The world never really “settled down” after The Great War. Germany was reeling after severe sanctions and reparations were thrust upon it by the Allies and the Treaty of Versailles. The Roaring Twenties brought a false sense that a short-lived boom would last forever. Then came the ’29 Crash and the entire world was affected by the Depression. Unrest and hard times led to the rise of charismatic leaders who espoused policies that, while temporarily popular, couldn’t be sustained. Unfortunately, they gained enough support to establish militaristic autocracies under the politics of fascism in Italy and Germany and Communism in Russia. On the other side of the world, Japan went on a campaign of conquering land in Southeast Asia, China, and Korea. Being an island nation of limited resources, they needed oil and minerals from the mainland to sustain themselves and their ambitions going forward. These had consequences for the United States and, in turn, the Finnish community.
Stalin in Russia was suspect of many of his own population. His purges in the 1930s executed hundreds of thousands and many more thousands were sentenced to the gulags. Needing manpower to replace those eliminated, Russia came to the U.S. to entice Finns to repatriate to the Karelian region to what they advertised as a “utopian society”. They were moderately successful, and several families moved back to the Russian-controlled part of “the old country”. What they found was much different from what they were led to believe. Stalin didn’t trust these new immigrants and most of the men were assigned to hard labor camps or sent to the gulag. There is a book written by Mayme Sevander called “They Took My Father.” Her family had emigrated back, and her father disappeared soon after. Later in life she came back to this side of the ocean and lived in Duluth. She told a sad and compelling story. My dad related stories of classmates who one day weren’t in school and later found out their families had moved back to Karelia, never to be heard from again.
In 1939, Germany and Russia signed a non-aggression pact, and on Sept. 1, they jointly invaded Poland, starting World War II. Emboldened by their success, Russia invaded Finland in December, hoping to regain what used to be a duchy under their control. It was called the Winter War. Finland was greatly outmatched militarily. Russia, however, was not prepared for what it encountered. After purging many of his competent generals, those who were left had dubious credentials and no battle experience. They made blunder after blunder and the Finns developed battle tactics that took full advantage of their mistakes. A severe winter caused the Russians further problems as their machinery broke down and many times wouldn’t start. Clothing and rations were inadequate for cold and snow. Eventually, even with poor battle tactics, sheer numbers turned the tide. Russia found they had no stomach to continue to take the kind of losses they were taking and sued for peace. Though the Finns kept their sovereignty, Russia acquired about ten percent of Finnish territory.
