page_title: Axis powers
section_title: Finland
hierarchical_section_title: Axis powers / Co-belligerent state combatants / Finland
caption_attribution_description: Suomi: Suomalaiset panssaritorjuntamiehet tutkivat ohikulkiessaan tuhoutunutta venäläistä hyökkäysvaunua. Suomi: Suomalaiset panssaritorjuntamiehet tutkivat ohikulkiessaan tuhoutunutta venäläistä hyökkäysvaunua. (Kuvassa on läpi murtautunut T-34-panssarivaunu, jonka saksalainen rynnäkkötykki tuhosi. Lähimpänä kameraa on kersantti Heino Nikulassi (6./JR 12), keskellä kersantti Kaarlo (Kalle) Niemelä (8./JR 12) ja vasemmalla panssarijääkäri Eino Heikkilä. Kuva otettu 30. kesäkuuta 1944 Ihantalassa.) Viipurin pohjoispuoli. English: Finnish soldiers of Infantry Regiment 12 inspect a destroyed Soviet T-34 tank destroyed by a German assault gun during the Battle of Tali-Ihantala in northern Vyborg. From left, jaeger Eino Heikkilä, sergeant Kalle Niemelä and sergeant Heino Nikulassi. Niemelä and Nikulassi have Panzerfäuste on their shoulders, Nikulassi is carrying a Finnish-made Suomi KP/-31 submachine gun.
context_page_description: The Axis powers, also known as "Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis" was a military alliance that fought in World War II against the Allies. The Axis powers agreed on their opposition to the Allies, but did not completely coordinate their activity.
  The Axis grew out of the diplomatic efforts of Germany, Italy, and Japan to secure their own specific expansionist interests in the mid-1930s. The first step was the treaty signed by Germany and Italy in October 1936. Benito Mussolini declared on 1 November 1936 that all other European countries would from then on rotate on the Rome–Berlin axis, thus creating the term "Axis". The almost simultaneous second step was the signing in November 1936 of the Anti-Comintern Pact, an anti-communist treaty between Germany and Japan. Italy and Spain joined the Pact in 1937. The "Rome–Berlin Axis" became a military alliance in 1939 under the so-called "Pact of Steel", with the Tripartite Pact of 1940 leading to the integration of the military aims of Germany, Italy and Japan.
  At its zenith in 1942 during World War II, the Axis presided over territories that occupied large parts of Europe, North Africa, and East Asia.
context_section_description: Although Finland never signed the Tripartite Pact and legally (de jure) was not a part of the Axis, it was Axis-aligned in its fight against the Soviet Union. Finland signed the revived Anti-Comintern Pact of November 1941.
  The August 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between Germany and the Soviet Union contained a secret protocol dividing much of eastern Europe and assigning Finland to the Soviet sphere of influence. After unsuccessfully attempting to force territorial and other concessions on the Finns, the Soviet Union tried to invade Finland in November 1939 during the Winter War, intending to establish a communist puppet government in Finland. The conflict threatened Germany's iron-ore supplies and offered the prospect of Allied interference in the region. Despite Finnish resistance, a peace treaty was signed in March 1940, wherein Finland ceded some key territory to the Soviet Union, including the Karelian Isthmus, containing Finland's second-largest city, Viipuri, and the critical defensive structure of the Mannerheim Line. After this war, Finland sought protection and support from the United Kingdom and non-aligned Sweden, but was thwarted by Soviet and German actions. This resulted in Finland being drawn closer to Germany, first with the intent of enlisting German support as a counterweight to thwart continuing Soviet pressure, and later to help regain lost territories.
  In the opening days of Operation Barbarossa, Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union, Finland permitted German planes returning from mine dropping runs over Kronstadt and Neva River to refuel at Finnish airfields before returning to bases in East Prussia. In retaliation, the Soviet Union launched a major air offensive against Finnish airfields and towns, which resulted in a Finnish declaration of war against the Soviet Union on 25 June 1941. The Finnish conflict with the Soviet Union is generally referred to as the Continuation War.
  Finland's main objective was to regain territory lost to the Soviet Union in the Winter War. However, on 10 July 1941, Field Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim issued an Order of the Day that contained a formulation understood internationally as a Finnish territorial interest in Russian Karelia.
  Diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and Finland were severed on 1 August 1941, after the British bombed German forces in the Finnish village and port of Petsamo. The United Kingdom repeatedly called on Finland to cease its offensive against the Soviet Union, and declared war on Finland on 6 December 1941, although no other military operations followed. War was never declared between Finland and the United States, though relations were severed between the two countries in 1944 as a result of the Ryti-Ribbentrop Agreement.
  Finland maintained command of its armed forces and pursued war objectives independently of Germany. Germans and Finns did work closely together during Operation Silver Fox, a joint offensive against Murmansk. Finland took part in the Siege of Leningrad.
  The relationship between Finland and Germany more closely resembled an alliance during the six weeks of the Ryti-Ribbentrop Agreement, which was presented as a German condition for help with munitions and air support, as the Soviet offensive coordinated with D-Day threatened Finland with complete occupation. The agreement, signed by President Risto Ryti but never ratified by the Finnish Parliament, bound Finland not to seek a separate peace.
  After Soviet offensives were fought to a standstill, Ryti's successor as president, Marshall Mannerheim, dismissed the agreement and opened secret negotiations with the Soviets, which resulted in a ceasefire on 4 September and the Moscow Armistice on 19 September 1944. Under the terms of the armistice, Finland was obliged to expel German troops from Finnish territory, which resulted in the Lapland War. Finland signed a peace treaty with the Allied powers in 1947.
caption: Finnish troops passing by the remains of a destroyed Soviet T-34 at the battle of Tali-Ihantala
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