Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1948

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Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1948
Russian SFSR, USSR
Expiry20 January 1992 (1992-01-20)
Original
signatories
SignatoriesSoviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov
Prime Minister of Finland Mauno Pekkala
LanguagesRussian, Swedish, Finnish
Presidents Urho Kekkonen and Nikolai Podgorny at the Finlandia Hall, who signed the YYA agreement in 1973.
A Finnish postage stamp was issued in 1973
A Soviet postage stamp was issued in 1988
Postage stamps mark the 25th and 40th anniversary of the YYA agreement.

The Agreement of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance of 1948, also known as the YYA Treaty from the

Swedish: Vänskaps-, samarbets- och biståndsavtalet (VSB-avtalet)), was the basis for Finno–Soviet relations from 1948 to 1992. It was the main instrument in implementing the Finnish policy called Paasikivi–Kekkonen doctrine
.

Under the treaty, which was signed on 6 April 1948, the Soviets sought to deter

Powers from attacking the Soviet Union through Finnish territory, and the Finns sought to increase Finland's political independence from the Soviet Union. It thus ensured Finland's survival as a liberal democracy in close proximity to strategic Soviet regions, such as the Kola Peninsula and the old capital Leningrad
.

Under the pact, Finland was obliged to resist armed attacks by "Germany or its allies" (in reality interpreted as the

great-power conflicts, allowing the country to adopt a policy of neutrality in the Cold War
.

Due to the uncertain status of Finno–Soviet relations in the years after the

note crisis. This influence was commonly referred to as Finlandization
. It is hotly debated to what degree President Kekkonen (President 1956–1981) intentionally used it to further his own influence and damage his opponents.

Despite the official policy, there was some secret co-operation with the West. This ranged from Finnish organizations such as the Social Democratic Party accepting U.S. Central Intelligence Agency funding to sharing of seismic data on nuclear tests. Likewise, Eastern Bloc countries conducted espionage in Finland, e.g., the East German Stasi had agents there.

The Soviet Union had similar agreements with many nations that were not directly allied with it but depended heavily on Soviet support, such as North Korea since 1961, with India since 1971, and Vietnam since 1978. The first such agreement, however, was with Free France on 10 December 1944.[1]

The treaty came to an end in 1992 with the signing of a new treaty between Finland and the

post-Soviet Russia.[2]

References

  1. ^ "The Franco–Soviet Treaty of ALliance and Mutual Aid" (PDF). University Library of Hawaii. 10 December 1944. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  2. JSTOR 20045309
    .

External links
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