Finland

Flag of Finland

Finland, also known as the Kingdom of Finland is a cold forested nation in the wastes of Northern Europe. It is a unitary constitutional monarchy with a powerful monarch especially after the events of 1937. It is ruled by the house of Hesse, appointed by the German Empire. Finland stayed out of much of the main fighting of the Weltkreig with it and a small Russian force facing off in their own front. Finland, like most German puppets, was declared in the aftermath of the Russian Civil War and suffered a short lived civil war where reds tried to overthrow it. While Finland did preserve its independence it lost some territories to Russia, with Ingria in particular being taken along with the city of Vipuri. Finland is a member of the Reichspakt as well as Mitteleuropa due to its status as a German Puppet.

## History

Finland in 1936 was the most stable of the German Puppet states with a popular monarch and a far away position from the chaos of the Baltics. However internally there was a specter haunting the kingdom, the Lapua plot. This plot wanted to overthrow the Finnish king and establish a National Populist regime inside of Finland, it had popular support as the Finnish people did not like their German overlords. However the government discovered the plot only about a month before it was set to fire of and the government sent in the police force to quickly break apart it. This would save the kingdom and keep power in the monarchy with General Mannerheim becoming the lead general in the army. And this came at a good time as the rise of Boris Savinkov would quickly come to the attention of Finnish army planners. Finland had taken some hits from Black Monday but was able to rebound relatively quickly compared to the rest of the German Puppets. So as tensions rose Finland began preparations for guerilla warfare and defending in its vast forests and tundras. This would end up being a great decision as when the Russian State declared war on the Reichspakt, Finland was dragged into the conflict. Finnish forces would end up preforming far better than expected with some areas having K/L ratios so high that Finnish soldiers had to be taken off the frontlines for psychological damage of destroying so many Russian soldiers. However most of the fighting occurred in and around the Ingrian front where the small ismuth would become one of the bloodiest areas in the entire Weltkreig. Finnish forces were slowly driven back year after year as 1941 went into 1942 and so on and so forth with little gains for the Russians. This would sap away most of the Russian strength in the Finnish theater as Savinkov ordered that something needed to be done in order to knock Finland out of the war. But the entrance of Sweden onto the side of the German Empire detirmined the outcome of the front. But the Russians went on with the offensive anyways and broke through getting very close to Helsinki before Swedish forces drove the Russians back to the area around Vipuri. However the outcome of the front was not detirmined by the Finns but rather by the Germans who signed a truce with the Russians ceding them the Ingrian ismuth and Vipuri. After the war Finland had to rebuild Helsinki witch had been bombed for most of the war. However Finlands main objective is providing timber to the rest of the Reichspakt who needs it for much of its reconstruction efforts. Finland provides a good checkmate against the Russians should war arise and its plentiful forests will help with rebuilding Warsaw, Frankfurt, and many other cites laid to ruins by the war.

## Military

The Finnish military is one of the most acclaimed on earth with a small but elite force of troopers left over from the Weltkreig. Finland's naval and air forces are also known for their service and utility in the event of war with Russia. Should conflict arise again Finland will surely provide the forces necessary to end the Russian State up in the north.

### Army

The Finnish Army is one of the most elite forces in the world, known for their unorthodox tactics and great leaders they were able to hold off the much more numerous Russian State for over 4 years straight while taking very few casualties themselves. If conflict arises again the Finnish Army will be a great asset for the Reichspakt.

### Navy

The Finnish Navy is also quite large for its size and was able to hold the Russian Baltic fleet in the Gulf of Finland for the duration of the war. However compared to the juggernaut of Germany the Finnish navy is a blip on the radar.

### Air Force

The Finnish air force is quite small but still able to conduct defensive operations being only created in response to the Russian bombings of Helsinki.