Abstract
Between 1939 and 1945 Finland was thrice embroiled in war. The first one, the Russo–Finnish Winter War of 1939–40, is the best known out of the three and has received some attention in the English-speaking world – for example in the books Winter War by William Trotter (2002) and War of the White Death by Bair Irincheev (2011). The two later conflicts are poorly documented in English and historians have had to rely on either Finnish sources or short summaries of the conflicts such as Finland at War 1939–1945 by Philipp Jowett and Brent Snodgrass (2006). A detailed, comprehensive exploration of these two conflicts has simply not been available.
Until now, that is. Finland At War: The Continuation and Lapland Wars 1941–45 is written by Vesa Nenye, Peter Munter, Toni Wirtanen and Chris Birks. At 336 pages, it manages to go into surprising depth in its analysis of the military operations that the Finnish armed forces undertook in this time period.
After Finland had lost roughly 10 per cent of its territory to the Soviet Union in the Winter War, the country’s political and military leadership anticipated that their giant neighbour would soon finish the job, especially once the three Baltic States were formally annexed. Diplomatic overtures were made towards Germany, weapons and equipment were purchased and the size of the army was increased. When Germany began Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, Finland was not technically an ally but a co-belligerent – a terminology difference that the Finnish leadership hoped would be sufficient to maintain peace between themselves and the Western Allies. Once Soviet planes had bombed multiple towns in Finland, the president declared that the country was once more in a state of war with the Soviet Union and the Finnish army, together with the Germans, crossed the ‘new’ border, with the aim of regaining the lands lost in the Winter War. The Finnish army stopped its advance by early 1942, having completed all of its objectives, and dug-in to wait for Germany to finish the war. This, as we know, did not quite happen. The Soviet Union struck back in June 1944 and launched a massive attack on the Karelian Isthmus, pushing Finnish troops back. Despite Soviet expectations of crushing the Finnish defence completely, the Finns managed to rally and stop the Red Army, preserving the independence of the country. Though the Soviet Union agreed to a truce, Stalin required Finland to disarm or expel all remaining German troops. This demand then led to the third Finnish conflict, the Lapland war of 1944–45, in which large areas of northern Finland were razed as the Germans were pushed back to Norway.
The four authors of Finland at War have seemingly attempted to create a book that could serve both an academic historian and the general public. In this endeavour, they have not quite succeeded. The production values of the book are impressively high; it includes numerous maps and both colour and b/w photographs are inserted in the text. The prominent commanders – not only Finnish but German and Russian as well – are introduced via separate photo and text boxes at the time when the body of the text talks about them for the first time. The translation is well made and there are hardly any typos. For general use, the book is thus excellent.
However, for an academic historian, the lack of references to primary source is troublesome. While some secondary sources are cited, most of the text is bereft of footnotes or references of any kind. Did the authors use the book series History of the Continuation War, published by the Military History department of the National Defence University in 1988? This Finnish-only series of six books is the official history of the conflict from the viewpoint of the Finnish military – and the most likely source. They might have used the original after-action reports of the units that are available at the National Archives in Helsinki – but the reader cannot know. In their acknowledgements, the authors make a note of using unit war diaries. If only these had been referenced properly in the text.
For a military historian who is already well versed in Finland’s part in the Second World War, the book does not reveal anything groundbreaking. Focusing entirely on military operations and largely on army- and divisional-level operations, it omits completely the home front and mentions the diplomatic efforts through the period only in passing. The naval side receives one short chapter, air war only a side mention. The large-scale bombing of Helsinki in early 1944 and the anti-air measures taken to minimize the damage are also missing completely.
A very intriguing part of the book is the detailed description of the joint efforts of German and Finnish troops and the assistance that the Wehrmacht gave to Finland, especially during the crucial summer of 1944. This aspect of the war has been neglected in Finnish historiography until recent years and this book is likely the very first English-language one that comprehensively covers the German assistance and its impact on the Finnish war effort.
There are small style differences among the 14 chapters of the book, which is understandable with four authors. It certainly does not hinder the reading experience. Occasionally they lapse into using dramatized language to describe a battle and the point of view of the book is very firmly on the Finnish side.
In summary, Finland At War: The Continuation and Lapland Wars 1941–45 is a very good book for a person who does not know much about the subject matter and it is easy to read. The scarcity of in-text references slightly hinders but does not prevent the book from being useful to an academic historian. As an addition to the sparse library of English-language military history books discussing Finland, it should be well received.