The Soviet–Finnish Non-Aggression Pact was a

non-aggression pact A non-aggression pact or neutrality pact is a treaty between two or more states/countries that includes a promise by the signatories not to engage in military action against each other. Such treaties may be described by other names, such as a t ...

that was signed in 1932 by representatives of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

and updated on 7 April 1934. The pact was unilaterally renounced by the Soviet Union in 1939 after it had shelled one of its villages and blamed Finland in a false-flag attack.

Negotiations

The

had started negotiations regarding non-aggression pacts with its neighbouring European countries to secure its borders during the

Japanese invasion of Manchuria The Empire of Japan's Kwantung Army invaded the Manchuria region of the Republic of China on 18 September 1931, immediately following the Mukden incident, a false flag event staged by Japanese military personnel as a pretext to invade. At the ...

. The negotiations between it and

started last but ended first. The non-aggression pact was signed by Finnish Foreign Minister Aarno Yrjö-Koskinen and Soviet Ambassador Ivan Maisky on 22 January 1932 at the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

. It was ratified by the

Parliament of Finland The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral and Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that ...

in July 1932 only after representatives of

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

and

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

had signed their own non-aggression pacts with the Soviet Union.

Terms

Both Finland and the Soviet Union agreed to respect each other's borders and to stay neutral in each other's conflicts. Disputes were to be solved peacefully and neutrally. The Soviet Union proposed a ten-year period of validity in the spring of 1934 and wanted Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to give a joint answer. Finland was the last of those four countries to agree to the pact because of slight differences in its agreements with the Soviet Union. The pact was extended to 31 December 1945 in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

on 7 April 1934. The extension was signed by Finnish Foreign Minister Aarno Yrjö-Koskinen and Soviet Foreign Minister

Maxim Litvinov Maxim Maximovich Litvinov (; born Meir Henoch Wallach-Finkelstein; 17 July 1876 – 31 December 1951) was a Russian Empire, Russian revolutionary and prominent Soviet Union, Soviet statesman and diplomat who served as Ministry of Foreign Aff ...

Renuciation

The pact was renounced by the Soviet Union on 28 November 1939, two days before its invasion of Finland began. The Soviet Union claimed that Finland had shelled one of its villages, but it was later proved that the Soviets had really done the shelling in a false-flag attack. According to Article 5 of the pact,Treaty of Non-Aggression and Pacific Settlement of Disputes between the Soviet Union and Finland, concluded on January 21, 1932
(translation) both parties were to call for a joint commission to examine the incident. Finland tried to call one, but the Soviet Union refused.

References

External links

* 1932 Pact
Original Text

Translated Text
* 1934 Continuation Pact

Translated Text
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soviet-Finnish Non-Aggression Pact 1932 in Finland Political history of Finland Peace treaties of Finland Treaties of Finland Treaties of the Soviet Union Finland–Soviet Union relations 1932 in the Soviet Union Winter War Non-aggression pacts Treaties concluded in 1932

Negotiations

Terms

Renuciation

See also

References

External links