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Oh joy. I wonder how much better Finland would do during Barbarossa. It really doesn't see like it would amount to much, long term,.
Oh yes, silly me, the Continuation War is an entirely seperate conflict to Barborossa. Well, technically it is, but one depends on the other, and I don't think Hitler was waiting for the Finns to make the first move. In OTL, at least, Finland went far beyond 'seperate war on common foe', a la https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co-belligerence#Finland_as_co-belligerent_with_Germany_in_World_War_II
It may be better for Finland to not do the Continuation War. Besides the additional loss of life, it is my understanding that they lost more land and had to pay reparations to the Soviet Union. With the Allies being further along on rearming, Germany may not do as well in the early years of the war. Finland may lose more in this timeline if they do the Continuation War.
I am enjoying this timeline.
I am enjoying this timeline.
It will be interesting to see how you can keep them out of it. It was a very sticky situation Finland found itself in 1940.
Finland can't join the Allies. Can't see how that happens especially with what will happen in the next six months of the timeline. The question is whether or not the Continuation War is baked into the cake, or if there is a way that a better (still bad but better TTL than OTL) March 1940 peace allows Finland to have a bit more autonomy and more importantly a bit less of an internal political driver for revanche.
The continuation war was a disaster for Finland. They can remain neutral, and can tilt one way or another as the course of the war develops. If Finland is neutral to tilting Allied by the time the USSR begins to retake land from the Nazis or even becomes a late joining ally, the USSR won't have any legitimate reason for trying to take more from Finland and without Germans troops in Finland even Stalin can't sell invading a neutral or a new ally. Imagine that in 1944 as the Germans are in retreat Finland secretly makes a deal with the Allies and some RAF/USAAF elements land in Petsamo and, in spite of difficulties, get to Helsinki to provide defense against Luftwaffe raids and perhaps some offensive operations. With even limited UK/US forces in Finland, the USSR is blocked from further land grabs.
The Continuation War is a disaster only in hindsight. And even then, as disasters go, it was a very limited one. The most likely outcome for Finland, from the 1939-40 time window, would be to end up like Estonia or at best like Poland. If not a part of the USSR, then a Soviet satellite and unwilling ally. In 1940, IOTL, remaining both neutral and independent seemed very nearly impossible for Finland. There were only the options of coming to an accommodation of sorts with the Germans or the Soviets, or the (what I see as) pie-in-the-sky union deal with the Swedish. And of course the Soviets were, for different reasons among which the Winter War and its follow-up effects featured heavily, right out as an ally. Without the benefit of hindsight, staying alone would mean a huge risk of a renewed Soviet attack in 1940-41, one that would most likely lead to occupation and annexation, and/or a major possibility of a part of the Finnish population starving to death by 1942. Bad as the Nazis were, those things wouldn't be something a responsible Finnish government would want to risk.
ITTL Finland may have a little more leeway, but not a lot. In other words, I agree with fester's assessment. Finland will most likely get the support it sorely needs from Berlin, but it may have more possibilities to make its own decisions within that alliance if it is not as dependent from the Germans as IOTL.
Story 0098
February 22, 1940 Georgia Tech
His eyes scanned the precisely typed grade list. The mechanics professor always listed his grades by score not by name, so there was no easy way to quickly find his success. He knew not to look at the top, As his eyes continued to flow down the sheet of paper, his classmates faded away as they saw their scores. Sighs of relief came from those who were worried, while one boy kicked a trashcan as he was graded much lower than he thought he should have been. Ted could not find his name on the first page. The second page was the page of failure. The top score was a barely acceptable 73. He was not at the top of the list. Sixty-eight.
“Damn it” was the only thought in his head and he apologized to himself for swearing in his soul. Engineering had been a struggle for the past seventeen months. It was a promise to get out, but soon he would be forced out. He could build with his hands and read plans but the math and the ability to walk through a project always eluded him when he was told what to solve. The tall, broad shouldered, always popular young man backed away from the bulletin board, away from the crush of the other hopeful students and wandered.
The campus in February was desolate and it provided few options to comfort a student who would soon be advised to find a different career than that of an engineer. He could go back to Appalachia, or he could move to Atlanta. There was a third option, the Navy was recruiting young men with some college, good reflexes and good eyes. If he could talk to a recruiter before his final grades disqualified him, he might have an option.
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Story 0099
February 23, 1940 Narvik Norway
The dock area was busy. Two freighters were loading ore from Sweden. One ship was being nudged into the final loading spot in the harbor by tugs. Another ship had left a few hours ago and still steaming down the high walled fjords. A small coaster had arrived from Oslo.
Four men were on vacation. They had flown from London to Oslo three days ago and then arranged for a hike along the Narvik Fjord. The coaster had delivered them, along with hundreds of tons of coal to the critical port city.
A guide had been hired to take them through the waist deep snow. Before they departed for the fresh mountain air, they all headed to a small hotel a few blocks away from the harbor. The very fit, strong men in their mid-thirties moved with military precision, one man taking point and the others spread out just enough so that a single burst would not get all of them on the sidewalk. There was no threat besides that of ice on the sidewalk and falling snow from the roofs. All of the “American” tourists quickly bunked down in their rooms and headed down to the common room for a hearty meal of fish stew and freshly baked bread. Tomorrow would be a hard day. And the day after that would be just as difficult as they were due to spend a few nights in lean toos and other impromptu shelters further up the fjord.
The dock area was busy. Two freighters were loading ore from Sweden. One ship was being nudged into the final loading spot in the harbor by tugs. Another ship had left a few hours ago and still steaming down the high walled fjords. A small coaster had arrived from Oslo.
Four men were on vacation. They had flown from London to Oslo three days ago and then arranged for a hike along the Narvik Fjord. The coaster had delivered them, along with hundreds of tons of coal to the critical port city.
A guide had been hired to take them through the waist deep snow. Before they departed for the fresh mountain air, they all headed to a small hotel a few blocks away from the harbor. The very fit, strong men in their mid-thirties moved with military precision, one man taking point and the others spread out just enough so that a single burst would not get all of them on the sidewalk. There was no threat besides that of ice on the sidewalk and falling snow from the roofs. All of the “American” tourists quickly bunked down in their rooms and headed down to the common room for a hearty meal of fish stew and freshly baked bread. Tomorrow would be a hard day. And the day after that would be just as difficult as they were due to spend a few nights in lean toos and other impromptu shelters further up the fjord.
Yes, 1940 --- Ted Sullivan is slowly failing out of college in 1940.
At least I know people are reading my story
I do not know if this is plausible or not. Can Britain "sell" Norway some military supplies and Norway store them in Narvik? This would be a way to preposition supplies if Britain and France send troops.
Mechanically I think it is plausible but I do not think I am going to go in that direction as it is too much of a pro-Ally tilt
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