From Diplomacy to Confrontation. From the Genesis of Soviet Aggression against Finland in 1939 Cover Image

Od dyplomacji do konfrontacji. Z genezy sowieckiej agresji na Finlandię w 1939 r.
From Diplomacy to Confrontation. From the Genesis of Soviet Aggression against Finland in 1939

Author(s): Wojciech Materski
Subject(s): Military history, Political history, Recent History (1900 till today)
Published by: Instytut Historii im. Tadeusza Manteuffla Polskiej Akademii Nauk
Keywords: Finland; security; policy of neutrality; Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact; aggression; Winter War; Soviet expansion

Summary/Abstract: Finland was one of the smaller European states basing their security on the League of Nations system as well as regional systems. Above all, it tried to maintain proper relations with the Soviet Union, based on the 1920 Peace Treaty of Tartu. Finland defended itself against Moscow’s attempts to weaken its arrangements and impose solutions limiting Finnish sovereignty. The most far-reaching were territorial demands, as well as the demand to grant permission to deploy Red Army garrisons on the territory of the country, supposedly to strengthen its security. After the division of spheres of influence made by the Soviets and the Third Reich (the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact), the stage of diplomatic pressure ended, and open aggression began.

  • Issue Year: 51/2019
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 135-155
  • Page Count: 21
  • Language: Polish