The 1947 Paris Peace Treaty and the current situation
"The past is never dead. It's not even past." – William Faulkner
The Treaty of Paris ended the state of war between Finland and the Allied Powers. Finland's opponents had been the Allied powers, namely the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Australia, the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Canada, Czechoslovakia, India, New Zealand, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and the Union of South Africa.
Now their successor states are the responsible states of the agreement.
I was born during the Continuation War in November 1941, while my father was at the front on the Karelian Isthmus. My husband's father was killed in August 1941 on the Lapland front.
Ever since I have understood something about our wars, I have wondered why the Winter War ended like a knife. Finland's defense was on the verge of collapse. The ammunition for heavy weapons was gone and even the cartridges, at least in the key areas. Peace came at the last minute. Our soldiers were completely exhausted. When peace came, they slept for days on end. Some did not regain their color vision until weeks later.
I have spoken with the commander of a machine gun company that fought on the Virolahti front. My father did not take part in the Winter War, but he did in the Continuation War. Erkki Hautamäki has examined the Winter War in his book Finland in the Midst of the Storm, Part 1, Years 1932–1940. One reason for the peace of the Winter War was Germany's strong intervention in the war. Germany demanded immediate peace from the Soviet Union.
Our last wars can be discussed for a long time, as can their causes, but I think one thing is important. Wars, including the wars between Finland and the Soviet Union, do not start when shooting starts. Military actions do start. The reasons leading to war have long existed. I also argue that the wars between Finland and the Soviet Union would not have arisen without the emergence of a larger conflict, known as World War II.
In any case, the final peace was achieved in Paris in 1947. In 1948, the so-called YYA agreement was signed between Finland and the Soviet Union. It was originally the idea of Marshal Mannerheim , the then President of the Republic . The proposal was made while the Control Commission was still in Finland. Marshal Mannerheim's generals supported it, as Pekka Visuri has written in his book Paasikivi's line Paasikivi's Finland. Suurvaltojen prisitsuse 1944–1947 (2015) .
However, Joseph Stalin did not accept the proposal before the final peace was concluded, because it could have been claimed that the agreement was the result of Soviet pressure. In the autumn of 1945, a Finnish cultural delegation visited Moscow. Some members of the delegation began to criticize Mannerheim. Stalin quickly interrupted the criticism. He told the Finnish delegation that if other countries had had statesmen as capable as Mannerheim, the wars would have been avoided. Joseph Stalin also stated that once the war reparations had been paid, the Soviet Union was ready to make trade agreements with Finland that were many times greater than the war reparations.
This is how it happened. Finland and the Soviet Union had a five-year framework agreement, and a protocol for the exchange of goods for each year. Finnish industry could plan its investments and strategies, relying on a long-term trade relationship. Trade did not use convertible currencies, but goods were exchanged end-to-end. Finland wanted export products to have a high degree of domesticity – 80% and above. The justification was that since the Soviet Union's main export product was oil, which was 100% Soviet, Finnish products had to be Finnish in return. The trade was advantageous for Finland. There were no bank charges, and the money could be withdrawn from a Finnish bank against shipping documents. There was no credit loss.
The Soviet Union's orders were large. One ship order could be for 20 special ships. Finland was able to develop its heavy industry in the long term. An entire city was built in Kostomuksha and Finland bought blast furnaces from the Soviet Union for the Raahe steelworks. Iron pellets began to travel from Kostomuksha to Raahe. A rail connection was built and now Kostomuksha pellets are shipped to the world market via the port of Raahe.
Finland was envied for its favorable trade and the excellent relations with the East of the then President of the Republic, Urho Kaleva Kekkonen . A derogatory term was coined for Kekkonen: Finnishization. Finland became a world-class politician. Urho Kekkonen's great achievement was the EEC meeting in Helsinki in the summer of 1975. The leaders of the world's great powers also gathered in Helsinki. As a result of this, the Cold War began to come to an end.
Now everything has changed. Why? Due to his illness, Urho Kaleva Kekkonen had to give up his position as president in the autumn of 1981. He was initially succeeded temporarily by Prime Minister Mauno Koivisto , who was later elected President of the Republic of Finland for two six-year terms. According to KTT Heikki Urmas, potential successors to Kekkonen – Leskinen , Liinamaa and Paavela – were killed. Mauno Koivisto was a Bernsteinian social democrat and a hater of communists.
Mauno Koivisto's goal was to secretly take Finland westward, into the European Union. The Paris Peace Treaty and the YYA Agreement were obstacles to this. The secret Operation PAX was planned at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the spring of 1990. Now the documents have become public after 25 years of secrecy. The operation is a monstrous act of treason against Finland's national interests and benefits.
Urho Kekkonen had skillfully utilized the Paris Peace Treaty and the YYA Agreement and kept Finland out of the conflicts between the great powers. It became known that Finland's role in the world was more that of a doctor than a judge. Kekkonen believed that security was not built by building fences but by opening gates. Finland's advantage in the world was that we were not former colonial masters. Now, through the EU, we have tied ourselves to the crimes of those states in their colonies.
Operation Pax meant Finland's withdrawal from the Paris Peace Treaty, taking advantage of the Soviet Union's weakness. It was imagined that the Soviet Union would crumble. However, it was replaced by an even stronger Russia, which is now proving its military power in Syria. It was also imagined that if Germany were to be reunified, Germany would regain its sovereignty and a peace treaty would be signed with it. Nothing came of it. It didn't happen like it did in Strömsö. Germany is still occupied and no peace treaty has been signed. Operation Pax was needed so that Finland could be taken into the EU as a secret project.
In Jaakko Blomberg's book The Longing for Stability (2011), on page 255, the following is written:
“The decision [to water down the Paris Peace Accords] had been prepared in a very small circle in Helsinki, because the operation [PAX] being leaked to the public could have seriously damaged it. The President of the Republic [Mauno Koivisto] informed the Chairman of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, Markus Aalto, about the decisions to be made on Friday morning, 21 September [1990] before the Government session.”
This was one of Mauno Koivisto's deceptions. The impression was given that the entire Parliament had been informed. A phone call to Aaltonen is not such a notification.
The public has continued to lie that the Soviet Union had supposedly accepted Finland's/Mauno Koivisto's unilateral declaration of nullification of the articles of Part III of the Paris Peace Treaty. The Finnish authorities had falsely assured the Soviet Union that Finland's security and defense policy would remain unchanged. Even blind Reetta sees that the course is on the road to the West, as the ship's captain, Sauli Niinistö , has assured.
Our policy has changed 180 degrees. We are in the camp of Russia's enemies. All the facts have been hidden from the citizens. Only now, after 25 years of secrecy orders have expired, can we know how the Soviet Union reacted to the plans of the Operation PAX operatives. The Russian interpretation was revealed in its note 281/2eu translation MOSB268/1 dated November 6, 1990, which was kept secret for 25 years [the Russian copy of the note and its translation are part of the secret documents of Operation PAX, which therefore became public after 25 years of secrecy in early 2016], which does not confirm any change to the Paris Peace Treaty. On the contrary, that note confirms the immutability of the foundations of Finland's defense and security policy, as well as the size of its armed forces. Great Britain did not even comment on the note, but just a blank press note without a stamp or signature.
Last spring, there was a seminar at the Russian Center for Science and Culture, and during one of the presentations I asked: “Did those present know about the secret Operation PAX?” Well, they didn’t, and of course they couldn’t have known, because Operation PAX had been secret. The documents had only just become public after 25 years of secrecy. I gave a short report to those present. I also told them about Minister Max Jakobson’s reaction in a closed seminar: “You have now also questioned the current border between Finland and the Soviet Union.” The reaction of Baryshnikov, a professor of history at St. Petersburg University, was spontaneous: “That means war.” Professor Baryshnikov is an advisor to the Kremlin.
It has been consistently and falsely claimed in public that the then President of the Republic, Mauno Koivisto, and/or the Finnish government had unilaterally annulled the Paris Peace Treaty and the YYA Agreement.
I asked the Ministry for Foreign Affairs for an explanation, and the Chief Justice, Päivi Kaukoranta, responded. I wrote to her:
You have written: “The President of the Republic made a formal decision in this matter on 21.9.1990 after the Government had first decided to present the matter to the President of the Republic.” I have in my possession the minutes of 21.09.1990 95/1990 of the presentation to the President of the Republic. It is indeed written in it “The President of the Republic decided:” It is also written: “The statement of the President of the Republic was recorded:”
However, the President of the Republic (Mauno Koivisto) has not decided or stated anything that could have come into force, that is, “become flesh”. His signatures are missing from his decision and statement. Section 34 of the Constitution is clear: “The decisions of the President must be signed by the President in order to come into force.” Minutes 95/1990 have only been signed by Harri Holkeri, Pertti Paasio, Pertti Salolainen and Åke Wihtol. In fact, the President of the Republic (Mauno Koivisto) has not decided or stated anything at all on 21 September 1990.
The following is the full text of Section 34 of the HM:
Section 34
The President shall make his decision in the Government on the presentation of the minister in whose sphere of responsibility the matter falls.
In order to enter into force, the President's decisions must be signed by the President and certified by the minister who has presented the matter. What has been said here does not, however, apply to the matters mentioned in sections 32 and 47.
If the President's decision concerns the entire Government, it shall be certified by the relevant Government rapporteur.
Separate provisions shall be made regarding the presentation of military orders and military appointments and the certification of the President's decisions on them.
The person who has certified the President's decision shall be responsible for ensuring that the certificate of delivery of the decision is correct.
When Finland joined the EU, the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty and the 1992 so-called Neighborhood Agreement with the Russian Federation should have been terminated or adapted to be EU-compatible, so that they would also have become binding on the EU. The YYA agreement had lapsed on its own, having been concluded with the Soviet Union when the Russian Federation took its place. The 1992 agreement on good neighborly relations was concluded with this. We have deceived the international community and placed ourselves in conflict with our neighbor, the Russian Federation. Those who violate the agreement have no friends and no defenders. Pacta sunt servanda .
By fraternizing with NATO, the US and other foreign powers, Finland has violated the Paris Peace Treaty. Last week, the ACE 17 air war exercise in Lapland ended, involving 11 countries and over a hundred aircraft – including US B52 nuclear bombers. The exercise was led by Colonel Petteri Setälä from the Bodö base in Norway . All of this is a violation of the Paris Peace Treaty.
The following are relevant excerpts from the Paris Peace Accords:
PART II.
Political Provisions.
Chapter I.
Article 3.
In accordance with the Interim Peace Treaty, the Peace Treaty concluded between the Soviet Union and Finland in Moscow on March 12, 1940, shall be brought back into force, however, with Articles 4, 5 and 6 of the said Treaty replaced by Articles 2 and 4 of this Treaty.
Article 3 (of the 1940 Moscow Peace Treaty of the Winter War)
Both Contracting Parties undertake, in turn, to refrain from any aggression against each other and not to enter into any alliances or participate in coalitions directed against either Contracting Party.
Article III
Both Contracting Parties undertake to mutually refrain from any attack on each other and not to conclude any alliances or participate in coalitions directed against one of the Contracting Parties.
Article 3
Both contracting parties undertake each to refrain from any attack upon the other and to make no Alliance and to participate in no Coalition directed against either of the contracting parties.
PART III.
Provisions concerning the land, navy and air forces.
Article 13:
Land, naval and air armaments and fortifications shall be strictly limited to the performance of tasks of an internal nature and to the local defence of the frontiers. In accordance with the above, Finland shall not be entitled to maintain armed forces larger than:
a) land forces, including border guards and anti-aircraft artillery, with a total strength of 34,400 men;
b) a navy with a crew strength of 4,500 and a total tonnage of 10,000 tons;
c) air forces, including the naval air force and reserve aircraft, with a total strength of 60 aircraft and 3,000 men. Finland shall not maintain or acquire aircraft designed primarily as bombers with internal bomb-carrying equipment.
These strengths shall include, in each case, combat, maintenance and command personnel.
Article 17:
Finland shall not possess, manufacture or test any atomic weapon , any self-propelled or guided projectile or any equipment related to their launching (except torpedoes and torpedo launchers which are part of the normal armament of warships permitted by this Treaty), non-contact explosive sea mines or torpedoes detonated by a sensitive mechanism, manned torpedoes, submarines or other underwater vehicles, motor torpedo boats or special types of assault craft .
Article 18:
Finland shall not retain, manufacture or otherwise acquire war material, or maintain production facilities for the production of war material, in excess of what is necessary to maintain the defence forces permitted by Article 13 of this Treaty.
Finland is now in a very dangerous situation. In the spring of 1938, the Soviet embassy secretary Boris Yartsev told Finnish negotiators, as a special agent of Joseph Stalin, that the Red Army would not wait for foreign troops to arrive at Rajajoki. The Soviet Union proposed negotiations and an agreement. The new Foreign Minister Eljas Erkko , starting in December 1938, suspended the negotiations. Mannerheim had not been informed of the Yartsev negotiations. He would have agreed to the Soviet proposals for territorial exchanges. The crisis then led to the Winter War. Finland has already crossed the dangerous line proposed by Yartsev many times.
So what should be done now? Finland should return to the situation in its relations with Russia that prevailed during Kekkonen's time.
The Russian-speaking population in Finland should be concerned. There are probably around 70,000 Russian-speaking people in Finland. If the crisis worsens, Finland can only implement the so-called Defense State Act by presidential decree. Based on this, any person can be arrested, that is, imprisoned for three months, only by decision of the police chief.
Finland has previous experience with this procedure. Before the Winter War and later, hundreds of Finns were taken into protective custody in prison conditions. I am not aware that they later received any compensation for their imprisonment.
When Japan attacked the USA at Pearl Harbour in December 1941, US citizens of Japanese descent and their families were immediately imprisoned in Hawaii on the same day. In total, approximately 120,000 people of Japanese descent and their families were held in concentration camp-like conditions during the war. They lost all their property. The same fate may befall some people and their families in Finland.
So we need to start easing it, and RUFI ry can do an excellent job in this. The hatred between nations has been considered by, among others, the Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko . You can read about his thoughts in his book Invisible Threads . They are cultural ties that cross borders. Yevtushenko considered the power of photographs, art and culture in general to be effective. He had been awakened after seeing the photography exhibition The Family of Man, held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York after the war in the 1950s . It had been built by Edward Steichen for a global tour. In Finland, that exhibition was in Helsinki in December 1959. Its theme was that people are the same everywhere.
The exhibition publication had an introduction written by Carl Sandburg . It included his poem:
There is only one man in the world
and his name is all men.
There is only one woman in the world
and his name is all women.
There is only one child in the world
and his name is all children.
Yevgeny Yevtushenko wrote in his book: “ Once I entered the pavilion where Edward Steichen’s photo exhibition The Human Race was on display and I emerged a changed man. With one swipe I had cleansed myself of the Cold War’s garbage propaganda, and it had been done by the living breath of all humanity that wafted from those photographs.”
¤
M.Sc. (Eng.), ex-diplomat Jali Raita gave a presentation based on this article on May 25, 2017 at an event organized by RUFI at the Russian Cultural and Scientific Center in Helsinki.
Jali Raita worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the 1970s, heading the Singapore Embassy with the title of Commercial Secretary, with a presence in Malaysia, Thailand, Burma, Brunei and Hong Kong.
end
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