The Soviet Union, Finland, and the Baltic StatesSoviet War News — Soviet Information Bureau, 1941

THE FOREIGN POLICY OF THE U.S.S.R. and POLITICAL RELATIONS WITH THE BALTIC STATES, 1920-1927

In spite of the political and economic advantages accruing to them from their Peace Treaties with the U.S.S.R., the Baltic States, so far from pursuing a real peace policy towards the U.S.S.R., continued their hostility and not only did they permit preparation on their territory for attacks on the U.S.S.R., but in some cases actual attacks were made.

Finland

The Peace Treaty with Finland signed October 14, 1920, carne into force on January 1, 1921 ; only ten months later, in October, 1921, the Finnish Government organised an attack on Soviet Karelia. The Note of the Soviet Government of November 16, 1921, stated that : “ Bandit detachments which had gathered and armed themselves on Finnish territory, under the command of Finnish officers and with the help of the Finnish authorities, invaded the most sparsely, populated and roadless section of Karelia in October and entered the Tungud Volost ” (district).

On the territory of Finland an organisation calling itself “ The Karelian Government ” was formed openly and with the goodwill of the Finnish authorities. Further, a society for “ humanitarian ” help for Karelians was formed, which took upon itself the task of sending supplies to the Finnish detachments which had broken into Karelia. In the Finnish papers summaries from the front were published daily. In a number of populated centres of Finland recruiting bureaus functioned openly for the formation of detachments of Karelian “ rebels.” Officers of the Finnish army received fictitious leave and went to Karelia.

Soviet armed forces repulsed the Finnish detachments which had invaded Karelia and forced them to recross the Finnish-Soviet frontier.

In spite of the unprecedented character of this attack only ten
months after the Peace Treaty had come into force, the Soviet Government immediately after having put an end to the Karelian adventure, offered the Finnish Government negotiations for the conclusion of a special agreement regarding the inviolability of the frontiers. Such an agreement, establishing a special neutral zone along the frontier and providing for other guarantees, was signed June 1, 1922, but it did not put a stop to the hostile activity of the Finnish Government and the systematic violation of the Soviet-Finnish frontier. Attacks on Soviet territory by armed bands from Finland did not cease. On October 3, 1922, the Soviet Government addressed a demand to the Finnish Government for the immediate expulsion from the frontier zones of all semi-military organisations and for the suppression of the various “assistance” Committees for Karelia.

The Note in which the Finnish Government replied was hostile, even challenging in character. No change for the better took place in 1923 ; thus, on September 23, 1923, two members of the Soviet delegation to the Mixed Frontier Commission were killed on Soviet territory some 12 kilometres from the Finnish frontier. Indignant at this murder the Soviet Government demanded the immediate investigation by a Mixed Commission and some additional guarantees, but the Finnish Government avoided giving a satisfactory reply. It was only in July, 1924, that an end was put to the conflict after the Finnish Government had made concessions on a number of points and had carried out changes in the personnel of the Schutz Corps.

On March 17, 1922, an agreement was signed between Latvia, Poland, Finland, and Estonia regarding “ guarantees ” (the so-called “ accord ” policy). This Treaty was actually a military-political alliance directed against Soviet Russia. Its anti-Soviet nature was, indeed, so clear that the majority of the Finnish Seim taking into account the failure of the Karelian adventure and being afraid that the agreement of March 17, 1922, would inevitably lead to a new military conflict with the Soviet Republic refused to ratify it and, as a result, one of the authors of this agreement, the Finnish Minister Holsti, was compelled to resign.

The great hostility of the Government of Finland towards the Soviet Union manifested itself in particular in the speech of the Finnish Representative, Enkel, in the autumn of 1924 at the Assembly of the League of Nations. Enkel called on the League of Nations to intervene in the internal affairs of the U.S.S.R. in the so-called “ Georgian question.” This time it was not a case of Karelia in which Finland was “ interested,” but Georgia, which it would have seemed was and could be of no particular interest to Finland.

At the end of 1926 a Government with Tanner at its head, came to power in Finland. This Government, so far from making any effort to put an end to the anti-Soviet bias of Finnish foreign policy, actually in various ways, encouraged the activities of the Russian White Guards who had transformed Finland into a nest of hostilities against the U.S.S.R. For instance, the traces revealed by the investigation of the explosion organised by White Guards in the Leningrad business club in 1927, led direct to Helsinki. Precisely at this period the President of Finland, Relander, carried on prolonged negotiations with the “representative” of the Russian monarchists, Grevenitz, endeavouring to obtain a guarantee that he would recognise the independence of Finland after the overthrow of the Soviet Government. It should be noted that Grevenitz, on his part, avoided the formulation of any clear guarantee regarding the independence of Finland after the proposed overthrow of the Soviet Government.

In this connection, it is interesting to recall that at the time of the Yudenitch attack on Petrograd in 1919, the Finnish Government, through Mannerheim, demanded from General Koltchak the de jure recognition of the independence of Finland as a condition for the formal and direct participation of Finland in the war against the Soviet Government. Koltchak, who looked upon himself as the heir and perpetuator of Tsarism categorically refused such recognition.

Beginning with 1925, the Soviet Government began the policy of concluding with their neighbours pacts of non-aggression and neutrality. It is quite evident that these Pacts should have served as guarantees for the preservation of peace and the consolidation of good-neighbourly relations. In May, 1926, the Soviet Government offered Finland the conclusion of a Pact of non-aggression and neutrality. Unable, in view of their own public opinion, to reject openly such a proposal, the Finnish Government accepted it in words, actually, however, they sabotaged the conclusion of this agreement in every possible way and the Pact was not signed until 1932.

In the period with which we are dealing the Finnish Government not only themselves pursued a hostile policy towards the Soviet Union, but in a number of cases they took the initiative in organising international combinations of an anti-Soviet character. We have already noted the part played by Finnish foreign policy in the creation of the Warsaw “ guarantee ” agreement of March 17, 1922. Equally hostile towards the Soviets was the line taken by the Finnish Government at the Moscow Conference for the limitation of armaments, called on the initiative of the Soviet Government in December, 1922. At this Conference the Soviet Government proposed a proportional decrease of its own army as well as of the armies of all the neighbouring countries. The Finnish Delegation which took a most active part did its best to bring about the failure of the Conference.