Is Finland an Ally of Nazi Germany? - Carl Gustaf Mannerheim - WW2 Biography Special
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- Опубліковано 13 тра 2024
- Carl Gustaf Mannerheim is a national hero after his service in everything from the Finnish Civil War to the Winter War. But did he plan a war of aggression with Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union? And if so, did Hitler and Stalin even give him any choice in the matter?
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The story surrounding that secret recording of Hitler's speech really is a fascinating piece of history that we unfortunately didn't really have the space to get into in this episode. It is thanks to Thor Damen that we have them. Apparently when the SS guards realized what he was doing they silently signaled a cutthroat gesture to him.
The rest of the story you'll have to look up yourself. The recording itself is very easy to find on UA-cam so go check it out if you haven't heard it already, the softness of Hitler's voice really will surprise you.
Something else may surprise you, but it really shouldn't by now. We have rules of conduct. Please keep to them when commenting: community.timeghost.tv/t/rules-of-conduct/4518
8:34 YES YOU MENTIONED US!
@@luxembourgishempire2826 we were hoping you'd share the heat with us on this one?
While listening to a recording is informational, your programs have become more educational, at least to me. Please do a special report on this secret recordings...
If you haven't already read it, I recommend you to read Marshall Mannerheim's Memoires. Yes, they are subjective, of course, but they also give you a good picture of one of the most important period in Finland's history: the period from 1917 until 1945.
It also shows the complete lack of intelligence the germans had of soviet matters. "If a general had come to me and said "the soviets have 35000 tanks", i would've declared him insane. Yet here were are, 35000 confirmed tank kills later, _and they still have tanks_" For reference, that's more then half of what the entire axis would produce during the war, this early in the war- the total would rise to triple that for the USSR alone.
You've just summoned all of Finland. Congrats
Säkkijärven Polkka and Mika's BT-42 intensifies...
TORILLE
Ny mennään!
TORILLE PERKELE
@@gunman47 tämä kommenttikenttä kuuluu suur suomelle! :D (finnish)
"But they decline, all of them". Damn.
Wonder why.
Who wants to be a Soviet citizen anyways?
@@FakeAssHandsomeMcGee_ Mongolians ? lol
@@FakeAssHandsomeMcGee_ Some people would be
Well, they would've faced similar treatment as the baltic people. Persecution, mass deportations, executions & living in horrible conditions at collective farms as 2nd class citizens.
This "all of them" at 2:11 was powerful.
We are very loyal to our own, that clearly shows it :)
This is the way
Imagine wanting to join the reds
@@Superlegend56 After they have invaded youre homes and killed people you know.
Yeah, it's like
Soviets: "Hey, we totally took over this place, you're welcome to join us! If you wanna remain Finns, you can leave."
Finns: "Thanks, bye!"
Soviets: "... well crap."
Fun fact: 325 jews were fighting in the Finnish army during the Continuation War while they were fighting side by side with german troops. There were even field synagogs in the presence of german troops.
*Very confused ideoligical warfare*
Four of them were offered iron cross, which they did not accept.
@Fabian Kirchgessner although ironically Jews in Palestine worked with the Nazis to kill Walter Guinness during the war
@@McSlobo Wow, interesting. Do you have the name or the source so that I can read more about this
@Fabian Kirchgessner Es ist schon echt creepy, dass wir uns immer treffen 😄
As a Finn I have to say that this was an exceptionally good, objective summary of how Finland managed the situation after the Winter War up to 1942. Great work guys!
I totally agree with you; a cool analysis without excessive cynicism - I enjoyed watching it.
As a American with Finnish heritage it is a lesson on survival real world!
@@l.a.raustadt518 Agreed.
Wrong! The winter war was already over. This was a new war and Finns were the friends and allies of the Nazi Nation! Finnish President Carl Gustaf Mannerheim named the Nazi soldiers in a letter to Adolf Hitler: "Our German brothers-in-arms..." Obvious, Finland was an ally of the criminal Nazi nation and also took part in the raid on the Soviet Union in 1941. The Finns fought side by side with these criminal mass murderers. Finland did this to conquer territory. Apparently Finland not only wanted the lost territories of the Winter War of 1940, but also wanted to take other territories away from the Soviets. The Finnish parliament declared that the aim of the war was to restore the areas lost during the winter war and to gain more areas in the east in order to create a Greater Finland. President Ryti said this to the Finnish Parliament in 1941. By September 1941, the Finns recaptured the territories lost in the Winter War. However, the Finnish Army continued the offensive past the pre-1939 border with the conquest of Soviet territories, as well as halting only around 30-32 km (19-20 mi) from the center of Leningrad, where they participated in besieging the city by cutting its northern supply routes and digging in until 1944. The Finnish fleet also participated in the sea blockade of the city. It would have been terrible if the Nazi Nation had won together with the Finns the 2nd world war. This victory would have meant the destruction of the Soviet Union and various genocides against the Slavic peoples of the Soviet Union. But also elsewhere they would have exterminated the Slavs, for example in Poland, whereby they would also have exterminated certain nonslavic nations. It's a fact that the attack of 1941 served to support the Germans in completely destroying the Soviet Union. The Finns also knew what the Germans were doing, because they were there at the siege of Leningrad.
In addition, the Finns also supported the German attack on the Soviet city of Murmansk and tried to besiege this city together with the Germans. The Finns wanted more than just to retake the lost territories. The Finns wanted to benefit from the expected German victory over the Soviet Union and additionally conquer more Soviet territory. To win, the Finns supported the Nazi nation in the criminal siege of Leningrad, which was part of the racist war of annihilation against the Slavic population of the Soviet Union. Because the siege was intended to exterminate the population of Leningrad. That's why 1 million people died in Leningrad largely by starvation. Mostly civilians. Which shows that the Finns didn't care that millions of civilians died in this war. The Finns also attacked and besieged Murmansk together with the Germans, which was definitely not a Finnish city either. That is why Great Britain declared war on the Finns and attacked Finnish troops with bombers too. Finland was so the enemy of liberators of Europe because Finland has allied itself with absolute evil.
"East Karelia has never been a part of Finland" 😂 Of course it has.. Karjala have been there before swedish and russians even...
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend"
That certainly goes for Finland and Mannerheim.
@lati long Indeed, and they paid a price for that in the "Winter War".
And, during the "Cold War", there was something called "Finlandization" were, on
a regular basis, the Soviet ambassador in Finland would pop by to "friendly" instruct.
this may explain why the swedes delivered the wrong caliber of artillery shells to Finland
@@steenkigerrider5340
And got his ass slapped most of the time.
We called them "Laukkuryssä" in Finland. Raw translation would be "Suitcase Ruskie", because they carried a suitcase filled with communist propaganda.
@@11DNA11 They predate communism and they were (generally Eastern-Karelian) traveling merchants, nothing to do with politics.
@@mikitz You are talking about a different thing. They are talking about cold war, you know when that was right...
This Mannerheim guy sounds like a nice fellow.
Don't see how i could be biased.
69 likes is too good to break.
@@aahpuuh understandable, have a nice day.
@@peltimies2469 thank you, sir.
I see now how one could not want to side with Germany, although knowing now what the Soviet Government was doing previously to WWII to it's own citizens. ( The Gulag) being neutral between two monsters would be a very tough situation.
Don't see how a guy who is also named Emil could possibly be bad
In case someone is wondering what's up with the swastikas hanging from Mannerheim's neck in this video's thumbnail picture, that is the "Grand Cross of the White Rose of Finland with Collar" which was designed in 1919 by one of the greatest painters in Finland, Akseli Gallen-Kallela. The swastikas were replaced in 1963 after some feedback from foreign recipients of the chain :)
that swastika is the Sampo, the Mill of Heaven, from the Kalevala
De Gaulle was the first offender.
@@XtreeM_FaiL And to be fair, I kind of do understand why Charles de Gaulle might have some qualms about wearing a swastika, no matter all the "ours is older than the German one"-talk.
@@Oxtocoatl13 He would have shat his pants if he ever visited India.
@@XtreeM_FaiL Well when most Europeans would have gone to India just after the war they would have shat their pants too. Nowadays they'd probably notice it, joke about it and then move on.
It's crazy how my dads old elementary school in Mikkeli, was actually Mannerheims HQ just 40 years prior him going to school there, now it's a museum building explaining many of the same things as in this video.
Is it even crazier to think that I as a millenial still went to that same school?. My 3rd grade classroom was right next to Mannerheim's office and after every recess I ran the same steps the officers had walked on. This wasn't that long ago.. Well maybe it was.
@@alkiskie8044 hmm, crazier would be if you even knew my dad, he is turning 50 this next monday btw.
i live in mikkeli and my dad has been in the mannerheims office so he has sat and ate at the same table as mannerheim and hitler
@@RottaOnRotta Hitler ei koskaan käyny Mikkelissä, ja oon mäkin siellä käyny...
@@RottaOnRotta Se vaunu joka on siin rautatieasemalla just sen pitkän alamäen tien päässä, niin se on replika siitä kyseisestä tapaamisvaunusta, jossa ne kaks tapas sit.
"The Unknown Soldier" is a great movie about the Continuation War.
Aka "Tuntematon Sotilas" and is a short TV-series (5 episodes) on Netflix in Scandinavia. Great movie/series!
Read the book, it is Finnish national treasure and best one.
I like Jim Morrison's 1968 version
@@yourstruly4817 K
@@suissais4732 Thanks for correcting me. I will edit my previous comment :)
Mannerheim: "I'm just a soldier!"
Also Mannerheim: "Which world leader do I talk to today?"
Mannerheim - "May the hand that signs this paper (The Russian peace treaty) wither away!" He had a stroke a while later, which paralyzed that hand.
@@craiga2002 One of the few men Stalin actually respected!
@@craiga2002 wasnt that Kyösti Kallio, the president of Finland during Winter War that said that?
@@ristusnotta1653 Indeed it was Kyösti Kallio.
@@craiga2002 Kyösti Kallio after he signed the peace treaty with the Soviets after the Winter war
"When picking between the devil and 'perkele', you tend to make mistakes" -Some unknown finnish man, as told to his neighbour after asking why he aided the germans
To ruin the joke by explaining it:
It's actually a choice between "Saatana" and "Perkele", with the former obviously being a finnification of "Satan", and the latter being both a word for a pre-christian pagan god, and another synonym for the devil. And of course, both are commonly used curse-words.
So the joke is that the choice was between two barely different kinds of devil, and neither of them is pleasant.
@@rockCity777 Close, the actual 1st word was "Piru", but same difference.
This was something my great-grandfather said, and has been retold to me by my grandmother. He seems to have been quite quick-witted with his words, which is very much a Central finnish mannerism
Then again I wonder how siding with the other devil aka Stalin would have ended up. Like would the other allies have guaranteed Finlands independence and security in exchange of siding against Hitler with them and Stalin. Could they have.
* Finland: Hey Stalin... we forget you invaded us and fight with you against Germany and you leave us alone?
* Stalin: I promise on Comrade Trotsky's grave, that I will leave you alone.
* Finland: hehehe.... This is going to end up so well
* Stalin: hey how about I send 15 divisions in Finland to help in the fight against Germany... purely temporarily
* Finland: so welll............
* UK and USA: So so Uncle Joe you werent supposed to conquer Finland.
* Stalin: What you gonna do about it now dear war allies?
* UK and USA: Nothing our dear ally, just wanted it to be noted that we think that was naughty for historical record.
Do or don't, you are in the shit. Atleast the German option had the glimmer of hope of victory and Greater Finland at the beginning instead of certain destruction on the other hand.
The honourable option of course would have fought all of Japan, USA, USSR, , Australia, China, UK and Germany to stay completely neutral... all of them at once..... without anyone providing us grain or war supplies..... Like that was going to be a glorious fight to last breath. Since that was pretty much the only actually "honorable" way to act without having to be allying with any mass murderers.
If we Finns get called Nazis for being war allies with Hitler, I call dips on getting to call Americans, Brits, Canadians and Australians Stalinists for siding with USSR during WWII. Everybody had nasty bed fellows, since two of the major war machines in the globe at the time were run by mass murdering maniacs.
Perkele was originally the pre christian God of love. Being in love leads to hell, death and madness!
@@aritakalo8011 Agreed. Some times there is no good option.
As Hitler was about to visit Finland, Mannerheim was planning a dinner menu with his aide-de-camp for the visit:
- I will take a cigar between these courses.
- But Sir, Hitler doesn't like smoking.
- But I do and I am the host.
Mannerheim was a smoker? Ew. That certainly makes me think less of him.
@@HighAdmiral Can't tell if you're kidding, but it was the 40's...
@@HighAdmiral Mannerheim did not smoke cigarettes, only cigars specially hand-made for him.
@@HighAdmiral 9
@@HighAdmiral high quality cigars not just any smokes
"Tell all your friends about us."
Damn, since Indy insists, I guess now I will have to make some friends...
🤣😂😅😂!! That’s what I thought too.
ROFL
I’ll be your friend, I’ll consider myself told by you. Well done, mission accomplished!
12:53 In this part of the video you mentioned the private train where Hitler and Mannerheim met and I would like to add something to that.
The train where they met still exists (as a sort of a museum/attraction). It's not in a very well known location and it's currently next to a Shell gas station in Sastamala. I visited the train some time ago myself.
mitä hittoa? Laita tarkempi osoite? Streetview:llä en junanvaunua nähny
@@Raccoon_A tässä: Pirkanmaantie 1057, 38220 Sastamala
Tuolla sen pitäisi olla
Nykyään se valitettavasti on paikoillaan oleva museokalu.
@@Raccoon_A www.kiskokabinetti.net/marskin-salonkivaunu/
Meeting took place in Imatra, small side railtrack to Tainionkoski paperfactory. Hitlers airplane almost hit the factory chimney.
The train car where Mannerheim and Hitler dined is indeed in Sastamala. However, the train car where they later discussed and where the unique recording was made is in Mikkeli, right at the railway station. That one is only open for public once a year, on 4th June (Mannerheim's birthday and anniversary of the visit). Can recommend!
Wikipedia page of the two train cars (in Finnish): fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marsalkka_Mannerheimin_salonkivaunut
Quite often is referred Finns got military support from Germany, but almost every time is forgotten that Finland relied hugely on German food supplies. Germany was almost only country selling us desperately needed grain, lard and such supplies. Germany even threatened to cut food supplies at the end of the war, to make Finland continue fighting.
And what is always forgotten is that Germany was an allie of USSR untill 1941 and stoppend Italy's help to Finland in 1939.
Ridiculous claim! The Finns certainly did not have to be forced into an alliance with the Germans. By the way, if Finland had been neutral, Finland, like Sweden, would not have problems with food supplies. The Finns had problems with food supply because they took part in the raid of the Soviet Union. By the way, Finns were the friends of the Nazi Nation! Finnish President Carl Gustaf Mannerheim named the Nazi soldiers in a letter to Adolf Hitler: "Our German brothers-in-arms..." Obvious, Finland was an ally of the criminal Nazi nation and also took part in the raid on the Soviet Union in 1941. The Finns fought side by side with these criminal mass murderers. Finland did this to conquer territory. Apparently Finland not only wanted the lost territories of the Winter War of 1940, but also wanted to take other territories away from the Soviets. The Finnish parliament declared that the aim of the war was to restore the areas lost during the winter war and to gain more areas in the east in order to create a Greater Finland. President Ryti said this to the Finnish Parliament in 1941. By September 1941, the Finns recaptured the territories lost in the Winter War. However, the Finnish Army continued the offensive past the pre-1939 border with the conquest of Soviet territories, as well as halting only around 30-32 km (19-20 mi) from the center of Leningrad, where they participated in besieging the city by cutting its northern supply routes and digging in until 1944. The Finnish fleet also participated in the sea blockade of the city. To win, the Finns supported the Nazi nation in the criminal siege of Leningrad, which was part of the racist war of annihilation against the Slavic population of the Soviet Union. Because the siege was intended to wipe out the population of Leningrad. That's why 1 million people died in Leningrad largely by starvation. Mostly civilians. Which shows that the Finns didn't care that millions of civilians died in this war. The Finns also attacked and besieged Murmansk together with the Germans, which was definitely not a Finnish city either. It would have been terrible if the Nazi Nation had won together with the Finns the 2nd world war. This victory would have meant the destruction of the Soviet Union and various genocides against the Slavic peoples of the Soviet Union. But also elsewhere they would have exterminated the Slavs, for example in Poland, whereby they would also have exterminated certain nonslavic nations. It's a fact that the attack of 1941 served to support the Germans in completely destroying the Soviet Union. The Finns also knew what the Germans were doing, because they were there at the siege of Leningrad.
In addition, the Finns also supported the German attack on the Soviet city of Murmansk and tried to besiege this city together with the Germans. The Finns wanted more than just to retake the lost territories. The Finns wanted to benefit from the expected German victory over the Soviet Union and additionally conquer more Soviet territory. To win, the Finns supported the Nazi nation in the criminal siege of Leningrad, which was part of the racist war of annihilation against the Slavic population of the Soviet Union. Because the siege was intended to exterminate the population of Leningrad. That's why 1 million people died in Leningrad largely by starvation. Mostly civilians. Which shows that the Finns didn't care that millions of civilians died in this war. The Finns also attacked and besieged Murmansk together with the Germans, which was definitely not a Finnish city either. That is why Great Britain declared war on the Finns and attacked Finnish troops with bombers too. Finland was so the enemy of liberators of Europe because Finland has allied itself with absolute evil.
@@XtreeM_FaiL Forgets? No, everyone remembers it. Unlike the Munich conspiracy and phrases like "Germany is the anti-Bolshevik shield of Europe!"
@@XtreeM_FaiL allies in question: invaded poland after it was already destroyhed, basically stealing german gains
trading (wtf countries can trade with each other??? no way)
... oh it looks like that's all. hmm
@@XtreeM_FaiL Not only Italy, but French and British aid too.
Mannerheim did an incredible job of fighting and diplomacy at almost impossible odds. Finland, unlike Poland, Hungary and the Baltic states never fell under power of Stalin and USSR. I bet he is one of the national heroes much respected in Finland.
But still become a sockpuppet to the Soviets that gave rise to the term "Finlandization" to refer to their inability to say "no" to Soviet demands...
@@axelpatrickb.pingol3228 Still much better than the alternative of becoming a communist state which most likely would have happend if there was no "Finlandization".
@@axelpatrickb.pingol3228 Are you familiar with Vito Corleone's guide of "How to say no". Basically you have to say no so that it sounds like yes. That's Finnish foreign policy in a nutshell.
@@axelpatrickb.pingol3228 Your comment shows typical lack of lack of knowledge and understanding of Finland. Just as the co-fighting with Germany was the only possible way during the war 41-44, "Finlandization" was in fact a wise strategy during the cold war, that once again saved Finland, and is an important rooth cause to Finlands standing today. Finlands cooperation with the Soviet Union, although it may have appeared submissive on the surface, actually also brought many benefits in terms of economic and industrial development.
@@axelpatrickb.pingol3228 Sockpuppet that is ranked the happiest country in the world atm and is in fact the only country ever to pay war reparations in full. Without marshall aid. Better to go along than say fuck you to a country 30times larger than you maybe?
Finland: *has trouble with the soviet unions aggression*
Allies: *thoughts and prayers*
Germany: "heres some planes, guns, ammo and such"
No wonder finland ended up working with germany on some level
Yes they had zero offers of help when needed. Look at Russia right now, they do not give a "F".
To be fair, the French and British attempted to send aid in material and troops to Finland. However, Norway and Sweden denied transit through their lands for fear the countries would be drawn into the war.
@@liammoy5911 well the troops was not meant to be going to Finland, but insteed to take Swedish Iron mines.
yeah and lets not forget the 200 000 men the germans send to help us which is more than anyone has ever done to us
@@swedishstyle9778 that's not true. Where is your source?
Mapping Channels: Here are the main alliances. The Axis, allies and *Finland*
**silence of Swiss restraint**
All equally powerful
@@kaiserwilhelmii1827 Finnish shpionin spotted ~.~ radioing back to Moskva
@@GarioTheRock well the Finns did have to go to war to defend themselves, and remained a free nation, so three is that! Also of note, most Finns enjoy silence!
Starving citisens of Leningrad and civilians on land occupied by finns would disagree.
Calling Finland Fascist for allying the Nazis is like calling the USSR Capitalist for allying with the U.K. and USA.
Allies of convenience does not mean ideological allies, just look at Bulgaria for an example.
Very well put
“Our enemy’s enemy ....”.
or UK and USA being Stalinists. To put it more on same frame of "you allied with a mass murderer". Yeah we Finns did. So did freaking everybody. Since one major player on both main sides was a mad mass murdering dictator. Only about clean people in this conflict were the neutrals so far away everyone left them alone. So say South Americans and some Africans as far as I understand. Oh and those neutrals who just got run over immediately. They also didn't ally with mass murderer, instead they got conquered by a mass murderers.
Everyone else was allied to mass murdering Germans and/or mass murdering Japanese or allied with Mass murdering Soviets.
@Fabian Kirchgessner After a failed Communist coup attempt in the 1920s in Bulgaria, there were persistent rumours that the police fed some of the participants alive into a furnace in headquarters. I don't think it was proved but certainly some of the arrested were never seen alive later. Later an arrested Communist leader, Traicho Kostov, was tortured, then taken back to his cell. The police took him out for another session and he managed to break away and flung himself down two or three storeys in a suicide attempt. He survived but the spinal injuries left him hunchbacked.
Fascist - I would say so.
@@aritakalo8011 FDR was a legit complete socialist though
1988 the 14th Dalai Lama visited Helsinki, and nevertheless H. H. had a very tight schedule he insisted on an impromptu visit to the Mannerheim Museum. Why? Well, these two were met before. Mannerheim had met Dalai Lama's earlier, the 13th, incarnation 26th of June 1908 in Wutai Shan and given him a quite unusual gift back then, Browning revolver. Explaining: "The times are such that a revolver may be of greater use, even to a holy man like yourself, than a prayer wheel".
I looked up that Hitler recording. It's amazing how different his voice was in private.
Did you noticed that he knew that he can't beat USSR.
Actor Bruno Ganz used this clip to practise for his role as Hitler in the movie Der Untergang (2008). It's one of the few recordings where Hitler speaks at his normal voice. Great movie, absolutely worth to watch.
Hitler had even teacher for that how he use the voice when speaking high class peoples. Same as that when need to speak to crowds he practised how to play that role. How to make peoples convinced.
Finland had long standing issues with Russia. And they had just been attacked by the Soviets during the Winter War.
I’m pretty sure it was a case of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend, for now.”
Yeah, the Soviet Union was basically begging for payback.
Nah, Germans were involved in the Finnish civil war, trained Finnish Jäegers in Germany and when Finland was about to become a monarchy, their king would've been German. Ties between Germany and Finland were strong already without the Soviet invasion, and during the continuation war, all Finnish political and military leaders had sympathies towards Germany.
@@goldbullet50 Ironically Germans were also involved in the Russian Civil War by aiding the Bolsheviks. Divide and conquer, I guess...
@@goldbullet50 All Finnish political and military leaders had sympathies towards Germany? That could not be further from the truth. If you are Finnish, go read some books and first hand accounts. If you're not, then keep your mouth shut if you don't know what you are talking about.
@@taekatanahu635 Kinda-sorta. The Whites sought to maintain Allied support by persisting in their resolution to oppose Germany. The Bolsheviks, for their part, were keen to bring an end to the fighting, per their promises of "Peace, Land, Bread", ultimately resulting in the treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918 - something which the Allies interpreted as a betrayal, causing them to offer their support to the Whites. Ironically, the first British landings came at the request of the Murmansk Soviet, who feared a German attack on the town. The British troops arrived on the 4th of March, the day after the signing of the treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
Basically, the Russian Civil War was a confused clusterfrag of a conflict, but I can hardly blame the Germans for being interested in its outcome: as long as the Whites don't win, their eastern front is secure, and they can concentrate their forces in the west to face the British and French.
My bestfriend (whom I consider a brother) is half Finnish half American. I got the chance to visit Helsinki and Jyväskylä around two years ago, and have another chance to visit in late September. To this day I consider Finland to be a second home, and a culture that is close to my heart. Hyvää Päivänjakoa!😁
What a stupid question! They were the friends of the Nazi Nation! Finnish President Carl Gustaf Mannerheim named the Nazi soldiers in a letter to Adolf Hitler: "Our German brothers-in-arms..." Obvious, Finland was an ally of the criminal Nazi nation and also took part in the raid on the Soviet Union in 1941. The Finns fought side by side with these criminal mass murderers. Finland did this to conquer territory. Apparently Finland not only wanted the lost territories of the Winter War of 1940, but also wanted to take other territories away from the Soviets. The Finnish parliament declared that the aim of the war was to restore the areas lost during the winter war and to gain more areas in the east in order to create a Greater Finland. President Ryti said this to the Finnish Parliament in 1941. By September 1941, the Finns recaptured the territories lost in the Winter War. However, the Finnish Army continued the offensive past the pre-1939 border with the conquest of Soviet territories, as well as halting only around 30-32 km (19-20 mi) from the center of Leningrad, where they participated in besieging the city by cutting its northern supply routes and digging in until 1944. The Finnish fleet also participated in the sea blockade of the city. To win, the Finns supported the Nazi nation in the criminal siege of Leningrad, which was part of the racist war of annihilation against the Slavic population of the Soviet Union. Because the siege was intended to wipe out the population of Leningrad. That's why 1 million people died in Leningrad largely by starvation. Mostly civilians. Which shows that the Finns didn't care that millions of civilians died in this war. The Finns also attacked and besieged Murmansk together with the Germans, which was definitely not a Finnish city either.
It would have been terrible if the Nazi Nation had won together with the Finns the 2nd world war. This victory would have meant the destruction of the Soviet Union and various genocides against the Slavic peoples of the Soviet Union. But also elsewhere they would have exterminated the Slavs, for example in Poland, whereby they would also have exterminated certain nonslavic nations. It's a fact that the attack of 1941 served to support the Germans in completely destroying the Soviet Union. The Finns also knew what the Germans were doing, because they were there at the siege of Leningrad.
In addition, the Finns also supported the German attack on the Soviet city of Murmansk and tried to besiege this city together with the Germans. The Finns wanted more than just to retake the lost territories. The Finns wanted to benefit from the expected German victory over the Soviet Union and additionally conquer more Soviet territory. To win, the Finns supported the Nazi nation in the criminal siege of Leningrad, which was part of the racist war of annihilation against the Slavic population of the Soviet Union. Because the siege was intended to exterminate the population of Leningrad. That's why 1 million people died in Leningrad largely by starvation. Mostly civilians. Which shows that the Finns didn't care that millions of civilians died in this war. The Finns also attacked and besieged Murmansk together with the Germans, which was definitely not a Finnish city either. That is why Great Britain declared war on the Finns and attacked Finnish troops with bombers too. Finland was so the enemy of liberators of Europe because Finland has allied itself with absolute evil.
In addition this Wiki link titled East Karelian concentration camps. In the link one can then read the following. Quote: "East Karelian concentration camps were a set of concentration camps operated by the Finnish government in the areas of the Soviet Union occupied by the Finnish military administration during... These camps were organized by the armed forces supreme commander Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim. The mortality rate of civilians in the camps was high due to famine and disease...Significant numbers of Soviets died in this concentration camps. These were many women, children, and the elderly..." Quote end!
Isn't there a memorial in Pori today regarding this?
"Is Finland an ally of Nazi Germany?"
"IS"
Did I miss something for that past couple months?
Edit: for those who don't understand the joke, he said "is Finland an ally of nazi Germany" and because he put an is he would be referring to the present
It was but I guess the question alludes more so into if Finn's really did it more so out of neccesity without any other choice and they did it also without any real respect for Germany. Playing a game with one huge monster to keep other huge monster at bay and maybe survive as a small country in the middle of it.
@@454FatJack I can't recall it being a formal war, despite the 10K+ casualties.
@@454FatJack Germany was never an ally to the USSR and they both hated each other. Stalin did say that the war with Germany was inevitable, he was just very wrong about when he thought it was gonna happen
@@454FatJack Soviet was never an ally of Nazi-Germany. They had an non-aggression pact, that's all.
@@454FatJack Do you also believe in Santa Clause since you are speaking abotu a good side in a war?
My father was a Finnish soldier during the Continuation War. The reds from the civil war who were on the Finnish side used to say that "now the butcher is on our side."
Wha?
@@jjjjjaakko oh good
@@finnishboo4192 Found the anti-Finnish pretend nationalist.
@@finnicpatriot6399 fuck the commies
@@finnicpatriot6399 oli kyllå surullista mitä heille tehtiin mutta niih
I was hoping this would've been more about Mannerheim and his actions before and during the war.
We need, nay, DEMAND a fuller documentary on Mannerheim!
...Please?
@@Caldera01 Yes. Full. Let's start from the invasion into Soviet Russia in 1918 to grab the land Finns never owned.
Edit: or better: start with 1917 and "white terror" during the civil war in Finland
@@vantuz8264 The lands the grand duke of Finland, Nicholas II never owned? The lands that the Soviets stole from the rightful owner the Tsar? The Tsar whom the Soviets brutally murdered after they stole those lands? Those ones?
@UCN9zu3pept0zoEBe7MIp4dA never owned???? Fu
Well the things he did before are not as globally significant. You need to remember he makes this show about the entire world pretty much
I've been waiting for the biography on Mannerheim! Thank you!
re: on the description
I have never seen Mannerheim referred to as Carl Mannerheim. It's always been just Marshal Mannerheim or C.G.E. Mannerheim or by his full name Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim.
Stinky to his friends.
He preferred to use his middle name Gustaf. Carl was a very common name in Mannerheim's family and he disliked the name Emil. For example in the recording of his presidential oath he says Gustaf Mannerheim. I don't think that he used the full initials C.G.E. that much even though they are often used nowadays.
Changed the description to better reflect that. Perils of working in an international company where everyone has different assumptions on the primacy of names. Thanks for pointing it out.
@@sasropakis Considering how Mannerheim's dad AND brother were also named Carl Mannerheim, I can see why he would favor Gustaf.
@@Oxtocoatl13 Actually, there were TWO brothers both named Carl: one was Carl Erik Johan Mannerheim (Gustaf's older brother) and the other was Carl Fridolf Johan Mannerheim (Gustaf's younger brother). Of these, the first mentioned was called Carl and the latter was called Johan.
It is interesting that the USA never declared war on Finland.
It is probably even more interesting that Finish Jewish units fought alongside of German forces.
Yeah and that underlines the "our private" war against USSR stance of Finland.
As a Finn and a fan of the channel, thank you for this. After having read extensively about the subject, I do agree, Finland and Germany were allies in all but name. Well done Indy and crew!
but at the end the finns switched the side as the italians did. the finns were not ready to sacrifice themselfs as the germans did.
@@stevenbodum3405 It's almost like the Continuation war and operation Barbarossa had different goals.
Brothers-im-arms, not allies.
Big difference.
Did they really have a choice? I’m sure they had thought about the fate of Poland several times.
As the saying goes, choosing between Germany and Russia is like choosing between the Devil and Satan.
Poland, Karelia, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia ...
@Fabian Kirchgessner I wouldn't say they liberated Finland. They helped the white forces a bit in defeating the reds in the Finnish civil war just like Soviet union aided the reds. Finland had already been independent for like a year before the civil war started. So there wasn't really anything to liberate them from
@@anton2192 In this case the choice was made easier by the fact that the one had invaded them earlier but the other hadn't
@Fabian Kirchgessner It should have been. However, Germany sold Finland to the Soviet Union in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. During the Winter War, Germany was actually hampering Finland's fight against the USSR. That alone tells a story of what kind of people the Nazis were. Although, even as a Finn, I don't belong to those who adamantly claim Finland wasn't allied with Germany in any kind of imaginable way, it's still a case of having little choice. Finland had to seek help from one demon to fight another demon. History talks about Winter War and Continuation War, but in the bigger picture Finland was drawn into the 2nd World War when the Soviet Union attacked in 1939. Continuation War wouldn't have happened without the Winter War.
Btw, Germany didn't liberate Finland. The Whites would have won even without direct German military help, the Germans just made the civil war end a bit sooner. In fact, Mannerheim didn't want the Germans to intervene in the Finnish civil war, but the decision was out of his hands.
This is a recipe for drink they used to do in Mannerheim's family estate, Louhisaaren kartano. The drink is known as Louhisaaren juoma, Lehtimehu or sometimes Marskin sima, as the recipe is pretty similar to sima.
5 liters of water
4 liters of fresh blackcurrant leaves
2 citrons (alternatively 25 grams of citric acid)
500g sugar
1/4 teaspoons of yeast
1. Clean and slice the citrons. Separate the skin (needed) and remove the white parts (not needed).
2. Put citron slices, skin, blackcurrant leaves and sugar into a bucket. Add boiling water.
3. Wait until the liquid is around 37 Celsius (hand temperature). Pour the liquid through gauze to get rid of the leaves.
4. Dissolve yeast into a small amount of lukewarm water and pour them in.
5. Let the drink ferment until the next day.
6. Bottle it and preserve it for a few days somewhere below room temperature (fridge, for example)
7. Done.
There are actually many different versions of the recipe. Some use citric acid instead of citrons and not everyone adds yeast. I'm not sure which one is the most authentic one.
Forgot to mention, you can mix the drink with carbonated water or drink it as it is.
Fun fact: when Mannerheim got information that the Führer would be joining his birthday party he said: Vad I helvete gör han här? (What the hell is he doing here?). He wasn't really too fond of the German supreme leader.
As a Swede, that makes me happy (:
Lol
Now that's a nice piece of information.
ubnderstandable
Great video. I've long wondered how you'd cover the relationship between Finland and Nazi Germany and got the answer here, spot on.
Been waiting for this episode after you guys promised it during The Great War in 2017, glad that patience is rewarded! Great video! :)
I think the difficulty in saying that "this is how it is" just proves and emphasizes the multilayered ambiguity of the situation. No one who is honest can prove it black or white but that it seems more that the decisions are made more "on the go" with the goal in mind like Mannerheim states: to ensure the security of finland.
Really great, insightful episode.
I was wondering why the June 4th recording wasn’t mentioned in last week’s regular episode. Well played.
Finnish fellows in the comment-section: I strongly recommend Henrik Meinander's "Mannerheim: Aristokraatti sarkatakissa" Otava, 2017. It is about 300 pages in Finnish, so honestly not hard or too long(since it has about 30 pages of notes and sources) and it is a great and modern biography of him detailing his life from Louhisaari to Hamina Academy to Petersburg to the Russian Japan war,Central Asian expeditions and beyond to a cavalryman in Galicia and so on! Great read!
Is there also a description of Finnish participation in the German raid on the Soviet Union? Because the Finns were the friends and allies of the Nazi Nation in 1939-44! Finnish President Carl Gustaf Mannerheim named the Nazi soldiers in a letter to Adolf Hitler: "Our German brothers-in-arms..." Obvious, Finland was an ally of the criminal Nazi nation and also took part in the raid on the Soviet Union in 1941. The Finns fought side by side with these criminal mass murderers. Finland did this to conquer territory. Apparently Finland not only wanted the lost territories of the Winter War of 1940, but also wanted to take other territories away from the Soviets. The Finnish parliament declared that the aim of the war was to restore the areas lost during the winter war and to gain more areas in the east in order to create a Greater Finland. President Ryti said this to the Finnish Parliament in 1941. By September 1941, the Finns recaptured the territories lost in the Winter War. However, the Finnish Army continued the offensive past the pre-1939 border with the conquest of Soviet territories, as well as halting only around 30-32 km (19-20 mi) from the center of Leningrad, where they participated in besieging the city by cutting its northern supply routes and digging in until 1944. The Finnish fleet also participated in the sea blockade of the city. It would have been terrible if the Nazi Nation had won together with the Finns the 2nd world war. This victory would have meant the destruction of the Soviet Union and various genocides against the Slavic peoples of the Soviet Union. But also elsewhere they would have exterminated the Slavs, for example in Poland, whereby they would also have exterminated certain nonslavic nations. It's a fact that the attack of 1941 served to support the Germans in completely destroying the Soviet Union. The Finns also knew what the Germans were doing, because they were there at the siege of Leningrad.
The Finns wanted more than just to retake the lost territories. The Finns wanted to benefit from the expected German victory over the Soviet Union and additionally conquer more Soviet territory. To win, the Finns supported the Nazi nation in the criminal siege of Leningrad, which was part of the racist war of annihilation against the Slavic population of the Soviet Union. Because the siege was intended to exterminate the population of Leningrad. That's why 1 million people died in Leningrad largely by starvation. Mostly civilians. Which shows that the Finns didn't care that millions of civilians died in this war. The Finns also attacked and besieged Murmansk together with the Germans, which was definitely not a Finnish city either. That is why Great Britain declared war on the Finns and attacked Finnish troops with bombers too. Finland was so the enemy of liberators of Europe because Finland has allied itself with absolute evil. In addition, the Finns also supported the German attack on the Soviet city of Murmansk and tried to besiege this city together with the Germans.
When your country's and family's existence is at stake, you take the help you get. Thats it.
Outstanding Sir! As a military historian, retired-USAF vet and Finn-American w/direct family who served in the Winter War, I found this awesome. Very informative!
Great work as always team! Thank you.
Äärimmäisen mielenkiintoinen video suomalaisesta näkökulmasta! Ei se, että tässä olisi tullut jotain uutta ilmi, mutta se, että tämä oli tehty erittäin hyvillä tiedoilla ja kattavaksi kokonaispaketiksi saa kyllä kehut täältä!
Kiitos!
Thank you for existing.
You all really shed light on the tiniest details of history.
Do you call our entire nations existence "the tiniest details of history"? Some arrogance
Finland was, like every country stuck between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, in a very vulnerable position. They had to make a deal with someone, and after the unprovoked Winter war, it wasn't going to be Stalin. Mannerheim and Finland did very well to negotiate the dangers of WW2 and remain an independent state. There's no shame in that.
Well, except for the blockade of Leningrad and concentration camps in the occupied territory. Yes....
@@wederMaxim You mean internment camps. They weren't for extermination, as the mortality rates would have been much higher
I have never clicked faster in my life! Thank you for presenting Mannerheim!
Been waiting for his special, well done WW2 team
as a finnish i liked that they didn't just blindly repeat what traditional finnish history books for kids tells others. but also not the Russian version.
I was just NOW looking up information about Mannerheim. Are you stalking me Indy?
I was once asking myself something about WW2 and the same question came up in Out Of The Foxholes the same day.
@@El_Presidente_5337 haha that's weird :)
@@amir-ng6jv
The question was if the Germans and Japanese knew of each others victories and used them as propaganda
I got into your other channel. The great war. Excellent by the way. Great to see that you've brought your excellence to the table concerning ww2. Gonna check out what you have to say about the battle at midway. And more.
OMG I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU GUYS
Masterful exposition of a morally complex aspect of the Continuation War/ WW2
This was a very professionally done episode. Again, covering in a short time, both perspectives.
Finnish involvement in WW2, from Barbarossa onwards (or if we want to count the Winter War), is something that remains (and it will remain) a controversial topic. But you covered it with respect.
This is such a great channel. Hoping to see an episode on Ante Pavelic and Ustashe. No need for leniency in that a case...
Brilliant job with this. Very informative
Thanks a lot for your comment ! -TimeGhost Ambassador
Excellent summary of the events.
Oh wow Indy, you really meant it when you said you would do a biography of Carl Gustaf Mannerheim recently last week after I mentioned about the secret recording of Adolf Hilter's private conversational voice in the Midway weekly episode special. Thanks World War Two Team!
hey there
So what is relevant regarding the Finnish President Carl Gustaf Mannerheim is that named the Nazi soldiers in a letter to Adolf Hitler: "Our German brothers-in-arms..." Obvious, Finland was an ally of the criminal Nazi nation and also took part in the raid on the Soviet Union in 1941. The Finns fought side by side with these criminal mass murderers. Finland did this to conquer territory. Apparently Finland not only wanted the lost territories of the Winter War of 1940, but also wanted to take other territories away from the Soviets. The Finnish parliament declared that the aim of the war was to restore the areas lost during the winter war and to gain more areas in the east in order to create a Greater Finland. President Ryti said this to the Finnish Parliament in 1941. By September 1941, the Finns recaptured the territories lost in the Winter War. However, the Finnish Army continued the offensive past the pre-1939 border with the conquest of Soviet territories, as well as halting only around 30-32 km (19-20 mi) from the center of Leningrad, where they participated in besieging the city by cutting its northern supply routes and digging in until 1944. The Finnish fleet also participated in the sea blockade of the city. It would have been terrible if the Nazi Nation had won together with the Finns the 2nd world war. This victory would have meant the destruction of the Soviet Union and various genocides against the Slavic peoples of the Soviet Union. But also elsewhere they would have exterminated the Slavs, for example in Poland, whereby they would also have exterminated certain nonslavic nations. It's a fact that the attack of 1941 served to support the Germans in completely destroying the Soviet Union. The Finns also knew what the Germans were doing, because they were there at the siege of Leningrad.
In addition, the Finns also supported the German attack on the Soviet city of Murmansk and tried to besiege this city together with the Germans. The Finns wanted more than just to retake the lost territories. The Finns wanted to benefit from the expected German victory over the Soviet Union and additionally conquer more Soviet territory. To win, the Finns supported the Nazi nation in the criminal siege of Leningrad, which was part of the racist war of annihilation against the Slavic population of the Soviet Union. Because the siege was intended to exterminate the population of Leningrad. That's why 1 million people died in Leningrad largely by starvation. Mostly civilians. Which shows that the Finns didn't care that millions of civilians died in this war. The Finns also attacked and besieged Murmansk together with the Germans, which was definitely not a Finnish city either. That is why Great Britain declared war on the Finns and attacked Finnish troops with bombers too. Finland was so the enemy of liberators of Europe because Finland has allied itself with absolute evil.
-------------------------
Yes and in 1938 Czechoslovak mobilized 1 250 000 soldiers. The information about the Polish army is also wrong in 1939. Because at that time Poland had a 1 million army and the 5th largest army in the world! The information about the French is also wrong! In 1939 the French Army had 900,000 regular soldiers. However, it another 5 million reservists who had been trained and could be called-up in time of war. And the British Army had a regular army of 227,000 men, who were supported by a reserve of 173,700 men. In fact, the majority of the German army was engaged in combat in Poland in 1939, including 90% of the German air force. So if the French and British had attacked massively in the west, as agreed with Poland, the Germans would have been defeated quickly. But these cowardly "allies" of the Poles betrayed Poland and instead of attacking massively in the west, they hid in the bunkers and thus gave away a victory. Through this cowardly behavior they made possible the unimaginable crimes of the Nazi nation. A total of 50 million died as a result of the fighting and various genocides committed by the Nazi nation.
Rarely you can see such a learned discription about Finnish 1941 outside Finland. Tumbs up!
Noticed couple detail mistakes with the pictures. One picture there is text "Finnish troops marching in the Soviet Union, July 1941". Troops are actually in Finland and they are marching in TO the Soviet Union. Location is inside current Finnish borders.
Second picture there is text "Carl Mannerheim in Helsinki, 1917". Year there is wrong. Time is May 1918 when white troops come to Helsinki after German troops had taken it from Finnish Red forces..
your info is spot on
Small correction to the photo of the Mannerheim children. Carl Gustav is standing to the right. Below him is my grandmother, Eva. This is a first-rate overview of his role in the 39-45 wars: 2 with Soviet Union and one with Germany. One of the great figures of the 20th century. The only White general to defeat the Reds in 1918 and then to fight them to a satisfactory conclusion 20+ years later. It should be noted that Stalin refused to make peace with the Finnish government in 1944 and would only agree to do that with a government under Mannerheim who then became President and agreed to terms. He was a very conservative figure, never a fascist, and, in spite of 2 visits by Himmler and one by Hitler, refused to turn over any Jews. Finnish Jews served honorably in the wars - 3 were awarded the Iron Cross by the Germans (but this honor was declined by all 3). Well done, Indy and associates.
Nice video and pretty fair. But there are missing few quite essential events. First, Russian menaced Finland during the summer 1940 (shot down a finish passenger plane, demanded nickel mine in Petsamo, demanden a free passageway from Leningrad to headland of Hanko and the most important begged from Hitler a permission to finish off the case of Finland. Molotov did it 9 times during a two days meeting in Berlin 11 / 1940. Hitler denied it every time). So there were no doubt which side Finland should have to choose! And of course Finland was prepared (like in Winter War), otherwise Russians should have walked in!
I am very interested in Finnish history and have read all the books you refer to and more, and I must say this was an extremely good, informed and ballanced account of Finlands association with Germany during our so called continuation war. Thank you and much credit to you.
You'll like it:
Hitlerin Saksa ja sen vapaaehtoisliikkeet: Waffen-SS and Karjalan ristiretki ja taistelu Nevan reitistä by Mauno Jokipii
Suomi miehittäjänä 1941-1944 by Helge Seppälä
The Winter War: Finland Against Russia, 1939-1940 by Vaino Tanner
"Continuation war" is a mendacious Propaganda term that contradicts historical reality. Because that was a completely new war in which the Finns together with the Germans raided the Soviet Union. Finns were the friends of the Nazi Nation! Finnish President Carl Gustaf Mannerheim named the Nazi soldiers in a letter to Adolf Hitler: "Our German brothers-in-arms..." Obvious, Finland was an ally of the criminal Nazi nation and also took part in the raid on the Soviet Union in 1941. The Finns fought side by side with these criminal mass murderers. Finland did this to conquer territory. Apparently Finland not only wanted the lost territories of the Winter War of 1940, but also wanted to take other territories away from the Soviets. The Finnish parliament declared that the aim of the war was to restore the areas lost during the winter war and to gain more areas in the east in order to create a Greater Finland. President Ryti said this to the Finnish Parliament in 1941. By September 1941, the Finns recaptured the territories lost in the Winter War. However, the Finnish Army continued the offensive past the pre-1939 border with the conquest of Soviet territories, as well as halting only around 30-32 km (19-20 mi) from the center of Leningrad, where they participated in besieging the city by cutting its northern supply routes and digging in until 1944. The Finnish fleet also participated in the sea blockade of the city. It would have been terrible if the Nazi Nation had won together with the Finns the 2nd world war. This victory would have meant the destruction of the Soviet Union and various genocides against the Slavic peoples of the Soviet Union. But also elsewhere they would have exterminated the Slavs, for example in Poland, whereby they would also have exterminated certain nonslavic nations. It's a fact that the attack of 1941 served to support the Germans in completely destroying the Soviet Union. The Finns also knew what the Germans were doing, because they were there at the siege of Leningrad.
In addition, the Finns also supported the German attack on the Soviet city of Murmansk and tried to besiege this city together with the Germans. The Finns wanted more than just to retake the lost territories. The Finns wanted to benefit from the expected German victory over the Soviet Union and additionally conquer more Soviet territory. To win, the Finns supported the Nazi nation in the criminal siege of Leningrad, which was part of the racist war of annihilation against the Slavic population of the Soviet Union. Because the siege was intended to exterminate the population of Leningrad. That's why 1 million people died in Leningrad largely by starvation. Mostly civilians. Which shows that the Finns didn't care that millions of civilians died in this war. The Finns also attacked and besieged Murmansk together with the Germans, which was definitely not a Finnish city either. That is why Great Britain declared war on the Finns and attacked Finnish troops with bombers too. Finland was so the enemy of liberators of Europe because Finland has allied itself with absolute evil.
great job team, as always, thank you :)
Another great episode!
Apparently Mannerheim's comment when hearing of Hitler's visit was "Vad i helvete gör han här?" - What the hell is he doing here?
sounds like a true Finnish response to such a predicament, even if it was in the Swedish language!
@@bige1106 Mannerheim's mother tongue was Swedish.
@@anttibjorklund1869 and why I made this statement, even if it was in the Swedish language!
A well-balanced treatment of a thorny subject.
This is a very good video on our history. Thank you for the fair portrayal.
Mannerheim: I'm just a soldier and friend of the Nazi Nation! Finnish President Carl Gustaf Mannerheim named the Nazi soldiers in a letter to Adolf Hitler: "Our German brothers-in-arms..." Obvious, Finland was an ally of the criminal Nazi nation and also took part in the raid on the Soviet Union in 1941. The Finns fought side by side with these criminal mass murderers. Finland did this to conquer territory. Apparently Finland not only wanted the lost territories of the Winter War of 1940, but also wanted to take other territories away from the Soviets. The Finnish parliament declared that the aim of the war was to restore the areas lost during the winter war and to gain more areas in the east in order to create a Greater Finland. President Ryti said this to the Finnish Parliament in 1941. By September 1941, the Finns recaptured the territories lost in the Winter War. However, the Finnish Army continued the offensive past the pre-1939 border with the conquest of Soviet territories, as well as halting only around 30-32 km (19-20 mi) from the center of Leningrad, where they participated in besieging the city by cutting its northern supply routes and digging in until 1944. The Finnish fleet also participated in the sea blockade of the city. It would have been terrible if the Nazi Nation had won together with the Finns the 2nd world war. This victory would have meant the destruction of the Soviet Union and various genocides against the Slavic peoples of the Soviet Union. But also elsewhere they would have exterminated the Slavs, for example in Poland, whereby they would also have exterminated certain nonslavic nations. It's a fact that the attack of 1941 served to support the Germans in completely destroying the Soviet Union. The Finns also knew what the Germans were doing, because they were there at the siege of Leningrad.
In addition, the Finns also supported the German attack on the Soviet city of Murmansk and tried to besiege this city together with the Germans. The Finns wanted more than just to retake the lost territories. The Finns wanted to benefit from the expected German victory over the Soviet Union and additionally conquer more Soviet territory. To win, the Finns supported the Nazi nation in the criminal siege of Leningrad, which was part of the racist war of annihilation against the Slavic population of the Soviet Union. Because the siege was intended to exterminate the population of Leningrad. That's why 1 million people died in Leningrad largely by starvation. Mostly civilians. Which shows that the Finns didn't care that millions of civilians died in this war. The Finns also attacked and besieged Murmansk together with the Germans, which was definitely not a Finnish city either. That is why Great Britain declared war on the Finns and attacked Finnish troops with bombers too. Finland was so the enemy of liberators of Europe because Finland has allied itself with absolute evil.
Most of this..i did not know.. thank you for the video
Great episode. I wish you could have done more about his earlier life, his military career in Imperial Russian army. Starting by gettting kicked out from Hamina cadet school and ending up in the chevalier guard, standing guard before the steps to the throne in Tsar Nicholas' coronation and as cavarly officer in the guard uhlans and eventually becomeing general of the Tsars retinue. Starting ww1 commading guard cavarly brigade and ending his fight in Imperial russian army as general-liutenant and corps commander.
He met the Tsar on many occasions one of which was when he reporting his intelligence gathering mission from China in 1906-1908.
In Finnish civil war Finnish goverment promoted him to general of cavarly. He found it amusing as he said something like "In the Tsars army in the great war I had 30 000 cavarly men under my command. Now when I have 600 dragoons I have been made general of cavarly.
He was promoted to field marshal in 1932 and to marshal of Finland in 1942 as said in the video.
He had personal relationship with many western leaders before and after ww1. Churchill was one of them, Mannerheim even affected Chruchills memoirs. He helped with the part about Finnish civil war and to some degree with Russian civil war.
He also met Kaiser Wilhelm when he visited german empire somewhere between 1890 and 1904 can't remember. He qas just junior officer, but in inspecting Imperial german horses a horse kicked him in the knee and he was treated by the Kaisers doctor.
Bad side of this video in my opinion is that it focused too much on dealings with germany. They were quite right. He disliked germany, but Finland needed the co-operation. One thing why his memoirs might blatantly deny the before hand dealings with germani is that he finished the memoirs in time when things were quite sensitive still. If I recall correctly he was ordered by Finnish foreign(?)minister to modify some bits.
Most of my knowledge is from Robert Brantbergs books: Mannerheim Tsars officer 1867-1914, Mannerheim White general 1914-1918, Mannerheim field marshal 1918-1940 and Mannerheim commander in chief and President of the Republic 1940-1951.
All memoirs attempt to make the writer look good. This is not only Mannerheim. You need to compare what is written to what actually happened and other historical evidence to see where the truth was shaded. Memoir are often very unreliable.
@@caryblack5985 Indeed they are. They are only good for seeing whatvthe subject possibly felt or thought. They are alone not good for factual history.
What would interest me if he had a personal agreement with say Roosevelt about not destroying the train tracks from Murmansk through the help to Russia from the west was transported.
Soldiers have told me they were not allowed to do more harm than keeping Russian troops involved there.
The father of my wife a so called "sissi" soldier who spent lots of time on the wrong side of the border, told me they could have done real damage but they were not allowed to do that.
Anyway if there was no such agreement it only shows he understood the war had to end in Berlin and that help was needed to make it happen, even if some of that help ended up fighting the Finns like with Mustang planes for the Russians.
They say Manerheim never revealed all his cards.
After the war he run a small but popular summer restaurant in Hanko, a small town by the Bay of Finland.
The reality was simply that he was the guy for the occasion.
One thing to add is that Finns never call people, even Finns, Giants, like the British.
Just look at "Then There Were Giants".
If you look at what the Wikipedia has to say about it in English you find this about it:
"In 1941 -1943 the central part between Svir and Petrozavodsk was occupied by the Finnish Army under orders from Mannerheim during WWII."
That doesn't quite correspond to the reality regarding how much was actually transported that way.
Soviet Union; "Finland, where did you learn to side with the Germans in a war of agression?"
Finland: "From you! I learned it by watching you!"
United Kingdom: "Finland, why did you cooperate with a belligerent, totalitarian and genocidal dictatorship?"
Finland: "Why did you do it yourself?"
When did the soviets fight alngside the nazis?
@@federicomachado811 Seriously? ua-cam.com/video/8vjBp-qyNVE/v-deo.html
@@federicomachado811 Molotov-Ribbentrop pact was an economical and military alliance that lasted for years, way longer than what Finnish and German pact lasted. Either they both are alliances, or neither are.
@@federicomachado811 the Nazis and Soviets invaded Poland together.
A spot on presentation.
Great report!
I hope you will cover more from the continuation war
Its nice that General Aksel Airo was seen in few of the pictures but he is so often forgotten when he was the real unsong hero of the Continuation War as he was the head of operations of the finnish forces. He was the right hand man of Mannerheim and when asked who lead the war operations Mannerheim said "Airo and me" showing how much he respected him to mention him before himself.
ps. They wrote his name wrong in one of the pictures its Aksel not Axel.
Look up colonel Valo Nihtilä. He was the true Brains behind lots of things in the Finnish high command. Military genious who went unknown and quite undecorated because of jealousy of many...
Excellent stuff!
A long awaited episode ✌️
You got to admire how Finland successfully resisted the soviet invasion, a David and Goliath tale if I ever saw one.
Except they lost both wars so I am not sure why people get this idea. They did absolutely crush them in casualties but Soviet war aims were realized in both cases. The Karelian Isthmus, Petsamo, and Ladoga Karelia are in modern Russia for this reason. Obviously this is the best case scenario since Finland would almost certainly be Sovietized but it's a de jure defeat
@@spencer871 finns still humilated soviet union and 32 finns against 4000 soviets and they couldnt defeat finns.
Like 300 sparta, true warrior race aka finns
@@paskahousu8884 yea but if u scale it up to percentage of population, ussr lost basically nothing :>
@@benismann they did lost something tho
@@paskahousu8884 as does every side in every war unless they're not contributing
Fortunately for Finland's people there was Mannerheim, who against all odds managed to maintain Finland -of less than 5 million people, after fighting a war against USSR with serious effects both in economy and infrastructure- to exist as an entity after the WWII, although being the closest neighbor to the two out of four biggest powers in those days. The Suomis straggle against uncertainty lasted another 40 years or so. Great designers, great drivers, great athletes and -most importantly- great readers, they used to make some great cellulars too.
Great video!
Good video Indy, well done!
Thanks Joacim
My dad was US Navy in WWII. He talked to me a few times about the place of the USSR and the Finns in the war, strictly from his own boots-on-the-ground (waves?) point of view. He always held that the USSR was, at best, an untrustworthy ally, given that they had sided with Germany during the early part of the war. My dad wasn't a "Better Dead Than Red" kinda guy, but he was nervous about them. He also showed great respect for Finland for the Winter War. He always held the standard line -- Finland wasn't "a Nazi ally", but rather "an enemy of the USSR, and Germany just helped them with that". Still, he also got a little nervous about that, especially with so many Finns wearing German helmets. Overall, he thought the whole Eastern Front was a confused mess and the one main thing he wanted was for Germany to be spanked down hard. The politics of the situation, he freely admitted, confused the hell out of him.
And why USSR was untrustworthy to your dad?
Cause the USSR lost 27,000,000 people in this war?
Your dad is a simple nazi collaborator.
Just like Ford company. Search about this corp. You will be amazed. 👍
So ,Finland didn't trust Stalin.
I can't blame them.
Finland didn't trust Hitler, either.
No one trusted stalin and stalin trusted no one.
Very good one Indy !
Nice video!
For those who want to see a film on the Continuation War, look up The Unknown Soldier (Tuntematon sotilas) by Aku Louhimies.
Antero Rokka is easily the best character in it.
@@jordanandrew2786 if the movie was just about rokka though, it woud be almost boreing though. I like the fact that the movie had diverse selection of charecters all with their own distinct and realistic personalities. It shows the unknown parts of the war, the unknown soldiers.
@@alainerookkitsunev5605 All I said is that Rokka is the best character.
@@jordanandrew2786 did i say you said anything else?
Not a good film.
A fascinating video - fair and thorough. From the first time I read about the Finnish-Russian wars years ago, I felt sympathy for the Finns - and still do after watching this. The nation was in an impossible position as a general European war neared, and Mannerheim and his government did the best they could, caught as they were between the devil they knew too well and the devil they knew less well. I give them credit for standing up to the Russians, who certainly would have been happy to gobble up the whole country if they could. All glory to the Finnish people!
It wasn't a Russian-Finnish war but a Soviet- Finnish war! Incidentally, it is a lie to claim that Finland was 1941 in a impossible position. Because Finland could have remained neutral in this war without any problems when the Germans raided the Soviet Union. Besides, how can one feel sympathy for a nation that was allied and friendly with the Nazi nation and also took part in the crimes of this nation. Finns were the friends of the Nazi Nation! Finnish President Carl Gustaf Mannerheim named the Nazi soldiers in a letter to Adolf Hitler: "Our German brothers-in-arms..." Obvious, Finland was an ally of the criminal Nazi nation and also took part in the raid on the Soviet Union in 1941. The Finns fought side by side with these criminal mass murderers. Finland did this to conquer territory. Apparently Finland not only wanted the lost territories of the Winter War of 1940, but also wanted to take other territories away from the Soviets. The Finnish parliament declared that the aim of the war was to restore the areas lost during the winter war and to gain more areas in the east in order to create a Greater Finland. President Ryti said this to the Finnish Parliament in 1941. By September 1941, the Finns recaptured the territories lost in the Winter War. However, the Finnish Army continued the offensive past the pre-1939 border with the conquest of Soviet territories, as well as halting only around 30-32 km (19-20 mi) from the center of Leningrad, where they participated in besieging the city by cutting its northern supply routes and digging in until 1944. The Finnish fleet also participated in the sea blockade of the city. To win, the Finns supported the Nazi nation in the criminal siege of Leningrad, which was part of the racist war of annihilation against the Slavic population of the Soviet Union. Because the siege was intended to wipe out the population of Leningrad. That's why 1 million people died in Leningrad largely by starvation. Mostly civilians. Which shows that the Finns didn't care that millions of civilians died in this war. The Finns also attacked and besieged Murmansk together with the Germans, which was definitely not a Finnish city either. It would have been terrible if the Nazi Nation had won together with the Finns the 2nd world war. This victory would have meant the destruction of the Soviet Union and various genocides against the Slavic peoples of the Soviet Union. But also elsewhere they would have exterminated the Slavs, for example in Poland, whereby they would also have exterminated certain nonslavic nations. It's a fact that the attack of 1941 served to support the Germans in completely destroying the Soviet Union. The Finns also knew what the Germans were doing, because they were there at the siege of Leningrad.
In addition, the Finns also supported the German attack on the Soviet city of Murmansk and tried to besiege this city together with the Germans. The Finns wanted more than just to retake the lost territories. The Finns wanted to benefit from the expected German victory over the Soviet Union and additionally conquer more Soviet territory. To win, the Finns supported the Nazi nation in the criminal siege of Leningrad, which was part of the racist war of annihilation against the Slavic population of the Soviet Union. Because the siege was intended to exterminate the population of Leningrad. That's why 1 million people died in Leningrad largely by starvation. Mostly civilians. Which shows that the Finns didn't care that millions of civilians died in this war. The Finns also attacked and besieged Murmansk together with the Germans, which was definitely not a Finnish city either. That is why Great Britain declared war on the Finns and attacked Finnish troops with bombers too. Finland was so the enemy of liberators of Europe because Finland has allied itself with absolute evil.
For finns, soviet union was the devil not germany who helped us very much.
@@paskahousu8884 The devil? That was the completely megalomaniac, mad, criminal, amoral and degenerated Nazi nation and their ally Finland which also participated in the crimes. The Germans actually helped the Finns to raid the Soviet Union!
@@paskahousu8884 Luckily both devils lost the war because if these criminals had won the war tens of millions more people would have been murdered.
@@GreatPolishWingedHussars actually allies made far more war crimes and what comes to soviet union... Literally murdered over 20 million OWN folks in gulags.
Proud finn here💪🏻💪🏻 and proud we fighted shoulder to shoulder with germans🇫🇮🤝🏻🇩🇪
Great job !!!! Congratulations !!!
Thank you very much!
I know that most, if not all of what you guys went through is way more important, especially considering that this is a WW2 biography and time is of course limited, but I wish you would've given a brief accounting of his life before the war; his intelligence gathering missions in the far east, teaching the Dalai Lama how to shoot a pistol, his experiences in the Imperial Russian court as a cavalry officer, and his time served under Brusilov. He was an interesting character all around.
Also, I gotta say, this post gave me way more insight into the situation as a whole than I had. Finland was a full ally of Germany in the war, in all but ideology,
The train cart still exists in Finland that Mannerheim and Hitler spoke in. One of the carts was vandalized a year or two ago, but the cart where the recording was made is still fine.
That's an interesting part of history with some rare photos that I've never seen. That part of Russia and eastern Finland is beautiful and rarely seen. I did not realize that Britain had declared war against Finland. The Finns have one of the cleanest countries I've ever seen and some stunning women. Many rich Soviets used to vacation there I heard. Furniture made of Karelian wood was in the Hermitage museum and not only beautiful but very unique. Helsinki is an impressive city to visit.
8:11-8:18 Tuompo - Mannerheim - Airo - Nenonen - Paasonen(?) This is the Finnish High Military Staff during the Continuation War. Heinrichs, also member of the Staff missing from the picture.
Oh holy crap nice a special video of Mannerheim
Mannerheim is a smooooth operator, he consistently declined Germany's Non-Aggression Pacts, refused to join Axis, and yet accepts German supports while passively supporting the invasion of USSR, in the name of "defending our nation and taking back lost land".
He convinced Sweden, an all time neutral country to support Finland in the winter war and yet, not involving Sweden directly into the affairs with then Soviets.
He's constantly observing and calculating, pulling strings with other superpower's momentum to aid in Finland's conquest, once he sees that Germany is incapable of finish what they've started, he jumps down the fence and turns over to the allies.
He was highly respected by both Hitler and Stalin, if it wasn't for him, Finland would have been capitalized long ago by either one of these two powers
I have some regard for your expertise in this matter, Professor.
One not so much known fact: in the early hour of 21.6.1941 finnish submarines went on a mission to lay seamines on the coast of Soviet occupied Estonia. Those subs also had authorisation to attack any soviet warships that came on their path. Operation Barbarossa began about 24 hours AFTER this mission. I think it is obvious that we finns knew what was coming and we were well prepared for it. Maybe from so early than April 1940, maybe few months later but there is no question that the war preparations started in 1940.
It’s strange seeing Andy so close!
Love
Tom
Great video. Finally have some answers haha.
Given the fate every other country that was located between Nazi Germany and the USSR suffered I'd say Finland did what it had to do to ensure the survival of it's people. It was between a rock and a hard place and yet manage to come out the other side after quite a bit of struggle and suffering. Admirable folk.
You mean becoming a not-Commie sockpuppet that gave rise to the term "Finlandization"...
@@axelpatrickb.pingol3228 And? We didn't become a Soviet puppet state like all the eastern European countries.
@@axelpatrickb.pingol3228 What feasible outcome you think would have been more preferable?
@@axelpatrickb.pingol3228 Have 1100km border with population of 4 million with Soviet Union and be belligerent, i'd be interested to hear that what dream world that sounds like a good idea during the cold war.
@Robert Kaevur "You could protest freely but not form parties” What does that mean? Pro-American parties? Countries don't have pro-some-other-nation-parties. Finland is full of political parties, some of them formed during the Cold War. The predecessor of the current big populistic party in Finland was estalished right in the 50's. It was from the beginning a party that blamed the older parties for being too Soviet-friendly, among other things.
Your information about the treaty is also inaccurate. It was a non-aggression pact that stipulated that Finland must not allow Germany or its allies (in practice the UK/USA) to use the Finnish territory to attack the USSR. It also said that if Finland is attacked, Finland can ask the Soviet Union for help. However, any such aid is not automatic and must involve Finland asking for it. There was never any military cooperation between the Soviet Union and Finland during the Cold War.
The biggest practical/visible effect of Finlandization was self-censorship. Negative news about the Soviet Union were few and far between in Finnish media during the Cold War.
Mannerheim was a strange man. If we look closer how he became the leader of the white army back in 1918 it went something like this: He was in Southern Russia during the Russian revolution and dressed as a Russian officer took a train through Russia to St. Petersburg and was never caught or questioned by the reds. Against all odds he managed to cross the border and get to Finland.
In Finland, the reds had taken the south but further north, the Finnish speaking farmers were forming a white army. They hated Russians, they hated the Swedish speaking and they hated the nobility. Mannerheim, a Swedish speaking Russian officer and a nobleman went to negotiate, even though he hardly spoke any Finnish. "Ok, you are our commander!" This is how he started his career in Finland. There was something very convincing about him, even when in every possible way he was the wrong guy.
Ach, Der Fuhrer has an "inside voice"? (I've heard that recording, and it's a very interesting bit of World War II trivia.;)
This much is clear. The Finnish high command willingly went to war along side Germany, But co-operation was only in Finland's own interest.
And Mannerheim was absolutely furious with the German progress in Lapland. During the whole offensive phase, Germans in Lapland made only 26km of progress towards Murmansk. While the Finns made closer to 300 in the South.