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'You caused this': As Finland joins NATO, see the 1939 Soviet-Finnish War amid Russia's 'retaliatory' threats

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Camille Fine, USA TODAY
·3 min read

The complicated relationship between Russia and Finland is yet again in a state of decline.

Finland formally joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the world's largest military alliance, on Tuesday as its 31st member.

In 2022, Finland officially applied to become a member of NATO during a news conference at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki.

“This is a historic day. A new era begins,” Finish president Sauli Niinisto said at the time.

Support for joining NATO jumped by 25% last year in Finland since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began in February, according to poll results reported by France24.

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The historic move comes after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which stirred fears in countries that border Russia.

“You (Russia) caused this. Look in the mirror,” Niinisto said.

Five people killed in the war have been buried in Liljendal. Spring Winter 1940.
Five people killed in the war have been buried in Liljendal. Spring Winter 1940.
A pit made by a Soviet Red Army bombing in Loviisa, Finland, in 1940.
A pit made by a Soviet Red Army bombing in Loviisa, Finland, in 1940.
Images show Finnish soldiers around the time that the Soviet Union gave back Porkkala to Finland in 1956 during the Winter War.
Images show Finnish soldiers around the time that the Soviet Union gave back Porkkala to Finland in 1956 during the Winter War.

Moscow has warned Finland  of “military-technical” retaliation if it is successful in joining.

Finland  remained neutral since a 1948 treaty with the Soviet Union and independent since 1917. The Nordic country shares an 830-mile border with Russia.

“Finland’s accession to NATO will cause serious damage to bilateral Russian-Finnish relations,” the Russian foreign ministry wrote in a statement. “Russia will be forced to take retaliatory steps, both of a military-technical and other nature, in order to stop the threats to its national security that arise in this regard.”

(Left) People work to gather and package medical supplies during the Russo-Finnish Winter War of 1939 in Finland. (Right) Finnish soldiers in the Winter War eat together.
(Left) People work to gather and package medical supplies during the Russo-Finnish Winter War of 1939 in Finland. (Right) Finnish soldiers in the Winter War eat together.

Soviet Union invades Finland in 1939

As tensions continue to escalate among Russia, Finland and Sweden, there was a lesser-known attack that was pivotal in Finnish and Russian political relations: the ‘Winter War’ of 1939-1940, also known as the Russo-Finnish War.

The invasion began near the start of WWII after Poland was split up by Germany and the Soviets in 1939, according to Britannica.

Stunted from losses to Germany, the Soviet Union invaded Finland in November 1939 after it declined a 30-year lease for a naval base at Hanko in exchange for Soviet land.