Finland's War of Choice

[us920669]

I ordered this because I didn't know much about it.  I haven't quite finished it yet, but I'm finding it very interesting.  The subtitle is "The Troubled German-Finnish Coalition in World War II", and pretty well sums it up.  This is definitely not the view from the foxhole and may not be everyone's cup of tea.  The author, Henrik Lunde, was a top man at the Army War College, and he focuses on command decisions (and confusion), and political, diplomatic and strategic considerations.  Military actions are covered in detail and supported by excellent maps and photos.


Finland lost some territory to Russia during the Winter War of 1939-40 and quite naturally turned to Germany for assistance.  Staff talks were occurring even before the German invasion of Russia, but there was no action until a few days after the launch of Barbarossa, so that Finland could claim that they were "co-belligerents", not "allies" with Germany (there is a difference).  Troops from both nations served under officers from both in Northern, Central and Southern groups - only the Southerners had much success and that was pretty temporary.  It would be tempting to say Hitler f***ed another one up but there is a lot more to it than that.  If Germany lost Norway it would cost her Swedish iron ore and Finnish nickel, which were absolutely critical, so they never really sent enough soldiers.  The nations' war aims were not well-aligned, neither side was very honest with the other and the German High Command didn't consider the front very important.  Russia was worried about Murmansk and the railway and managed to mount a pretty strong defense.  The Finns steadfastly refused to assist in the siege of Leningrad, which was practically on their doorstep.


The Finns were excellent soldiers, good at fighting in cold weather and the heavily-forested terrain they knew well, while some German units appear to have been pretty sorry.  SS Division Nord, for instance, was made up of older men with very little training.  It was hard to find a German general willing to command them.  First time in battle they broke and ran. A few days later the same thing happened, with some units fleeing a full 50 kilometers to the rear, where they urged sentries to blow the bridge, convinced Russian tanks were in hot pursuit.  An effort was made to send them home, but Hitler must have only seen them as a push pin on a wall map and kept them where they were.  The unit was eventually broken up and parceled out as replacements.               

[us920669]

Finished the book, really liked it, lots of good details about combat in that severe climate.  Also some very thought-provoking stuff about what happens when a coalition unravels and the partners go their separate ways.


Mid-war years were pretty quite with Finns holding their reclaimed territory and a bit of Soviet as well.  Spring '44 was D Day for more than one army as a huge Russian offensive really lowered the boom.  As many as 20 Russian infantry divisions plus armor, artillery and air, Finns about half that max.  Finns fought magnificently, conducting a fighting withdrawal to a compact defensive position the Russians found hard to crack, but the writing was on the wall - bye bye Finns.  Country was near collapse as Germans had cut off aid, but it was restored for the fighting, with critical anti-tank weapons airlifted in.  Finns asked for terms anyway and Russia was pretty generous, as Stalin had bigger fish to fry.


By late summer German troops in the north were getting the treatment.  Try 8500 rockets per square kilometer from the feared MRL weapon.  Assault troop walked right over those positions.  Finns had agreed to hand over German soldiers after a certain date, but there was still some camaraderie - started to wear thin as Finns watched Germans destroy roads and bridges, certain the Russians were going to follow them back into Norway.  High Command insisted they bring their vast stockpile of material along, which could have cost them the whole force.  Hitler was still worried about his nickel, even though Speer told him they didn't need the stuff anymore, and British naval action was making it impossible to ship out.  Stalin must have pressured the Finns and a strong Finnish force jumped some German units on the road and fought a pretty big battle - thousands of casualties on each side.  Unusually mild autumn enabled Germans to get out but it was a close thing.  Germany got absolutely nothing out of the entire affair - hundreds of thousands of men and great deal of material stranded in the arctic and unable to play any role at all in the war.   

[Victor3]

 Thanks for the review. As a Grandson of Finnish immigrants to the US I've read quite a bit concerning the Winter Wars. Sounds like an excellent read from a perspective I've not concentrated on too much.

[us920669]

You're entirely welcome.  Author makes the point that the Finnish Army was full of hunters, trappers and lumberjacks.  For such a small nation they really gave the Russians a run for their money.