| This Mere Men article has not been expanded past 1940 yet. |
| Finland Suomi (Finnish) Timeline: Mere Men
OTL equivalent: Finland | ||||
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| Capital (and largest city) | Helsinki | |||
| Official languages | Finnish • Swedish | |||
| Religion | Lutheran, irreligious | |||
| Demonym | Finns | |||
| Government | ||||
| - | President | |||
| - | Prime Minister | |||
| Legislature | Parliament | |||
| Independence | from Russia | |||
| - | Annexation by Russia | 29 March 1809 | ||
| - | Declaration of independence | 6 December 1917 | ||
| Currency | Finnish markka | |||
| Time zone | EET | |||
Finland is a Nordic country in northeastern Europe. It borders Sweden to the west, Norway to the north and Russia to the east.
History[]
According to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between the Soviet Union and Germany, Finland was assigned to the Soviet sphere of influence. The Soviet Union therefore launched an attack on Finland on 30 November 1939, starting the Winter War. During the winter, the Finnish troops under the command of Marshall Carl Mannerheim were able to hold against the Red Army while inflicting heavy casualties. As winter ended, however, Finland began being less and less able to defend itself and ultimately on 6 March 1940 entered peace negotiations with the Moscow government. Governments of the United Kingdom and France, however, hoped for Finland to keep fighting with their support, using the opportunity to seize Swedish iron mines and distracting Germany from a potential invasion of France. After persuasion from the British and French ambassadors to Finland, the Finnish government left the Moscow negotiations on 12 March and requested Allied support.
Upon hearing of this, Mannerheim retired from the army as he believed there was no possibility of a Finnish victory anymore, which severely impacted Finnish morale. The promised Allied troops, who landed in Norway at the end of March, were unable to pass through neutral Sweden, even though Sweden still supported Finland materially, and got engaged with the Wehrmacht as the Battle of Scandinavia started. Finland evacuated Karelia at the end of March, retreating to more defendable lines further inland. An attempt to provide the Allied troops from the north through Norwegian port city of Kirkenes ended up failing as Soviet Union entered Norwegian territory and sieged the city.
As April progressed, the Red Army continued to advance on the southern front, reaching outskirts of Helsinki in May. As defeat was inevitable, the Finnish government decided to surrender to the Soviet Union. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, however, demanded that the President Kyösti Kallio recognise Soviet puppet government led by Otto Wille Kuusinen or the Red Army will continue towards Helsinki. Kallio, who at the time was increasingly ill, reluctantly accepted and appointed Kuusinen as the Prime Minister. Although Finland gained large territories in East Karelia in return for land in South Karelia and Petsamo, given to the Soviet Union, Kallio saw the peace treaty as his personal failure as Finland was now under control from Moscow again, although not directly. He hoped to at least prevent Kuusinen from fully implementing a communist regime, but because of his poor health paired with depression and pressure from Kuusinen ultimately led to his resignation in June 1940.
After Kallio's resignation, Kuusinen became acting President and immediately used the opportunity to call a snap election to solidify the position of the new communist government in Parliament. The Communist Party of Finland (Suomen Kommunistinen Puolue) won the election, which was neither free nor fair, and its new leader Ville Pessi, who rose to the position after the previous leader Arvo Tuominen was charged with treason for his activities during the war, was appointed as Prime Minister. Kuusinen himself was then elected as President by the new SKP dominated Parliament.