Finland's Continuation War
Against Russia 1940-45

1944: The End of the Continuation War

by Brian R. Train, Victoria, British Columbia

On 14 January 1944, the Red Army finally lifted the siege of Leningrad once and for all. In February Helsinki was bombed several times, more as a warning of what was coming than anything else.

Mannerheim makes plans in 1944

Mannerheim stepped up defensive preparations in the Karelian Isthmus to be ready for the inevitable offensive, creating the "VT Line" six to ten miles behind the front line and the "VKT Line" running before Vyborg and along the Vuoksi River to Priozersk. He also began to build the "U Line" to the east of Sortavala, and moved the Armored Division (which had been built around a core of 60 Sturmgeschutz III assault guns bought from Germany and the two Jager brigades) from Petrozavodsk to the area of Vyborg.

In late March Finnish diplomats were secretly invited to Moscow, where Foreign Minister Molotov laid down a new set of peace terms:

  • the frontiers set by the Winter War peace treaty would be reinstated, but Finland would also cede the Petsamo region;
  • there would be a war indemnity of $600 million (paid in US 1938 gold dollars, so actually the indemnity was closer to $900 million);
  • Finland was to demobilize her army within 10 weeks of a treaty being signed, and during that time was to use it to intern or force out all German troops in Finland;
  • Finland was to break off all relations with Germany; and
  • the Soviet Union would be allowed to use Finland's ports, airfields, and merchant fleet to pursue victory over Germany.

The Finnish government rejected these terms in mid-April, but when Hitler found out about these secret negotiations he placed an embargo on food and war supplies destined for Finland. Since talk alone would not force Finland to sue for peace, Stalin decided to carry out a ground offensive in the summer and preparations began in May.

The Soviet 21 Army was created on the western side of the Karelian Isthmus, next to 23 Army. It included several artillery divisions, 30 Guards Corps (a noted "breakthrough" unit, several naval rifle brigades, and 10-12 independent tank and assault gun brigades. 23 Army, in the eastern area of the Isthmus, was doubled in strength to six rifle divisions, while 7 and 32 Armies were reinforced to 12 and four divisions respectively. The total strength involved in the offensive was massive: about 450,000 men, 10,000 artillery pieces, 800 tanks and assault guns, and 1,500 aircraft of all types.

The Finns had four divisions and two brigades facing this horde on the Karelian Isthmus. IV Corps was on the western side, and consisted of 10 and 2 Divisions with the Cavalry Brigade in reserve. III Corps was on the eastern side with 18 Division and the recently formed 19 Brigade on the line, and 15 Division in reserve. The Armored Division, 3 Division, and Infantry Regiment 200 (made up of draft-dodging Estonians) were in reserve in and around Vyborg. On the Svir River front were VI Corps (with 5, 8 and 17 Divisions and 15 Brigade) and V Corps (with 7 and 11 Divisions, the Lake Onega Coastal Brigade, and 20 Brigade), while II Corps (1, 4 and 6 Divisions and 21 Brigade) covered the Maaselkae Isthmus.

On 9 June, 21 Army opened its attack all along IV Corps' front with a massive artillery barrage from 5,500 guns and 880 multiple rocket launchers. With a density of up to 400 gun tubes per mile, the weight of this barrage was as heavy as any delivered at Stalingrad. More than 500 aircraft added to the bombardment. Infantry probed along the whole front but did not make any breakthroughs; the next morning they repeated the barrage and attacked with tanks and infantry. Most of their weight fell on 10 Division.

The Finnish soldiers had been totally unprepared for a barrage of such weight, and had no weapons to counter the T-34/85 tanks and heavy assault guns the Soviets were using. The Division gave way and Mannerheim ordered a general retreat to the VT Line, sending 3 Division forward to plug the hole in the front. 4 Division was alerted to move to the Isthmus.

On 14 June, the Russians hit 3 Division before it had had enough time to prepare defensive positions. The entire 30 Guards Corps passed through the gap torn in the Division and headed for Vyborg, mangling the Cavalry Brigade on its way. Mannerheim ordered a further retreat to the VKT Line and the transfer of 17 Division and 20 Brigade from the Svir River front, where the Soviets had as yet done nothing. The Armored Division was sent to contain the breakthrough, but the advance on Vyborg continued.

On 18 June, Mannerheim alerted II and VII Corps, then holding the Svir River and Maaselkae fronts, to withdraw to the area of Ilomantsi and the U Line. He appealed to Germany for help and in the following ten days the Germans were to send 14,000 one-shot Panzerfaust anti-tank weapons, 500 Panzerschrecks (an anti-tank weapon like the American bazooka), 700,000 rounds of artillery ammunition, and 150,000 stick hand grenades. They also sent a bombardment group of 70 FW-190 and Ju-87 aircraft, the 303 Assault Gun Brigade, and the 122 Infantry Division.

However, this assistance came with a price. On 22 June, German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop visited Helsinki to make it clear that Finland must now explicitly rule out a separate peace with Russia, or else German aid would be withdrawn. The following day, quite independently of this event, the Soviets demanded that Finland capitulate before peace talks could begin.

President Ryti conferred with Mannerheim and they came up with a dodge: Ribbentrop took back to Berlin a personal letter from Ryti to Hitler, declaring that he, as head of state, would not negotiate a separate peace with the Soviet Union, nor would he allow anyone else in his government to do so, without the agreement of Germany. To the Germans and Americans, this looked like a formal pact between nations - so the Germans continued sending military aid, and the United States broke off diplomatic relations with Finland on 30 June.

The new anti-tank weapons and ammunition helped to slow the Soviet attack, but they still ground forward. By 20 June the Finns had completed the withdrawal to the scanty fortifications of the VKT Line. Vyborg, Finland's second largest city and the immediate objective of 21 Army, was protected only by 20 Brigade, a newly raised unit that had had to leave much of its heavy equipment behind in order to make it to Vyborg as fast as possible (it had arrived in the city only the day before). When 21 Army began to probe the outskirts of the city with tanks, the brigade routed and the Soviets took the city with few casualties. The Finns contained this breakthrough with a thin line of infantry battalions, and instead of driving for Helsinki 21 Army turned northeast to try and get a lodgment across the Vuoksi River.

On 20 June, 32 Army attacked in the Povenets area, and 7 Army attacked along the Svir River front the day after. The Finns had already withdrawn three divisions and a brigade from the line, and the remaining four divisions and two brigades could not be expected to hold. Under pressure, VI Corps withdrew to the U Line by 7 July, and two weeks later II Corps established itself to the north of it. The Russian pursuit was slow and poorly coordinated, and the Finns lost relatively few troops.

By the middle of July, the tempo of the fighting on the Karelian Isthmus was winding down. Due to their unsubtle tactics, the Soviets had taken heavy casualties without completely crushing the VKT Line, and an amphibious landing to the west of Vyborg by 59 Army also failed to secure a bridgehead. The front went over to the defensive and the assault units were transferred out to join the offensives against Army Groups North and Centre.

Even though his troops had stood them off, Mannerheim knew that the Soviets could come back and finish the job any time it suited them. As the situation deteriorated in the Baltic States, the German bombardment group was withdrawn on 21 July, and the 122 Division began moving back to Germany on 30 July. At the end of July, President Ryti resigned, to be replaced by Mannerheim himself on 4 August. Taking legalistic advantage of Ryti's personal letter to Hitler, Mannerheim would declare that since Ryti was no longer head of state, Finland was now able to seek peace. He informed the Germans of his intentions on 26 August after three weeks of wait-and-see, and they were unable to retaliate beyond cutting off their already-dwindling military aid.

At about the same time the Soviet Union presented another set of peace terms. These were essentially the same as those presented in March, but with two important changes: the war indemnity was halved to $300 million, and in return for giving up its lease on Hanko, the Soviet Union was to be granted a fifty-year lease on a small coastal area called Porkkala, only twelve miles from Helsinki, to be developed into a naval base. Also, all German troops were to have left Finnish territory by 15 September or they would be interned and handed over to the USSR as prisoners of war.

The Finnish parliament voted on 2 September and approved the terms 108 to 45. The next day Hitler ordered Operation Birke ("Birch"), the plan for 20 Mountain Army's withdrawal from Finland to Norway, and 303 Assault Gun Brigade left Finland. An armistice went into effect on 4 September for the Finnish forces and 5 September for the Soviet. This allowed them to bombard the Finnish lines for 24 hours with impunity, using more than 20,000 shells. Just as they had fired the first shots of the Continuation War, the Red Army would fire the last.

More Finland Continuation War 1941-45

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