Reboly (, , ) is a settlement in the
Republic of Karelia
The Republic of Karelia, or simply Karelia or Karjala (; ) is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia situated in the Northwest Russia, northwest of the country. The republic is a part of the Northwestern Federal District, and covers an area of ...
of the
Russian Federation
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
by the
Finnish border, located southeast of
Kuhmo
Kuhmo (known as ''Kuhmoniemi'' until 1937) is a List of cities and towns in Finland, town and a municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland and is located at the south-eastern corner of the Kainuu regions of Finland, region. The municipali ...
and northeast of
Lieksa
Lieksa () is a cities of Finland, town and municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located in the North Karelia regions of Finland, region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The ...
. In 1926 the settlement had a population of 1,465, in 2010 - 258 people.
History

Reboly was first mentioned in 1555; by 1679 it was the center of a district with 23 villages and 220 households. Its location on the Russo-Swedish border led to several cases in which the village was destroyed by Swedish detachments. In the nineteenth century it became an often-visited site by Finnish nationalist scholars, such as
Elias Lönnrot
Elias Lönnrot (; 9 April 1802 – 19 March 1884) was a Finnish polymath, physician, philosopher, poet, musician, linguist, journalist, philologist and collector of traditional Finnish language, Finnish Oral literature, oral poetry. He is best k ...
,
Matthias Castrén and
D. E. D. Europaeus.
After the
Finland's declaration of independence the settlement and its district became an issue in Finnish-Russian relations when its predominantly Karelian population held a vote in August 1918 to join Finland. The Finnish Army moved to occupy Reboly in October. In the
Treaty of Tartu, 1920, Finland gave up its claims on Reboly and the neighbouring
Porosozero, and instead received
Petsamo in the far north, which had been annexed by Finnish trooрs in 1918.
The anti-Soviet sentiment in Reboly was still strong, and in 1921, after the Red Army re-took Reboly and Porosozero, local pro-Finnish activists formed a short-lived resistance movement known as the
Metsäsissit
Forest Guerrillas (, Karelian language, Karelian: Meččypartizuanat) were an East Karelia, East Karelian resistance movement that was created officially on 14 October 1921. There were around 3,000 Forest Guerrillas in total during the East Kareli ...
(literally ''Forest Guerillas'').
Together with Finnish volunteers, they were instrumental in the
East Karelian uprising of 1921–1922.
During the negotiations prior to the
Winter War
The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...
, the Soviet government offered Reboly and Porosozero in exchange for a smaller area on the
Karelian Isthmus
The Karelian Isthmus (; ; ) is the approximately stretch of land situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia, to the north of the River Neva. Its northwestern boundary is a line from the Bay of Vyborg to the we ...
. The offer was rejected.
Reboly was
occupied from 1941 to 1944 by the
Finnish 14th Division 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 during World War II. It began with a Finnish declaration of war on 25 June 1941 and ended on 19 ...
, until it was recaptured by Soviet forces.
Climate
References
{{Authority control
Rural localities in the Republic of Karelia
Povenetsky Uyezd
Historical geography of Finland
Populated places in Muyezersky District