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 Areas ceded by Finland to the Soviet Union | |
| Type | Bilateral treaty |
|---|---|
| Signed | 12 March 1940 (1940-03-12) |
| Location | Moscow,Russian SFSR,USSR |
| Parties | |
| Ratifiers | |
TheMoscow Peace Treaty was signed byFinland and theSoviet Union on 12 March 1940, and the ratifications were exchanged on 21 March.[1] It marked the end of the 105-dayWinter War, upon which Finland ceded border areas to the Soviet Union. The treaty was signed byVyacheslav Molotov,Andrei Zhdanov andAleksandr Vasilevsky for the Soviet Union, andRisto Ryti,Juho Kusti Paasikivi,Rudolf Walden andVäinö Voionmaa for Finland. The terms of the treaty were not reversed after thedissolution of the Soviet Union. TheKarelian question refers to the debate within Finland over the possible reacquisition of this ceded territory.
TheWinter War began on 30 November 1939 with the Soviet invasion of Finland. On 29 January 1940, Soviet Minister of Foreign AffairsVyacheslav Molotov put an end to the puppetTerijoki Government and recognized theRyti–Tanner government as the legal government of Finland, informing it that the Soviet Union was willing to negotiate peace.[2][3] The Finnish government received the first tentative peace conditions from the Soviet Union (throughStockholm) two days later. The Soviets made larger claims than they had before the war started. The demands were for Finland to cede theKarelian Isthmus, including the city ofViipuri, and Finland's shore ofLake Ladoga. TheHanko Peninsula was to be leased to the Soviet Union for 30 years.
Finland rejected the demands and intensified its pleas to Sweden, France and the United Kingdom for military support by regular troops. The reports from the front still held out hope for Finland, anticipating aLeague of Nations intervention. Positive signals, however inconstant, from France and Britain and more realistic expectations of troops from Sweden, for which plans and preparations had been made throughout the 1930s, were further reasons for Finland not to rush into peace negotiations. (SeeWinter War § Foreign support for more details.)
In February 1940, Finland'scommander-in-chief, MarshalCarl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim expressed his pessimism about the military situation, which prompted the government to start peace talks on 29 February, the same day the Red Army started an attack onViipuri (now Vyborg).
On 6 March, a Finnish delegation, led byFinnish Prime MinisterRisto Ryti, travelled to Moscow.[5] During the negotiations, the Red Army were close to surroundingViipuri.
The treaty was signed on the evening of 12 March,Moscow Time, or 1 hour on 13 March,Finnish time. The protocol appended to the treaty stipulated that the fighting should end at noon,Leningrad time (11:00 Finnish time),[inconsistent][6] and the fighting continued until then.[7]
Finland ceded approximately half ofFinnish Karelia, exceeding the amount of territorydemanded by the Soviets before the war. The ceded area included Finland's industrial centre, the city of Viipuri (Finland's second-largest city [Population Register] or fourth-largest city [Church and Civil Register], depending on the census data[8]), Käkisalmi, Sortavala, Suojärvi, and the whole of Viipuri Bay (with its islands). Much of this territory was still held by the Finnish Army. Military troops and remaining civilians werehastily evacuated inside the new border: 422,000 Finns, i.e. 12% of Finland's population, left their homes.
There was also an area that the Russians captured during the war that remained in Finnish hands according to the treaty:Petsamo. The treaty also stipulated that Finland would grant free passage for Soviet civilians throughPetsamo to Norway.
Finland also had to cede a part of theSalla area, the Finnish part of the Kalastajansaarento (Rybachi) Peninsula in theBarents Sea, and in theGulf of Finland the islands ofSuursaari,Tytärsaari,Lavansaari (nowMoshchny Island о. Мощный),Peninsaari (nowMaly Island, о. Малый) andSeiskari. Finally, theHanko Peninsula was leased to the Soviet Union as anaval base for 30 years at an annual rent of 8 million marks. The total area ceded by Finland amounted to approximately 9% of its territory.
Contrary to a common belief, theSoviet troops' transfer rights by railway to the Hanko base were not granted in the peace treaty, but they were demanded on 9 July, after Sweden had acknowledged the railway transit ofWehrmacht troops to occupied Norway.
Additional demands were the handing over any equipment and installations on the territories that were ceded. Thus Finland had to hand over 75locomotives, 2,000railroad cars, and a number of cars, trucks and ships. TheEnso 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 equipment.
The Winter War and the subsequent peace treaty were core factors in leading to what would become theContinuation War, when hostilities resumed in 1941.
