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The Finns had taken a hostile stance to "please foreign imperialists". Finland had undertaken military provocation, and the Soviet Union could no longer abide by the non-aggression pacts. According to Molotov, the Soviet Union did not want to occupy or annex Finland, but the goal was purely to secure Leningrad. [257]
Map showing areas ceded by Finland to the Soviet Union; Porkkala was returned to Finland in 1956. The Karelian question or Karelian issue (Finnish: Karjala-kysymys, Swedish: Karelska frågan, Russian: Карельский вопрос) is a dispute in Finnish politics over whether to try to regain control over eastern Karelia and other territories ceded to the Soviet Union in the Winter War ...
Finnish soldiers raise the flag at the three-country cairn between Norway, Sweden, and Finland on 27 April 1945, which marked the end of World War II in Finland.. Finland participated in the Second World War initially in a defensive war against the Soviet Union, followed by another, this time offensive, war against the Soviet Union acting in concert with Nazi Germany and then finally fighting ...
Finland belonged to the Soviet sphere of interest. In September and October 1939, the Baltic states agreed to Soviet demands that included the establishment of Soviet military bases within those countries. Stalin then turned his sights on Finland, and was confident of control being gained without great effort. [6]
According to Molotov, Soviets did not want to occupy or annex Finland; the goal was purely to secure Leningrad. [5] Another source, later used widely in Soviet historiography, was the speech of Molotov to the Supreme Soviet on 29 March 1940. Molotov blamed western countries for instigating the war and argued that they had used Finland as a ...
After the Baltic states agreed to Soviet demands in September and October 1939, the Soviets turned their attention to Finland. The Soviet Union demanded territories on the Karelian Isthmus, the islands of the Gulf of Finland, a military base near the Finnish capital, and the destruction of all defensive fortifications on the Karelian Isthmus. [23]
Soviet expansion in 1939–1940. After the Soviet invasion of Poland on 17 September 1939, in accordance with the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact the Soviet forces were given freedom over Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, an important aspect of the agreement to the Soviet government as they were afraid of Germany using the three states as a corridor to get close to Leningrad.
Unlike the Baltics, the Finnish-Soviet negotiations lasted weeks without result. The Soviets invaded Finland on 30 November. [36] The Finns were able to resist the Soviets for over three months and prevented them from annexing Finland. In the ensuing Moscow Peace Treaty, Finland ceded 9% of its territory to the USSR.