The war in arctic Europe, 1941–45

Abstract

The following article does not describe the winter war which followed the Soviet attack upon Finland in 1939, nor the campaign brought about by the German invasion of Norway in 1940. It deals with the military operations in arctic Europe which followed the German attack upon the U.S.S.R. in 1941, ending with the German capitulation in 1945. During the greater part of this period Finland was a co-belligerent of Germany against the U.S.S.R. In 1944, however, Finland was obliged to capitulate to the U.S.S.R. and then, by the terms of the capitulation, to turn upon the Germans and help the Russians to drive them from Finnish soil. The description of the military operations is based largely upon German accounts. Unfortunately no Soviet source of information is available.