Editing Continuation War (section)

===Relations between Finland, Germany and Soviet Union===
{{Main|Operation Barbarossa}}
[[File:Europe before Operation Barbarossa, 1941 (in German).png|thumb|The geopolitical status in Europe in May 1941:{{legend|#5B8B67|The United Kingdom and occupied areas}}{{legend|#5B5B5B|Germany, its allies and occupied areas}}{{legend|#A74F4E|The Soviet Union and occupied areas.}}Note how Finland is marked as a German ally.|277x277px]]

On 31 July 1940, [[Adolf Hitler]] gave the order to plan an assault on the Soviet Union, meaning Germany had to reassess its position regarding both Finland and Romania. Until then, Germany had rejected Finnish requests to purchase arms, but with the prospect of an invasion of Russia, that policy was reversed, and in August, the secret sale of weapons to Finland was permitted.{{sfn|Reiter|2009|p=132|pp=}} Military authorities signed an agreement on 12 September, and an official exchange of diplomatic notes was sent on 22 September. Meanwhile, German troops were [[Transit of German troops through Scandinavia (World War II)|allowed to transit]] through Sweden and Finland.{{sfn|Kirby|2006|p=220}} This change in policy meant Germany had effectively redrawn the border of the German and Soviet spheres of influence, in violation of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact.{{sfn|Vehviläinen|2002|p=83}}

In response to that new situation, Molotov visited Berlin on 12–13 November 1940.{{sfn|Kirby|2006|p=219}} He requested for Germany to withdraw its troops from Finland and to stop enabling Finnish anti-Soviet sentiments. He also reminded the Germans of the 1939 pact. Hitler inquired how the Soviets planned to settle the "Finnish question" to which Molotov responded that it would mirror the events in [[Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and northern Bukovina|Bessarabia]] and the Baltic states. Hitler rejected that course of action.{{sfn|Vehviläinen|2002|p=84}} During the [[1940 Finnish presidential election|Finnish presidential election]] in December 1940, [[Risto Ryti]] was elected to be president largely due to interference by Molotov in Ryti's favour since he had signed the Moscow Peace Treaty as prime minister.{{sfn|Virrankoski|2009|p=898}}{{sfn|Turtola|2000|p=409}}

On 18 December 1940, Hitler officially approved Operation Barbarossa, paving the way for the German invasion of the Soviet Union,{{sfn|Kirby|2006|p=221}} in which he expected both Finland and Romania to participate.{{sfn|Vehviläinen|2002|p=86}} Meanwhile, Finnish Major General [[Paavo Talvela]] met with German Colonel General [[Franz Halder]] and Reich Marshal [[Hermann Göring]] in Berlin, the first time that the Germans had advised the Finnish government, in carefully-couched diplomatic terms, that they were preparing for war with the Soviet Union. Outlines of the actual plan were revealed in January 1941 and regular contact between Finnish and German military leaders began in February.{{sfn|Vehviläinen|2002|p=86}} Additionally in January 1941, Moscow again demanded Finland relinquish control of the Petsamo mining area to the Soviets, but Finland, emboldened by a rebuilt defence force and German support, rejected the proposition.{{sfn|Vehviläinen|2002|p=85}}

In the late spring of 1941, the USSR made a number of goodwill gestures to prevent Finland from completely falling under German influence. Ambassador {{ill|Ivan Stepanovich Zotov|ru|Зотов, Иван Степанович}} was replaced with the more conciliatory and passive {{ill|Pavel Dmitrievich Orlov|ru|Орлов, Павел Дмитриевич}}. Furthermore, the Soviet government announced that it no longer opposed a [[rapprochement]] between Finland and Sweden. Those conciliatory measures, however, did not have any effect on Finnish policy.{{sfn|Vehviläinen|2002|p=87}} Finland wished to re-enter the war mainly because of the Soviet invasion of Finland during the Winter War, which the League of Nations and Nordic neutrality had failed to prevent due to lack of outside support.{{sfn|Lunde|2011|p=9}} Finland primarily aimed to reverse its territorial losses from the 1940 Moscow Peace Treaty and, depending on the success of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, to possibly expand its borders, especially into [[East Karelia]]. Some right-wing groups, such as the [[Academic Karelia Society]], supported a [[Greater Finland]] ideology.{{sfn|Jokipii|1999|pp=145–146}} This ideology of a Greater Finland mostly composed of Soviet territories was augmented by anti-Russian sentiments.{{sfn|Kirby|2006|pp=201–202}}