Interim Peace (Välirauha)

Definition and term

Välirauha (Swedish: Mellanfreden) designates the period from 13 March 1940, when the Moscow Peace Treaty that ended the Winter War entered into force, to the outbreak of the Continuation War on 24 or 25 June 1941. Lasting a little over 15 months, it was neither war nor settled peace. Finnish sources note that the leadership already suspected before the treaty was signed that this peace would only be an interim one.

The origin of the term is not settled. The English account says "Välirauha" became popular as soon as the harsh peace terms were announced, whereas the Finnish account states the name came into use only in later historical research, to describe the brevity of the period. The two accounts conflict, and no conclusive resolution was verified.

History

Aftermath on a vast scale. The treaty cost Finland a fifth of its industrial capacity and 9 per cent of its territory. Of the population living in the ceded areas only a few hundred stayed behind; the rest crossed the new border. The English account gives 420,000 evacuees, while Finnish sources give differing figures of about half a million and 430,000. During the Winter War over 23,000 Finns were killed and about 44,000 wounded, and flags flew at half-mast across Finland when peace came.

Soviet pressure continued. Through the new ambassador Ivan Zotov it produced demands: on 23 June 1940 transfer of Petsamo mining rights to the Soviet Union or a joint venture, on 27 June demilitarisation or joint fortification of Åland, and on 9 July troop transit rights to Hanko. Transit was granted on 6 September and Åland demilitarisation agreed on 11 October, while the Petsamo negotiations dragged on. The Soviet Union insisted the transit agreement not be published for parliamentary discussion or voting. Several Soviet border violations occurred during the Interim Peace; at least 212 Finnish soldiers were seized from the new border, only 79 returned, and the fate of 33 was never learned. On 14 June 1940 two Soviet bombers shot down the passenger plane Kaleva on the Tallinn–Helsinki route.

Finnish rearmament proceeded as well. Within a week of the treaty work began on the Salpalinja defensive line, and military expenditure reached 45 per cent of the state budget in 1940, with Mannerheim remaining commander-in-chief overseeing reorganisation. Germany lifted its arms embargo in August 1940 out of fear of a Soviet attack, and on 18 August Joseph Veltjens, a representative of Göring, negotiated with Ryti and Mannerheim troop transfer rights between Finnmark and the Gulf of Bothnia in exchange for arms and material. The first German troops arrived at Vaasa on 21 September 1940, and the agreement was augmented on 21 November 1940.

Examples

Resettlement was the central problem. In June 1940 parliament enacted the Pika-asutuslaki (Rapid Settlement Act), under which the state acquired land from the settled population and redistributed it to Winter War evacuees. Implementation began in autumn 1940, and by June 1941 about 13,000 rapid-settlement farms had been completed or nearly completed. The plans met resistance especially in Swedish-speaking areas, where they were read as attempts at Finnicisation, and Paasikivi ordered that placement of the agrarian evacuee population must not alter the language ratios of the receiving municipalities. The housing shortage was addressed partly through standardised prefabricated houses and 2,000 kit houses donated from Sweden in autumn 1940. A first wealth-transfer tax was enacted in August 1940 on private assets exceeding 40,000 marks, progressive from 2 to 20 per cent, and food rationing expanded until by the end of 1940 it covered nearly all staple foods, with 51 different ration cards at its worst; rationing fully ended only in 1954. The loss of fertiliser imports, of arable land ceded in the peace, of cattle during the evacuation, and unfavourable summer 1940 weather cut food production to less than two thirds of estimated need, leaving Finland no alternative but to turn to Germany for help.

Distinctions

The main confusion is with the 1944 Moscow Armistice. Finnish sources explicitly warn that Välirauha must not be confused with the Moscow interim-peace agreement of autumn 1944 (Moskovan välirauhansopimus), which ended active Finnish–Soviet hostilities and remained in force until definitively confirmed in the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty. What made the 1940–41 peace interim was that neither side expected it to last. The state of war was never lifted: because of the widening world war, the difficult food supply and the poor shape of the military, Finland kept the state of war in force and censorship continued, suppressing critics of the Moscow Peace Treaty. The continued state of war also enabled President Kallio to keep Mannerheim on as commander-in-chief.

Relations

The Interim Peace sits between the Winter War and the Continuation War. The Winter War was ended by the Moscow Peace Treaty of 12 March 1940, and in June 1941 Finland entered the Continuation War alongside Germany to recover the lost territories. An international-law study characterises the Winter War as a Soviet war of aggression, stating that Finland sought Germany's protection against the Soviet Union and decided to rely on Germany.

Fear in Finland grew after the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states in June 1940. The Baltic states had yielded to Soviet military demands in October 1939, Soviet bases were stationed there from October 1939 to June 1940, occupation followed on 17 June 1940, staged elections in July and annexation later that summer. Paasikivi reported on 22 July 1940 that the events in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were terrible. In August, Soviet troop concentrations on the border and espionage from the Soviet legation heightened tension, producing the so-called August crisis of 1940.

Domestic politics were realigned as well. Two ministers resigned to protest the Moscow Peace Treaty and Prime Minister Ryti was forced to form a new cabinet immediately; all parties except the right-extremist IKL participated to achieve national consensus, and Rolf Witting replaced Gripenberg as Foreign Minister. Amid continued German victories, Finland's links with the Western Allies were cut, and with Soviet pressure and border incursions continuing its leadership saw cooperation with Germany as the only alternative. German food deliveries removed the most acute supply problems but left Finland in a position where Germany had a means of pressure.