Finland's War of Choice: The Troubled German-Finnish Coalition in World War II Paperback – September 19, 2013

In the 21st century, researching and writing a book on the WWII Eastern Front without taking advantage of the Soviet archives is almost an act of historical malpractice. The author lacked language skills in German, Finnish, or Russian, and apparently he lacked research assistants with those skills. Therefore, he relied heavily on secondary sources and postwar memoirs, very few of which were written before the opening of the Soviet archives. In fact, the author's most important sources were published in the late 1940s and 1950s. Therefore, if you want to find out what role Ultra intelligence or the Lucy spy ring played in the allied military and diplomatic decisions, this book does not help.The accounts of military operations are told from the 30,000-foot level, which makes these passages very dry. The lack of good maps aggravates this problem. The book desperately needs some first-person accounts from front-line soldiers or even civilians who lived through the conflict.It's an informative book, but we're still waiting for the definitive English-language account of WWII in northern Europe .

The book is not as condemnatory of Finland's participation in this war as the title suggests. I found that the book was written in a matter-of-fact and unemotional style, with plenty of detail. From reading the reviews, I was prepared for the German-centric accounting. I actually enjoyed reading about this war from a slightly different point of view than I'm used to. Having said that, I must comment on the title again. War of Choice? Most countries had to make tough choices during those times. In my opinion, had Finland chosen to not fight this war, it would have become the Finnish SSR, or worse. It's not like any of the allied countries were lining up to help Finland militarily for either the Winter or the Continuation Wars (although I don't doubt that the USA and to a lesser extent Britain pulled strings for Finland behind the scenes). Additionally, I don't think that Finland is the only country that had an "untidy coalition" either. Who were Stalin's allies? The author seems to be sympathetic towards the Finn's plight, but does display a bias. That's ok. It's his book. My bias is that my father fought in the Continuation War for Finland.I recommend this book, especially if it's not your first book on the continuation war.That's my two cents worth.

This is a valuable book that is most frustrating. It studies how the Germans viewed Finland during their Continuation War (a term avoided by Lunde). It might be more accurately titled something like "Germany's Blind Alley--How Finland used Germany to accomplish its limited war aims".While the book covers Finland, Germany, and Soviet Union from 1941-1944, it relies primarily on German sources. The German-centric nature of the information and viewpoint (which can be seen even in the front cover photo, which is of German troops, while the back cover photo is of Finnish troops) results from Lunde's linguistic limitations: "My own difficulty in reading Finnish has served as a limitation on the use of Finnish sources. ... My use of Russian sources has basically been limited to works that have been translated to English." (p. 5) It is a great loss that Lunde didn't have Finnish and Russian co-authors/researchers to assist him in utilizing Finnish and Russian sources, and one wonders how he ever thought he could answer the ongoing questions regarding the mysteries that make up why Finland worked with Germany, what Finland agreed to do, when the decisions were made, and who made them. All Lunde can say is that they remain mysteries because the Finns have worked hard to cover any tracks and he can't pierce the linguistic veil. And one is completely in the dark about Soviet activity. His two chapters on the 1944 Soviet offensive have next to no Soviet sources!This work ends up relying on and replacing both German General Waldemar Erfurth's Der Finnishe Krieg 1941-1944 (1950) and The Last Finnish War (1979) as well as Earl Ziemke's The German Northern Theatre of Operations 1940-1945 (1959). It does the same, though to a lesser extent for Olli Vehvilainen's Finland in the Second World War. Between Germany and Russia (2002). If you own Lunde's work, you really don't need Erfurth's or Ziemke's, as Lunde's chapter endnotes show heavy use from nearly first to last page of these sources.This book is let down by a lack of maps and by the lack of detail in the maps that are provided. There are far too many cases, esp. during the 1944 Soviet offensive, where the maps fail to do justice to the text and the reader is at a loss as to the location of events. There is no justification for such a failure. This is yet another book let down by poor maps!Lunde writes his book mainly from a HQ and higher perspective. Unlike writers on the earlier Winter War, he doesn't do justice to the fighting on the ground or the conditions the front-line troops faced. One is mainly reading about command decisions, strategic political-military analysis, and the movements & actions of army corps, divisions and regiments. I never really had the sense of feeling like I was experiencing the war as it was fought by soldiers on either side. And Lunde is honest that his focus is on army activity. Naval and air activity get very little emphasis.Lunde does a great job explaining how Germany was led down the blind alley by Finland, wasting troops and resources on a theatre of war that ended up being entirely unproductive because the Germans failed to set concrete military plans and goals with Finland and failed to use whatever leverage they had in 1941 to get the Finns to do what they needed. As Lunde states, "The Germans, on the other hand, reaped virtually no benefits from the coalition after the Finns recovered their lost territories and conquered East Karelia. The Finns refused to help the Germans against Leningrad and effectively did the same with respect to interdicting the Murmansk Railroad. The end result was that the Germans were left to dance to the Finnish fiddler. ... For Germany, Finland was a blind alley." (p. 381)I was disappointed in his limited discussion of the static period, from the summer of 1942-summer of 1944. His 8th chapter, "Front Without Combat Activity--January 1943-June 1944", is just 29 pages. This was the critical time for political, military, and economic decisions to be made, esp. as regards what to do about ending the War vis-a-vis the Soviets, but Lunde glosses over this period. However, Lunde does a great job pointing out Mannerheim's failure to use this time to prepare for the eventual Soviet onslaught. Mannerheim failed in this critical time to properly equip and position his forces and fortify the necessary areas. As Lunde points out, Mannerheim foolishly thought the Soviets wouldn't attack Finland and he allowed his troops to be positioned for political purposes (i.e., use East Karelia as a bargaining chip), failing to recognize that the eventual Soviet steamroller would go right back up the all-important Leningrad to Viipuri Isthmus as they did in 1940 and the Finns did in 1941! Mannerheim's failure almost cost Finland its post-war independence, for if the Soviets had advanced just a bit farther a bit sooner, Finland's heartland would've been opened up for Soviet tanks that couldn't then be stopped.Yet with all of the limitations, this is still most valuable for English readers wanting to learn more about Finland, Germany, and the Soviets from 1941-1944. It is the only readily available recent work on the Continuation War in English. The reader will have a decent idea of the overall ebb and flow of events and why Finland did many of the things she did (e.g., her fear that being too aggressive against the Soviets would cause the USA to declare war against her and lead the UK to more actively pursue its own declared war against them).

Few people are aware that Finland and Russia fought a war in 1939/40 and fewer still that they were at war again between 1941 and 1944. There was much sympathy in the West for the Finns and their doughty resistance when the Soviets launched their invasion in 1939 and plans were afoot for an allied expeditionary force to go to Finland when the Finns had to seek an armistice. Smarting from the terms that followed the Finns were susceptible to German pressure to attack the Russians once the German invasion had been launched. Once the Finns had achieved their goals they basically sat on their hands and did little more, much to the irritation of the Germans.It is just as well because it is one of the great ifs of history as to what might have happened if Hitler had placed more emphasis on the Northern front and the Finns had collaborated in the capture of Leningrad and the cutting of the rail links to Murmansk and Archangel. That might have had far more consequence for the outcome of the war than the 1942 attacks in the South of Russia which led inexorably to Stalingrad.The Finns were truly caught between the two evils of Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia and it is something of a miracle that they ended up escaping with their independence, albeit circumscribed and with loss of territory.It is an interesting story well told in this book which covers the military and political developments over this period. The book is clear and well written although I think it would have benefited from better quality maps.

Several extensive reviews have been written about this book. I found two aspects annoying. One is that much of the text reads like a military log or diary of unit movements. Page 325 gives the flavour, the phrase '20th Mountain Army' occurs seven times in three paragraphs. Abbreviations to 'it' for example might have made this piece of text - and often elsewhere - more readable. Two, there is an absence (I thought) of the Finnish home front context and the pressures bearing on the politicians throughout this period. As with most books I have come cross about this war and the previous Winter War, the maps are not up to scratch. Each chapter would have benefited from a strategic overview of what was going to happen or had just happened. Heavy going without this.

I knew very little about the Finish view of World War 2 so it was a very interesting read to understand that area of operations. It was good on over all tactics and the political situation. Its was not down to the actual units of combat (esp the Finns) too often. That said it still was a very good book if you want an overview of the Finnish side of World War 2.

Interesting spotlight on a little-known (to us at any rate) part of WW2. Have knocked offthe 5th star because their's a bit too much Military detail, for my liking, regarding names of Divisions/Regiments etc.

The level of detail charting the countries relationship is excellent and once war is enjoined I was taken into the minds of the commanders in the most wonderful way. Rich in detail but never dry this is a great book on a theatre of World War 2 that is often overlooked.

Good read and as a study aid it was full of factual information with clarity on events, dates and personnel reference. A good alternate read in an area of WWII history not universally covered.

Superb

This is a very good specialised and detailed history book of Finland's contribution to World War Two and their actions on the Eastern Front. The writer focuses a lot on the relationship between Finland and Germany, the background to their alliance during the war, the breakdown of this alliance and the aftermath.I knew of Finland's alliance with Germany on the Eastern Front and their war against the Soviet Union in the Winter War but knew nothing of the difficult relationship that existed between Germany and Finland during the war, the many frustrations and problems before Finland's armistice with the USSR. This book explains this in some detail.It shouldnt surprise many historians or those interested in World War two that Hitler was very keen on this alliance but made little effort to plan or organise anything, to look at the detail and to work out common goals. As a consequence Finland committed its self to operations it saw as useful but didnt always follow German policy or plans much to the frustration of the German Army who had committed 250,000 troops to this front which would have been very useful in other areas and in many cases did very little to help the situation on the Eastern Front or support their comrades on the main fronts.The book also covers most of the main operations that Finland did fight such as the Siege of Leningrad and many they didnt like cutting the railway link to Murmansk despite a German plan to do this.There is a lot of political history too focusing a lot on the German plans and the Soviets but has other details such as that the USA and Finland didnt declare war on each other despite being in opposing "camps" and that until quite late in the war the USA had consuls in Finland still operating.A very interesting history of a very confused and challenging military relationship in World War 2.

This book serves as a great introduction to a (by me) little known war. I knew of the Solviet Finnish Winter War, but not the "continuation war". Other reviewers question it, but the author delivers an outline of the wars major operations and some of the historiograpgical conflict about the character of Finlands cooperation with Germany against Stalins Russia.

Die Rolle Finnlands als Verbündeter Deutschlands im Krieg gegen Russland und die Probleme, die sich in dieser Rolle zwischen einer parlamentarischen Demokratie und einer Diktatur ergaben, wurden bislang historisch viel zu wenig aufgearbeitet. Das vorliegende Buch schließt diese Lücke mit auf profundem Geschichtswissen basierender Expertise und vermittelt dabei immer wieder auch überraschende Einblicke - etwa in das durchaus nicht konfliktfreie Verhältnis zwischen dem Führer und dem finnischen Nationalhelden Mannerheim.Wer sich für die Rolle Finnlands im 2. Weltkrieg interessiert wird um dieses Buch nicht herum kommen; wirklich schade ist, dass es bislang leider nur in englischer Sprache vorliegt - ich empfehle es dennoch uneingeschränkt!

"Finland's War of Choice" est l'un des très rares ouvrages à couvrir la guerre de Continuation, qui opposa de 1941 à 1944 l'Union soviétique à la Finlande, soutenue militairement par l'Allemagne. Et il s'avère être un livre de très bonne qualité.Le récit, suivant chronologiquement le déroulement du conflit, débute juste après la fin de la guerre d'Hiver, en 1940. La première partie se concentre ainsi sur le rapprochement entre l'Allemagne et la Finlande qui s'opère lors de l'année précédant le déclenchement de l'opération Barbarossa.L'ouvrage se concentre ensuite dans une deuxième partie sur la guerre de Continuation elle-même. L'ensemble des opérations militaires sont couvertes avec précision, depuis l'invasion de l'URSS en 1941 jusqu'à l'offensive soviétique de 1944. L'aspect militaire n'est pas le seul à être traité, et l'évolution des relations germano-finlandaises occupe une place importante dans le récit, de même que la politique ambigüe de la Finlande tout au long de la guerre.La dernière partie de l'ouvrage se concentre sur la guerre de Laponie, qui oppose l'Allemagne à son ancien allié scandinave en 1944 et 1945. Encore une fois les opérations sont bien décrites et les problèmes d'ordre politiques qu'elles engendrent ne sont pas omis.On pourra reprocher à l'auteur une vision du conflit trop centrée sur l'Allemagne, notamment du point de vue politique. Les dirigeants de la Finlande sont ainsi quasiment oubliés après 1941, et seuls les militaires sont encore mentionnés. Quant à l'URSS, elle n'est évoquée qu'en tant qu'ennemie des germano-finlandais, et son point de vue ne sera jamais adopté au cours du récit. Le fait que ce dernier s'achève en 1945 est également dommage, car de ce fait les conséquences du conflit ne sont pas évoquées.Le style est agréable, bien que l'auteur est parfois tendance à trop rentrer dans les détails, ce qui nuit quelque peu à la compréhension du texte par moment.Quant à la narration, elle est appuyée par un grand nombre de cartes très lisibles et qui permettent de bien saisir le déroulement des événements.En somme, un ouvrage de référence absolument nécessaire, et ce malgré quelques défauts, pour qui s'intéresse aux opérations forts peu couvertes qui ont eu lieu en Finlande entre 1941 et 1945.

なかなか骨のあるフィンランド本を見つけました。フィンランド視点で第二次世界大戦を通じて俯瞰した内容です。局地戦の写真が豊富な資料を求めたい方は残念ながら別の資料をあたってください。この本は戦況も載ってはいますが、フィンランドという小国の立場からどの様に生き残りをかけるのか？という政治戦の意味合いも多く含んでいるからです。他にもお勧めフィンランド洋書はあります。嬉しい事に、地図はかなり豊富です。（写真は殆ど無かった様な...）本当にキリがありませんが、代表的なモノを取り上げると（20冊はあると思いますが）　Hitler's Forgotten armies: Combat in Norway and Finland　The Winter War: The Soviet Attack on Finland 1939-1940　Finland at War 1939 - 45 (Elite)最近では和書もかなり充実していますから、わざわざ洋書に頼らなくてもいいとは思いますが、結局は和書も参考資料として洋書をベースにしている訳ですから、代表的なのは一冊あっても良いと思います。 Hitler's Forgotten armies: Combat in Norway and FinlandThe Winter War: The Soviet Attack on Finland 1939-1940Finland at War 1939 - 45 (Elite)

The title says it all, however "Finlands War of Survival" would have been more accurate. The "Choice" was about existance in the face of the Russian Bear and Hitlers facism. Its a complex story in which each battle is described in detail. Too much detail for those uneducated in the manoevers of war. Nevertheless, hardwon admiration for a nation on the edge is the result. Not only on the edge of politics but also nature. Schooled in the art of war in the barren Arctic, Finns earned both sides and the Allies, respect. Out of it came the modern State determined to be a worthwhile member of the European nations. A book worth reading if seeking to understand the seemingly impossible happened.

None

It was a Christmas gift to my son, but he loved it. It is an addition in his history book collection on the 2nd WW.