Treaty of Tartu (Finland–Russia)

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Treaty of Tartu
  • Russian: Тартуский мирный договор
  • Finnish: Tarton rauha
  • Swedish: Fredsfördraget i Dorpat
Repola and Porajärvi (green) were handed back to Russia.
TypePeace treaty
Signed14 October 1920 (1920-10-14)
LocationTartu, Estonia
Effective31 December 1920 (according to article 39 of the treaty)
Expiration1939
(beginning of the Winter War)
Parties
Languages

The Treaty of Tartu (Russian: Тартуский мирный договор; Finnish: Tarton rauha; Swedish: Fredsfördraget i Dorpat) was signed on 14 October 1920 between Finland and Soviet Russia after negotiations that lasted nearly five months. The treaty confirmed the border between Finland and Soviet Russia after the Finnish Civil War and Finnish volunteer expeditions in Russian East Karelia that resulted in annexation of several Russian districts.

The treaty was signed in

League of Nations Treaty Series on 5 March 1921.[1]

Political background

This turbulent time in Finnish and Russian politics influenced the events that led to the Treaty of Tartu. Prior to the Treaty of Tartu, Finnish political parties shifted their sovereign policies several times. In early 1917, the conservative party was split into two factions: The

Old Finns and the Young Finns. The Old Finns wanted to keep ties to St. Petersburg close and argued against an independent Finland, hoping not to agitate the Russian monarchy and further limit Finnish autonomy. The Young Finns differed in this regard as they promoted the idea of an independent Finland. The third major Finnish party were the leftist social-democrats. These social democrats also wanted to see an independent Finland.[2]

All of this changed in the matter of a short few months when the

Bolshevik Revolution. The Bolsheviks became an ally to the Finnish social democrats as they shared common ideological ground. This changed the stance of the social democrats, leading them to become pro-Russian. Meanwhile, the Old Finns, in disagreement with the Bolshevik policies became pro-independence. During the November 1917 election the coalition representing the pro-independence parties won the cabinet election and immediately moved to make Finland an independent nation with the Finnish Declaration of Independence.[3] As the Bolshevik ideology formally subscribed to each people's right for self-determination and condemned any form of imperialism, Lenin
saw the opportunity to promote his public support for the Finnish declaration as a showpiece of benevolence of the new Soviet system.

However, the move for independence, Soviet support and general uncertainty and unrest in the society encouraged the militant left to attempt to duplicate the success of Russia's recent revolution, and soon after, the Finnish Civil War began. In the war the revolutionary socialist militia known as the Finnish Red Army clashed against the Finnish White forces, which were loyal to the legal (non-socialist) government. The government's forces, assisted by a division of regular German forces and Swedish volunteers, pushed back the Red troops that had initially controlled the industrial southern provinces and within some months, won the war. The border question between Russia and Finland remained unsettled after the war. Around 1,400-1,650 people died in the ranks of the Red troops, while between 7,000 and 10,000 people died within the White ones. In total, 37,000-38,500 people died as a result of the Civil War, and 76,000 prisoners - of which 100 were executed - were captured by the Whites in cooperation with the German forces.[4] Casualties of Finnish Civil War were according to a Finnish Government project:[5] Died in battle: "whites" 3,414, "reds" 5,199; Missing: whites 46, reds 1,767; Executed: whites 1,424, reds 7,370; Died in prison camps: whites 4, reds 11,652 - total deaths 36,640.

Following the civil war, the Finnish government sought to seek additional security by forming ties with the Germans. This alliance was short lived with the defeat of the central powers during

Treaty of Tartu (Russian–Estonian), the voices questioning the legality and honor of dealing with the violently established Bolshevik government were also diminishing. Especially, the large, moderately socialist Social Democrat party was willing to finally normalize the relations with the greater neighboring state. Nevertheless, some nationalistic and rightist elements in Finnish Parliament still considered the planned treaty as going too far, even shameful, by giving up some of the initial negotiation goals and shattering their ideals of a greater national state including also eastern territories settled from ancient times by Finnic Karelian people, which never belonged to the Autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland.[6] Some of those districts were annexed from Russia by Finnish military expeditions in 1918 shortly after Russian soviet government granted independence to Finland. In hindsight, the treaty was rather good to Finland, especially compared to the treaties made at the end of Second World War.[7]

Contents

A caricature in Kurikka magazine September 30, 1920, shows the price of Finland's corridor to the Arctic Ocean.

The treaty confirmed that the Finnish-Soviet border would follow the old border between the autonomous

coastal fortress in Ino, opposite the Soviet city Kronstadt located on the island of Kotlin
. The Finnish outer islands in the Gulf of Finland were demilitarized.

The treaty was subject to controversy first during the

East Karelian Uprising 1921–1922
when the Finnish government allowed volunteers to take part in the conflict.

The treaty was finally broken by the Soviet Union in 1939, when it started the Winter War against Finland.

Delegations

Finnish

Soviet

See also

References

  1. ^ League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. 3, pp. 6–79
  2. JSTOR 2163860
    .
  3. ISSN 0021-3624
    .
  4. ^ "Finland". Finland | Communist Crimes. Retrieved 2020-08-15.
  5. ^ "Vuoden 1918 sodan sotasurmat kuolintavan ja osapuolen mukaan. Valtioneuvoston kanslia, Suomi Finland (Finnish Government was casualties project)". Suomen sotasurmat 1914-1922. 19 May 2004. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  6. ^ "The Republic made peace with Soviet Russia – Svinhuvfud".
  7. ^ "Tracing Finland's eastern border". 22 March 2011.
  8. ^ Pieni tietosanakirja, [1] , though it was meant that Finland continued to be a Grand Duchy within the Russian Empire. "The senate had suggested in 1863 that if the promise of handing over the weapons factory in question and its surrounding area to Russia could be realized, then the above mentioned coastal region could be given to Finland. In 1864 there were imperial statutes about that, but that never occurred." (translation from Finnish)

External links

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