The Finland–Soviet Union Peace and Friendship Society (

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

: ''Suomen-Neuvostoliiton rauhan ja ystävyyden seura'', SNS) was a

anti-war An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to pa ...

propaganda organization founded on 22 May 1940 by Communist politician

Mauri Ryömä Mauri Ryömä (30 October 1911, Helsinki – 28 November 1958) was a Finnish physician and politician. Biography He was a member of the Parliament of Finland, representing the Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP) from 1936 to 1937 and the F ...

in the aftermath of 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 ...

between the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and

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 ...

. It called for an avoidance of future wars and maintained a firmly pro-Soviet stand, distributing propaganda leaflets and participating in riots. It had 35,000 paying members in 115 local branches within five months after its founding.Anthony F. Upton. ''The Communist Parties of Scandinavia and Finland''. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. 1973. pp. 229-30. On 24 July the Soviet foreign minister

Vyacheslav Molotov Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov. ; (;. 9 March Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O._S._25_February.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O. S. 25 February">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dat ...

accused the Finnish government of persecuting the society and later he publicly supported it. The society organized demonstrations, some of which turned into riots. On 23 December however it was banned, having been widely seen as a

front organization A front organization is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization, such as intelligence agencies, organized crime groups, terrorist organizations, secret societies, banned organizations, religious or political groups, advocacy gro ...

of the illegal

Communist Party of Finland The Communist Party of Finland ( fi, Suomen Kommunistinen Puolue, SKP; sv, Finlands Kommunistiska Parti) was a communist political party in Finland. The SKP was a section of Comintern and illegal in Finland until 1944. The SKP was banned by ...

and as detrimental to the national interests of Finland.

References

Soviet Union friendship associations Political organisations based in Finland Finland–Soviet Union relations {{Finland-poli-stub