After The Moscow Peace Treaty
See also: Aftermath of the Winter WarThe Moscow Peace Treaty, signed on March 12, 1940, was a shock for the Finns. It was perceived as the ultimate failure of Finland's 1930s foreign policy, which had been based on multilateral guarantees for support from similar countries, first in the world order established by the League of Nations, and later from the Oslo group and Scandinavia. The immediate response was to broaden and intensify this policy. Binding bilateral treaties were now sought where Finland formerly had relied on goodwill and national friendship, and formerly frosty relations with ideological adversaries, such as the Soviet Union and the Third Reich, had necessarily to be eased.
Closer and improved relations were sought particularly with:
- Sweden and Norway
- the United Kingdom
- the Soviet Union
- the Third Reich
With exception for the case of Nazi Germany, all of these attempts turned out to meet critical obstacles — either due to Moscow's fear that Finland would slide out of the Soviet sphere of influence or due to general dynamics of the world war.
Read more about this topic: Interim Peace
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