Karelian I.

[Pego]

My command of English is not perfect, but as far as I understand the meaning of "annexation," there never was "Soviet annexation of Finland," thank God and the Finnish soldiers.

I should have said "partial". Didn't the Soviet Union occupy a sizable strip of Finland for a few years?

[Olli]

No. Sizable parts of Finland (most of the province of Karelia and some smaller northern areas) had to be ceded to the Soviet Union according to the peace treaty. These parts are still part of Russia. Otherwise, they never occupied any parts of Finland except for the leasing of two small naval bases (Hanko in 1940–1941 and Porkkala in 1948–1956).

In fact, Finland is one of the few countries in Europe that were never occupied by foreign forces during WWII.

[Pego]

Sizable parts of Finland (most of the province of Karelia and some smaller northern areas) had to be ceded to the Soviet Union

I don't see where this does not equate annexation, but OK, there is no point to beat this horse any longer.

[Olli]

I answered to your later question: "Didn't the Soviet Union occupy a sizable strip of Finland for a few years?" That never happened. We lost a "sizable strip" for good. (By the way, that "strip" was not even entirely conquered in the war, but it had to be ceded under the harsh peace treaty.)

[Pego]

I answered to your later question: "Didn't the Soviet Union occupy a sizable strip of Finland for a few years?" That never happened. We lost a "sizable strip" for good. (By the way, that "strip" was not even entirely conquered in the war, but it had to be ceded under the harsh peace treaty.)

I don't think we have a disagreement about what happened, just used different words for it. I originally used the word "annexation", you use "ceded by treaty."

[tandfman]

By the way, if you said you read the Wikipedia article about Winter War, you might have noticed a caption above the first picture which says "Part of World War II." And as far as I can see, there is no rationale to think otherwise.

I did not notice that caption. If I had, I would not have made my comment. My bad.