Editing Risto Ryti (section)

==Prime minister and president==

===Ryti–Tanner government during the Winter War===
Ryti had built up relations of trust with leading [[Social Democratic Party of Finland|Social Democratic Party]] politician [[Väinö Tanner]] and President [[Kyösti Kallio]]. In late autumn 1939, Ryti was offered the post of prime minister, but he tried to turn down the offer. However, when the [[Winter War]] broke out on 30 November, Ryti agreed.  He took his post on 1 December. Ryti concentrated on a realistic analysis of the situation, instead of pessimism or over-optimism. He and foreign minister Tanner agreed that the war must be brought to an end as quickly as possible. They both spoke fluent English and had close contact with the Western powers.{{sfnp|Turtola|2000|page=408}}

At the beginning of the war, the Soviet Union formed a [[puppet government]] and cut connections with the Ryti–Tanner government. The Finnish Army fought defensively in battles during December 1939 through February 1940. This gained time and freedom for diplomatic manoeuvering. The Soviet Union was forced to drop the [[Terijoki Government]] and accept negotiations via [[Stockholm]]. The Western allies' [[Franco-British plans for intervention in the Winter War|planned intervention]] influenced the Soviet government to seek an agreement.{{sfnp|Turtola|2000|page=409}} Ryti persuaded the rest of the cabinet to settle for peace and signed the [[Moscow Peace Treaty (1940)|Moscow Peace Treaty]] on 13 March 1940. The peace agreement, in which Finland lost large land areas and faced the burden of resettling 400,000 refugees, was generally considered crushing.

===From prime minister to president===
[[File:Ryti descends from the parliament building.jpg|thumb|Having given the solemn [[oath]] on 19 December 1940, Ryti leaves the parliament alone. His predecessor, Kallio, suffered a heart attack and died the same day.]]
Ryti had proved to be a strong prime minister, in contrast to his predecessor [[Aimo Cajander]]. President Kallio suffered a [[stroke]] in August, and also he had no great experience in foreign policy, so the heavy responsibilities of state leadership were shared by Ryti, Field Marshal [[Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim|C.G.E. Mannerheim]], industrialist and general [[Rudolf Walden]], and Tanner. Considering this and the fact Ryti had signed the peace treaty, Ryti became an acceptable figure for the post of president in December 1940 when Kallio resigned.{{sfnp|Turtola|2000|page=409}}

The exceptional circumstances, such as the lack of a permanent place of residence for many Karelian refugees (see Turtola, "Risto Ryti:  A Life for the Fatherland" and Virkkunen, "The Finnish Presidents II"), prevented the election of presidential electors, so a constitutional amendment was enacted by the [[Parliament of Finland|parliament]] to enable the electors of 1937 to elect a successor to Kallio. Ryti was chosen with 288 votes out of 300.
[[File:Ryti tarkastelee asiakirjaa.jpg|thumb|The newly elected President Ryti checks the election proceedings in the parliament.]]

On the day of his retirement, 19 December 1940, Kallio suffered a fatal heart attack during a farewell gathering;{{sfnp|Turtola|2000|page=410}} on the same day, Ryti became the holder of the presidency.{{efn|Kallio's presidency of the republic was to officially end at the inauguration of Ryti, who was elected to succeed him, at which time Ryti's presidency was formally set to begin.}}

===Towards German orientation===
{{more citations needed|section|date=December 2021}}
[[File:20 years of Lotta Svärd Organisation 1941 (4971C; JOKAHBL3C B46-2).tif|thumb|Celebration of 20 years of the [[Lotta Svärd]] Organisation, 27 February 1941. Ryti is sat photo right of [[Fanni Luukkonen]] and in front of [[Helmi Arneberg-Pentti]] and [[Tyra Wadner]]]]
[[File:Mannerheim's birth day 4.6.1942 in Immola, Finland (SA-kuva 81620).jpg|thumb|Ryti, Mannerheim and German field marshal [[Wilhelm Keitel]]]]
Finland's changed policy from a [[Scandinavia]]n orientation up to, and during, the Winter War, to a German orientation after the Winter War, was not in the least pursued by the confirmed [[Anglophile]] Risto Ryti.{{sfnp|Turtola|2000|page=409}} He had no illusions about the true nature of Germany.<ref name="helsinginsanomat1">{{cite news |last=Jokisipilä |first=Markku |title=A silent president has his say |url=http://www.hs.fi/english/article/A+silent+president+has+his+say/1135218577497 |date=26 January 2006 |newspaper=Helsingin Sanomat |access-date=26 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827095714/http://www.hs.fi/english/article/A+silent+president+has+his+say/1135218577497 |archive-date=27 August 2011}}</ref> Traditionally Finland had been associated with Britain by stronger commercial ties, but as the [[Baltic Sea]] was dominated by the Germans and Soviets, lost markets had to be found elsewhere, and the Germans were willing to trade.

In August 1940 Ryti also agreed to secret military cooperation with Germany. Over time it became increasingly likely that the peace between Germany and the Soviet Union would end, and the experts' opinion - even among the enemies of Germany - was that in case of invasion the Soviets could not stop the German war machine. Ryti apparently turned, step by step, to being in favour of seizing the opportunity to secure Finnish claims to areas he saw to be in the country's interests, in case the great realignment of ownership of East European territory by force were to materialize.

Thus the cooperation begun in late 1940 ultimately developed in 1941 into preparations for re-annexation of the territories lost after the Winter War,<ref>[https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-11993454 Kuusi kohtalokasta päivää, jotka veivät Suomea kohti uutta sotaa] – ''[[YLE]]'' (in Finnish)</ref> in case Nazi Germany were to realize the rumoured plans for an assault on the Soviet Union. The Continuation War, when it commenced, would also come to include occupation of [[East Karelia]], which nationalist circles had championed since the 1910s.