Operation Barbarossa was planned as a blitzkrieg intended to last a few weeks. The peace terms that ended the Winter War in March 1940 were quite harsh to Finland. Mannerheim repatriated British volunteers under his command to the United Kingdom via Sweden. The defence of the country was declared first priority and military expenditures rose to nearly half of government spending. [35] By the terms of the treaty, Finland ceded 11 percent of its national territory and 13 percent of its economic capacity to the Soviet Union.
Other justifications for the conflict included President Ryti's vision of a Greater Finland and Commander-in-Chief Mannerheim's desire to retake Karelia.
The Red Army penetrated the second line of defence, the Vammelsuu–Taipale line (VT line), by the sixth day and recaptured Viipuri with insignificant resistance on 20 June. [Note 9] American historian David Glantz, writes that the Finnish Army generally maintained their lines and contributed little to the siege from 1941 to 1944, [131] whereas Russian historian Nikolai Baryshnikov stated in 2002 that Finland tacitly supported Hitler's starvation policy for the city. The line ran past the former 1939 border, and approximately 30–32 km (19–20 mi) from Leningrad. Soviets made four major assaults which all were repelled. The Finns very reluctantly agreed to these demands. With the fall of France, a Western orientation was no longer considered a viable option in Finnish foreign policy.
[45] On 24 July, Molotov accused the Finnish government of persecuting the Finland – Soviet Union Peace and Friendship Society, a pro-communist group, and soon afterwards publicly declared support for the group. Leskinen, Jari; Juutilainen, Antti, eds.
Letters must be adjacent and longer words score better. It included three major air attacks totaling over 6,000 sorties. When the Soviets resumed hostilities against Finland, the Finns continued the Winter War, which was called the Continuation War. Finnish troops passing by the remains of a destroyed Soviet T-34 at the battle of Tali-Ihantala, Areas ceded by Finland to the Soviet Union following the Moscow Armistice.
They had full civil rights and fought with other Finns in the ranks of the Finnish Army. Next month, the Soviets demanded Finland destroy the fortifications built in the Åland islands and give the right to use Finnish railways for transporting troops to the newly acquired Soviet base at Hanko. The Finns did not attack the city. [31] The Finnish government refused, and the Red Army invaded Finland on 30 November 1939. [158] [159] [160], On 25 June, the Red Army reached the third line of defence, the Viipuri–Kuparsaari–Taipale line (VKT line), and the decisive Battle of Tali-Ihantala began, which has been described as the largest battle in Nordic military history. The Finns very reluctantly agreed to these demands. On 22 August Finnish IV AK started its offensive from the 1940 border between the Gulf of Finland and II AK and advanced towards Viipuri.
In early 1942, Soviet forces recaptured the island of Gogland but lost both Gogland and Bolshoy Tyuters to the Finns later in the spring of 1942. It began forming in August 1941 in the Siberian Military District.
[75] Finnish intelligence had overestimated the strength of the Red Army, when in fact it was numerically inferior to Finnish forces at various points along the border. For over a month after the outbreak of the Continuation War, the Karelian Army reinforced and prepared to resume its earlier offensive while waiting for the recapture of the Karelian Isthmus.
Malmi, Timo (2005). [62] They also agreed that the Finnish Army would start mobilization on 15 June, but the Germans did not reveal the actual date of the assault. [4] Twenty-three Siebel ferries and nine infantry transports of the German Einsatzstab Fähre Ost were also deployed to Lake Ladoga and unsuccessfully assaulted the island of Sukho, which protected the main supply route to Leningrad, on October 1942. Similarly, the Finns were distressed by the Allied Invasion of Sicily in July and the German defeat in the Battle of Kursk in August. [60] [67], Finland never signed the Tripartite Pact, which had been signed by all de jure Axis powers. [41] [42], After the Winter War, Germany was viewed with distrust by the Finnish, as it was considered an ally of the Soviet Union.