In 1920 the Treaty of Tartu was signed in Tartu (Estonia) at the Estonian Students’ Society building. The ratifications of the treaty were exchanged in Moscow on December 31, 1920. The Tartu treaty confirmed that the Finnish-Soviet border would remain and follow the old border which was established between the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland and Imperial Russia. (Wikipedia, Treaty of Tartu (Russian– Finnish), 1920)
A WAR BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES 1918
The diplomatic relations between the repatriated Finland and Soviet Russia broke down following the Finland Liberation War outbreak. The Council of Russian People’s Commissars recognized that the Revolutionary People’s Delegation would be the future Finnish Government. The 42nd Army of Russia in Finland had also started military operations against White troops, and some of the Russian militaries became Reds military. There were no significant battles between Finland and Soviet Russia during the Finland Liberation War because the Reds of Finland played a significant role in the battles. Under the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty signed in March 1918 between Russia and the German Empire, Russian troops were withdrawn entirely from Finland except for a few volunteers. (Encyclopedia, Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, 1918)
The Finnish Senate, as the Government, for the first time declared that Finland was at war against Russia, at the beginning of April 1918, justifying the imprisonment of the Levis Kamenev of Bolsheviks in Åland.
Relations between the two countries could not be restored after the Bolsheviks expulsion from the Finland war. In April 1918, Soviet Russia appointed colonel Konstantin Kovankon as a diplomatic representative to Helsinki, but the Finnish authorities imprisoned him at the end of May and did not allow his successors to enter the country.
After the Finland Liberation War, Finland asked for assistance from Germany to solve the conflict issues of Eastern Karelia and Municipality in the Barents Sea port of Petsamo. After several requests, Germany agreed to host the peace talks between Finland and Russia, which took place in Berlin in August 1918 for three weeks. Negotiations ended unsuccessfully due to the uncoordinated regional requirements of both countries. Also, Soviet Russia did not accept the Finnish interpretation of the state of war between the two countries, as all Russian state property left in Finland would have been transferred and interpreted as Finland’s property.
Over the next two years, the leadership of Soviet Russia declared that it wished to maintain peaceful neighborly relations with Finland for the time being. Usually, diplomatic relations were not possible even though the occasional informal exchange of notes between the country’s foreign ministries. The Finns considered the state of war to continue and held informal contacts with the Russian White Leaders.
PEACE NEGOTIATIONS 1920
Peace negotiations over a Peace Treaty began in Estonia, Tartu, on June 12, 1920. The negotiations were held at the University of Tartu Student Organization Eesti Üliõpilaste Seltsi. J. K. Paasikivi led the Finnish Delegation.
The Delegation consisted of the same people as the Committee that had previously prepared the Finnish peace rules. The presidency was initially offered to Carl Enckell, but he refused because he opposed the Bolsheviks’ peace agreement.
When the members’ views on the need to link East Karelia to Finland varied, the Paasikivi Committee, as a compromise, intended to require the Eastern Karelians to decide by referendum to either side with Finland or with Russia.
Meanwhile, foreign Finland minister Holsti gave the Finnish Delegation the goal of pulling the eastern border to the line of lake Ladoga – Syvärin-Ääninen- the White Sea and linking Petsamo Municipality and the entire Kola peninsula to Finland. Only the requirements of Kirjasalo or Ingria have left aside because their pursuit was not considered realistic due to the continued Russian expansion location of St. Petersburg.
The city had outgrown and ex-pulsed the local population. It was decided to recommend the use of cultural autonomy to the Ingrians. Before starting the negotiations, Soviet Russia occupied the area between Murmansk Railway and Finland. It announced the establishment of a Karelian Workers’ Commune, led by Socialist Edvard Gylling, who had fled from Finland. According to Bolshevik, this was a demonstration that the people of East Karelia had solved the content of their sovereignty, and no referendum would be needed.
THE COURSE OF THE NEGOTIATIONS
In the beginning, the negotiations stalled in place on regional issues. The Russians insisted on maintaining the borders of 1914, except for the municipality of Repola and the municipality of Porajärvi, which could have been negotiated, as well as obtaining part of the Gulf of Finland Islands and the Karelian Canal. The Finns did not want to retreat from their demands for eastern Karelia because they suspected that Soviet Russia wanted peace as soon as possible with the war in Poland and the rest of its neighbors and would agree to concessions.
The negotiations stalled for several months before the parties were ready to overthrow their demands when the Red Army in Poland’s anti-war invasion near the Warsaw neighborhood in late summer, negotiations with Finland were suspended in mid-July from both sides’ wish for two weeks.
During the break, President K. J. Ståhlberg lowered demands. Finland still wanted the municipality of Petsamo while the population of Repola and Porajärvi had to decide on their own fate, but the sovereignty of East Karelia could be resilient.
After the negotiations resumed, the Finnish Delegation was deliberately delayed, as expected, to clarify the global situation. Finally, on August 9, Foreign Minister Rudolf Holsti allowed Finland’s delegates to start negotiations with realism, as Poland had already begun negotiations with the Council of Russia.
The truce was concluded between Finland and Soviet Russia in August in Poland; the Red Army was able to hit back at the Polish border, so Tartu’s negotiating arrangements began to compromise. Soviet Russia was ready to hand over Petsamo to Finland. However, it was still waiting for Finland to return the municipality of Repola and Porajärvi, closer to the Muurman railway track, the northernmost, year-round railroad to the north of Russia.
For Finland, however, two broad areas of the eastern bloc municipality were not as crucial as the year-round ice-free port of Petsamo. From Finland, possession of Repola and Porajärvi was also a way to improve the likelihood of being taken over by Petsamo.
This consensus was contributed by confidential Vaino Tanner, a representative of the Social Democrats of the Finnish Delegation, with Plato Keržentsev, a member of the Russian Delegation. Along with Tanner, only Paasikivi knew about these conversations. Tanner suggested to Kerzenville that the acquisition of Petsamo was a priority for the Finns concerning the preservation of Repola and Porajärvi. On Tanner’s suggestion, the Russian Delegation presented its last bid to replace these areas, to which the Finns agreed on September 7, 1920.
Foreign Minister Holsti, who was pressurized by public opinion, still insisted on keeping Repola and Porajärvi in a hurry. However, the Finnish Delegation did not want to tear apart the reconciliation that had taken place after months of work.
The latest disagreements concerned the borderline in the Fisham fishing island of Petsamo and the fate of the Gulf of Finland’s outer islands required by Russia.
On October 2, Vladimir Lenin, the Bolshevik Party’s politburo, ordered his representative to conclude peace with Poland and Finland as soon as possible.
TREATY OF TARTU 1920
The Treaty of Tartu was between Finland and Soviet Russia. It was finally signed on October 14. 1920. After the negotiations that lasted four months. The treaty confirmed the border between Finland and Soviet Russia, after the 1918 Bolsheviks expulsion from the Finland war and the Finnish volunteer expeditions in Russian East Karelia.
The treaty was signed in Tartu (Estonia) at the Estonian Students’ Society building. Ratifications of the treaty were exchanged in Moscow on December 31, 1920. The treaty registered in the League of Nations Treaty Series on March 5, 1921. The treaty confirmed that the Finnish-Soviet border would follow the old border between the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland and Imperial Russia. Finland additionally received Petsamo, with its ice-free harbor on the Arctic Ocean.
Victor Leinonen. A Claim For A True Worldview (Kindle Locations 2244-2256).
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