The Moscow Armistice was signed between

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, ...

on one side and 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

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

on the other side on 19 September 1944, ending 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 ...

. The Armistice restored the

Moscow Peace Treaty The Moscow Peace Treaty was signed by Finland and the Soviet Union on 12 March 1940, and the ratifications were exchanged on 21 March. It marked the end of the 105-day Winter War, upon which Finland ceded border areas to the Soviet Union. The ...

of 1940, with a number of modifications. The final peace treaty between Finland and many of the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

was signed in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1947.

Conditions for peace

The conditions for peace were similar to what had been agreed in the

of 1940: Finland was obliged to cede parts of

Karelia Karelia (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; , historically Коре́ла, ''Korela'' []; ) is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Russia (including the Soviet Union, Soviet era), Finland, and Sweden. It is currentl ...

and Salla, as well as certain islands in the

Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland (; ; ; ) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and Estonia to the south, to Saint Petersburg—the second largest city of Russia—to the east, where the river Neva drains into it. ...

. The new armistice also handed all of Petsamo to the Soviet Union, and Finland was further compelled to lease Porkkala to the Soviet Union for a period of fifty years (the area was returned to Finnish control in 1956). Territories ceded to the Soviet Union constituted approximately 11.50% (44,106.23 km²) of Finland's territory (382,561.23 km²) prior to the Winter War and the Continuation War as dictated by the Treaty of Tartu. Other conditions included Finnish payment of nearly $300,000,000 ($ in today's US dollars) in the form of various commodities over six years to the Soviet Union as war reparations. Finland also agreed to legalise the

Communist Party of Finland The Communist Party of Finland (, SKP; ) was a communist political party in Finland. The SKP was a section of Comintern and illegal in Finland until 1944. The SKP was banned by the state from its founding and did not participate in any elec ...

(after it had made some changes to the party rules) and ban parties that the Soviet Union considered

fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

. Further, the individuals that the Soviets considered responsible for the war had to be arrested and put on trial, the best-known case being that of

Risto Ryti Risto Heikki Ryti (; 3 February 1889 – 25 October 1956) was a Finnish people, Finnish politician who served as the fifth president of Finland from 1940 to 1944. Ryti started his career as a politician in the field of economics and as a politica ...

.Jakobson, Max (former Finnish Ambassador to the UN)
Finnish wartime leaders on trial for "war guilt" 60 years ago
'

Helsingin Sanomat , abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of the Finnish capital ...

International edition, 28 October 2005 The armistice compelled Finland to drive German troops from its territory, leading to a military campaign in Lapland.

Surrendered territory

References

{{reflist

External links

Text of the Armistice Agreement
Continuation War Peace treaties of Finland 1944 in Finland 1944 in Russia Treaties of the Soviet Union Finland–Soviet Union relations World War II treaties Moscow (1944) Treaties concluded in 1944 Treaties entered into force in 1944 September 1944 in Europe Moscow in World War II 1944 in Moscow Treaties involving territorial changes

Conditions for peace

Surrendered territory

See also

References

Further reading

External links