The celebrations marking the fall of the Berlin Wall yesterday made me think about how narrowly Finland avoided becoming an SSR. The history of its Baltic neighbor, Estonia, shows how easily the Nazis and the Soviets were able to move in and conquer their neighbors. Finland avoided the fate of Estonia, but it was a hard fought victory and not without loss. Finland fought the Winter War and the Continuation War against the Soviet Union, but lost part of Karelia to the Soviet Union. Karelia is often considered to be the heart of Finland and its loss is mourned today. Finland also had to fight the Nazis at that time. There are some good movies about that time. I recommend The Cuckoo.
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