During the Second World War, Finland fought three separate wars. The first of these was the legendary Winter War, in which a nation of just 3.7 million people fought virtually alone against the Soviet Union, which was indirectly supported by Germany. Despite overwhelming odds, Finland managed to preserve its independence, though it had to cede one-tenth of its territory.
This loss fostered a spirit of revenge, leading Finland to attempt to reclaim its lost lands — and to conquer Eastern Karelia, home to related Finno-Ugric peoples — when Germany attacked the Soviet Union in 1941. In this Continuation War, too, the Soviet Union was the first to initiate hostilities. Unlike Germany, however, Finland managed to halt the Soviet Red Army’s major offensives toward the end of the Continuation War and preserved its independence, with borders roughly similar to those agreed after the Winter War.
The two wars mentioned above are relatively well known even outside Finland. However, few have even heard of the Lapland War. It broke out on September 15, 1944, because the Soviet Union made the rapid expulsion of German troops from Finland one of the conditions of the Continuation War’s armistice.
At that time, northern Finland was a major base for a very large number of German troops — over 200,000 men — who had fought alongside Finland during the Continuation War and now had to be expelled swiftly according to the peace terms. If the Finns failed to do so, Stalin threatened that the Soviet Union would "send assistance" — effectively meaning a renewed attack on Finland, which was simultaneously required to demobilize most of its own army.
Due to this situation, and the relatively small size of the Finnish forces in Lapland — at most about 75,000 soldiers — the Finns were forced to attack the Germans first by surprise, without a formal declaration of war, and later with increasing but often tactically unwise aggressiveness. As a result, Finnish casualties were very high, and the surprised German troops retaliated for what they saw as betrayal by burning almost every building in northern Finland to the ground. Fortunately, most of the civilian population had been evacuated across the border into Sweden.
Moreover, the Germans scattered anti-personnel mines from their depots throughout the region, causing deaths and injuries well into the 1960s, during my own childhood. It is no wonder, then, that until the collapse of the Soviet Union — and the inflow of money brought by East German tourists that followed — the people of northern Finland harbored a deep hatred toward the Germans.
Through great sacrifice, Finland managed to satisfy Stalin and avoid a new Soviet invasion. This was achieved even though the Finnish army ultimately failed to capture the narrow northwesternmost corner of Finland, where German forces held strong positions in extraordinarily defensible — virtually unconquerable — terrain. They abandoned these only when the broader situation of the ongoing world war forced them to.
Today marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the Lapland War. It is also the Finnish Veterans’ Day, when we honor the memory of those men who defended our country in their youth.
At the same time, I extend my heartfelt wishes to all the soldiers fighting for Ukraine, hoping they may be blessed with the same skill, valor, courage, resilience, and unwavering determination that the Finnish veterans so nobly displayed during the Second World War.
Previous thoughts on the same topic:
A Different Kind of Christmas
Finns - Among the World’s Best
Ukraine’s Situation Mirrors Finland in 1944
