Moscow Armistice

• 1. Introduction

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  On the 19th of September 1944, the Moscow Armistice was signed, ending the Continuation War between Finland and the Soviet Union. The United Kingdom signed alongside the Soviet Union as a co-signatory. Built on the framework of the 1940 Moscow Peace Treaty, the armistice nevertheless introduced significant modifications. What had Finland agreed to relinquish? What financial obligations had it accepted? And what did the armistice demand of Finland's politics, its laws, and its military?

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• 2. Territory Lost

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  Parts of Karelia and Salla were among the territories Finland was obliged to cede. Certain islands in the Gulf of Finland were also surrendered. All of Petsamo was handed to the Soviet Union in its entirety.

  Taken together, the surrendered lands amounted to approximately 11.50 percent of Finland's pre-war territory. Finland's pre-war territory, as defined by the Treaty of Tartu, had stood at 382,561.23 square kilometres. The ceded area amounted to 44,106.23 square kilometres of that total.

  The Porkkala peninsula required a different arrangement from the other surrendered territories. Finland did not lose it outright. Porkkala was leased to the Soviet Union for fifty years. The area was returned to Finnish control in 1956, well before the lease was due to expire.

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• 3. Financial and Political Demands

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  Nearly three hundred million dollars in war reparations were owed by Finland under the armistice terms. Payment was not to be made in cash. Finland was required to deliver the full sum in various commodities over six years to the Soviet Union.

  The Communist Party of Finland was to be legalized under the armistice. The party had to make certain changes to its rules before it could operate. Parties the Soviet Union considered fascist were prohibited from operating.

  Risto Ryti was the best-known of those the armistice required to face trial. Any individual the Soviets considered responsible for the war had to be arrested and brought before a court. One further obligation the armistice imposed concerned Finland's military, not its finances or its courts.

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• 4. The Lapland Campaign

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  Lapland would give its name to the military obligation Finland still had to meet. The armistice required Finnish forces to expel German troops from Finnish soil, producing a campaign that bore the region's name. A formal peace between Finland and many of the Allied powers would come later, signed in Paris in 1947.

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