Karelian Isthmus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- See Karelia (disambiguation) for other meanings of the name Karelia.
- For the Amorphis album, see The Karelian Isthmus.
The Karelian Isthmus (Finnish: Karjalan Kannas) is the narrow stretch of land between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia. The city of Vyborg and the town of Priozersk are situated on the northwestern end of the isthmus. In the southeast it reaches to Saint Petersburg. Since World War II, when the fronts moved back and forth over the isthmus, it belongs to the Leningrad Oblast of Russia.
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[edit] History
[edit] Prehistory and Medieval
In the first millennium, Finnic people wandered to the Karelian Isthmus.
In 11th century, Sweden and Novgorod started to compete tax holding rights. Sweden gained them in area near Viipuri and Novgorod in other parts of isthmus.
[edit] Modern Times
During 17th century Sweden gained the whole isthmus and also Ingria. In this time many Karelians escaped to Tver's Karelia.
From 1721-1812 the isthmus belonged to the Russian Empire, won in the Great Northern War that started with the Russian conquest of Ingria where the new imperial capital, Saint Petersburg, was founded (1703) in the southern end of the isthmus, in place of old Swedish town Nyenskans. Then in 1812, the northwestern half was transferred, as a part of Old Finland, to the semi-autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland, created in 1809 and in a personal union with Russia.
Due to the rich soil, rich fishing waters and the proximity to Saint Petersburg, the Karelian Isthmus became the wealthiest part of Finland once the industrial revolution had gained momentum in the 19th century. When Finland declared its independence in 1917, the isthmus remained Finnish.
[edit] World War II
| Eastern Front |
|---|
| Barbarossa – Finland – Leningrad and Baltics – Crimea and Caucasus – Moscow – 1st Rzhev-Vyazma – 2nd Kharkov – Stalingrad – Velikiye Luki – 2nd Rzhev-Sychevka – Kursk – 2nd Smolensk – Dnieper – 2nd Kiev – Korsun – Hube's Pocket – Belorussia – Lvov-Sandomierz – Balkans – Hungary – Vistula-Oder – Königsberg – Berlin – Prague |
| Finland 1941-1944 |
|---|
| Arctic 1941-1944 – Continuation War – Lapland War |
In November 1939, the Soviet Union staged the Shelling of Mainila and invaded Finland in what became known as the Winter War. Soviet forces were able to penetrate the well-defended Mannerheim Line across the isthmus finally in early 1940. Finland ceded the Karelian isthmus to the Soviet Union in the Peace of Moscow.
in 1941, During World War II, Germany invaded the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa. At the same time Continuation War as it is known in Finland (it is considered to be one front of World War 2 by Russians) started. Finland initially regained the lost territory (co-belligerent with Nazi Germany), reaching the Russian side of the border of 1939 and seen by the Russians as indirectly contributing to the Siege of Leningrad.
On 9 June 1944, strong Soviet forces opened a counter-offensive and pushed the front from Leningrad to Vyborg in ten days. In the Battle of Tali-Ihantala, 25 June–9 July, the Finns concentrated their military strength and brought the offensive to a halt at the River Vuoksi, in the northwesternmost part of the isthmus, at the closest point only 40 kilometres from the border of 1940, that again was recognized by Finland in the Peace of Paris, 1947. Since then the isthmus has belonged to the Leningrad Oblast and been inhabited by Russian people.
After the wars most of the old Finnish names were renamed to Russian ones.
[edit] Trivia
Finnish heavy metal band Amorphis titled their first album The Karelian Isthmus .
