Porkkalanniemi ( sv, Porkala udd) is a peninsula in the
Gulf of Finland
The Gulf of Finland ( fi, Suomenlahti; et, Soome laht; rus, Фи́нский зали́в, r=Finskiy zaliv, p=ˈfʲinskʲɪj zɐˈlʲif; sv, Finska viken) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and E ...
, 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 halfway across the
Gulf of Finland
The Gulf of Finland ( fi, Suomenlahti; et, Soome laht; rus, Фи́нский зали́в, r=Finskiy zaliv, p=ˈfʲinskʲɪj zɐˈlʲif; sv, Finska viken) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and E ...
. If the same power controlled the
Estonian coast, on the opposite side of the gulf, it would then be able to block
Saint Petersburg's naval access to the
Baltic Sea. The distance to Estonia at the closest point is only . Porkkala is furthermore located only from
Helsinki, the Finnish capital, and a foreign power based there would be able to exert significant pressure on the
Finnish government.
Nowadays, the coasts of the peninsula are popular
birdwatching areas during the spring migrations of Arctic
geese and other
waterfowl.
History
At the end of the
Second World War, the
Soviet Union secured the
rights of lease to a
naval base at Porkkala, in accordance with the
Moscow armistice agreement that ended the
Continuation War between Finland and the Soviets on 19 September 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,
Siuntio and
Ingå and almost the entire area of
Degerby, was leased to the USSR from 29 September 1944, ten days after the armistice. At the time of the Soviet take-over of the area, there were about 7200 Finnish inhabitants and all were evacuated during ten days in September 1944.
Beyond its military use, the naval base served to apply political pressure on the Finnish governments and also to help build a Soviet espionage network.
It was immediately placed under a military commander,
Neon Antonov
Neon Vasilyevich Antonov (russian: Неон Васильевич Антонов; – 24 October 1948) was a Soviet Navy Rear Admiral and recipient of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, during World War II.
Early life
Antonov was born on 19 ...
(1907–1948), who remained in office until June 1945, when he was transferred to command the
Amur River
The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's List of longest rivers, tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China, Northeastern China (Inne ...
flotilla, in preparation for the
war against Japan.
According to the armistice of 1944, the area was leased to the Soviet Union for 50 years. On 10 February 1947, the
Paris Peace Treaty reaffirmed the Soviet Union's right to occupy the area until 1994.
No Soviet civilian administration was set up; the Soviet Union simply administered it through the military commander of Porkkala, a post held until 26 January 1956 by
Sergey Kabanov (1901–1973), the former Commander of Hanko naval base.
At the height of the naval base operations, 30 000 Soviet troops were stationed in the area along with 10 000 Soviet officials and civilians such as members of officers' families.
While under Soviet control, Finnish passenger trains running between Helsinki and
Turku were in 1947 allowed to use the railway through the area under payment of fees. However, all train windows had to be closed with shutters, and photography was prohibited during the 40 km transition.
During the
1952 Summer Olympics
The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...
in Helsinki, the
Soviet Olympic team was housed on the base, rather than in the
Olympic village.
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 19 September 1955, exactly 11 years after the armistice, and control of the area reverted to Finland on 26 January 1956.
This may be attributed to the process of
Finlandization and to technological progress making coastal artillery obsolete. The renunciation of
Stalinism
Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory ...
by the Soviet Union under
Nikita Khrushchev and
Finland's neutrality and remaining out of
NATO were also important contributing factors.
Upon re-entering the area, the Finns found that the Soviets had destroyed about 50% of civilian housing and 80% of commercial properties which had been handed over in 1944. New constructions included a deep port in Båtvik and an airfield in Friggesby. The airfield was immediately demolished and returned to farmland and the majority of the evacuated population returned to their former homes. By the end of the 1960s, most traces of the Soviet tenure had been erased.
Currently, the Porkkala area houses one of the main
bases of the
Finnish Navy, located in
Upinniemi, near Porkkala proper.
In popular culture
The Soviet lease of Porkkala and the return of the area to former inhabitants are key events in the Finnish Noir mystery, ''Below the Surface'' by
Leena Lehtolainen
Leena Katriina Lehtolainen (born 11 March 1964) is a Finnish crime novelist, best known for her series of novels about the policewoman Maria Kallio.
Lehtolainen was born in Vesanto, Northern Savonia. Her first novel was released when she was o ...
. The naval base also forms part of the plot line of the TV series ' (''Nyrkki'').
See also
*
Porkkala Kallbåda lighthouse
*
Porkkala Rönnskär lighthouse
References
{{Reflist
External links
Details about Hanko and Porkkala leased bases, maps
Concession territories
Peninsulas of Finland
20th century in Finland
Kirkkonummi
Landforms of Uusimaa