History: World War II Photography, Finnish Defense Forces, Finland

+ Next - in 1944 and 1945 - Finland was in war against Germany. That war is called the Lapland War.
+Since the birth of the United Nations in 1945 the Finnish military troops - including various types of military personnel and advisers - have participated in numerous peace keeping operations of UN.
Although Finland did not achieve full national independence until 1917, its current military traditions goes back more than 300 years. As an integrated part of the kingdom of Sweden, Finland supplied the Swedish armies not only with drafted foot soldiers, but also with highly qualified officers. Contributing as much as one-third of the manpower of the Swedish armed forces, the Finnish infantry and cavalry distinguished themselves at a time when Sweden was playing a decisive role in European power politics. The setbacks that Sweden eventually suffered in Europe were explained by the Finns, with considerable justification, as mistakes that had been made by the Swedish kings on the political level. The performance of the Finns on various battlefields had justified their reputation for bravery and their confidence in their own martial abilities.
With the decline of Swedish power in the eighteenth century, the Finns were called upon to defend the country's borders to the east against the traditional enemy, Russia. On three major occasions, Russian armies occupied parts of the country for a number of years before eventually being driven out by Finnish and Swedish forces. When Finland became the Grand Duchy of Finland in the Russian Empire in 1809 as a consequence of the Finnish War (1808-1809), the Finnish units of the Swedish army were disbanded.