Continuation War

The Continuation War (Finnish: jatkosota, Swedish: fortsättningskriget, 25 June 1941 – 19 September 1944) was the second of two wars fought between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War II.

At the time of the war, the Finns adopted the name to make clear its perceived relationship to the preceding Winter War. The Soviet Union saw the war as a part of its struggle against Germany and its allies, the Eastern Front of World War II or, as it was known in the Soviet Union, the Great Patriotic War. Germany regarded its operations in the region as part of its overall war efforts on the Eastern front and provided Finland with critical material support and military cooperation.

Acts of war between the two countries started on 22 June 1941, the day Germany launched its invasion of the Soviet Union. Open warfare began with a Soviet air offensive on 25 June. Subsequent Finnish operations undid its post-Winter War concessions on the Karelian Isthmus and Ladoga Karelia, and captured East Karelia by September 1941. On the Karelian Isthmus, the Finns halted their offensive 30 km from Leningrad, at the pre-WWII border between the Soviet Union and Finland. Finnish forces did not participate in the siege of Leningrad directly, holding their pre-WWII land for two and a half years on the Karelian Isthmus instead. In 1944, Soviet air forces conducted air raids on Helsinki and other major Finnish cities. Eventually the Soviet strategic offensive in the summer of 1944 drove the Finns from most of the territories they had gained during the war, but the Finnish Army later fought it to a standstill in July 1944. A cease-fire ended hostilities on 5 September, followed by the Moscow Armistice on 19 September. The Paris peace treaty concluded the war formally in 1947. Finland ceded Petsamo, leased Porkkala, and paid $226 500 000 in reparations to the Soviet Union, while ultimately retaining its independence.