Washington’s Special Case in the Early Cold War: The United States’ Foreign Policy towards Finland, 1945-1953

Abstract

In 1945, Finland was in a precarious condition after the Second World War. After losing land to the Soviet Union after the Winter War (1939-1940), Finland allied itself with Germany in 1941 and invaded the Soviet Union. This decision cost the Finns, as they were punished by the Soviets after the war. While the situation in Finland was not as dire as it was for the Eastern European nations, in which communism was established, the Finns still had to cope with losing lands such as Karelia and having to pay 300 million U.S. gold dollars in reparations to Moscow. However, this paper argues that the United States was very much interested in maintaining Finland’s sovereignty, and that the political, cultural, and, most importantly, the economic actions taken by the U.S. did just that.  By differentiating Finland from the other Soviet satellite states, bringing Finns to America to study, broadcasting the Voice of America to Finland, and giving loans to Finland, the United States kept Finland free from communist control.