Moscow Peace Treaty (1940)

The Moscow Peace Treaty was signed by Finland and the Soviet Union on March 12, 1940. It marked the end of the Winter War.

Background

Finland's government received the first tentative peace conditions from Soviet (through Stockholm) on January 29. Until then, the Red Army had fought to occupy all of Finland and abolish Finland's democracy. By this point, the Soviet government was prepared to temper its claims. The demands were that Finland cede the Karelian Isthmus, including the city of Viipuri, and Finland's shore of Lake Ladoga. The Hanko Peninsula was to be leased to the Soviet Union for 30 years.

Finland rejected these demands, and intensified the pleas to Sweden, France and the United Kingdom for military support by regular troops. Although Finland in the long run had no chance against a country 50 times its size, the reports from the front still held out hope for a Finland anticipating League of Nations intervention. Positive signals, however inconstant, from France and Britain, and more serious expectations of troops from Sweden, for which plans and preparations had been made all through the 1930s, were further reasons for Finland not to rush into peace negotiations. (See Winter War#Foreign support for a detailed account.)

In February 1940, Finland's Commander-in-Chief marshal Mannerheim expressed his pessimism about the military situation, prompting the government to start peace negotiations on February 29 . The same day the Red Army commenced an attack against Viipuri.

The harsh peace

On March 6, a Finnish delegation lead by Prime Minister Risto Ryti travelled to Moscow. During the negotiations, the Red Army broke through the Finnish defence lines around Tali and were close to surrounding Vyborg.

The Peace Agreement was signed on the evening of March 12, Moscow time, i.e. 1 A.M. on March 13, Finnish time. The fighting ended at 11 A.M., Finnish time.

Finland was forced to cede nearly all of Finnish Karelia (with Finland's industrial center, including Vyborg/Viipuri, Finland's second largest city; in total, nearly 10% of the territory), even though large parts were still held by Finland's army. 422,000 Karelians, 12% of Finland's population, lost their homes. Military troops and remaining civilians were hastily evacuated to inside the new border.

Finland also had to cede a part of the Salla area, the Finnish part of the Kalastajansaarento (Rybachi) peninsula in the Barents Sea, and in the Gulf of Finland the islands of Suursaari, Tytärsaari, Lavansaari and Seiskari. Finally, the Hanko Peninsula was leased to the Soviet Union as a naval base for 30 years.

Contrary to common belief, the Soviet troop transfer rights by railway to the Hanko base were not granted in the peace treaty, but they were demanded first on July 9, after Sweden had acknowledged railway transit of Wehrmacht troops to occupied Norway. However, the peace treaty stipulated that Finland would grant free passage for Soviet civilians through Petsamo to Norway.

Additional demands were that any equipment and installation on the ceded territories were to be handed over. Thus Finland had to hand over 75 locomotives, 2,000 railroad cars, a number of cars, trucks and ships. The Enso industrial area, which was clearly on the Finnish side of the border, as it was drawn in the peace treaty, was also soon added to the Finnish losses of territory and equipments.

The new border was not arbitrary from the Soviet viewpoint.

Before the war, Finland had been a leading producer of high quality pulp, which was an important raw material for explosives. Including the Enso factories, the Soviet Union captured 80% of Finland's production capacity.

Finland had to cede 1/3 of her built hydroelectric power, mainly in the form of hydroelectric power plants in River Vuoksi, which was badly needed in Leningrad where the industry suffered a 20% shortage of electricity.

The location of the new border was consistent with the Soviet defence doctrine, that envisioned taking the fight to enemy soil through counter attacks and pre-emptive strikes. This meant that an ideal border should not provide natural defensible barriers to the enemy; so instead of running through natural border locations like the Bay of Viipuri or the swamp region at the isthmus between Lake Saimaa and Lake Ladoga, the new border ran on the western side of those. But those positions were also very easy to encircle for an offensive enemy of the Red Army, which was soon to be shown.

The Finns were shocked by the harsh peace terms. It seemed as if more territory was lost in the peace than in the war, and the loss was in many ways some of the highest valued parts of Finland:

Large parts of the most populated southern region of remaining Finland had been connected to the world via the Saimaa Canal system, that now was severed at Vyborg where it connects to the Gulf of Finland.

The southern part of the lost area was Finland's industrial heart.

Karelia is considered the heart and origin of the Finnish culture. Before the Winter War, the Soviet sovereignty over the main part of Karelia, and Stalinist atrocities there, was a big grief for many Finns. Now also the rest of Karelia was lost.

Sympathy from the world opinion seemed to have been of little worth. A certain bitter disappointment became a common feature of the Finns' view of other nations, not the least the Swedes, who had offered plenty of sympathy but not lived up to their obligation to support Finland with blood.

For better or for worse, the harsh terms made the Finns inclined to seek support from Nazi Germany, and made many Finns regard a revanche as justified. In the end, this might have been a necessary condition for Finland's survival in the World War.

Only a year later, in June 1941, hostilities resumed in the Continuation War.

External link

Text of the Moscow Peace Treaty

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