During World War II, Finland and Germany were allies, and Finnish troops followed the Germans in the siege of Leningrad. However, in September 1944, the Finnish army turned its guns to the German army, and Finland wiped out 2,000 German troops at the cost of 1,000 people.
So what were the reasons behind the outbreak of armed conflict between former allies, Finland and Germany, in September 1944?
Above: Finnish troops in white winter coats in the Soviet-Finnish War
First, the completely different motivations for Germany and Finland to invade the Soviet Union laid the groundwork for the armistice negotiations between Finland and the Soviet Union, as well as for the subsequent armed conflict between Finland and Germany.
When it comes to the alliance between Germany and Finland, we have to mention another great power that influenced the world pattern, the Soviet Union, and it was the Soviet-Finnish War launched by the Soviet Union that made Finland fall to Germany before the outbreak of the Soviet-German war.
In November 1939, the Soviet Union openly tore up the Molotov Agreement and concentrated 500,000 troops, 1,500 tanks and 1,500 combat aircraft to attack Finland, and the Soviet-Finnish War broke out. In the face of the Soviet offensive, Finland only had more than 32,000 troops and more than 100 aircraft, but Finland mobilized to resist Soviet aggression. In the defensive operation in December 1939, the Finnish army annihilated two infantry divisions under the famous Soviet general Trikov, annihilating more than 27,000 Soviet troops, while Finland only lost more than 900 troops, and the Finnish army won a brilliant victory with a weak victory.
Above_ Semyon Konstantinovich Temusingo (18 February 1895 – 31 March 1970)
However, Finland is a small country after all, and its war mobilization potential is far inferior to that of the Soviet Union. In February 1940, the famous Soviet general Temusingo commanded the main Soviet army to launch a strong attack, which crushed the Finnish resistance in one fell swoop. In April of the same year, the Finnish government was forced to sign an unequal treaty with the Soviet Union, leasing the Hanko Peninsula to the Soviet Union as a military port for 30 years, and the Karelian Isthmus was occupied by the Soviet Union.
During the Soviet-Finnish War, the Soviet Union and Finland became enemies, and Finnish leader Mannerheim had been angry about the cession of the Hanko Peninsula to the Soviet Union. It so happened that Finland's hostility toward the Soviets was exploited by Hitler. In order to win more "allies" and the Germans to invade the Soviet Union, Hitler found Finland.
Above_ Carl Gustav Mannerheim
In June 1940, a German delegation visited Finland. The German representative asked Finnish President Mannerheim bluntly whether he would send troops to fight the Soviet Union with the Germans. Mannerheim said that "Finland will be grateful if it can get German assistance to recover the occupied territories." ”
Note that mannerheim's central point in reply to the German representative was "recovery of the occupied territory". The Hanko Peninsula and the Karelian Isthmus, occupied by the Soviet Union. From this core point, it can be seen that Finland was openly willing to fight the Soviet Union with the German army, but the real purpose of Finland and Germany in fighting the Soviet Union was completely different: Germany wanted to completely overthrow the Bolshevik regime and enslave the Soviet people. Finland, on the other hand, was simply retaken territory occupied by the Soviet Union in a German chariot. Finland was reluctant to get too deeply involved in the war with the Soviet Union.
Finland's attitude toward participating in the German invasion of the Soviet Union can also be found in the statements of the Finnish government after the outbreak of war. On June 22, 1941, when the Germans and vassals invaded the Soviet Union, Hitler publicly declared an "alliance with Finland," while the Finnish government publicly declared on the same day that Finland was neutral and denied Hitler's claims. It can also be seen from the Finnish government's denial of Hitler's claim that Finland only wanted to get involved in the war to a limited extent, and to recover the land occupied by the Soviet Union through the German invasion of the Soviet Union.
The Soviet-Finnish War, generally referred to as the Winter War (a war between the Soviet Union and Finland during World War II)
After the outbreak of the Soviet-German War, the Finnish army was organized to fight with the Germans within Army Group North. Because in the early days of the Soviet-German War, the German army won a steady victory, as a small country Finland did not dare to show its "two hearts" for Germany for a while and a half, so in the northern battlefield at the beginning of the Soviet-German War, the Finnish army once actively cooperated with the German army.
In order to show concern for Finland, an "ally", the German army also sent part of the army into Finland, and the German army in Finland was unified into the 20th Mountain Army. Hitler also proposed the idea of the German army in Finland led by the Finnish leader Mannerheim.
Above: Finnish soldiers in the Soviet-Finnish War
Of course, Finland's participation in the Soviet-German war was only to regain lost territory. After the Finnish army took the Karelian Isthmus and East Karelia, it stopped the offensive against the Soviets. Finland's limited participation in the Soviet-German war laid the groundwork for later negotiations between Finland and the Soviet Union.
Of course, Finland's participation in the Soviet-German war, even if it hit the Karelian Isthmus, gave Hitler enough face, and Hitler Germany would not doubt the "loyalty" of Finland as an ally.
Hitler visited Finland in 1942 to celebrate Mannerheim's birthday
June 4, 1942, was an unforgettable day for the Finnish leader Mannerheim. It was his birthday, and Hitler himself came to wish Mannerheim a happy birthday. However, Mannerheim's performance of Hitler made Hitler a little embarrassed. At that time, Hitler gave Mannerheim a birthday message. After the birthday greeting, Mannerheim invited Hitler to dinner. I don't know if Mannerheim deliberately "bullied" Hitler, the quality of the meal at this birthday party was not good. After the meal, Mannerheim smoked a cigar in front of Hitler, who himself was an averse smoker. Eventually, Hitler spent a few days in Finland before returning home. Hitler had wanted to give Mannerheim a proposal for the Finnish army to intensify its offensive against the Soviets, but as a result, the matter was not mentioned to Mannerheim.
At this banquet, Mannerheim gave Hitler "ugly" at every turn, and the delicate contradiction between Finland and Germany can be seen here:
On the one hand, Finland and Germany are ostensibly allies in the fight together. Finland, on the other hand, was unwilling to fully cooperate with the German military operations and was too deeply involved in the Soviet-German war.
For Finland, once Finland completely fell to Germany and became part of the Fascist Axis, Finland had no possibility of negotiating with the Soviet Union, and its post-war territory would be divided among the anti-fascist allies. Therefore, Finland could only cooperate with the German action, and could not fall to Germany.
Above_ Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad ended with the defeat of the Germans and the victory of the Soviets. Mannerheim privately predicted the defeat of the Germans, but he continued to maintain friendly relations with Germany on the surface, which made Hitler "very reassured" about Mannerheim. Hitler didn't know, of course: Mannerheim had the idea of negotiating with Stalin after the defeat of the Germans at Stalingrad.
Mannerheim made contact with the Soviet Union, but the terms of the negotiations proposed by the Soviet Union were harsh, and Finland was forced to remain at war with the Soviets. By June 1944, the Red Army had launched the Battle of Vyborg and the Battle of Sverri-Pirozavodsk, targeting the main Finnish forces. Under great pressure from the Soviet army, in August 1944, the Finnish government demanded peace talks with the Soviet Union. The two sides reached an agreement: Finland and the Soviet Union ceased hostilities and the Germans had to withdraw from Finland on September 15. If the Germans did not retreat, Finland would disarm the Germans and return them to the Soviet Union.
Finland and the Soviet Union engaged in armistice peace talks, what was the German action? In order to avoid being annihilated by the Soviets, the German 20th Mountain Army stationed in Finland gathered in lapland and prepared to withdraw from Finland.
Above_ Battle of Vyborg
Second, Finland declared an armistice against the Soviet Union, and the German retreat was too slow, leading to the outbreak of conflict. The slow retreat of the Germans was the direct cause of the conflict between Finland and the Germans.
In September 1944, Finland ceased hostilities with the Soviet Union. The Germans accelerated their withdrawal. According to the regulations, the Germans had to withdraw from Finland by September 15, but the German retreat was slow due to the excessive amount of German military supplies. Finland attacked the Germans on 15 September 1944, in accordance with the Soviet-Finnish Armistice.
At the beginning of the campaign, the Finnish and German armies once exercised restraint, and the scale of the war was not large. But the Soviets soon put more pressure on Finland. Finland, a small country, escalated the conflict between Finland and the Germans in late September in order to show the sincerity of the truce to the Soviet Union. The Finnish army concentrated its forces on the German 20th Mountain Army, and the German army resisted the Finnish attack while continuing to retreat. It is worth mentioning that although the two sides broke out into conflict, the exchange of fire between the Finnish and German armies did not cause too many casualties (about 1,000 in Finland and about 2,000 in germany).
It can be seen from this that even in the event of an escalation of the conflict, the armed forces of Finland and Germany have maintained some restraint, and neither side wants to escalate the conflict into a new all-out war. In the winter of 1944, most of the German forces withdrew from Finland, and Finland and the Germans entered a truce. In the spring of 1945, the remaining German troops were all withdrawn from Finland.
Above_ German troops in Finland
Without the "same bed and different dreams" of Finland and Germany attacking the Soviet Union, Finland would have followed the German army to fight the Soviet Union. There would have been no armistice between Finland and the Soviet Union, much less an armed conflict between Finland and the Germans. Therefore, Finland and Germany's attack on the Soviet Union did not lay the groundwork for Finland to turn the gun on the German army. The slow withdrawal of German troops in Finland became the direct cause of the conflict between Finland and Germany.
Of course, Finland was a country that struggled to survive in the cracks between great powers, and in the early days of the war, Finland followed Germany closely and avoided moving closer to Germany in an all-round way. After the Battle of Stalingrad, Finland, while ostensibly maintaining friendly relations with Germany, had the idea of an armistice with the Soviet Union. During the Battle of Lapland, the Finnish army attacked the Germans under great pressure from the Soviet Union, but avoided a full escalation of the conflict with the Germans. Therefore, Finland's seemingly contradictory practices are also a common practice for small countries in the great power game to survive.
Author: Military Handsome Guy Correction/Editor: Lilith
Reference: A History of Finland by David Kobir The Commercial Press
The text was created by the History University Hall team, and the picture originated from the Internet and the copyright belongs to the original author