The Army of Karelia ( fi, Karjalan armeija) was a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

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 from 1941 to 1944, as part of World War II.; sv, fortsättningskriget; german: Fortsetzungskrieg. A ...

. The Army of Karelia was formed on 29 June 1941 soon after the start of the

Organisation

The army was organised in two corps and one separate group. *

VII Corps 7th Corps, Seventh Corps, or VII Corps may refer to: * VII Corps (Grande Armée), a corps of the Imperial French army during the Napoleonic Wars * VII Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army prior to and during World War I * VII ...

(VII armeijakunta) *

VI Corps 6 Corps, 6th Corps, Sixth Corps, or VI Corps may refer to: France * VI Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry formation of the Imperial French army during the Napoleonic Wars * VI Corps (Grande Armée), a formation of the Imperial French army du ...

(VI armeijakunta) * Group Oinonen or Group O (Ryhmä Oinonen or Ryhmä O) The corps consisted of a total of 5 infantry divisions. The Cavalry Brigade and the 1st and

2nd A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Second, Seconds or 2nd may also refer to: Mathematics * 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'') * Second of arc, an angular measurement unit, ...

Jäger Brigades were organised into Group O. Also, the German 163rd Infantry Division was later added to the army.

Offensive

On July 10 the Army started its offensive against East Karelia, north of Lake Ladoga. The aim was to reclaim the areas lost to the Soviet Union in the

Winter War The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

, but also to advance deeper into Soviet territory to gain a more easily defensible front. On the north flank the army was supported by the independent 14th Division and to the south by forces on the

Karelian Isthmus The Karelian Isthmus (russian: Карельский перешеек, Karelsky peresheyek; fi, Karjalankannas; sv, Karelska näset) is the approximately stretch of land, situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in northwestern ...

. The army's advance was rapid due to the use of light jäger troops. The capital of Karelia

Petrozavodsk Petrozavodsk (russian: Петрозаводск, p=pʲɪtrəzɐˈvotsk; Karelian, Vepsian and fi, Petroskoi) is the capital city of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, which stretches along the western shore of Lake Onega for some . The population ...

was taken in October and promptly renamed to the poetic ''Äänislinna''. By September 1941, the Army of Karelia participated in the Siege of Leningrad, threatening the city from the east. During the autumn of 1941 the army took positions along the river Svir between lakes Ladoga and Onega. Medvezhegorsk was taken in December. After the offensive phase of the war ended, the Army of Karelia was disbanded and its HQ became HQ of

Aunus Group Aunus may refer to: * Aunus, Finnish for Olonets, a town and district in Karelia * 1480 Aunus, an asteroid * Aunus expedition The Aunus expedition was an attempt by Finnish volunteers to occupy parts of East Karelia in 1919, during the Russian ...

Commanders

* General of Infantry

Erik Heinrichs Axel Erik Heinrichs (21 July 1890 – 16 November 1965) was a Finnish military general. He was Finland's Chief of the General Staff during the Interim Peace and Continuation War (1940–1941 and 1942–1944) and commander-in-chief for a short t ...

29 June 1941 - 29 January 1942 * Lieutenant General Karl Lennart Oesch (temporary) 29 January 1942 - 1 March 1942

References

{{reflist * Ready, J. Lee. ''World War Two Nation by Nation.'' London: Arms and Armour Press, 1995. Continuation War Military history of Finland