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Porkkala Naval Base was a
Soviet 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 nation ...
naval base operational from 1944–1956 in the
municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
of
Kirkkonummi Kirkkonummi (; sv, Kyrkslätt, , Sweden ) is a municipality of inhabitants () in southern Finland. The literal meaning of the words "''Kirkkonummi''" and "''Kyrkslätt''" in English is "church heath". Geography The municipality is located just ...
,
Ingå Ingå (; fi, Inkoo) is a municipality of Finland. Ingå is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Uusimaa region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density ...
and
Siuntio Siuntio (; sv, Sjundeå) is a municipality of Finland located in the Uusimaa region in the province of Southern Finland. Its neighboring municipalities are Ingå to the west, Kirkkonummi, to the east, Lohja to the north-west, and Vihti to the no ...
on the
Porkkala Porkkalanniemi ( sv, Porkala udd) is a peninsula in the Gulf of Finland, located at Kirkkonummi (Kyrkslätt) in Southern Finland. The peninsula had great strategic value, as coastal artillery based there would be able to shoot more than hal ...
peninsula, 30 kilometers (19 mi) ''west'' of
Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...
, the Finnish capital. The area was leased 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, ...
according to the 1944 signed
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 mo ...
between Finland, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom. The area was returned to Finland in 1956, and currently hosts a Finnish naval base
Upinniemi Upinniemi ( sv, Obbnäs) is a village in the municipality of Kirkkonummi in southern Finland. It is located approximately 12 km south of the municipal centre. Upinniemi is dominated by the naval base (formerly the Porkkala Naval Base), whi ...
.


History

At the end of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
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, ...
secured the rights of lease to a naval base at Porkkala, in accordance with the
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 mo ...
agreement that ended 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 ...
, between Finland and the Soviets on September 19, 1944. Porkkala thus replaced the peninsula of
Hanko Hanko may refer to People *August Hanko (military personnel), August Hanko, German First World War flying ace Places *Hanko, Finland, town and municipality *Hanko Peninsula, Finland *Hankø, an island in the Oslo Fjord in Norway *The asteroid ...
, which had been leased to the Soviets as a naval base in 1940–41. A large area centered on the peninsula, including land from the municipalities of
Kirkkonummi Kirkkonummi (; sv, Kyrkslätt, , Sweden ) is a municipality of inhabitants () in southern Finland. The literal meaning of the words "''Kirkkonummi''" and "''Kyrkslätt''" in English is "church heath". Geography The municipality is located just ...
,
Siuntio Siuntio (; sv, Sjundeå) is a municipality of Finland located in the Uusimaa region in the province of Southern Finland. Its neighboring municipalities are Ingå to the west, Kirkkonummi, to the east, Lohja to the north-west, and Vihti to the no ...
and
Ingå Ingå (; fi, Inkoo) is a municipality of Finland. Ingå is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Uusimaa region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density ...
and almost the entire area of
Degerby Degerby is a former Finnish municipality located in Uusimaa region in Finland. Degerby was founded in 1867 after it gained its independence from the municipality of Ingå. The municipality ceased to exist in 1945 after major part of it became a ...
, was leased to the USSR from 29 September 1944, ten days after the armistice. It was immediately placed under a military commander, Neon Vasilyevich Antonov (1907–1948), who remained in office till June 1945, when he was transferred to command the Amur River flotilla, in preparation for the war against Japan. On 1 November 1944, the headquarters and other assets of the 55th Rifle Division were converted into the 1st Mozyr Red Banner Naval Infantry Division of the Baltic Fleet at Oranienbaum. Its subordinate units were renumbered. The 107th Rifle Regiment became the 1st Regiment, the 111th Rifle Regiment became the 2nd Regiment, and the 228th became the 3rd Regiment. The 185th Tank Regiment became the 1st Tank Regiment and the 84th Artillery became the 1st Artillery. The division formed the garrison of the Porkkala Naval Base. In 1948, the division became the 1st Machine Gun Artillery Division of the Baltic Fleet. The 1st Regiment became the 51st Machine Gun Artillery Regiment, the 2nd Regiment the 54th, and the 3rd Regiment the 57th. The 1st Tank Regiment was renumbered as the 194th and the 1st Artillery was renumbered as the 414th. The 53rd and 60th Machine Gun Artillery Regiments were added to the division after being formed from ground units. The division included 16,000 soldiers, occupying 280 machine gun and 208 artillery bunkers. In 1955, negotiations for a Soviet withdrawal began, and the division began disbanding in August 1955. The process was completed in January 1956, when what remained of the division was disbanded at the Bobochinsky Camp in the
Leningrad Military District The Leningrad Military District was a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 2010 it was merged with the Moscow Military District, the Northern Fleet and the Baltic Fleet to form the new Western Military District ...
. According to the armistice of 1944, the area was leased to the Soviet Union for 50 years. On February 10, 1947, 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 ...
reaffirmed the Soviet Union's right to occupy this area until 1994. No Soviet civilian administration was set up, the USSR simply administered it through the military commander of Porkkala, a post held until 26 January 1956 by Sergey Ivanovich Kabanov (1901–1973), the former Commander of Hanko naval base. While under Soviet control, Finnish passenger trains running between Helsinki and
Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...
were allowed to use the line through the area. However all train windows had to be closed with shutters, and photography was prohibited. Although the Soviet lease for Porkkala had been conceded for 50 years, an agreement was reached to return it earlier. The agreement was signed on September 19, 1955, exactly 11 years after the armistice, and control of the area was handed back to Finland on January 26, 1956. This may be attributed to the
Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1948 left, 380px, Signing of the Finno-Soviet Treaty between the Soviet Union and Finland in Moscow on April 6, 1948. Signed by Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov, followed by Soviet Prime Minister Joseph Stalin. To the left of Stalin are ...
, the conditions of which made the naval base unnecessary. At present, the Porkkala area houses one of the main bases of the
Finnish Navy The Finnish Navy ( fi, Merivoimat, sv, Marinen) is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. The navy employs 2,300 people and about 4,300 conscripts are trained each year. Finnish Navy vessels are given the ship prefix "FNS", short f ...
, located in
Upinniemi Upinniemi ( sv, Obbnäs) is a village in the municipality of Kirkkonummi in southern Finland. It is located approximately 12 km south of the municipal centre. Upinniemi is dominated by the naval base (formerly the Porkkala Naval Base), whi ...
, near Porkkala proper.


References

{{Authority control Military installations of Finland Military installations closed in 1956 Continuation War Kirkkonummi Russian and Soviet Navy bases Finland–Soviet Union relations Military installations of the Soviet Union in other countries