 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(October 2021) |
Aunus Radio was a Finnish radio station operating in an area held by Finland in East Karelia during the continuation war.
| This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(October 2021) |
Aunus Radio was a Finnish radio station operating in an area held by Finland in East Karelia during the continuation war.
Finnish military command was aware of the significant impact radio had on the troops in the front. However, near the eastern border it was impossible to listen to Finnish radio broadcasts due to the distance from the transmitters, and because of Soviet radio jamming. In summer 1941 it was decided that the Army of Karelia should have a radio station of its own.
The meeting in which Aunus Radio was formed was held on 18 August 1941, in Leppäsyrjä. The newly founded radio station was issued a car and a typewriter. One week later news were circulated about the formation of a new radio station, but due to difficulties with arrangements the opening ceremonies were not held until 1 September 1941, in Vieljärvi. At first, the station only broadcast on Sundays, and the programme was very modest. Yle, the Finnish national broadcasting company, donated 20 records to the new station. When both sides of the records had been played, the station usually broadcast a couple of hours of music.
Soon after being formed Aunus Radio started inviting local talents to host shows. This often meant Finnish soldiers who were singers, humourists or "seers". In addition to music, the radio started broadcasting humour and plays. Some speeches were broadcast as well, but these were intentionally kept short to meet the wishes of the front line soldiers. At this time, the station started broadcasting daily up to 15 hours per day, including reports from the front and behind the lines. Overall the programming was aimed at entertaining the troops, with no artistic agenda. Since the station was also intended for the general populace of East Karelia, some of the programs were also broadcast in Vepsian and Karelian. Once Finnish troops conquered Petrozavodsk and renamed it Äänislinna, Aunus Radio moved there.
When the war changed into trench warfare, Aunus radio started broadcasting propaganda intended for Soviet troops. The number of staff also increased, and by 1942 the station employed 21 people, including nationally famous singer and actor Tauno Palo and writer Oiva Paloheimo. During the trench warfare Finnish troops were suffering from homesickness, and Aunus Radio successfully relieved this by broadcasting entertainment and information. However, their attempts at propaganda and multi-lingual broadcasts in Vepsian and Karelian were not successful in reaching the target audiences.
On 16 June 1944 a secret order was issued to the troops in East Karelia to withdraw. Aunus Radio withdrew from Äänislinna with them and settled near Sortavala. However, the station was bombed and the front line came closer, so it was transferred inside the current borders and ended its operations in September 1944.
Valitut Palat (1991). Tuntematon sota. Oy Valitut Palat. ISBN 951-8933-34-0.
The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet-Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union during World War II. It began with a Finnish declaration of war on 25 June 1941 and ended on 19 September 1944 with the Moscow Armistice. The Soviet Union and Finland had previously fought the Winter War from 1939 to 1940, which ended with the Soviet failure to conquer Finland and the Moscow Peace Treaty. Numerous reasons have been proposed for the Finnish decision to invade, with regaining territory lost during the Winter War regarded as the most common. Other justifications for the conflict include Finnish President Risto Ryti's vision of a Greater Finland and Commander-in-Chief Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim's desire to annex East Karelia.
The Winter War 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 the attack illegal and expelled the Soviet Union from its organization.
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The Aunus expedition was an attempt by Finnish volunteers to occupy parts of East Karelia in 1919, during the Russian Civil War. Aunus is the Finnish name for Olonets Karelia. This expedition was one of many Finnic "kinship wars" (heimosodat) fought against forces of Soviet Russia after the Russian Revolution of 1917 and during the Russian Civil War.
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East Karelia, also rendered as Eastern Karelia or Russian Karelia, is a name for the part of Karelia that since the Treaty of Stolbovo in 1617 has remained Eastern Orthodox and a part of Russia. It is separate from the western part of Karelia, called Finnish Karelia or historically Swedish Karelia. Most of East Karelia has become part of the Republic of Karelia within the Russian Federation. It consists mainly of the old historical regions of Viena Karjala and Aunus Karjala.
Karelia is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Russia, Finland, and Sweden. It is currently divided between northwestern Russia and Finland.
The Viena expedition was the military expedition in March 1918 by Finnish volunteer forces in order to annex White Karelia from Soviet Russia. It was one of the many "kinship wars" (Heimosodat) fought near the newly independent Finland during the Russian Civil War. Russian East Karelia was never part of the Swedish Empire or the Grand Duchy of Finland, and was at the time mostly inhabited by Karelians. However, many advocates of a Greater Finland considered these Karelians "kindred" to the Finnish nation, and therefore supported Finnish annexation of Russian East Karelia.
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Veps, or Vepsians, are a Baltic Finnic people who speak the Veps language, which belongs to the Finnic branch of the Uralic languages.
Greater Finland is an irredentist and nationalist idea which aims for the territorial expansion of Finland. It is associated with Pan-Finnicism. The most common concept saw the country as defined by natural borders encompassing the territories inhabited by Finns and Karelians, ranging from the White Sea to Lake Onega and along the Svir River and Neva River—or, more modestly, the Sestra River—to the Gulf of Finland. Some extremist proponents also included the Kola Peninsula, Finnmark, Swedish Meänmaa, Ingria, and Estonia.
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The Vyborg–Petrozavodsk offensive or Karelian offensive was a strategic operation by the Soviet Leningrad and Karelian Fronts against Finland on the Karelian Isthmus and East Karelia fronts of the Continuation War, on the Eastern Front of World War II. The Soviet forces captured East Karelia and Vyborg/Viipuri. After that, however, the fighting reached a stalemate.
The Battle of Ilomantsi was a part of the Svir–Petrozavodsk Offensive of the Continuation War (1941–1944). It was fought from 26 July to 13 August 1944, between Finland and the Soviet Union in an area roughly 40 kilometers wide and 30 kilometers deep, near the Finnish-Soviet border, close to the Finnish village of Ilomantsi, in North Karelia. The battle ended with a Finnish victory—the last major Soviet attack against Finland was stopped here.
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The Finnish military administration in Eastern Karelia was an interim administrative system established in those areas of the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic (KFSSR) of the Soviet Union which were occupied by the Finnish army during the Continuation War. The military administration was set up on 15 July 1941 and it ended during the summer of 1944. The goal of the administration was to prepare the region for eventual annexation by Finland.
The Finnish 61st Infantry Regiment (IR61) was a combat regiment of the 17th division of the Finnish Army during the Second World War, consisting almost exclusively of Swedish-speaking Finns. Among others, the regiment participated in the battle of Tienhaara. The regiment has been the subject of several books, as well as a feature film Beyond the Front Line. In 1980, Lieutenant general A. E. Martola opined: "Honestly, this regiment saved Finland during the midsummer weekend 1944, even if only temporarily."
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