Finnish military administration in Eastern Karelia, 1941–1944
Encyclopedia
Finnish military administration in Eastern Karelia was an interim administrative system established in those areas of the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic (KFSSR) of the Soviet Union
which were occupied by the Finnish army
during the Continuation War
. The military administration was set up on July 15, 1941 and it ended during the summer of 1944. The goal of the administration was to prepare the region for eventual annexation into Finland.
The administration did not encompass the territories ceded to the Soviet Union in the Moscow Peace Treaty and subsequently recaptured by the Finns during the summer offensive
of 1941.
and the ancient land of the heroic sagas of the Kalevala
. Along with the rise of Finnish Russophobia
, the "Karelia question" became politicized. During and after the Finnish civil war
several voluntary expeditions
were launched with the intended goal of liberating the Karelian "kindred people", without success.
The Continuation War and a trust in a quick German victory over the Soviet Union once again gave rise to Finnish irredentism
. The legality of the Finnish claims on Eastern Karelia was justified by both ethno-cultural and military security factors. During the spring of 1941, when the Finnish political leadership understood the full extent of the German plans concerning the Soviet Union
, president Ryti
commissioned professor of geography Väinö Auer
and historian Eino Jutikkala
to demonstrate "scholarly" that Eastern Karelia formed a natural part of the Finnish living space. The resulting book Finnlands Lebensraum
("Finland's Living Space") was published in the autumn of 1941, and was intended to legitimize Finnish claims and actions to the international audience. A similar book by historian Jalmari Jaakkola, Die Ostfrage Finnlands ("Finland's Eastern Question") was published in the summer of the same year.
The Finnish expansionist aims are present in Finnish Commander-in-Chief C. G. E. Mannerheim's Order of the Day given on July 10, 1941
, which was based on an earlier declaration given by him during the Finnish civil war.
. It was originally divided into three districts ("piiri"), which were further divided into sub-regions ("alue"). The military administration used exclusively Finnish-Karelian place-names (Russian name in parenthesis).
The Maaselkä district was terminated in late 1942, and its sub-regions were divided among the remaining two districts.
, Finland, where the general staff of the Finnish army was located. On October 15, it was transferred to Joensuu
, Finland, and finally on November 15, 1943 to Äänislinna (Petrozavodsk), KFSSR.
and CEO of Enso-Gutzeit, Lt Col Väinö Kotilainen. Kotilainen was followed by Col
J. V. Arajuuri from June 15, 1942 to August 19, 1943, and finally by Col Olli Paloheimo who held the position to the end of the war.
On the staff of the military commander worked professor of administrative law
Veli Merikoski, whose task was to ensure that the military administration functioned in accordance with international law. After the end of the Continuation War, Merikoski wrote a booklet on the military administration, describing it in an overtly positive light. This was done to help the Finnish cause in the coming peace negotiations.
(AKS), a Finno-Ugric activist organization, held a dominating role in the military administration. During the Continuation War the "liberation" of Eastern Karelia had become the main focus point of AKS activities, and its members were highly influential in choosing the policies of the military administration in accordance with the organization's "Greater Finland" ideology. In the summer of 1941, over half of the initial higher leadership of the military administration were AKS members.
of Abraham Ortelius
. Although Finnish troops never reached Kemi (Kem) on the shores of the White sea
, this town was also to be renamed, as a town with an identical name
already stood in Finnish Lapland. The new name was tentatively suggested to be Vienanlinna ("Castle of Viena
"), a continuation of several Finnish cities and towns ending in suffix -linna (e.g. Hämeenlinna
, Savonlinna
).
Streets were to be named after prominent Finns and patriots (such as Mannerheim, Elias Lönnrot
, Elias Simojoki
and Paavo Talvela
), and also after names featured in the Kalevala and the Kanteletar
. The Karelian population was also discouraged to give newly-born children Slavic names.
, Finns, Estonians
, Ingrians
, Vepsians and other smaller Finnic minorities considered "kindred peoples" (heimo). The majority of the population was defined as "non-national", with most being Russian
or Ukrainian
. The Finns encountered considerable challenges in dividing the population into these two groups, as linguistic
and ethnic boundaries were not very apparent. Ultimately, the division was based on ethnic principles (sometimes expressing somewhat pseudo-scientific anthropological theories), and thus monolingual Russian
-speaking Karelians and children from multinational families were usually classified as "national". The long-term goal of this pursued policy was to expel the "non-national" part of the population to German-occupied Russia after the war had reached a victorious conclusion.
directed for the Karelian population focused on pan-Finnicism, presented the occupiers as liberators, and also tried to encourage antagonism between the Karelians and Russians. Main propaganda tools of the military administration were the newspaper Vapaa Karjala ("Free Karelia") and Aunus Radio
.
Obligatory school attendance applied to 7-15 year-old children classified as "national" in ethnicity. The language of instruction was Finnish and the teaching had a heavy focus on Finnish nationalistic and religious themes. If the children were monolingual Russian or Veps
speakers, with the latter language differing considerably from Finnish, Karelian-speaking children were used as translators. By the end of 1942, 110 elementary schools were opened, with an attendance of over 10 000 children.
One of the aims of the military administration was the revival of religious observation, which had been completely repressed under Soviet rule. The central idea of this policy was to bolster anti-communist feelings among the "nationals".
, who had escaped Swedish and Lutheran rule from the County of Kexholm and Ingria
after the Ingrian War
and the Treaty of Stolbovo
of 1617 were especially considered, as the Soviet Census of 1926
had counted them as numbering over 140 000, making the Karelian population of Tver more numerous than the Karelians in the KFSSR itself. The transfer was not, however, possible before Finnish and German fronts reached each other on the River Svir, which never happened during the war.
The other main group intended to be settled in Eastern Karelia were the Ingrian Finns of the Leningrad Oblast
, who according to the 1926 census numbered c. 115 000. However, during Stalin's purges tens of thousands of Ingrians had perished or were transferred
to other parts of the Soviet Union, and in 1941 the Ingrians of Leningrad probably numbered only c. 80 000-90 000. In the autumn of 1941, Western and Central Ingria were occupied by the advancing German forces and placed under German military administration. Because Ingria was to be reserved for German colonization according to the Generalplan Ost
(Ingermanland), the German and Finnish authorities agreed on a treaty which stated that Ingria was to be totally emptied of Finns and other Finnic minorities, mainly Votes
and Izhorians
. This treaty was implemented during March 1943 to the summer of 1944, when over 64 000 people were transferred from Ingria to Finland. The Ingrians remaining areas still under the control of the Red Army (c. 20 000 - 30 000) were deported to Siberia during the winter of 1942-1943. After the Moscow Armistice
, some 55 000 Ingrians were repatriated to the Soviet Union, but were not allowed to return to theirs homes in the Leningrad Oblast before the 1950s. Around 7000 to 8000 Ingrians moved from Finland to Sweden to escape the Soviet authorities.
Other discussed sources for East Karelian settlers included the Finnish immigrants of America
and Canada, the Finnic Soviet prisoners of war under German capture, Eastern Karelian refugees currently living in Finland, and Finnish war veterans. Land redistribution was to favor those without farms or land, disabled veterans who were still capable of working, former NCOs
, border jägers and soldiers distinguished in battle.
and labor camp
s. In the end of 1941 the number rose up to 24,000. During time prisoners were gradually released and they were transferred to empty villages. However, their movement were controlled as they had a red clearance, while "national" people had a green clearance. Furthermore, ethnic Russians did have permission to travel to Finland.
Living in Finnish camps was harsh as 4,000-7,000 of civil prisoners died, mostly from hunger during the spring and summer of 1942 due to failed harvest of 1941. Also segregation in education and medical care between Karelians and Russians created resentment among the Russian population. These actions made many local ethnic Russian people support the partisan
attacks.
, Hitler proposed that the new Finnish border should run from the Kola peninsula
to the Svir, and in the case Leningrad was razed to the ground as originally planned, to the River Neva. In Finland this theoretical border was sometimes referred to as Kolmen kannaksen raja ("the Border of Three Isthmuses", referring to the Karelian Isthmus
, Olonets Isthmus and the White Sea Isthmus).
The exact border of the White Sea Isthmus was left undefined during the war, but Alfred Rosenberg
, head of the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories
(RMfdbO), held that Finland should annex the whole KFSSR. The most eastward suggestion discussed among the Finnish officer corps before the war drew the line from Nimenga in the Arkhangelsk Oblast
to the Pudozhsky District
on Lake Onega
. Professor Gerhard von Mende
(RMfdbO) had consulted Finnish far-right activist Erkki Räikkönen
on Finland's "natural" eastern borders, and sent to Rosenberg a memorandum suggesting that the northeastern border between Finland and Germany should run along the Northern Dvina River near Arkangelsk.
Kola peninsula was to be de jure a part of Finland, but the nickel deposits of the region were to be exploited jointly with Germany. Jalmari Jaakkola estimated in Die Ostfrage Finnlands that some 200 000 Russian had to be expelled from the region, leaving the peninsula with a population of c. 20 000 Finns, Samis and Karelians.
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
which were occupied by the Finnish army
Finnish Army
The Finnish Army is the land forces branch of the Finnish Defence Forces.Today's Army is divided into six branches: the infantry , field artillery, anti-aircraft artillery, engineers, signals, and materiel troops.-History of the Finnish Army:Between 1809 and 1917 Finland was an autonomous part of...
during the Continuation War
Continuation War
The Continuation War was the second of two wars fought between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War II.At the time of the war, the Finnish side used the name to make clear its perceived relationship to the preceding Winter War...
. The military administration was set up on July 15, 1941 and it ended during the summer of 1944. The goal of the administration was to prepare the region for eventual annexation into Finland.
The administration did not encompass the territories ceded to the Soviet Union in the Moscow Peace Treaty and subsequently recaptured by the Finns during the summer offensive
Finnish reconquest of the Karelian Isthmus (1941)
The Finnish reconquest of the Karelian Isthmus refers to a military campaign carried out by Finland in 1941. It was part of what is commonly referred to as the Continuation War.Early in the war Finnish forces reconquered the Karelian Isthmus...
of 1941.
Background
Finnish interest in Russian Karelia goes back to the 19th century. Eastern Karelia was seen as the cradle of Finnish cultureKarelianism
Karelianism was a late 19th century cultural phenomenon in the Grand Duchy of Finland and involved writers, painters, poets and sculptors. Since the publishing of the Finnish national epic Kalevala in 1835, compiled from Karelian folk lore, culture spheres in Finland became increasingly curious...
and the ancient land of the heroic sagas of the Kalevala
Kalevala
The Kalevala is a 19th century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Finnish and Karelian oral folklore and mythology.It is regarded as the national epic of Finland and is one of the most significant works of Finnish literature...
. Along with the rise of Finnish Russophobia
Russophobia
Russophobia refers to a diverse spectrum of prejudices, dislikes or fears of Russia, Russians, or Russian culture. Its opposite is Russophilia....
, the "Karelia question" became politicized. During and after the Finnish civil war
Finnish Civil War
The Finnish Civil War was a part of the national, political and social turmoil caused by World War I in Europe. The Civil War concerned control and leadership of The Grand Duchy of Finland as it achieved independence from Russia after the October Revolution in Petrograd...
several voluntary expeditions
Heimosodat
The term in Finnish historiography heimosodat in English literally "Kindred Nations Wars", "Wars for kindred peoples" or "Kinship Wars" for Finnic kinship. It is often erroneously translated as "Tribal Wars"...
were launched with the intended goal of liberating the Karelian "kindred people", without success.
The Continuation War and a trust in a quick German victory over the Soviet Union once again gave rise to Finnish irredentism
Irredentism
Irredentism is any position advocating annexation of territories administered by another state on the grounds of common ethnicity or prior historical possession, actual or alleged. Some of these movements are also called pan-nationalist movements. It is a feature of identity politics and cultural...
. The legality of the Finnish claims on Eastern Karelia was justified by both ethno-cultural and military security factors. During the spring of 1941, when the Finnish political leadership understood the full extent of the German plans concerning the Soviet Union
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
, president Ryti
Risto Ryti
Risto Heikki Ryti was the fifth President of Finland, from 1940 to 1944. Ryti started his career as a politician in the field of economics and as a political background figure during the interwar period. He made a wide range of international contacts in the world of banking and within the...
commissioned professor of geography Väinö Auer
Väinö Auer
Väinö Auer , the son of senator Kyösti Auer, was a Finnish geologist and geographer, chiefly remembered as an explorer of Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia...
and historian Eino Jutikkala
Eino Jutikkala
Eino Kaarlo Ilmari Jutikkala , until 1931 Eino Rinne, was a Finnish historian, and professor of history at the University of Helsinki from 1950 to 1974...
to demonstrate "scholarly" that Eastern Karelia formed a natural part of the Finnish living space. The resulting book Finnlands Lebensraum
Lebensraum
was one of the major political ideas of Adolf Hitler, and an important component of Nazi ideology. It served as the motivation for the expansionist policies of Nazi Germany, aiming to provide extra space for the growth of the German population, for a Greater Germany...
("Finland's Living Space") was published in the autumn of 1941, and was intended to legitimize Finnish claims and actions to the international audience. A similar book by historian Jalmari Jaakkola, Die Ostfrage Finnlands ("Finland's Eastern Question") was published in the summer of the same year.
The Finnish expansionist aims are present in Finnish Commander-in-Chief C. G. E. Mannerheim's Order of the Day given on July 10, 1941
Sword Scabbard Declaration
The Order of the Day of the Sword Scabbard, or the Sword Scabbard Declaration, actually refers to two related declarations by the Finnish Commander-in-Chief Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim during World War I and World War II against Soviet control of East Karelia.-World War I:During the Civil War in...
, which was based on an earlier declaration given by him during the Finnish civil war.
Organization
The military administration was established on the order of the Commander-in-Chief, and was mainly under the control of the Army, not the Finnish governmentJukka Rangell's cabinet
Jukka Rangell's cabinet was the 25th government of Republic of Finland. Cabinet's time period was from January 4, 1941 to March 5, 1943. It was Majority government....
. It was originally divided into three districts ("piiri"), which were further divided into sub-regions ("alue"). The military administration used exclusively Finnish-Karelian place-names (Russian name in parenthesis).
- Aunus (OlonetsOlonetsOlonets is a town and the administrative center of Olonetsky District of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, situated on the Olonka River, to the east from Lake Ladoga. Population: -History:...
) district - Aunus
- Aunuksenranta
- Kontupohja (KondopogaKondopogaKondopoga is a town and the administrative center of Kondopozhsky District of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, situated on the coast of the Kondopozhskaya Gulf of Lake Onega, near the mouth of the Suna River and Kivach Nature Reserve, about from Petrozavodsk...
) - Munjärvi (Munozero)
- Prääsä (PryazhaPryazhaPryazha is an urban locality and the administrative center of Pryazhinsky District of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located from the Shuya River and west of Petrozavodsk. Population:...
) - Soutjärvi (ShyoltozeroShyoltozeroShyoltozero is a village in Prionezhsky District of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located 84 km south of Petrozavodsk, close to the shore of Lake Onega.-Present-day Shyoltozero:...
) - Ylä-Syväri
- Säämäjärvi (Sjamozero)
- Vaaseni (Važiny)
- Äänislinna (Petrozavodsk)
- Äänisniemi (Zaonežje)
- Äänisenranta (Prionezhsky)
- Maaselkä (Maselga) district
- Rukajärvi (Rugozero)
- Paatene (Padany)
- Porajärvi (PorosozeroPorosozeroPorosozero is a rural locality in Suoyarvsky District of the Republic of Karelia, located along the Suna River. Municipally, it is a part and the administrative center of Porosozerskoye Rural Settlement of Suoyarvsky Municipal District. Population: 3,529 ; 4,406 .Before 1920 it was a municipality...
) - Karhumäki (MedvezhyegorskMedvezhyegorskMedvezhyegorsk , formerly known as Medvezhya Gora and Karhumäki, is a town and the administrative center of Medvezhyegorsky District of the Republic of Karelia, Russia. Population: 15,800 ....
)
- Viena (Belomorye) district
- Kiestinki (Kestenga)
- Uhtua (UkhtaUkhtaUkhta is an important industrial town in the Komi Republic of Russia. Population: Oil springs along the Ukhta River were already known in the 17th century. In the mid-19th century, industrialist M. K. Sidorov started to drill for oil in this area. It was one of the first oil wells in...
)
The Maaselkä district was terminated in late 1942, and its sub-regions were divided among the remaining two districts.
Headquarters
The military administration was originally stationed in MikkeliMikkeli
Mikkeli is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in what used to be the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Southern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water...
, Finland, where the general staff of the Finnish army was located. On October 15, it was transferred to Joensuu
Joensuu
Joensuu is a city and municipality in North Karelia in eastern Finland. It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of North Karelia region. It was founded in 1848...
, Finland, and finally on November 15, 1943 to Äänislinna (Petrozavodsk), KFSSR.
Military Commanders
The first commander of the military administration was mining counselorVuorineuvos
Vuorineuvos is a Finnish honorary title granted by the President of Finland to leading industry figures. The title is honorary and has no responsibilities and no privileges. All Finnish titles are non-hereditary. The only title of equal rank is valtioneuvos.There is no official or established...
and CEO of Enso-Gutzeit, Lt Col Väinö Kotilainen. Kotilainen was followed by Col
Col
-Things:* A col, a mountain pass or saddle* A col, region of lower air pressure between two high pressure areas: see trough -Languages:* col, ISO 639-3 language code of the Columbia-Wenatchi language* Col language-Abbreviations:...
J. V. Arajuuri from June 15, 1942 to August 19, 1943, and finally by Col Olli Paloheimo who held the position to the end of the war.
On the staff of the military commander worked professor of administrative law
Administrative law
Administrative law is the body of law that governs the activities of administrative agencies of government. Government agency action can include rulemaking, adjudication, or the enforcement of a specific regulatory agenda. Administrative law is considered a branch of public law...
Veli Merikoski, whose task was to ensure that the military administration functioned in accordance with international law. After the end of the Continuation War, Merikoski wrote a booklet on the military administration, describing it in an overtly positive light. This was done to help the Finnish cause in the coming peace negotiations.
Academic Karelia Society
Members of the Academic Karelia SocietyAcademic Karelia Society
The Academic Karelia Society was a Finnish elitist nationalist and Finno-Ugric activist organization aiming at the growth and improvement of newly independent Finland, founded by academics and students of the University of Finland in 1922...
(AKS), a Finno-Ugric activist organization, held a dominating role in the military administration. During the Continuation War the "liberation" of Eastern Karelia had become the main focus point of AKS activities, and its members were highly influential in choosing the policies of the military administration in accordance with the organization's "Greater Finland" ideology. In the summer of 1941, over half of the initial higher leadership of the military administration were AKS members.
Policies
The long-term goal of the military administration was to make it possible for Eastern Karelia to be permanently integrated to the Finnish state after the ultimate German victory over the Soviet Union. This was to be done by inspiring the native population's confidence towards the Finnish occupiers.Fennicization
As most place-names in Eastern Karelia had a historical Finnish or Karelian alternatives which were still in use in the KFSSR, extensive renaming was not necessary. The notable exception is Petroskoi (Petrozavodsk), which was deemed as sounding too "Russian", and was renamed Äänislinna, a literal Finnish translation of the name Onegaborg used in the Theatrum Orbis TerrarumTheatrum Orbis Terrarum
Theatrum Orbis Terrarum is considered to be the first true modern atlas. Written by Abraham Ortelius and originally printed on May 20, 1570, in Antwerp, it consisted of a collection of uniform map sheets and sustaining text bound to form a book for which copper printing plates were specifically...
of Abraham Ortelius
Abraham Ortelius
thumb|250px|Abraham Ortelius by [[Peter Paul Rubens]]Abraham Ortelius thumb|250px|Abraham Ortelius by [[Peter Paul Rubens]]Abraham Ortelius (Abraham Ortels) thumb|250px|Abraham Ortelius by [[Peter Paul Rubens]]Abraham Ortelius (Abraham Ortels) (April 14, 1527 – June 28,exile in England to take...
. Although Finnish troops never reached Kemi (Kem) on the shores of the White sea
White Sea
The White Sea is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the northeast. The whole of the White Sea is under Russian sovereignty and considered to be part of...
, this town was also to be renamed, as a town with an identical name
Kemi
Kemi is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located very near the city of Tornio. It was founded in 1869 by royal decree, because of its proximity to a deep water harbour....
already stood in Finnish Lapland. The new name was tentatively suggested to be Vienanlinna ("Castle of Viena
White Sea
The White Sea is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the northeast. The whole of the White Sea is under Russian sovereignty and considered to be part of...
"), a continuation of several Finnish cities and towns ending in suffix -linna (e.g. Hämeenlinna
Hämeenlinna
Hämeenlinna is a city and municipality of about inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Häme in the south of Finland and is the birthplace of composer Jean Sibelius. Today, it belongs to the region of Tavastia Proper, and until 2010 it was the residence city for the Governor of the...
, Savonlinna
Savonlinna
Savonlinna is a town and a municipality of inhabitants in the southeast of Finland, in the heart of the Saimaa lake region. The Finnish name of the town means "Castle of Savonia" and the Swedish name means "Newcastle".- History :...
).
Streets were to be named after prominent Finns and patriots (such as Mannerheim, Elias Lönnrot
Elias Lönnrot
Elias Lönnrot was a Finnish philologist and collector of traditional Finnish oral poetry. He is best known for compiling the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic compiled from national folklore.-Education and early life:...
, Elias Simojoki
Elias Simojoki
Lauri Elias Simojoki was a Finnish clergyman who became a leading figure in the country's far right movement....
and Paavo Talvela
Paavo Talvela
Paavo Talvela was a Finnish soldier and a Knight of the Mannerheim Cross. He was one of the volunteers who served in the Finnish Jaeger battalion in Germany in 1916 to 1917. He was a battalion commander in the Finnish Civil War...
), and also after names featured in the Kalevala and the Kanteletar
Kanteletar
Kanteletar is a collection of Finnish folk poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot. It is considered to be a sister collection to the Finnish national epic Kalevala...
. The Karelian population was also discouraged to give newly-born children Slavic names.
Ethnic policies
The remaining population of Eastern Karelia was estimated to be under 85 000 in 1941, and consisted mainly of women, children and the elderly, while the pre-war population was c. 300 000. The Finnish authorities further estimated that of the remaining 85 000, circa half could be classified as "national"; that is, KareliansKarelians
The Karelians are a Baltic-Finnic ethnic group living mostly in the Republic of Karelia and in other north-western parts of the Russian Federation. The historic homeland of Karelians includes also parts of present-day Eastern Finland and the formerly Finnish territory of Ladoga Karelia...
, Finns, Estonians
Estonians
Estonians are a Finnic people closely related to the Finns and inhabiting, primarily, the country of Estonia. They speak a Finnic language known as Estonian...
, Ingrians
Ingrians
The term Ingrians may refer to one of the following.*Inhabitants of Ingria in general.*Izhorians, Finnic indigenous people of Ingria.*Ingrian Finns, the descendants of Lutheran emigrants from present-day Finland in the 17th century....
, Vepsians and other smaller Finnic minorities considered "kindred peoples" (heimo). The majority of the population was defined as "non-national", with most being Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
or Ukrainian
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
. The Finns encountered considerable challenges in dividing the population into these two groups, as linguistic
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
and ethnic boundaries were not very apparent. Ultimately, the division was based on ethnic principles (sometimes expressing somewhat pseudo-scientific anthropological theories), and thus monolingual Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
-speaking Karelians and children from multinational families were usually classified as "national". The long-term goal of this pursued policy was to expel the "non-national" part of the population to German-occupied Russia after the war had reached a victorious conclusion.
Education and propaganda
Finnish propagandaPropaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
directed for the Karelian population focused on pan-Finnicism, presented the occupiers as liberators, and also tried to encourage antagonism between the Karelians and Russians. Main propaganda tools of the military administration were the newspaper Vapaa Karjala ("Free Karelia") and Aunus Radio
Aunus Radio
Aunus Radio was a Finnish radio station operating in an area held by Finland in East Karelia during the continuation war.-Formation:Finnish military command was aware of the significant impact radio had on the troops in the front...
.
Obligatory school attendance applied to 7-15 year-old children classified as "national" in ethnicity. The language of instruction was Finnish and the teaching had a heavy focus on Finnish nationalistic and religious themes. If the children were monolingual Russian or Veps
Veps language
The Veps language , spoken by the Vepsians , belongs to the Finnic group of the Uralic languages...
speakers, with the latter language differing considerably from Finnish, Karelian-speaking children were used as translators. By the end of 1942, 110 elementary schools were opened, with an attendance of over 10 000 children.
One of the aims of the military administration was the revival of religious observation, which had been completely repressed under Soviet rule. The central idea of this policy was to bolster anti-communist feelings among the "nationals".
Planned population transfers
Suffering from severe underpopulation, especially after the planned expulsion of the "non-national" ethnic groups, the Finns theorized several possible ways to repopulate the region. Most suggestions revolved around the re-settlement of certain Finnic minorities of Russia. The Karelians of TverTver Oblast
Tver Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Tver. From 1935 to 1990, it was named Kalinin Oblast after Mikhail Kalinin. Population: Tver Oblast is an area of lakes, such as Seliger and Brosno...
, who had escaped Swedish and Lutheran rule from the County of Kexholm and Ingria
Swedish Ingria
Swedish Ingria was a dominion of the Swedish Empire from 1580 to 1595 and then again from 1617 to 1721, when it was ceded to the Russian Empire in the Treaty of Nystad....
after the Ingrian War
Ingrian War
The Ingrian War between Sweden and Russia, which lasted between 1610 and 1617 and can be seen as part of Russia's Time of Troubles, is mainly remembered for the attempt to put a Swedish duke on the Russian throne...
and the Treaty of Stolbovo
Treaty of Stolbovo
The Treaty of Stolbovo is a peace treaty of 1617 that ended the Ingrian War, fought between Sweden and Russia.After nearly two months of negotiations, representatives from Sweden and Russia met at the village of Stolbova, south of Lake Ladoga, on 27 February 1617.From the outset, Sweden had gone...
of 1617 were especially considered, as the Soviet Census of 1926
First All-Union Census of the Soviet Union
The First All Union Census of the Soviet Union took place in December 1926. It was an important tool in the state-building of the USSR, provided the government with important ethnographic information, and helped in the transformation from Imperial Russian society to Soviet society...
had counted them as numbering over 140 000, making the Karelian population of Tver more numerous than the Karelians in the KFSSR itself. The transfer was not, however, possible before Finnish and German fronts reached each other on the River Svir, which never happened during the war.
The other main group intended to be settled in Eastern Karelia were the Ingrian Finns of the Leningrad Oblast
Leningrad Oblast
Leningrad Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . It was established on August 1, 1927, although it was not until 1946 that the oblast's borders had been mostly settled in their present position...
, who according to the 1926 census numbered c. 115 000. However, during Stalin's purges tens of thousands of Ingrians had perished or were transferred
Population transfer in the Soviet Union
Population transfer in the Soviet Union may be classified into the following broad categories: deportations of "anti-Soviet" categories of population, often classified as "enemies of workers," deportations of entire nationalities, labor force transfer, and organized migrations in opposite...
to other parts of the Soviet Union, and in 1941 the Ingrians of Leningrad probably numbered only c. 80 000-90 000. In the autumn of 1941, Western and Central Ingria were occupied by the advancing German forces and placed under German military administration. Because Ingria was to be reserved for German colonization according to the Generalplan Ost
Generalplan Ost
Generalplan Ost was a secret Nazi German plan for the colonization of Eastern Europe. Implementing it would have necessitated genocide and ethnic cleansing to be undertaken in the Eastern European territories occupied by Germany during World War II...
(Ingermanland), the German and Finnish authorities agreed on a treaty which stated that Ingria was to be totally emptied of Finns and other Finnic minorities, mainly Votes
Votes
Votes are a people of Votia in Ingria, the part of modern day northwestern Russia that is roughly southwest of Saint Petersburg and east of the Estonian border-town of Narva. Their own ethnic name is Vadjalain . The Finnic Votic language spoken by Votes is close to extinction. Votians were one of...
and Izhorians
Izhorians
The Izhorians , along with the Votes are an indigenous people of Ingria. Small numbers can still be found in the Western part of Ingria, between the Narva and Neva rivers in northwestern Russia.- History :The history of the Izhorians is bound to the history of Ingria...
. This treaty was implemented during March 1943 to the summer of 1944, when over 64 000 people were transferred from Ingria to Finland. The Ingrians remaining areas still under the control of the Red Army (c. 20 000 - 30 000) were deported to Siberia during the winter of 1942-1943. After the Moscow Armistice
Moscow Armistice
The Moscow Armistice was signed between Finland on one side and the Soviet Union and United Kingdom on the other side on September 19, 1944, ending the Continuation War...
, some 55 000 Ingrians were repatriated to the Soviet Union, but were not allowed to return to theirs homes in the Leningrad Oblast before the 1950s. Around 7000 to 8000 Ingrians moved from Finland to Sweden to escape the Soviet authorities.
Other discussed sources for East Karelian settlers included the Finnish immigrants of America
Finnish American
Finnish Americans are Americans of Finnish descent, who currently number about 700,000.-History:Some Finns, like the ancestors of John Morton, came to the Swedish colony of New Sweden, that existed in mid-17th century....
and Canada, the Finnic Soviet prisoners of war under German capture, Eastern Karelian refugees currently living in Finland, and Finnish war veterans. Land redistribution was to favor those without farms or land, disabled veterans who were still capable of working, former NCOs
NCOS
NCOS was the graphical user interface-based operating system developed for use in Oracle's Network Computers. It was adapted by Acorn Computers from its own , which was originally developed for their range of Archimedes desktop computers...
, border jägers and soldiers distinguished in battle.
Internment and labor camps
At the beginning of the Finnish occupation of Karelia, over 20,000 of the local ethnic Russians (almost half of them) were placed in internmentInternment
Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the meaning as: "The action of 'interning'; confinement within the limits of a country or place." Most modern usage is about individuals, and there is a distinction...
and labor camp
Labor camp
A labor camp is a simplified detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons...
s. In the end of 1941 the number rose up to 24,000. During time prisoners were gradually released and they were transferred to empty villages. However, their movement were controlled as they had a red clearance, while "national" people had a green clearance. Furthermore, ethnic Russians did have permission to travel to Finland.
Living in Finnish camps was harsh as 4,000-7,000 of civil prisoners died, mostly from hunger during the spring and summer of 1942 due to failed harvest of 1941. Also segregation in education and medical care between Karelians and Russians created resentment among the Russian population. These actions made many local ethnic Russian people support the partisan
Soviet partisans
The Soviet partisans were members of a resistance movement which fought a guerrilla war against the Axis occupation of the Soviet Union during World War II....
attacks.
Planned future expansion
In a conversation held on November 27, 1941 with the Finnish Foreign Minister WittingRolf Witting
Rolf Johan Witting was a renowned oceanographist and Swedish-speaking Finnish politician, member of four of Finland's cabinets 1926–1943...
, Hitler proposed that the new Finnish border should run from the Kola peninsula
Kola Peninsula
The Kola Peninsula is a peninsula in the far northwest of Russia. Constituting the bulk of the territory of Murmansk Oblast, it lies almost completely to the north of the Arctic Circle and is washed by the Barents Sea in the north and the White Sea in the east and southeast...
to the Svir, and in the case Leningrad was razed to the ground as originally planned, to the River Neva. In Finland this theoretical border was sometimes referred to as Kolmen kannaksen raja ("the Border of Three Isthmuses", referring to the Karelian Isthmus
Karelian Isthmus
The Karelian Isthmus is the approximately 45–110 km wide stretch of land, situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia, to the north of the River Neva . Its northwestern boundary is the relatively narrow area between the Bay of Vyborg and Lake Ladoga...
, Olonets Isthmus and the White Sea Isthmus).
The exact border of the White Sea Isthmus was left undefined during the war, but Alfred Rosenberg
Alfred Rosenberg
' was an early and intellectually influential member of the Nazi Party. Rosenberg was first introduced to Adolf Hitler by Dietrich Eckart; he later held several important posts in the Nazi government...
, head of the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories
Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories
The Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories was created by Adolf Hitler on July 1941 and headed by the Nazi theoretical expert and Baltic German, Alfred Rosenberg. Alfred Meyer was Rosenberg's deputy. This ministry was created to control the vast areas captured by the Germans in...
(RMfdbO), held that Finland should annex the whole KFSSR. The most eastward suggestion discussed among the Finnish officer corps before the war drew the line from Nimenga in the Arkhangelsk Oblast
Arkhangelsk Oblast
Arkhangelsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . It includes the Arctic archipelagos of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya, as well as the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea....
to the Pudozhsky District
Pudozhsky District
Pudozhsky District is an administrative district , one of the fifteen in the Republic of Karelia, Russia. Municipally, it is incorporated as Pudozhsky Municipal District. Its administrative center is the town of Pudozh. District's population: 27,538 ; Population of Pudozh accounts for 44.8% of...
on Lake Onega
Lake Onega
Lake Onega is a lake in the north-west European part of Russia, located on the territory of Republic of Karelia, Leningrad Oblast and Vologda Oblast. It belongs to the basin of Baltic Sea, Atlantic Ocean, and is the second largest lake in Europe after Lake Ladoga...
. Professor Gerhard von Mende
Gerhard von Mende
Dr. Gerhard von Mende was a Baltic German who was head of the Caucasus division at the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territory, or Ostministerium, in Nazi Germany...
(RMfdbO) had consulted Finnish far-right activist Erkki Räikkönen
Erkki Räikkönen
Erkki Aleksanteri Räikkönen was a Finnish nationalist leader.Born in St. Petersburg to a cantor, he attended the University of Helsinki before taking part in the ill-fated mission to secure independence for Karelia in 1921...
on Finland's "natural" eastern borders, and sent to Rosenberg a memorandum suggesting that the northeastern border between Finland and Germany should run along the Northern Dvina River near Arkangelsk.
Kola peninsula was to be de jure a part of Finland, but the nickel deposits of the region were to be exploited jointly with Germany. Jalmari Jaakkola estimated in Die Ostfrage Finnlands that some 200 000 Russian had to be expelled from the region, leaving the peninsula with a population of c. 20 000 Finns, Samis and Karelians.