As a result of the 1940

Moscow Peace Treaty The Moscow Peace Treaty was signed by Finland and the Soviet Union on 12 March 1940, and the ratifications were exchanged on 21 March. It marked the end of the 105-day Winter War, upon which Finland ceded border areas to the Soviet Union. The ...

that concluded the

Winter War The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

ceded a portion of

Finnish Karelia Karelia ( fi, Karjala) is a historical province of Finland which Finland partly ceded to the Soviet Union after the Winter War of 1939–40. The Finnish Karelians include the present-day inhabitants of North and South Karelia and the still-sur ...

along with other territories to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. As a result, about 410,000 people, or 12% of Finland's population, were relocated to the remaining parts of Finland. The treaty did not require Finland to empty the ceded territory, but few were willing to stay, and almost the whole population chose to relocate, taking their belongings with them. Only the buildings and machinery were to be left behind intact as per the Peace Treaty, which for the most part also took place. During the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet-Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944, as part of World War II.; sv, fortsättningskriget; german: Fortsetzungskrieg. A ...

, some 260,000 of the displaced population returned home."An OSS Report on Wartime Population Changes in the Baltic"
Lithuanian Quarterly J. on Arts and Sci. Vol. 27, No. 3, 1981 In June 1944, Finnish troops partially withdrew from the ceded areas again as a result of the Soviet

Fourth strategic offensive Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

. Simultaneously, the population was again evacuated. The

Paris Peace Treaty The Paris Peace Treaties (french: Traités de Paris) were signed on 10 February 1947 following the end of World War II in 1945. The Paris Peace Conference lasted from 29 July until 15 October 1946. The victorious wartime Allied powers (princi ...

finally confirmed the loss of Finland's territory. The evacuees were permanently settled in Finland. The

government of Finland sv, Finlands statsråd , border = , image = File:Finnish Government logo.png , image_size = 250 , caption = , date = , state = Republic of Finland , polity = , coun ...

subsidized A subsidy or government incentive is a form of financial aid or support extended to an economic sector (business, or individual) generally with the aim of promoting economic and social policy. Although commonly extended from the government, the ter ...

the resettlement in two ways: *Resettlers were subsidized. Families were allocated land in proportion to their former property. In addition, everyone evacuated from Finnish Karelia was given the right to receive a homestead and city-dwellers and business-owners were given monetary compensation. The right to homestead was also extended to

war veterans A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that h ...

widows A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word can so ...

and orphans of war. *Private owners of the land given to resettlers were monetarily compensated for the loss of real estate. Since the 1990s, some associations have demanded the return of Finnish Karelia to Finland.

References

External links

Virtanen, P. V. Asutustoiminta itsenäisessä Suomessa
Maankäyttö 1/2006. {{in lang, fi

Forced migrations in Europe

Finland in World War II Winter War Continuation War 1940 in Finland 1944 in Finland Soviet military occupations Finland–Soviet Union relations

See also

References

External links