Editing Continuation War (section)

== Soviet offensive in 1944 ==
===Air raids and the Leningrad–Novgorod Offensive===
[[File:Historiajr7.jpg|thumb|[[Adolf Ehrnrooth]] inspecting troops only a few days before [[Soviet]] mass offensive in the summer of 1944.]]
Finland began to seek an exit from the war after the German defeat at the [[Battle of Stalingrad]] in February 1943. Finnish Prime Minister [[Edwin Linkomies]] formed a new cabinet in March 1943 with peace as the top priority. Similarly, the Finns were distressed by the Allied [[invasion of Sicily]] in July and the German defeat in the [[Battle of Kursk]] in August. Negotiations were conducted intermittently in 1943 and 1944 between Finland, the Western Allies and the Soviets, but no agreement was reached.{{sfn|Reiter|2009|p=|pp=134–137}} Stalin decided to force Finland to surrender with a [[bombing of Helsinki in World War II|bombing campaign on Helsinki]]. Starting in February 1944, it included three major air attacks totaling over 6,000 [[sortie]]s. Finnish [[anti-aircraft warfare|anti-aircraft defence]] repelled the raids, and only 5% of the dropped [[aerial bomb|bombs]] hit their planned targets. In Helsinki, decoy searchlights and fires were placed outside the city to deceive Soviet bombers into dropping their payloads on unpopulated areas. Major air attacks also hit [[Oulu]] and [[Kotka]], but pre-emptive radio intelligence and effective defence kept the number of casualties low.{{sfn|Mäkelä|1967|p=20}}

The Soviet [[Leningrad–Novgorod Offensive]] finally lifted the siege of Leningrad on 27 January 1944.{{sfn|Barber|2017|p=7|ps=: "While the exact number who died during the siege by the German and Finnish armies from 8 September 1941 to 27 January 1944 will never be known, available data point to 900,000 civilian deaths, over half a million of whom died in the winter of 1941–2 alone."}} The Army Group North was pushed to [[Ida-Viru County]] on the Estonian border. Stiff [[Battle of Narva (1944)|German and Estonian defence in Narva]] from February to August prevented the use of occupied Estonia as a favourable base for Soviet amphibious and air assaults against Helsinki and other Finnish coastal cities in support of a land offensive.{{sfn|Paulman|1980|pp=9–117}}{{sfn|Laar|2005|pp=32–59}}<ref name="baltic">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J_VmAAAAMAAJ|title=Battle of the Baltic: The Wars 1918–1945|last=Jackson|first=Robert|publisher=Pen & Sword Maritime|year=2007|isbn=978-1-84415-422-7|location=Barnsley|access-date=2 October 2020|archive-date=25 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425151929/https://books.google.com/books?id=J_VmAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> Field Marshal Mannerheim had reminded the German command on numerous occasions that if the German troops withdrew from Estonia, Finland would be forced to make peace, even on extremely unfavourable terms.{{sfn|Grier|2007|p=121}} Finland abandoned peace negotiations in April 1944 because of the unfavourable terms the USSR demanded.{{sfn|Gebhardt|1990|p=1}}{{sfn|Moisala|Alanen|1988}}

===Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive and breakthrough===
{{Main|Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive}}
[[File:Tali-Ihantala.jpg|thumb|left|Finnish soldiers carrying {{Lang|de|Panzerfäuste}} on their shoulders pass by the remains of a destroyed Soviet [[T-34]] tank at the [[Battle of Tali-Ihantala]]]]

On 9 June 1944, the Soviet Leningrad Front launched an offensive against Finnish positions on the Karelian Isthmus and in the area of Lake Ladoga, timed to coincide with [[Operation Overlord]] in Normandy as agreed during the [[Tehran Conference]].{{sfn|Jutikkala|Pirinen|1988|p=248}} Along the {{convert|21.7|km|mi|abbr=on}}-wide breakthrough, the Red Army concentrated 3,000 guns and mortars. In some places, the concentration of artillery pieces exceeded 200 guns for every kilometre of front or one for every {{convert|5|m|yd|abbr=on}}. Soviet artillery fired over 80,000 rounds along the front on the Karelian Isthmus. On the second day of the offensive, the artillery barrages and superior number of Soviet forces crushed the main Finnish defence line. The Red Army penetrated the second line of defence, the [[VT-line|Vammelsuu–Taipale line]] (VT line), at [[Kuuterselkä]] by the sixth day and recaptured Viipuri with insignificant resistance on 20 June. The Soviet breakthrough on the Karelian Isthmus forced the Finns to reinforce the area, thus allowing the concurrent Soviet offensive in East Karelia to meet less resistance and to recapture Petrozavodsk by 28 June 1944.{{sfn|Erickson|1993|p=197}}{{sfn|Gebhardt|1990|p=2}}{{sfn|Glantz|House|1998|p=202}}

On 25 June, the Red Army reached the third line of defence, the [[VKT-line|Viipuri–Kuparsaari–Taipale line]] (VKT line), and the decisive [[Battle of Tali-Ihantala]] began, which has been described as the largest battle in Nordic military history.{{Sfn|Nenye|Munter|Wirtanen|Birks|2016|p=21}} By then, the Finnish Army had retreated around {{Convert|100|km|mi|abbr=on}} to approximately the same line of defence they had held at the end of the Winter War. Finland especially lacked modern anti-tank weaponry that could stop Soviet heavy armour, such as the [[Kliment Voroshilov tank|KV-1]] or [[IS tank family|IS-2]]. Thus, German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop offered German hand-held ''[[Panzerfaust]]'' and ''[[Panzerschreck]]'' antitank weapons in exchange for a guarantee that Finland would not seek a separate peace with the Soviets. On 26 June, President Risto Ryti gave the [[Ryti-Ribbentrop Agreement|guarantee as a personal undertaking]] that he, Field Marshal Mannerheim and Prime Minister Edwin Linkomies intended to last legally only for the remainder of Ryti's presidency. In addition to delivering thousands of anti-tank weapons, Hitler sent the [[122nd Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)|122nd Infantry Division]] and the half-strength 303rd Assault Gun Brigade armed with [[Sturmgeschütz III]] tank destroyers as well as the Luftwaffe's [[Detachment Kuhlmey]] to provide temporary support in the most vulnerable sectors.<ref>{{harvnb|Virkkunen|1985|pp=297–300}}</ref> With the new supplies and assistance from Germany, the Finnish Army halted the numerically and materially superior Soviet advance at Tali-Ihantala on 9 July 1944 and stabilised the front.<ref name="books.google.com">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bg8drRyDGhEC&pg=PA184|title=500 Days: The War in Eastern Europe, 1944–1945|first=Sean M.|last=Mcateer |year=2009|publisher=Dorrance Publishing|isbn=978-1-4349-6159-4|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151229173003/https://books.google.com/books?id=Bg8drRyDGhEC&pg=PA184 |archive-date=29 December 2015}}</ref>{{sfn|Jowett|Snodgrass|2012|p=14}}<ref name="ReferenceB">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dh6jydKXikoC&pg=PA467|title=Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: F–O |first=Tony |last=Jaques|year=2007|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-33538-9|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151229173003/https://books.google.com/books?id=Dh6jydKXikoC&pg=PA467|archive-date=29 December 2015}}</ref>

More battles were fought toward the end of the war, the last of which was the [[Battle of Ilomantsi (1944)|Battle of Ilomantsi]], fought between 26 July and 13 August 1944 and resulting in a Finnish victory with the destruction of two Soviet divisions.{{sfn|Moisala|Alanen|1988}}{{sfn|Lunde|2011|p=299}}{{sfn|Raunio|Kilin|2008|pp=287–291}} Resisting the Soviet offensive had exhausted Finnish resources. Despite German support under the Ryti–Ribbentrop Agreement, Finland asserted that it was unable to blunt another major offensive.{{sfn|Grier|2007|p=31}} Soviet victories against German [[Army Group Centre|Army Groups Center]] and North during [[Operation Bagration]] made the situation even more dire for Finland.{{sfn|Grier|2007|p=31}} With no imminent further Soviet offensives, Finland sought to leave the war.{{sfn|Grier|2007|p=31}}{{sfn|Erickson|1993|pp=329–330}}{{sfn|Glantz|House|1998|p=229}} On 1 August, Ryti resigned, and on 4 August, Field Marshal Mannerheim was sworn in as the new president. He annulled the agreement between Ryti and Ribbentrop on 17 August to allow Finland to sue for peace with the Soviets again, and peace terms from Moscow arrived on 29 August.{{sfn|Gebhardt|1990|p=2}}{{sfn|Erickson|1993|pp=329–330}}{{sfn|Glantz|House|1998|pp=201–203}}{{Sfn|Nenye|Munter|Wirtanen|Birks|2016|pp=529–531}}

===Ceasefire and peace===
[[File:Continuation War September 1944 English.jpg|upright=1.35|thumb|The front lines on 4 September 1944, when the ceasefire came into effect and two weeks before the war concluded.]]
{{Main|Moscow Armistice}}

Finland was required to return to the borders agreed to in the 1940 Moscow Peace Treaty, demobilise its armed forces, fulfill war reparations and cede the municipality of Petsamo. The Finns were also required to end any diplomatic relations with Germany immediately and to expel the {{lang|de|Wehrmacht}} from Finnish territory by 15 September 1944; any troops remaining were to be disarmed, arrested and turned over to the Allies. The Finnish Parliament accepted those terms in a secret meeting on 2 September and requested for official negotiations for an armistice to begin. The Finnish Army implemented a ceasefire at 8:00&nbsp;a.m. Helsinki time on 4 September. The Red Army followed suit a day later. On 14 September, a delegation led by Finnish Prime Minister [[Antti Hackzell]] and Foreign Minister [[Carl Enckell]] began negotiating, with the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom, the final terms of the Moscow Armistice, which eventually included additional stipulations from the Soviets. They were presented by Molotov on 18 September and accepted by the Finnish Parliament a day later.{{sfn|Vehviläinen|2002|pp=147–149}}{{Sfn|Nenye|Munter|Wirtanen|Birks|2016|pp=529–531}}

[[File:Officers comparing watches.jpg|thumb|left|A Soviet (left) and a Finnish officer compare their watches on 4 September 1944 at Viipuri (Vyborg).]]

<!-- Remember to be neutral per WP:NEUTRAL and add verifiable, reliable sources per WP:VERIFY! -->The motivations for the Soviet peace agreement with Finland are debated. Several Western historians stated that the original Soviet designs for Finland were no different from those for the Baltic countries. American political scientist [[Dan Reiter]] asserted that for Moscow, the control of Finland was necessary. Reiter and the British historian [[Victor Rothwell]] quoted Molotov as telling his Lithuanian counterpart in 1940, when the [[Soviet occupation of the Baltic states (1940)|Soviets effectively annexed Lithuania]], that minor states such as Finland, "will be included within the honourable family of Soviet peoples".{{sfn|Reiter|2009|p=131}}{{sfn|Rothwell|2006|pp=143, 145}} Reiter stated that concern over severe losses pushed Stalin into accepting a limited outcome in the war rather than pursuing annexation, although some Soviet documents called for military occupation of Finland. He also wrote that Stalin had described territorial concessions, reparations and military bases as his objective with Finland to representatives from the UK, in December 1941, and the US, in March 1943, as well as the Tehran Conference. He believed that in the end, "Stalin's desire to crush Hitler quickly and decisively without distraction from the Finnish sideshow" concluded the war.{{sfn|Reiter|2009|p=|pp=134–136, 138}} Red Army officers captured as prisoners of war during the Battle of Tali-Ihantala revealed that their intention was to reach Helsinki, and that they were to be strengthened with reinforcements for this task.{{sfn|Enkenberg|2021|p=581}} This was confirmed by intercepted Soviet radio messages.{{sfn|Enkenberg|2021|p=581}}

Russian historian Nikolai Baryshnikov disputed the view that the Soviet Union sought to deprive Finland of its independence. He argued that there was no documentary evidence for such claims and that the Soviet government was always open for negotiations. Baryshnikov cited sources like the public information chief of Finnish Headquarters, Major {{ill|Kalle Lehmus|fi}}, to show that Finnish leadership had learned of the limited Soviet plans for Finland by at least July 1944 after intelligence revealed that some Soviet divisions were to be transferred to reserve in Leningrad.{{Sfn|Baryshnikov|2002|pp=222–223|loc="Стремительный прорыв"}} Finnish historian {{ill|Heikki Ylikangas|fi}} stated similar findings in 2009. According to him, the Soviets refocused their efforts in the summer of 1944 from the Finnish Front to defeating Germany, and Mannerheim received intelligence from Colonel [[Aladár Paasonen]] in June 1944 that the Soviet Union was aiming for peace, not occupation.{{sfn|Ylikangas|2009|pp=40–61}}
Evidence of the Soviet leadership's intentions for the occupation of Finland has later been uncovered. In 2018, it was revealed that the Soviets' designed and printed (in [[Goznak]]) new banknotes for Finland during the closing phases of the war, which were to be put into use after the planned occupation of the country.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rahalöytö paljasti neuvostojohdon suunnitelmat – "Ne olisivat muistuttaneet suomalaisille, kuka täällä määrää" |url=https://suomenkuvalehti.fi/kotimaa/rahaloyto-paljasti-neuvostojohdon-suunnitelmat-ne-olisivat-muistuttaneet-suomalaisille-kuka-taalla-maaraa/ |date=29 September 2022 |access-date=19 November 2022 |language=fi |author=Heikki Salmela |website=[[Suomen Kuvalehti]] |archive-date=2 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221202172422/https://suomenkuvalehti.fi/kotimaa/rahaloyto-paljasti-neuvostojohdon-suunnitelmat-ne-olisivat-muistuttaneet-suomalaisille-kuka-taalla-maaraa/ |url-status=live }}</ref>