Ryti–Ribbentrop Agreement
1944 letter from Finland to Nazi Germany / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Ryti–Ribbentrop letter of agreement (Finnish: Ryti–Ribbentrop-sopimus) was a personal letter from President of Finland Risto Ryti to German Führer Adolf Hitler signed on 26 June 1944. It was sent during the Soviet Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive, which had started on 9 June and threatened to knock Finland out of the Continuation War.
Ryti–Ribbentrop letter of agreement | |
---|---|
Type | Letter from Risto Ryti, President of Finland, to Adolf Hitler |
Context | Continuation War |
Signed | 26 June 1944 (1944-06-26) |
Location | Helsinki, Finland |
Expiration | 1 August 1944 (1944-08-01) with the resignation of Ryti |
Negotiators | |
Signatories | Risto Ryti, President of Finland |
Language | Finnish |
The letter was a product of a week of Finno-German negotiations, where the Germans sought a political commitment to the war, while the Finns sought increased military aid in the form of both troops and materiel. In the letter, Ryti agreed not to seek a separate peace in the war with the Soviet Union without approval from Nazi Germany. The letter was intentionally phrased by the Finns in a way where it would not bind Ryti's successors, as Finland had already contacted the Soviet Union in secret, seeking to exit the war.
During the negotiations, the Germans sent to Finland one infantry division, a brigade of assault guns, and a Luftwaffe detachment. The Finns also received significant amounts of anti-tank weaponry. Because most of the German aid either predated the agreement, or alternatively arrived too late to meaningfully contribute to the Finnish success in stabilizing the military situation, historians have questioned whether the agreement was a necessity for the Finns.
The agreement, which completely bypassed the Finnish Parliament, was criticized heavily both within Finland and internationally. In July, Germany pulled all forces out of southern Finland, and Ryti resigned on 1 August, resulting in a Finno-Soviet armistice on 2 September. As a condition for peace, Finland had to remove any remaining German forces from Lapland, resulting in the Lapland War.