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179-631: In 1251, an embassy from the Republic of Novgorod to King Haakon IV Haakonson of Norway complained of clashes between the Norwegians and the Karelians in northern Finnmark. A Norwegian embassy was dispatched to Novgorod where a treaty (the original of which is now lost) was signed to conclude a peace between the two countries, including the Novgorod tributary land of Karelia. The Finnmark coast

358-448: A contract called a ryad ( Russian : ряд ), which protected the interests of Novgorodian boyars and laid out the prince's rights and responsibilities. The ryads that have been preserved in archives describe the relationship of Novgorod with twelve invited princes: five of them from Tver, four from Moscow, and three from Lithuania. First and foremost among the prince's functions, he was a military leader. He also patronized churches in

537-478: A stepennoy posadnik . Posadniks were almost invariably boyars – the city's highest aristocracy. The precise makeup of the veche is also uncertain, although it appears to have comprised members of the urban population, as well as of the free rural population. Whether it was a democratic institution or one controlled by the boyars has been hotly debated. The posadniks, tysiatskys, and even the bishops and archbishops of Novgorod, were often elected or at least approved by

716-601: A "vicious and reactionary fascist clique". Field Marshal Mannerheim and Väinö Tanner , the leader of the Finnish Social Democratic Party , were targeted for particular scorn. When Stalin gained absolute power through the Great Purge of 1938, the Soviets changed their foreign policy toward Finland and began to pursue the reconquest of the provinces of Tsarist Russia that had been lost during

895-678: A Soviet plan to annex Finland. Rather, the objective was to gain Finnish territory and to reinforce Soviet influence in the region. Another American historian Stephen Kotkin also shares the position that the Soviet Union did not aim for annexation. He points out the different treatment Finland was given, compared to the Baltics: unlike the pacts of mutual assistance that the Baltics were pressured into, resulting in their total Sovietization,

1074-558: A bid to appease Suzdal, accepted some Suzdalians as rulers of Novgorod. Despite these events, Suzdal still blocked off trade to Novgorod twice and intercepted Novgorod's tributes. In 1228, there was a failed Novgorodian campaign against the Tavastians in present-day southern Finland , as reported in the Novgorod First Chronicle (NPL). The Novgorodian troops were disaffected by prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich ,

1253-466: A campaign to Chernigov against his rival Michael. In 1232, there were anti-Yaroslav rebellions in Novgorod and Pskov, but only the latter was successful in chasing the Suzdalians out of town. In 1233, Boris Negochevich and other Novgorodian nobles joined forces with Yaroslav Vladimirovich (pretender-prince of Pskov) and some Sword Brothers, occupying Izborsk in 1233, but they were soon expelled by

1432-547: A captured German trawler operated by the Royal Norwegian Navy. The prisoners were released from Skorpa on 12 June 1940, after the mainland Norwegian capitulation. Other military activities at the fortress included the establishment of a 12-bed field hospital and a radio station . From 23 May the fortress came under the command of the newly established East Finnmark Naval District responsible for all RNoN units in eastern Finnmark. The fortress' sole action with

1611-620: A celebratory piece of music from Dmitri Shostakovich , Suite on Finnish Themes , intended to be performed as the marching bands of the Red Army paraded through Helsinki. The Soviets were confident that the Western powers would not come to Finland's aid. Ivan Maisky, the Soviet ambassador to the UK, said: "Who would help? The Swedes? The British? The Americans? There's no way in hell. There will be

1790-467: A commanding officer and four seamen stationed there. Today the fort has few practical military purposes and serves primarily as a salute fortress , firing gun salutes on Norwegian Constitution Day (17 May), dissolution of the Union with Sweden Day (7 June) and on all royal birthdays. The fortress is unique for the fact that, on the winter day that the sun can again be seen from the fortress walls after

1969-464: A cousin of Ivan III, to be accepted. According to tradition, Marfa Boretskaya , the wife of the posadnik Isak Boretsky, was the main proponent of an alliance with Poland–Lithuania to save the republic. According to this legend, Boretskaya invited the Lithuanian princeling Mikhailo Olelkovich and asked him to become her husband and the ruler of Novgorod. She also concluded an alliance with Casimir ,

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2148-599: A critical conflict took place between Moscow and Novgorod, when Moscow annexed the Dvina Lands along the course of the Northern Dvina . These lands were crucial to Novgorod's well-being since much of the city's furs came from there. This territory was returned to Novgorod the following year. In the 12th to 15th centuries, the Novgorod Republic expanded east and northeast. The Novgorodians explored

2327-623: A foothold in Karelia . On August 12, 1323, Sweden and Novgorod signed the Treaty of Nöteborg , regulating their border for the first time. The Novgorod Republic was saved from the direct impact of the Mongol invasions as it was not conquered by the Mongols. In 1259, Mongol tax-collectors and census-takers arrived in the city, leading to political disturbances and forcing Alexander Nevsky to punish

2506-690: A fuss in the press, moral support, moaning and whining. But troops, aircraft, cannons, and machine guns – no." Hungarian historian István Ravasz wrote that the Soviet Central Committee had set out in 1939 that the former borders of the Tsarist Empire were to be restored, including Finland. American political scientist Dan Reiter stated that the Soviets "sought to impose a regime change " and thus "achieve absolute victory". He quoted Molotov, who had commented in November 1939 on

2685-463: A large measure of democratic participation far in advance of the rest of Europe, but that share several similarities with the democratic traditions of Scandinavian peasant republics . The people had the power to elect city officials and they even had the power to elect and remove the prince. The Chronicle writer then goes on to describe a "town meeting" where these decisions would have been made, which included people from all social classes ranging from

2864-510: A loss of prestige after having made them public. However, the Soviet offer was eventually rejected with respect to the opinion of the public and Parliament. At the meeting on 9 November, Paasikivi announced to the attending Stalin and Molotov the Finnish refusal to accept even their reduced demands. The Soviets were visibly surprised. Finnish Foreign Minister Vaino Tanner later wrote that "the eyes of our opposite numbers opened wide". Stalin had asked "You don't even offer Ino?" This would become

3043-404: A maximalist demand, ready to be traded down smaller. The Soviets instead had stressed the minimalist nature of their demands, and were incredulous over Finnish reluctance to agree. Finally, there was also Stalin's unwillingness or inability to accept that any territorial concessions on the part of Finland would have only been possible by a 4/5th majority in the Finnish parliament. He had mocked such

3222-548: A meeting with military historians that the Soviets had launched the Winter War to "correct mistakes" made in determining the border with Finland after 1917. Opinion on the scale of the initial Soviet invasion decision is divided. The puppet Finnish communist government and the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact's secret protocol is used as proof that the Soviet Union had intended to conquer all of Finland. On 1 December 1939,

3401-563: A minor presence in national politics and never had more than 14 seats of the 200 in the Finnish Parliament . By the late 1930s, the export-oriented Finnish economy was growing and the nation's extreme political movements had diminished. After Soviet involvement in the Finnish Civil War in 1918, no formal peace treaty was signed. In 1918 and 1919, Finnish volunteers conducted two unsuccessful military incursions across

3580-673: A narrow-front assault right on the Karelian isthmus. Additionally, Shaposhnikov argued for a fuller build-up, extensive fire support and logistical preparations, a rational order of battle and the deployment of the army's best units. Zhdanov's military commander, Kirill Meretskov , reported, "The terrain of coming operations is split by lakes, rivers, swamps, and is almost entirely covered by forests.... The proper use of our forces will be difficult". These doubts were not reflected in Meretskov's troop deployments, and he publicly announced that

3759-447: A number of pro-Lithuanian boyars and confiscating their lands. In 1478, Ivan III sent his army to take direct control of the city. He destroyed the veche , tore down the veche bell, the ancient symbol of participatory governance, civil society, and legal rights, and destroyed the library and archives , thus ending the independence of Novgorod. After the takeover, Ivan took more than four-fifths of Novgorod's land: half for himself and

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3938-480: A number of town officials (by cutting off their noses) for defying him as the grand prince of Vladimir (soon to be the khan's tax-collector in Russia) and his Mongol overlords. Winter War [REDACTED]   Finland [REDACTED]   Soviet Union Asia-Pacific Mediterranean and Middle East Other campaigns Coups Finland Iceland Norway The Winter War

4117-608: A possible German invasion through Finland. He stated that "the strongest argument" against a Soviet intention of full conquest is that it did not happen in either 1939 or during the Continuation War in 1944 even though Stalin "could have done so with comparative ease". Bradley Lightbody wrote that the "entire Soviet aim had been to make the Soviet border more secure". In 2002, Russian historian A. Chubaryan stated that no documents had been found in Russian archives that support

4296-569: A protracted series of wars with Moscow beginning in the late 14th century in order to keep these lands. Losing them meant economic and cultural decline for the city and its inhabitants. The ultimate failure of the Novgorodians to win these wars led to the downfall of the Novgorod Republic. Novgorod supported Dmitry Shemyaka against Vasily Vasilievich in the Muscovite War of Succession (1425–1453). After Vasily II returned to throne,

4475-476: A quarrel broke out within the army and the troops refused to fight. In the same year, Yaroslav tried to militarily overrun the rebellious town of Pskov (possibly because its throne was vacant ), but the Pskovians closed their gates in time and denied him entry. Yaroslav retreated to Novgorod, claimed no ill will towards Pskov, but raised another army supposedly for the purpose of attacking Riga (a stronghold of

4654-406: A reason. He claimed that Stalin had little hope for such a deal but would play for time for the ongoing mobilisation. He stated the objective as being to secure Finland from being used as a staging ground by means of regime change. Others argue against the idea of a complete Soviet conquest. American historian William R. Trotter asserted that Stalin's objective was to secure Leningrad's flank from

4833-569: A repudiation of the Treaty of Yazhelbitsy (1456), and went to war against the city. The army of Moscow won a decisive victory in the Battle of Shelon River in July 1471, which severely limited Novgorod's freedom to act thereafter, although the city maintained its formal independence. For the next six years, pro-Moscow and anti-Moscow factions in Novgorod competed with one another. Ivan III visited Novgorod several times during this period, persecuting

5012-431: A requirement, proposing that they count his and Molotov's votes, too. On 26 November 1939, an incident was reported near the Soviet village of Mainila , near the border with Finland. A Soviet border guard post had been shelled by an unknown party resulting, according to Soviet reports, in the deaths of four and injuries of nine border guards. Research conducted by several Finnish and Russian historians later concluded that

5191-556: A result of these border conflicts with Russia, King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway asserted Norway's historic ownership and visited Vardøhus in 1599 to instruct the governor of Vardøhus to collect taxes from Russians in his province, including the Kola peninsula and to exclude the Swedes , who were also attempting to claim the territory based on the Treaty of Tyavzino. At this time, Vardøhus

5370-538: A struggle with Novgorod for the Russian fur trade , and thus, an economic rivalry for fur, land and trade ports. Some Novgorodian boyars were opposed to Moscow as a result, while others pursued a pro-Muscovite policy in the hopes that good relations with Moscow would reduce disruption in Novgorod's trade ; Novgorod was also dependent on the Russian lands to its southwest for important imports such as grain. Some Novgorodians were also attracted to Moscow due to it being

5549-408: A war between Moscow and Novgorod took place, which ended after the Treaty of Yazhelbitsy was signed in 1456. The treaty marked the beginning of the fall of Novgorod's independence as it lost certain freedoms. Moscow began to gradually seize land in the northern territories that were formerly under Novgorod's control for the next decade and half due to a desire for luxury furs in the area. This led to

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5728-427: Is not definitely known; the country was divided into several tysyachi ( Russian : тысячи , lit.   'thousands') in the core lands of the country, and volosti ( Russian : волости ) in lands in the east and north that were being colonized or just paid tribute. The city of Novgorod and its vicinity, as well as a few other towns, were not part of any of those. Pskov achieved autonomy from Novgorod in

5907-465: Is not known how long this fort was manned, but in 1307 the Archbishop of Trondhjem went to Vardøhus to consecrate the new Vardø Church . The earliest record still extant which defines the border between Norway and Russia is from 1326. In 1340, records show the Archbishop made further efforts to improve conditions there. The second fortification to be built was in Østervågen (the "East Bay") which

6086-679: Is so valuable and excellent that it is exported to nearly every Christian country." In 1583, the Norwegian rights to the Arctic Sea were formally recognized by England ; the agreement stipulated that each vessel which passed into the White Sea was to stop at Vardøhus to pay duty. In 1597, Boris Godunov , the regent of Russia, wrote to King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway , asserting that Vardøhus and "the Lapp country (as far as Tromsø )

6265-420: Is unclear. Many were between various boyar factions or, if a revolt did involve the peasants or tradesmen against the boyars, it did not consist of the peasants wanting to overthrow the existing social order, but was more often than not a demand for better rule on the part of the ruling class. There did not seem to be a sense that the office of prince should be abolished or that the peasants should be allowed to run

6444-565: The Life of Alexander Nevsky . Novgorod was also spared by the Mongol armies during the Mongol invasions after Alexander Nevsky agreed to pay tribute. Historians such as J. L. I. Fennell have called the proportions of Nevsky's victories as having been overblown; he also argued that there was no existence of a unified Western scheme of aggression against Russia and that Nevsky appeased the Mongols, while many Russian historians have argued that Nevsky

6623-508: The Baltic - Volga - Caspian trade route, not only for trading but also for bringing food from the fertile Oka region to their city. In 1136, the Novgorodians dismissed their prince Vsevolod Mstislavich , and over the next century and half, were able to invite in and dismiss a number of princes. However, these invitations or dismissals were often based on who was the dominant prince in Rus' at

6802-497: The Chamber of Facets after 1433). The executives of Novgorod, at least nominally, were always the princes of Novgorod, invited by Novgorodians from neighboring states, even though their power waned in the 13th and early 14th centuries. It is unclear if the archbishop of Novgorod was the true head of state or chief executive of the Novgorod Republic, but in any case, he remained an important town official. In addition to overseeing

6981-731: The East Karelian uprising in Russia in 1921, and Finnish communists in the Soviet Union continued to prepare for revenge and staged a cross-border raid into Finland, the Pork Mutiny , in 1922. In 1932, the Soviet–Finnish Non-Aggression Pact was signed between both countries, and it was reaffirmed for ten years in 1934. Foreign trade in Finland was booming, but less than 1% of it was with the Soviet Union. In 1934,

7160-586: The East–West Schism , Novgorod struggled from the beginning of the 13th century against Swedish, Danish, and German crusaders. During the Swedish–Novgorodian Wars , the Swedes invaded lands where some of the population had earlier paid tribute to Novgorod. The Germans had been trying to conquer the Baltic region since the late 12th century. Novgorod went to war 26 times with Sweden and 11 times with

7339-503: The Gulf of Finland along the seaward approaches to Leningrad, but Finland refused. Negotiations continued throughout 1938 without results. The Finnish reception of Soviet entreaties was decidedly cool, as the violent collectivisation and purges in Stalin's Soviet Union resulted in a poor opinion of the country. Most of the Finnish communist elite in the Soviet Union had been executed during

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7518-487: The Hanko Peninsula for 30 years and to permit the Soviets to establish a military base there. In exchange, the Soviet Union would cede Repola and Porajärvi from Eastern Karelia (2120 square miles), an area twice the size as that of the territory demanded from Finland (1000 square miles). The Soviet offer divided the Finnish government: Gustaf Mannerheim had argued for an agreement, being pessimistic of

7697-686: The Karelian Isthmus , on Kollaa in Ladoga Karelia and on Raate Road in Kainuu , but there were also battles in Salla and Petsamo in Lapland . Following the initial setbacks, the Soviets reduced their strategic objectives and put an end to the puppet Finnish communist government in late January 1940, informing the Finnish government that they were willing to negotiate peace. After

7876-636: The Kingdom of Sweden . From 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809, the Russian Empire waged the Finnish War against the Kingdom of Sweden, ostensibly to protect the Russian capital, Saint Petersburg . Eventually Russia conquered and annexed Finland, and converted it into an autonomous buffer state . The resulting Grand Duchy of Finland enjoyed wide autonomy within Russia until the end of

8055-666: The Leningrad Military District Kiril Meretskov initially ran the overall operation against the Finns. The command was passed on 9 December 1939 to the General Staff Supreme Command (later known as Stavka ), directly under Kliment Voroshilov (chairman), Nikolai Kuznetsov , Stalin and Boris Shaposhnikov. On 28 December, when Stalin asked for volunteers to take over military command, Semyon Timoshenko offered himself on

8234-591: The Livonian Brothers of the Sword ). But the Pskovians distrusted him and allied with Riga instead, while the troop raising caused food prices in Novgorod to spike, stoking civil discontent against prince Yaroslav as well; opposition to the Suzdalian dynasty's power grew amongst citizens of both Pskov and Novgorod. As they rejected support for his campaign against Riga, suspecting a ploy to seize Pskov along

8413-514: The Livonian Brothers of the Sword . The German knights , along with Danish and Swedish feudal lords, launched a series of uncoordinated attacks in 1240–1242. Russian sources mention that a Swedish army was defeated in the Battle of the Neva in 1240. The Baltic German campaigns ended in failure after the Battle on the Ice in 1242. After the foundation of the castle of Vyborg in 1293 the Swedes gained

8592-684: The Northern Crusades , the Novgorodian prince Alexander Yaroslavich defeated the Swedes at the Battle of the Neva in July 1240, from which he received the sobriquet Nevsky ("of the Neva"). Alexander then defeated German crusaders at the Battle on the Ice in 1242, after the forces of the exiled prince of Pskov and men from the Bishopric of Dorpat attacked Pskov Land and Votia , a tributary of Novgorod. This later led to him being depicted as an ideal ruler in chronicles such as

8771-584: The Red Army encouraged German Chancellor Adolf Hitler to believe that an attack on the Soviet Union would be successful and confirmed negative Western opinions of the Soviet military. After 15 months of Interim Peace , in June 1941, Germany commenced Operation Barbarossa , and the Continuation War between Finland and the Soviets began. Until the early 19th century, Finland was the eastern part of

8950-579: The Soviet Union , recognised the new Finnish government just three weeks after the declaration. Finland achieved full sovereignty in May 1918 after a four-month civil war in which the conservative Whites defeated the socialist Reds with the help of the Imperial German Army , pro-German Jägers , and some Swedish troops, in addition to the expulsion of Bolshevik troops. Finland joined

9129-664: The Spanish Civil War veterans General Pavel Rychagov from the Soviet Air Forces ; the tank expert General Dmitry Pavlov and Stalin's favourite general, Marshal Grigory Kulik , the chief of artillery. The other faction was led by Khalkhin Gol veterans General Georgy Zhukov of the Red Army and General Grigory Kravchenko of the Soviet Air Forces. Under this divided command structure, the lessons of

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9308-411: The Treaty of Tartu , confirming the old border between the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland and Imperial Russia proper as the new Finnish–Soviet border. Finland also received Petsamo Province , with its ice-free harbour on the Arctic Ocean. Despite the signing of the treaty, relations between the two countries remained strained. The Finnish government allowed volunteers to cross the border to support

9487-427: The grand prince of Vladimir ) was usually the prince of Novgorod as well. As Moscow grew in power in the 15th century, Novgorod began to lose its autonomy. In a 1471 peace treaty with Moscow following the Battle of Shelon , Novgorod pledged allegiance to Moscow, with its system of government temporarily left intact. The end of the republic and the veche came in 1478 when Ivan III once again invaded and seized

9666-451: The northwest and north of European Russia , as well as the eastern part of Finland . To the east, it was bordered by the Principality of Tver and to the west, it was bordered by Lithuania as well as various Baltic powers, including the Teutonic Order and the bishoprics of Dorpat and Courland as well as the Hanseatic cities of Riga and Reval . The economy of the Novgorod Republic included farming and animal husbandry (e.g.,

9845-413: The posadniki (burgomaster), to the chernye liudi ( lit.   ' black folks ' ) or the lowest free class. The precise constitution of the medieval Novgorodian republic is uncertain, although traditional histories have created the image of a highly institutionalized network of veches (public assemblies) and a government of posadniki (burgomaster), tysyatskys ("thousandmen"; originally

10024-424: The 12th century, while most are from after 1262. Thus it is difficult to determine Novgorod's political structure due to the paucity of sources. The prince, while his status in Novgorod was not inheritable and his power was much reduced, remained an important figure in Novgorodian life. Of around 100 princes of Novgorod, many, if not most, were invited in or dismissed by the Novgorodians. At least some of them signed

10203-424: The 13th century; its independence was confirmed by the Treaty of Bolotovo in 1348. Several other towns had special status as they were owned jointly by Novgorod and one of the neighbouring states. The Novgorod Republic was the largest of the Russian states in terms of area until it was surpassed by Moscow following its annexation of other independent principalities in the 15th century. The Novgorod Republic occupied

10382-407: The 19th century, when Russia began attempts to assimilate Finland as part of a general policy to strengthen the central government and unify the Empire by Russification . Those attempts were aborted because of Russia's internal strife, but they ruined Russia's relationship with Finland. In addition, support increased in Finland for self-determination movements. World War I led to the collapse of

10561-426: The 3rd Naval District that an internment camp for German prisoners of war was to be established at Vardøhus. Four days later, on 24 April, the 1,382 ton steamer Nova arrived in port with 155 German POWs. Most of the German prisoners were crew members from the Kriegsmarine destroyer Erich Koellner , sunk at Djupvik on the southern side of the Ofotfjord during the Battles of Narvik . The prisoners included

10740-464: The Baltic trade network established by the Hanseatic League . From Novgorod's northeastern lands ("The Lands Beyond the Portages" as they were called in the chronicles), the area stretching north of Lakes Ladoga and Onega up to the White Sea and east to the Ural Mountains had so much fur that medieval travel accounts tell of furry animals raining from the sky. The Novgorodian merchants traded with Swedish, German, and Danish cities. In early years,

10919-454: The Catholic faith: Thus did Great Prince Ivan advance with all his host against his domain of Novgorod because of the rebellious spirit of its people, their pride and conversion to Latinism. With a great and overwhelming force did he occupy the entire territory of Novgorod from frontier to frontier, inflicting on every part of it the dread powers of his fire and sword. The city-state of Novgorod had developed procedures of governance that held

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11098-427: The Finnish Civil War to the early 1930s was a politically unstable time in Finland because of the continued rivalry between the conservatives and the socialists. The Communist Party of Finland was declared illegal in 1931, and the nationalist Lapua Movement organised anticommunist violence, which culminated in a failed coup attempt in 1932. The successor of the Lapua Movement, the Patriotic People's Movement , had

11277-571: The Finnish campaign would take two weeks at most. Soviet soldiers had even been warned not to cross the border mistakenly into Sweden. Stalin's purges in the 1930s had devastated the officer corps of the Red Army; those purged included three of its five marshals, 220 of its 264 division or higher-level commanders and 36,761 officers of all ranks. Fewer than half of all the officers remained. They were commonly replaced by soldiers who were less competent but more loyal to their superiors. Unit commanders were overseen by political commissars , whose approval

11456-501: The Finnish government, and lead them to believe more concession may be forthcoming. Thus, Paasikivi's idea of reaching some sort of compromise by offering the Soviets the island of Jussarö and the fort of Ino were refused by Helsinki. On 31 October, Molotov publicly announced the Soviet demands to the Supreme Soviet . This surprised the Finns, and lent credibility to Soviet claims that their demands were minimalist and thus unalterable, as it would have been impossible to reduce them without

11635-415: The Finnish prospects in a war against the Soviet Union. But the Finnish government was reticent in reaching an agreement out of mistrust for Stalin: there was a fear of repeated follow-up demands, which would have put the future of Finnish sovereignty in danger. There were also those, such as Foreign Minister Eljas Erkko and Prime Minister Aimo Cajander , and the Finnish intelligence in general, who mistook

11814-411: The Finnish-Soviet border on the Karelian Isthmus be moved westward to a point only 30 km (19 mi) east of Viipuri ( Russian : Vyborg ) and that Finland destroy all existing fortifications on the Karelian Isthmus. Likewise, the delegation demanded the cession of islands in the Gulf of Finland as well as Rybachy Peninsula ( Finnish : Kalastajasaarento ). The Finns would also have to lease

11993-435: The German invasion forces came on 4 June 1940. Since early May German aircraft had overflown the area without incident, but on 4 June a single Luftwaffe bomber made an attack. The bomber missed its intended target, the radio station, but damaged the church and the commandant's quarters. After expending its bomb load, the bomber flew low and strafed the area, riddling the radio hut and other buildings with bullets. In response to

12172-465: The Great Purge, further tarnishing the Soviets' image in Finland. Meanwhile, Finland was attempting to negotiate a military co-operation plan with Sweden and hoping to jointly defend Åland. The Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact in August 1939. It was publicly a non-aggression treaty , but it included a secret protocol in which Central and Eastern European countries were divided into spheres of influence . Finland fell into

12351-553: The League of Nations in 1920 and sought security guarantees, but Finland's primary goal was co-operation with the Scandinavian countries , mainly Sweden, and it focused on the exchange of information and on defence planning (the joint defence of Åland , for example), rather than on military exercises or on the stockpiling and the deployment of materiel . Nevertheless, Sweden carefully avoided committing itself to Finnish foreign policy. Finland's military policy included clandestine defence co-operation with Estonia . The period after

12530-446: The Norwegian flag. Between 20 and 25 July no flag flew over Vardøhus, as the Germans had ordered the Norwegian soldiers not raise the flag again. However, since the Norwegian interpreted the order as only to not raise the State flag , they instead raised the Civil ensign on 25 July. From that day until 7 November the Norwegian flag flew at least part of every day, five times being removed by German soldiers who raised their own , which

12709-409: The Novgorodians deposed their prince and the Novgorod veche began to elect and dismiss princes at its own will. The veche also elected the posadnik , who was the chief executive of the city, and from 1156, the archbishop of Novgorod , subject to approval by the Russian metropolitan . The tysyatsky was also elected by the veche , who was originally the military commander, and served

12888-975: The Novgorodians sailed the Baltic themselves (several incidents involving Novgorodian merchants in Gotland and Denmark are reported in the Novgorodian First Chronicle ). Orthodox churches for Novgorodian merchants have been excavated on Gotland . Likewise, merchants from Gotland had their own St. Olaf church and trading house in Novgorod. However, the Hanseatic League disputed the right of Novgorodian merchants to carry out sea trade independently and to deliver cargoes to Western European ports by their own ships. Silver, cloth, wine and herring were imported from Western Europe. The amount of fur, especially squirrel and other relatively cheap furs, that Novgorod supplied to Hanseatic merchants

13067-758: The Pskovian army, while the pretender was captured, handed over to Yaroslav of Suzdal and imprisoned in Pereslavl-Zalessky . In 1234, Yaroslav of Suzdal campaigned against the bishopric of Dorpat. The 1234 peace agreement was based on that of 1224; it did not involve any territorial issues, but only a prisoner exchange and Dorpat's promise to stop supporting factions in Pskov and Novgorod that opposed Yaroslav of Suzdal. Yaroslav went to Kiev in 1235, leaving his 15- or 16-year-old son Aleksandr Yaroslavich behind in Novgorod. According to Russian sources, during

13246-493: The Rigans, and later Dorpat (modern Tartu ) and Odenpäh (modern Otepää ). Meanwhile, Yaroslav Vladimirovich, a son of the previous Pskovian prince Vladimir Mstislavich of Pskov  [ et ] sought to leverage his family ties with the bishops Hermann of Dorpat and Albert of Riga (died 1229) to gain his father's throne. The famine in Novgorod continued, and in 1230 another popular revolt erupted against supporters of

13425-693: The Rus' state. The Novgorodians were the first to reach the regions between the Arctic Ocean and Lake Onega . Even though there is no definitive account of the precise timing of their arrival at the northern rivers that flowed into the Arctic, there are chronicles which mention that one expedition reached the Pechora River in 1032, and trading was established as early as 1096 with the Yugra tribes. The Chronicle mentions Novgorodians traveling "beyond

13604-746: The Russian Empire during the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Russian Civil War . On 15 November 1917, the Bolshevik Russian government declared that national minorities possessed the right of self-determination , including the right to secede and form a separate state, which gave Finland a window of opportunity. On 6 December 1917, the Senate of Finland declared the nation's independence . Soviet Russia , later

13783-622: The Soviet Union also joined the League of Nations. Soviet General Secretary Joseph Stalin regarded it a disappointment that the Soviet Union could not halt the Finnish Revolution. He thought that the pro-Finland movement in Karelia posed a direct threat to Leningrad and that the area and defences of Finland could be used to invade the Soviet Union or restrict fleet movements. Soviet propaganda then painted Finland's leadership as

13962-558: The Soviet Union formed a puppet government , named the Finnish Democratic Republic , to govern Finland after Soviet conquest. A declaration delivered via TASS stated: The People's Government in its present composition regards itself as a provisional government. Immediately upon arrival in Helsinki, capital of the country, it will be reorganised and its composition enlarged by the inclusion of representatives of

14141-544: The Soviet Union had intended to conquer all of Finland, and cite the establishment of the puppet Finnish Communist government and the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact 's secret protocols as evidence of this, while other sources argue against the idea of a full Soviet conquest. Finland repelled Soviet attacks for more than two months and inflicted substantial losses on the invaders in temperatures as low as −43 °C (−45 °F). The battles focused mainly on Taipale along

14320-572: The Soviet Union was mostly impassable except along a handful of unpaved roads . In prewar calculations, the Finnish Defence Command , which had established its wartime headquarters at Mikkeli , had estimated seven Soviet divisions on the Karelian Isthmus and no more than five along the whole border north of Lake Ladoga. In the estimation, the manpower ratio would have favoured the attacker by three to one. The true ratio

14499-415: The Soviet Union's "first real war on a massive scale using tanks, artillery, and aircraft" at Khalkin Gol went unheeded. As a result, Russian BT tanks were less successful during the Winter War, and it took the Soviet Union three months and over a million men to accomplish what Zhukov had managed at Khalkhin Gol in ten days (albeit in completely different circumstances). Soviet generals were impressed by

14678-594: The Soviet border, the Viena and Aunus expeditions , to annex areas in Karelia that according to the Greater Finland ideology would combine all Baltic Finnic peoples into a single state. In 1920, Finnish communists based in Soviet Russia attempted to assassinate the former Finnish White Guard Commander-in-Chief, Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim . On 14 October 1920, Finland and Soviet Russia signed

14857-587: The Soviet military reorganized and adopted different tactics, they renewed their offensive in February 1940 and overcame the Finnish defences on the Karelian Isthmus. This left the Finnish army in the main theatre of war near the breaking point, with a retreat seeming inevitable. Consequently, Finnish commander-in-chief Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim urged a peace deal with the Soviets, while the Finns still retained bargaining power. Hostilities ceased in March 1940 with

15036-666: The Soviet sphere. On 1 September 1939, Germany began its invasion of Poland , and two days later, the United Kingdom and France declared war on Germany. On 17 September, the Soviet invasion of Poland began. After the fall of Poland, Germany and the Soviet Union exchanged occupied Polish lands to establish a new border in accordance with the provisions of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were soon forced to accept treaties that allowed

15215-455: The Soviets demanded limited territorial concessions from Finland, and even offered land in return, which would not have made sense if full Sovietization was intended. And according to Kotkin, Stalin seemed to be genuinely interested in reaching an agreement during the negotiations: he had personally attended six of the seven meetings with the Finns, and had multiple times reduced his demands. However, mutual mistrust and misunderstandings would mar

15394-408: The Soviets did not trust Germany and that war was considered possible between the two countries. The Red Army would not wait passively behind the border but would rather "advance to meet the enemy". Finnish representatives assured Yartsev that Finland was committed to a policy of neutrality and that the country would resist any armed incursion. Yartsev suggested that Finland cede or lease some islands in

15573-493: The Soviets to establish military bases on their soil. Estonia accepted the ultimatum by signing the agreement on 28 September. Latvia and Lithuania followed in October. Unlike the three Baltic countries, Finland started a gradual mobilisation under the guise of "additional refresher training ". The Soviets had already started intensive mobilisation near the Finnish border in 1938–39. Assault troops thought to be necessary for

15752-627: The USSR for military purposes. On the next meeting on 23 October, Stalin conceded to lessen his demands: a reduction in the amount of land demanded in Karelia; a reduction of the Hanko garrison from 5000 to 4000 men; and reducing the length of lease from 30 years to whatever date the ongoing (second world) war in Europe would end. However, this sudden change, contrary to previous statements that Soviet demands were minimalist and thus unalterable, had surprised

15931-535: The archbishops of Novgorod and others raised horses for the Novgorodian army), while hunting , beekeeping , and fishing were also widespread. In most of the regions of the republic, these different "industries" were combined with farming. Iron was mined on the coast of the Gulf of Finland . Staraya Russa and other localities were known for their saltworks . Flax and hop cultivation were also of significant importance. Countryside products, such as furs, beeswax , honey , fish, lard , flax, and hops, were sold on

16110-576: The areas around Lake Onega , along the Northern Dvina , and coastlines of the White Sea . At the beginning of the 14th century, the Novgorodians explored the Arctic Ocean , the Barents Sea , the Kara Sea , and the West-Siberian river Ob . The lands to the north of the city, rich with fur , sea fauna and salt among others were of great economic importance to the Novgorodians, who fought

16289-402: The attack illegal and expelled the Soviet Union from its organization. The Soviets made several demands, including that Finland cede substantial border territories in exchange for land elsewhere, claiming security reasons – primarily the protection of Leningrad , 32 km (20 mi) from the Finnish border. When Finland refused, the Soviets invaded. Most sources conclude that

16468-467: The attack, Corporal Olav Børve returned fire using the 65 mm Hotchkiss gun with case-shot , firing 13 rounds. After a while, the fortress' machine guns also fired back at the aircraft. With at least one of the case-shot rounds damaging the German bomber's hull it limped away from the area with a wounded navigator . Following the attack, work began on the construction of a new anti-aircraft position on

16647-544: The auspices of Ivan III and his son Ivan Ivanovich . The Novgorod Judicial Charter, along with the Pskov Judicial Charter , were later used for Ivan III's Sudebnik of 1497 which served as the legal code for the entire Russian state. Novgorod was called a republic by Sigismund von Herberstein in his Notes on Muscovite Affairs written at least half a century after the conquest of Novgorod. Soviet-era Marxist scholarship frequently described

16826-504: The boyars' wealth would flow to the grand prince and Muscovite boyars, and the Novgorodians would fall into decline; most of them also did not earn enough to pay for war. By 1470, with the pro-Lithuanian faction being dominant, the Novgorodian boyars questioned Ivan's sovereignty over Novgorod as their prince. Novgorod negotiated with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania for a new prince to be sent over. This led to Mikhailo Olelkovich ,

17005-404: The boyars. The Cathedral of St. Sophia – the main ecclesiastic establishment of Novgorod – was their chief rival in terms of landownership . Its votchinas were located in the most economically developed regions of Novgorod Land. The Yuriev Monastery , Arkazhsky Monastery , Antoniev Monastery and some other privileged monasteries are known to have been big landowners. There were also

17184-483: The brand new prince Michael of Chernigov, including tysiatskii Boris Negochevich. The desperate Novgorodian people asked for Yaroslav of Suzdal to return, which he did at the end of 1230, but the famine got even worse in spring 1231, until German merchants sailing from overseas were able to import sufficient amounts of grain and flour to relieve the Republic's hunger. In autumn 1231, Yaroslav took Novgorodian troops on

17363-459: The center of Russian Orthodoxy as opposed to Lithuania, where Catholicism was dominant and its culture was being increasingly polonized , though some Novgorodian clergy adopted a pro-Lithuanian policy for political reasons due to fears that embracing the grand prince of Moscow would eventually lead to the end of Novgorod's independence. Most Novgorodian boyars had hoped to maintain the republic's independence since if Novgorod were to be conquered,

17542-642: The chaos of the October Revolution of 1917 and the Russian Civil War almost two decades earlier. Soviet leaders believed that the old empire's extended borders provided territorial security and wanted Leningrad, only 32 km (20 mi) from the Finnish border, to enjoy a similar level of security against the rising power of Nazi Germany . In April 1938, NKVD agent Boris Yartsev contacted Finnish Foreign Minister Rudolf Holsti and Finnish Prime Minister Aimo Cajander , stating that

17721-486: The church in Novgorod, he headed embassies, oversaw certain court cases of a secular nature, and carried out other secular tasks. However, the archbishops appear to have worked with the boyars to reach a consensus and almost never acted alone. The archbishop was not appointed, but elected by Novgorodians, and approved by the metropolitan bishop of Russia . The archbishops were probably the richest single land-owners in Novgorod, and they also made money off court fees, fees for

17900-584: The city (there was a Carpenter's End and a Potters' End, for example). The merchants were organised into associations, of which the most famous were those of wax traders (called Ivan's Hundred ) and of the merchants engaged in overseas trade. Like much of the rest of Novgorod's medieval history, the precise composition of these organizations is uncertain. It is quite possible that the "ends" and "streets" were simply neighborhood administrative groups rather than guilds or "unions". Street organizations were known to build churches in their neighborhoods and to have buried

18079-443: The city and held court, although it was often presided over by his namestnik or lieutenant when he was personally absent from the city. The posadnik had always to be present in the court and no court decision could be made without his approval. Also, without the posadnik's approval the prince could neither give out Novgorod lands nor issue laws. Besides, the prince could not own land in Novgorod and could not himself collect taxes from

18258-582: The city as part of his campaign to annex all other Russian states. The state was called Novgorod and Great Novgorod ( Russian : Великий Новгород , romanized :  Velikiy Novgorod ) with the form Sovereign Lord Novgorod the Great ( Russian : Государь Господин Великий Новгород , romanized :  Gosudar' Gospodin Velikiy Novgorod ) becoming common in the 15th century. Novgorod Land and Novgorod volost usually referred to

18437-501: The city. Throughout the republican period, the archbishop of Novgorod was the head of the Orthodox church in the city. The Finnic population of Novgorod Land underwent Christianization. The sect of the strigolniki spread to Novgorod from Pskov in the middle of the 14th century, with its members renouncing ecclesiastic hierarchy, monasticism and sacraments of priesthood, communion, repentance and baptism, before they disappeared by

18616-552: The condition that he be allowed to implement Shaposhnikov's initial plan of a focused attack on the Karelian Isthmus to break the Mannerheim Line; it was accepted. In January 1940, the Leningrad Military District was reformed and renamed "North-Western Front". The Soviet forces were organised as follows: The Finnish strategy was dictated by geography. The 1,340 km (830 mi) border with

18795-620: The current fortress began in 1738. Vardøhus did not see enemy action until the 20th century. The last time the fortifications were on active anti-invasion duty was during the First World War . The Second World War saw the fortress used as an anti-aircraft site and as a POW camp before the German occupation . During the period from the beginning of the Second World War to the German invasion of Norway , Vardøhus Fortress

18974-525: The day. Of the ten officers and NCOs and 214 men at the fortress all but 12 of the men were demobilized on 9 June. The officers, NCOs and the dozen privates were to continue to serve until the arrival of German occupation forces. With the first Germans arriving only on 17 July, Vardøhus became the last armed unit under a Norwegian flag to lay down their arms during the Norwegian Campaign . This occurred on 20 July, when German soldiers took down

19153-401: The dead of their neighborhoods during outbreaks of the plague, but beyond that their activities are uncertain. "Streets" and "ends" may have taken part in political decision-making in Novgorod in support of certain boyar factions or to protect their interests. Merchant "elders" are also noted in treaties and other charters, but only about a hundred of these charters exist. A half dozen date from

19332-557: The demands and the Soviet military build-up as a mere bluff on the part of Stalin, and were thus disinclined to reach an agreement. The Finns made two counteroffers to cede the Terijoki area to the Soviet Union. That would double the distance between Leningrad and the Finnish border but was far less than the Soviets had demanded. The Finns would also cede the islands in the Gulf of Finland, but they would not agree to lease any territory to

19511-538: The destroyer's commander, Fregattenkapitän Alfred Schulze-Hinrichs . The prisoners were housed under guard at the Quarantine Detention building. The POW camp at Vardøhus was closed down after a central POW camp for German detainees was established at Skorpa in Troms county and the 155 prisoners shipped to Skorpa on Nova on 13 May. Nova was escorted southwards by the patrol boat Ingrid –

19690-458: The disposal of the garrison in 1940 were: During the evening of 9 April 1940 Captain Basilier received orders to mobilize a small number of additional soldiers to guard the fortress. With the announcement of general mobilization on 11 April further troops were called in for service. Captain Basilier, who had been suffering from poor health since Easter that year, took sick leave on 13 April and

19869-399: The dominance of rich merchant families in politics. Some scholars argue that the archbishop was the head of the executive branch of the government, although it is difficult to determine the exact competence of the various officials. It is possible that there was a Council of Lords ( Russian : Совет Господ ) that was headed by the archbishop and met in the archiepiscopal palace (and in

20048-726: The early 15th century. Another sect, known as the Heresy of the Judaizers by its opponents, appeared in Novgorod in the second half of the 15th century and subsequently enjoyed support at the court in Moscow, before ultimately they were persecuted and several councils of the Russian Church condemned them. Like other Russian states, the military of Novgorod consisted of a levy and the prince's retinue ( druzhina ). While potentially all free Novgorodians could be mobilised, in reality

20227-439: The final meeting: the Soviets stopped responding to further Finnish letters and on 13 November, when the Finnish delegation was recalled from Moscow, no Soviet officials came to see them off. The Finns had left under the expectation that the negotiations would continue. Instead, the Soviet Union ramped up its military preparations. The negotiations had failed, as neither side was willing to substantially reduce their demands, nor

20406-409: The fortress were readied for use with improvised anti-aircraft mounts produced by a local blacksmith . A few days after the full mobilization began a force of 150 men were at the disposal of the commander of Vardøhus and by the 10 June cease-fire around 215 men sorted under Vardøhus Fortress. On 20 April 1940 the commander in chief of Northern Norway, General Carl Gustav Fleischer , issued orders to

20585-572: The founding of Kievan Rus' , he ordered Novgorod to pay the Varangian princes in Kiev 300 grivny a year. In 1014, the PVL mentions this tribute had increased: "When Yaroslav was in Novgorod, he paid two thousand grivny a year as tribute to Kiev, and another thousand was given to his garrison in Novgorod." The "Russian–Scandinavian cultural symbiosis" became prevalent following the establishment of

20764-416: The head of the town militia, but later a judicial and commercial official), other members of aristocratic families, and the archbishops of Novgorod . The veche tradition convinced Novgorodians that they had the right to be consulted on important issues, though in practice, the posadniki came from a few rich merchant families. In the early years of the republic, the prince and posadnik shared power until

20943-409: The interests of the common people. Novgorodian nobles known as boyars dominated the veche , and the offices of posadnik and tysyatsky remained in the hands of boyar families. The boyars also gave funding to the ushkuyniki , who contributed to the expansion of Novgorod's trade and colonies in the north of European Russia . By the 14th century, the prince of Moscow (who was almost always

21122-473: The invasion did not begin deployment until October 1939. Operational plans made in September called for the invasion to start in November. On 5 October 1939, the Soviets invited a Finnish delegation to Moscow for negotiations. Juho Kusti Paasikivi , the Finnish envoy to Sweden, was sent to Moscow to represent the Finnish government Furthermore, the negotiations were attended by Stalin in person, signalling

21301-482: The key fortress of Orekhov . The Pskovites sent a small detachment and took advantage of the situation by only agreeing to accompany the Novgorodian army on the condition that Pskov would be formally granted its independence. Novgorod sent an allied force to lay siege to the fortress and signed the Treaty of Bolotovo (1348) on the way to Orekhov. As per the terms of the treaty, the posadniki of Novgorod no longer had any administrative or judicial function in Pskov and

21480-399: The king of Poland and grand duke of Lithuania. The prospects of changing allegiance in favor of the allied Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania caused a major commotion among the commoners. Janet Martin and Gail Lenhoff have recently argued that Boretskaya was scapegoated, probably by Archbishop Feofil ( r.  1470–1480 ) in order to shift the blame from him for his betrayal of

21659-399: The land belonging to Novgorod. Novgorod Republic ( Russian : Новгородская республика , romanized :  Novgorodskaya respublika ) itself is a much later term, although the polity was described as a republic as early as in the beginning of the 16th century. Soviet historians frequently used the terms Novgorod Feudal Republic and Novgorod Boyar Republic . The area of Novgorod

21838-524: The late 11th century, the Novgorodians asserted greater control over the determination of their rules, and rejected a politically dependent relationship to Kiev. The PVL claims that Novgorod ceased paying tribute to the Varangians at the death of Yaroslav the Wise (1054). Chronicles state that the Novgorodians paid tribute to the grand prince of Kiev by 1113. Some time after this, the administration of

22017-508: The late 16th century peasants could leave their land in the weeks preceding and coming after George's Day in Autumn . Marxist scholars such as Aleksandr Khoroshev often spoke of a class struggle in Novgorod. There were some 80 major uprisings in the republic, which often turned into armed rebellions. The most notable among these took place in 1136, 1207, 1228–1229, 1270, 1418, and 1446–1447. The extent to which these were based on "class struggle"

22196-561: The law-courts of the archbishop of Novgorod would only be run by representatives chosen by the Pskovites. However, the archbishop of Novgorod continued to head the church in Pskov and kept the title of archbishop of Novgorod the Great and Pskov until 1589. As Moscow grew in strength, however, the Muscovite princes became a serious threat to Novgorod. Ivan I , Simeon , and other princes sought to limit Novgorod's independence. In 1397,

22375-424: The main profit of the shift. In spite of unfavorable natural conditions, Novgorod's rural population was dependent upon agriculture and stock-rearing, while hunting and fishing were also important. The agricultural basis was also insecure, as the land passed almost fully into the hands of ruling boyars and clergy, with only a small area belonging to merchants. The peasants of Novgorod also paid dues to their lords in

22554-410: The market and exported to other Russian cities or abroad. The real wealth of Novgorod, however, came from the fur trade. Hanseatic merchants were particularly attracted to the Russian trade due to its vast resources of furs and beeswax, with Novgorod being the leading supplier of furs. The city was the main entrepôt for trade between Rus' and northwestern Europe as it was located at the eastern end of

22733-555: The metayage, monetary payments also gained significant importance by the second half of the 15th century. Some scholars argue that the feudal lords tried to legally tie down the peasants to their land. Certain categories of feudally dependent peasants, such as davniye lyudi (давние люди), polovniki (половники), poruchniki (поручники), and dolzhniki (должники), were deprived of the right to leave their masters. The boyars and monasteries also tried to restrict other categories of peasants from switching their feudal lords. However, until

22912-534: The nearby Kirkeberget hill. The position was completed, but no armaments were installed before the cease-fire went into effect. On 8 June Lieutenant Bjerkelund was informed that the fighting in Norway was coming to a close and given the opportunity to evacuate to the United Kingdom. Seizing the opportunity, Bjerkelund left for Rosyth that same day on the patrol boat Nordhav II . Bjerkelund was replaced as commander by coastal artillery lieutenant H. Johannesen later in

23091-506: The negotiations, producing an impasse. Before the war, Soviet leadership had expected total victory within a few weeks. The Red Army had just completed the invasion of eastern Poland at a cost of fewer than 4,000 casualties after Germany attacked Poland from the west. Stalin's expectations of a quick Soviet triumph were backed up by politician Andrei Zhdanov and military strategist Kliment Voroshilov , but other generals were more reserved. Red Army Chief of Staff Boris Shaposhnikov advocated

23270-568: The next two years as a political prisoner at Grini and Møllergata 19 in Norway. In December 1942 Rynning was given prisoner of war status and deported to camps in Germany and occupied Poland for the rest of the war, returning on 7 June 1945. During the occupation the Germans improved the fortifications in the Vardø area, among other things building two coastal artillery batteries . Vardøhus

23449-729: The northern end of both the Volga trade route and the route from the Varangians to the Greeks along the Dnieper River system. A vast array of goods were transported along these routes and exchanged with local Novgorod merchants and other traders. The merchants of Gotland retained the Gothic Court trading house well into the 12th century. Later, German merchantmen also established trading houses in Novgorod. Scandinavian royalty would intermarry with Russian princes and princesses. After

23628-402: The number of recruits depended on the level of danger faced by Novgorod. The professional formations included the retinues of the archbishop and prominent boyars , as well as the garrisons of fortresses. Firearms were first mentioned in 1394, and in the 15th century, fortress artillery was used, and cannons were installed on ships. During the era of Kievan Rus' , Novgorod was a trade hub at

23807-413: The occupation of Finland. However, Joseph Stalin was not pleased with the conservative pace that the operation required and demanded new plans be drawn up. With the new plans, the key deadline for Finland's capitulation was to be Stalin's 60th birthday on 21 December. Convinced of the invasion's forthcoming success, Andrei Zhdanov , chairman of the highest legislative body in the Soviet Union, commissioned

23986-506: The outbreak of war, but its reservists were equipped with warm civilian clothing. However, the sparsely-populated highly-agrarian Finland had to draft so many of its working men that the Finnish economy was massively strained because of a lack of workers. An even greater problem than lack of soldiers was the lack of materiel since foreign shipments of anti-tank weapons and aircraft were arriving only in small quantities. The ammunition situation

24165-620: The period of continuous darkness , the fortress guns fire a two-round salute. The gunshots announce to the school pupils of Vardø that they have the rest of the day off in celebration of the return of the sun. As the Fortress has mainly the same appearance today as in 1738 it serves as a piece of cultural and military history. The fortress is open to the public and houses a museum. (incomplete listing) Republic of Novgorod The Novgorod Republic ( Russian : Новгородская республика , romanized :  Novgorodskaya respublika )

24344-466: The political system of Novgorod as a "feudal republic", placing it within the Marxist historiographic periodization ( slavery – feudalism – capitalism – socialism – communism ). Many scholars today, however, question whether Russia ever really had a feudal political system parallel to that of the medieval West. Historians have also described Novgorod's political system as an oligarchy due to

24523-471: The portage" as early as 1079. They also traveled to Pomorye, the "summer [southern] coast" of the "Cold [White] Sea" in search of furs as well as fish and salt. Historian George Lantzeff remarked that "in the beginning of Russian history, two Russian principalities, Novgorod and Rostov-Suzdal, were engaged in exploring, conquering, exploiting, and colonizing the area west of the Ural Mountains". From

24702-596: The prince's power was gradually restricted, while the archbishop of Novgorod increasingly played the role of head of state, particularly during times of feuds. Just before 1300, a series of reforms further curtailed the prince's powers within the local administration while those of the archbishop rose. The Council of Lords ( Russian : Совет господ , romanized :  Sovet gospod ) was also formed, and boyar families from each district were represented, typically by former posadniki , with each posadnik beginning to hold office for only one year. As feuds continued to grow,

24881-413: The principality seemed to have matured. The Novgorodian tysyatsky and posadniki appointed boyars from the cities and collected revenues for administration in the territories it held. A charter from the 1130s mentioned 30 administrative posts in the territory of Novgorod, where revenues were collected regularly and sent as a tithe to the Novgorod bishop. Throughout the 12th century, Novgorod utilized

25060-436: The products of agriculture, fishing, forestry, and stock-rearing. Foreign coins and silver were used as a currency before Novgorod started minting its own novgorodka coins in 1420. More than half of all privately owned lands in Novgorod had been concentrated in the hands of some 30–40 noble boyar families by the 14th and 15th centuries. These vast estates served as material resources, which secured political supremacy of

25239-411: The regime change plan to a Soviet ambassador that the new government "will not be Soviet, but one of a democratic republic. Nobody is going to set up Soviets over there, but we hope it will be a government we can come to terms with as to ensure the security of Leningrad". According to Russian historian Yuri Kilin , the Soviet terms encompassed the strongest fortified approaches of the Finnish defences for

25418-526: The reign of Yury . In part, Tver's proximity (the Tver principality was contiguous with Novgorod Land) threatened Novgorod. It was feared that a Tverian prince would annex Novgorod's territory, and thus weaken the republic. At the time, though, Moscow did not border Novgorod, and since the Muscovite princes were further afield, they were more acceptable as princes of Novgorod. They could come to Novgorod's aid when needed but would be too far away to meddle too much in

25597-625: The republic's affairs. The city of Pskov , initially part of Novgorod Land, became de facto independent as early as the 13th century after opening a trading post for merchants of the Hanseatic League . Several princes such as Vsevolod Mstislavich ( d.  1138 ) and Dovmont ( d.  1299 ) reigned in Pskov without any deference to, or consultation with, the prince or other officials in Novgorod. Pskov won its formal independence in August 1348 after Magnus IV of Sweden captured

25776-406: The rest for his allies. The formal annexation of Novgorod marked a major step in the unification of Russia around Moscow, with Ivan III later adopting the title of sovereign of all Russia . The Novgorod Chronicle which had been critical of Ivan III before the fall of Novgorod thus described the conquest in its aftermath, justifying it on the grounds of purported conversion of Novgorodians to

25955-448: The seriousness of the effort. Paasikivi would later recount his surprise over the friendly atmosphere in which the delegation was received, and mentioned the pleasant manners of Stalin towards them. The meetings began on 12 October, with Molotov's offer of a mutual assistance pact, which the Finns immediately refused. To the Finns' surprise, Molotov dropped the offer and instead proposed an exchange of territory. The offer stipulated that

26134-433: The shelling was a false flag operation since there were no artillery units there, and it was carried out from the Soviet side of the border by an NKVD unit with the purpose of providing the Soviets with a casus belli and a pretext to withdraw from the non-aggression pact. Soviet war games held in March 1938 and 1939 had been based on a scenario in which border incidents taking place at the village of Mainila would spark

26313-487: The signing of the Moscow Peace Treaty in which Finland ceded 9% of its territory to the Soviet Union. Soviet losses were heavy, and the country's international reputation suffered. Their gains exceeded their pre-war demands, and the Soviets received substantial territories along Lake Ladoga and further north. Finland retained its sovereignty and enhanced its international reputation. The poor performance of

26492-441: The so-called zhityi lyudi (житьи люди), who owned less land than the boyars, and unprivileged small votchina owners called svoyezemtsy (своеземцы, or private landowners). The most common form of labor exploitation – the system of metayage – was typical for the afore-mentioned categories of landowners. Their household economies were mostly serviced by slaves ( kholops ), whose number had been constantly decreasing. Along with

26671-427: The structure was again changed so that each district had its own posadnik , with the number of posadniki increasing to 24 in 1423, though this failed to achieve stability, and feuds continued until the last days of independence. The Novgorod Judicial Charter , inherited from the earlier Russkaya Pravda , served as the legal code of the Novgorod Republic from 1440. The latest version was supplemented in 1471 under

26850-500: The success of German Blitzkrieg tactics , but they had been tailored to conditions in Central Europe , with its dense well-mapped network of paved roads. Armies fighting there had recognised supply and communications centres, which could be easily targeted by armoured vehicle regiments. Finnish Army centres, in contrast, were deep inside the country. There were no paved roads, and even gravel or dirt roads were scarce. Most of

27029-511: The terms of the Treaty of Yazhelbitsy, which forbade Novgorod from conducting foreign affairs without grand princely approval. While the extent of Boretskaya's role in the Lithuanian party is probably exaggerated, Novgorod did indeed try to turn to the king of Poland. A draft treaty, allegedly found among the loot after the Battle of Shelon River, was drawn up between Casimir and the Novgorodians. The Muscovite authorities saw Novgorod's behavior as

27208-466: The terrain consisted of trackless forests and swamps. The war correspondent John Langdon-Davies observed the landscape: "Every acre of its surface was created to be the despair of an attacking military force". Waging Blitzkrieg in Finland was a highly-difficult proposition, and according to Trotter, the Red Army failed to meet the level of tactical co-ordination and local initiative that would be required to execute such tactics in Finland. Commander of

27387-623: The territory of Novgorod. He lived from money given to him by the city. According to several ryads , the prince could not extradite or prosecute a Novgorodian outside of Novgorod Land. The princes had two residences, one on the Marketplace (called Yaroslav's Court ), and another in Rurikovo Gorodische (Рюриково городище) several miles south of the Trade Side of the city. The administrative division of Novgorod Republic

27566-538: The time, and not on any independent thinking on the part of Novgorod. Rostov-Suzdal comprised the territory of the important Oka region and lands along the vital Sheksna River. This river lay in the Northern Volga tributary region. Whoever controlled the river was able to block food supplies causing a famine in Novgorod. Perhaps due to these fears, Novgorod led a failed invasion of Suzdal in 1134. They tried again and succeeded in 1149. Alternatively, Novgorod, in

27745-524: The use of weights and measures in the marketplace, and through other means. Another important executive was the posadnik of Novgorod, who chaired the veche , co-chaired courts together with the prince, oversaw tax collection and managed current affairs of the city. Most of the prince's major decisions had to be approved by the posadnik. In the mid-14th century, instead of one posadnik, the veche began electing six. These six posadniks kept their status for their lifetimes, and each year elected among themselves

27924-400: The various parties and groups participating in the people's front of toilers. Soviet leaflets dropped over Helsinki on the first day of the war stated: "Finnish Comrades! We come to you not as conquerors, but as liberators of the Finnish people from the oppression of the capitalists and the landlords". In 1939, Soviet military leadership had formulated a realistic and comprehensive plan for

28103-467: The veche. Tradespeople and craftsmen also participated in the political affairs of Novgorod. Traditional scholarship argues that they were organized into five kontsy ("ends" in Russian) – i.e., the boroughs of the city they lived in; each end was then organized by the streets in which they lived. The ends and streets often bore names indicating that certain trades were concentrated in certain parts of

28282-415: The war. Molotov claimed that the incident was a Finnish artillery attack. He demanded that Finland apologise for the incident and to move its forces beyond a line 20–25 km (12–16 mi) from the border. Finland denied responsibility for the attack, rejected the demands and called for a joint Finnish–Soviet commission to examine the incident. In turn, the Soviet Union claimed that the Finnish response

28461-648: The way after the previous failed attempt, Yaroslav was forced to abandon his plans and disband his expensive army. When a bad harvest exacerbated the famine,the Novogorodians rose in revolt against the prince, who fled with his family and supporters to Pereslavl-Zalessky . With the Suzdalian princely threat gone, the Pskovians sent the Livonian auxiliaries home, while the veche elected Michael of Chernigov as Novgorod's new knyaz in 1230. The NPL notes that in subsequent years, Pskov remained allied with Riga and

28640-483: The year 862, the Varangian brothers Rurik , Sineus and Truvor were each "invited" to reign in Novgorod, Beloozero , and Izborsk , respectively, in what is now in northwestern Russia . As a result, in Russian historiography, Novgorod is traditionally seen as the birthplace of the country's monarchy . The Primary Chronicle (PVL) states that when Oleg the Wise conquered Kiev (modern Kyiv ) in 882, which marks

28819-556: Was a medieval state that existed from the 12th to 15th centuries in northern Russia , stretching from the Gulf of Finland in the west to the northern Ural Mountains in the east. Its capital was the city of Novgorod . The republic prospered as the easternmost trading post of the Hanseatic League , and its people were much influenced by the culture of the Byzantines , with the Novgorod school of icon painting producing many fine works. Novgorod won its independence in 1136 after

28998-431: Was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland . It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II , and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peace Treaty on 13 March 1940. Despite superior military strength, especially in tanks and aircraft, the Soviet Union suffered severe losses and initially made little headway. The League of Nations deemed

29177-430: Was alarming, as stockpiles had cartridges, shells and fuel to last only 19 to 60 days. The ammunition shortage meant the Finns could seldom afford counter-battery or saturation fire . Finnish tank forces were operationally nonexistent. The ammunition situation was alleviated somewhat since Finns were largely armed with Mosin–Nagant rifles dating from the Finnish Civil War, which used the same 7.62×54mmR cartridge that

29356-497: Was an active unit under the command of Naval District no. 3 in Tromsø . For a time during the Winter War , 15-20 Finnish soldiers were interned at the fortress after being pushed across the border from Northern Finland by Soviet offensives. At the outbreak of the German invasion on 9 April 1940, Vardøhus was under the command of Captain Johan Basilier. The garrison consisted of one retired lieutenant, two privates, ten non-combatant military personnel, and two civilians. The weapons at

29535-466: Was being wise, with cooperation with the Mongols being the only sensible option at the time which averted further tragedy. Tver , Moscow and Lithuania fought over control of Novgorod and its enormous wealth from the 14th century. Upon receiving the jarlig for grand prince of Vladimir in 1304, Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tver sent his governors to Novgorod . A series of disagreements with Mikhail pushed Novgorod towards closer ties with Moscow during

29714-470: Was considerable. The Lübeck company of Wittenborg exported between 200,000 and 500,000 Lübeck marks from Novgorod to Livonia in the 1350s. Anna Khoroshkevich assumed that exports increased throughout the 14th century and was at its height in the beginning of the 15th century, but by the second half of the century, Novgorod suffered from the effects of exhaustion of its resources with hunting grounds moving considerably further north and Muscovite merchants accruing

29893-426: Was either side able to fully trust the other. The Finns were fearful of an encroachment on their sovereignty, while the Soviets were (claiming to be) fearful of a springboard for international enemies in Finland, in close proximity to Leningrad. No promises to the contrary managed to persuade the other. Additionally, both sides had misunderstood the others position: the Finns had assumed that the Soviets had opened up on

30072-465: Was erected between 1450 and 1500. This fortification was rectangular with two corner bastions. It appears on various maps from the 14th and 15th century. The Captain of Vardøhus owned a share of the fishery. While visiting the fort in 1511, Erik Valkendorf wrote: "the country would not be habitable for Christians were it not that the catch of fish is so plentiful as to attract people to settle down there. And this dried fish, which they call ' stockfish ',

30251-402: Was from ancient times a perpetual patrimony of the Czar." In 1600, Godunov, now the tsar of Russia, refused to ratify the Treaty of Tyavzino which resolved conflicting Swedish and Russian claims to the Kola peninsula to the east of Vardøhus as well as other territories both claimed. This treaty did not acknowledge the Norwegian presence at Vardøhus nor the Norwegian claims to this territory. As

30430-473: Was hostile, renounced the non-aggression pact and severed diplomatic relations with Finland on 28 November. In the following years, Soviet historiography described the incident as Finnish provocation. Doubt on the official Soviet version was cast only in the late 1980s, during the policy of glasnost . The issue has continued to divide Russian historiography even after the end of the Soviet Union in 1991. In 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated at

30609-416: Was left intact, although in a miserable state of disrepair. During the immediate post-war period, from 1945 to 1947, the fortress was demilitarised and used as a prison for people convicted of treason in the post-war legal purge . In 1947, Vardøhus was returned to fortress status manned by a commander and a few privates. The command of the fort is now the responsibility of the Royal Norwegian Navy , with

30788-424: Was much higher, however, since for example, 12 Soviet divisions were deployed north of Lake Ladoga. Finland had a large force of reservists, which was trained in regular maneuvers, some of which had experience from the recent Finnish Civil War. The soldiers were also almost universally trained in basic survival techniques, such as skiing. The Finnish Army was not able to equip all its soldiers with proper uniforms at

30967-411: Was needed to approve and ratify military decisions, which they evaluated based on their political merits. The dual system further complicated the Soviet chain of command and annulled the independence of commanding officers. After the Soviet success at the Battles of Khalkhin Gol against Japan, on the USSR's eastern border, Soviet High Command had divided into two factions. One side was represented by

31146-422: Was originally important as a source of furs from the trade with the Karelians, but this trade dropped off as the Hanseatic League increased the fur trade through their Novgorod centre. Finnmark remained important as a fishery; the fish was shipped as stockfish to Bergen and traded there with the Hansa merchants. The first fortification was erected by Haakon V Magnusson in 1306 and was called Varghøya . It

31325-424: Was populated by various East Slavic tribes that were constantly at war with one another for supremacy. However, these tribes came together during the beginning of the 9th century to try to form a negotiated settlement to end military aggression amongst each other. According to the legendary calling of the Varangians (recorded in diverging variations in the Primary Chronicle and Novgorod First Chronicle ), in

31504-423: Was replaced by Navy Lieutenant B. Bjerkelund. From this date a full mobilization was carried out in the Vardø area, in addition the members of the local rifle association were deployed to guard duty at important objectives. Soon the entire island was under guard, and coast guard and air observation posts were operational. All the different outposts were connected to the fortress via telephone lines. The machine guns at

31683-421: Was replaced when they left. Each time the Nazi flag was burnt. During this time Captain Rynning was the fortress commander and served as a symbol of Norwegian sovereignty and as a buffer between German military authorities and the Norwegian military and civilian authorities. This, and "the flag war", continued until Rynning was arrested on the order of Reichskommissar Josef Terboven on 7 November. Rynning spent

31862-436: Was so decrepit that he continued to live on board his ship, Victor . His name has been preserved as it was carved on a beam from the 1599 fort to commemorate the visit. As a further effort at improving his hold on Finnmark, Christian IV built the fortress of Altenhus near Alta in 1610. By the 1730s, Vardøhus had become decrepit. The seat of government of Finnmark was transferred from Vardøhus to Altengaard. Major upgrades to

32041-415: Was utilised by the occupiers as a barracks for the crews manning the modern German-built fortifications. In 1944, as the Germans retreated from Finland through Finnmark before the advancing Finns, General Lothar Rendulic ordered a scorched earth policy. Vardø was burned, with only a few houses remaining. Even though the German coastal artillery batteries were demolished before the Germans left, Vardøhus

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