Edited sentence: A Red victory in the Civil War would however have led to even worse consequences, including Finland's close association to the USSR, brain drain, and  a massive westward surge of refugees.A possessive reaction on the Åland Islands' wish to return to their mother country in the Åland Crisis, and a war of conquest in the Russian part of Karelia, followed by rebellions supported/initiated by Finnish Freikorps, obstacled confident relations to Finland's larger neighbours Sweden and USSR for decades.After the Civil War strong anti-Socialist sentiments dominated Finland - which also was a serious obstacle in the relations to the dominant Social Democrats in Sweden, and the dominant Bolshevists in Russia.And it can be argued that without the Civil War, USSR would been much less inclined to launch the Winter War at all, as:.But this was only the initial cost.The Civil War, and not the least the pre-war polarization, can be argued to have been decissive for the development leading to the Winter War and the harsh Moscow Peace:.The consequence of the Civil War was that closer and cordial relations to Sweden couldn't be realized in time, why Finland stood alone when USSR attacked.There wouldn't have been any German military intervention in 1918, less of ties between Germany and Finland in the inter-war years, and hence no reason to fear a German assault on Saint Petersburg via Finland.There wouldn't have been any colony of exiled Red leaders in Moscow, giving an exaggerated picture of the Finns' division and their longing for Socialism.There wouldn't have been the vitrious anti-Socialism in the Finnish debate, giving the impression that Finland was a threat for the Soviet Union.Through the pre-war development, the war itself, and the harsh treatment of the defeated population, Finland and the Finns earned an international reputation as confrontative and aggressive.Without the Civil War, expeditions to Russian Karelia seem unlikely, and also the relations to Sweden had had a chance of a more positive development