Finland
Cooperation with Germany

History > Finland during World War II > Cooperation with Germany

After the Treaty of Moscow the plan for a Nordic defense union was resumed. The Soviet Union still objected, however, and the plan was thus abandoned. In December 1940 President Kyösti Kallio resigned, and Ryti was elected in his place. When the tension between Germany and the Soviet Union grew in the spring of 1941, Finland approached Germany but did not conclude a formal agreement. Nevertheless, Finland, like Sweden after Norway's capitulation, allowed the transit of German troops. When Germany attacked the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, therefore, German troops were already on Finnish territory, and Finland was ready for war; its submarines, in fact, were operating in Soviet waters. The “War of Continuation” (1941–44) began with a successful Finnish offensive that led to the capture of large areas of eastern Karelia. Some Finns were reluctant, however, to cross the old border of 1939, and the spirit of the Winter War that had united the Finns began to weaken. From the winter of 1942–43, Germany's defeats gave rise to a growing demand for peace in Finland. After the breakthrough of the Red Army on the Karelian Isthmus in June 1944, President Ryti resigned on August 1. He was succeeded by Marshal Gustaf Mannerheim, who began negotiations for an armistice. This was signed on Sept. 19, 1944, on condition that Finland recognize the Treaty of Moscow of 1940 and that all foreign (German) forces be evacuated. A pledge was given, moreover, to cede Petsamo; to lease an area near Porkkala, southwest of Helsinki, for a period of 50 years (in place of Hanko); and within 6 years to pay the equivalent of $300 million in goods for war reparations. In the meantime, however, the German army refused to leave the country, and, in the series of clashes that followed, it devastated great areas of northern Finland in its retreat. The final peace treaty, signed in Paris on Feb. 10, 1947, reiterated the conditions of the armistice agreement.