National Veterans' Day (, ) is a remembrance day for all the

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in an job, occupation or Craft, field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in the military, armed forces. A topic o ...

s of Finland. It is celebrated each year on 27 April. According to

Moscow Armistice The Moscow Armistice was signed between Finland on one side and the Soviet Union and United Kingdom on the other side on 19 September 1944, ending the Continuation War. The Armistice restored the Moscow Peace Treaty of 1940, with a number of modi ...

Finland was obliged to demand all German troops to leave Finland by 15 September 1944, which was technically impossible. The Germans executed the operation Tanne Ost, trying to occupy Hogland from the Finnish armed forces and defend the Estonian coast from the Soviet Baltic Navy on the Eastern isles of the Baltic Sea. The Finns, at the request of the Allied Control Committee, attacked the Germans in

Pudasjärvi Pudasjärvi () is a town and a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region, northeast of the city of Oulu and southwest of the town of Kuusamo. The town has a population of () ...

on 28 September 1944, which marked the beginning of combat in Finnish Lapland between the former co-belligerents. World War II in Finland ended on 27 April 1945, when the very last German troops had left Finland and crossed the border to the German-occupied Norway in the municipality of

Enontekiö Enontekiö (; ; ; ; ) is a municipality in the Finnish part of Lapland with approximately inhabitants. It is situated in the outermost northwest of the country and occupies a large and very sparsely populated area of about between the Swedis ...

. Finnish Defence Forces would reach

Three-Country Cairn The Three-Country Cairn (, , , ) is the tripoint at which the international borders of Sweden, Norway and Finland meet, and the name of the monument that marks the point. It is the northernmost international tripoint in the world.The border betw ...

of Finland, Norway and Sweden that same day. Even if the day reminds a victory day, it is not celebrated as such. Among the events there are services in the Evangelical Lutheran churches, honorary guards on the war hero tombs, deposing wreath and the collecting money for the charity of the last war veterans' needs.

History

On the initiative of the war veteran organisations the

Finnish Government The Finnish Government (; ; ) is the executive branch and cabinet of Finland, which directs the politics of Finland and is the main source of legislation proposed to the Parliament. The Government has collective ministerial responsibility an ...

declared the National Veterans' Day in 1986. It was celebrated the first time in

Lahti Lahti (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Päijät-Häme. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lahti is approximately , while the Lahti sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the mo ...

, 27 April 1987. There is one main event and several smaller main events in the various regions and many local events.Kansallisen veteraanipäivän päätoimikunta, the main executing committee of the National Veterans' Day, major Ilpo Karvinen, +358 299510145, Defence Command of the Finnish Defence Forces, Personnel Department and rear-admiral Antero Karumaa * 24th National Veterans' Day, in

Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...

2010 ** 11 000 attendants, 4 300 in the main happening * 25th National Veterans' Day, in

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

2011 ** Motto *** *** {{langx, sv, Budskapet förs vidare – vi yngre tar över *** English: ''The message is carried – we the younger take over''

Sources

April observances Culture of Finland Military history of Finland Victory days Annual events in Finland Veterans days 1986 establishments in Finland Spring (season) in Finland