939 -the treaty between the USSR and
  the pro-Soviet Government of Kuusinen (that is
  People's Government) was signed in Moscow on the
  second day of war. All Soviet newspapers
  published it.
• According to this treaty the territory of Soviet
  Karelia to the west from the Kirov railway track
  (the total area - 70 000 square kilometers, the
  population - mainly Karelians) was ceded to
  Finland, and the territory of Finland (the part
  of Karelian Isthmus, the total area - 3 000
  square kilometers) was ceded to Soviet Union. The
  direction to explain the necessity of these acts
  to the inhabitants of the Karelian republic was
  received from Moscow.
• The map of living of main nations of Karelia
  Karelians lived to the west from the Kirov
  railway track, Russians to the east from the
  Kirov railway truck, and Veps lived on the banks
  of Onega Lake.

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Members of the Terijoki government
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December 2, 1939, in Moscow the treaty of mutual
aid and friendship between the USSR and Finnish
Democratic Republic was signed. On the photo V.
Molotov, A. Zhdanov, K. Voroshilov, O. Kuusinen
and I. Stalin.
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Reaction of people

• In accordance to the agreement concluded between
  the USSR and Finnish Democratic Republic, a part
  of Karelia, which was mostly populated by
  Karelians, should be passed to the new
  democratic state. Moscow government gave
  instruction to the Karelian Regional Committee of
  C.P.S.U. to arrange an explanation on the
  necessity of this step.
• Implementing this resolution of the central
  authorities, the government of the Republic of
  Karelia paid great attention to the ideological
  explanation of Declaration of the Finnish
  Peoples Government and Mutual assistance pact
  between the USSR and Finnish Democratic
  Republic. Several resolutions were accepted on
  the meetings and they were propagandistic in
  character.

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Reaction of people

• But there was no unanimity. The analysis of
  archival documents shows that some people were
  dissatisfied with these decisions. There were
  such questions as "Why hasn't our government
  asked the Karelian inhabitants about their
  attitude to the reunion with Finland?
• In some districts (especially in the southern
  districts of the republic - Olonets and Priazha)
  people, even Communist party workers wanted to
  leave for the Soviet Union.
• In the middle of December 1939 J.N. Kuprianov,
  Secretary of the Karelian Regional Committee of
  Communist Party, criticised such people at a
  meeting of party activists in Petrozavodsk. He
  said "The wish to run away from the districts,
  joining Finland, should be regarded as desertion.
  We must make the Finns ready for the
  establishment of the Soviet power and the
  building of the Soviet society".