Marshallhjälpen finland
Artikel Marshall-planen, Marshall-planen er en populær betegnelse for det amerikanske hjælpeprogram, European Recovery Program, som general og udenrigsminister George C. Marshall () satte i værk efter afslutningen på 2. verdenskrig til støtte for genopbygningen af Europa. Foreign support in the Winter War consisted of materiel , men and moral support to the Finnish struggle against the Soviet Union in the Winter War.
World opinion at large supported the Finnish cause.
Marshall-planen, 1948-1953
The Second World War had not yet begun in earnest and was known to the public as the Phoney War ; at that time, the Winter War saw the only real fighting in Europe besides the German and Soviet invasion of Poland , and thus held major world interest. The Soviet aggression was generally deemed unjustified. Various foreign organizations sent material aid, such as medical supplies. Finnish immigrants in the United States and Canada returned home, and many volunteers one of them future actor Christopher Lee traveled to Finland to join Finland's forces: 8, Swedes, 1, Danes including Christian Frederik von Schalburg , a captain in the Danish Royal Life Guards and later commander of the Free Corps Denmark , a volunteer unit created by Nazi Germany in Denmark during World War II , about 1, Estonians , Norwegians, Ingrians , Hungarians , [ 1 ] Finnish expatriates , 4 Latvians , 2 Lithuanians and volunteers of other nationalities made it to Finland before the war was over.
Pope Pius XII condemned the Soviet attack on 26 December in a speech at the Vatican and later donated a signed and sealed prayer on behalf of Finland. Estonia remained officially neutral, but — Estonian individuals travelled clandestinely to Finland and volunteered to fight against the Soviet invaders. It is estimated that around Estonian volunteers on the Finnish side saw military action before the end of the Winter War. The Hungarian government officially did not support Finland, but secretly started to search for ways to help.
In addition, non-governmental organisations began to organize support for Finland. Hungary helped Finland by giving monetary donations, armaments and military volunteers.
Count Pál Teleki 's government sent armaments and war equipment valued at 1 million Hungarian pengős during the Winter War with knowledge and accord of Regent Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya. The recruiting of volunteers started on 16 December. During the Winter War, around 25, Hungarian men applied to fight in Finland; finally, applications were accepted. Their military training started at 10 January and it took almost a month.
The volunteers formed a battalion what was commanded by Lieutenant Imre Kémeri Nagy. The Hungarian Volunteer Detached Battalion had 24 officers , 52 non-commissioned officers , 2 physicians and 2 military chaplains for a total of officers and men. Travel to Finland was very difficult as the German Reich forbade transit of armaments and war equipment across its territory including the occupied Polish territories. They travelled without any weapons by a special train, officially classified as "tourists going to ski-camp".
Finally the battalion arrived in Finland at 2 March after 3 weeks travelling. In Finland the battalion was quartered in Lapua , in the training center of the international volunteers. In Lapua they took a part in further military training , learning skiing and winter warfare. Before the Hungarian battalion could see military action, the Moscow Peace Treaty was signed, on 12 March in Moscow, leaving many volunteers frustrated.
He expressed his thanks to the volunteers for coming to Finland and he promoted Lieutenant Imre Kémeri Nagy to Captain. From 17 April to 19 May, the Hungarian battalion served in Karelia , at the new state border in Lappeenranta. They traveled across the German Reich by a special train with a German guard. The volunteers arrived at Budapest on 28 May. Géza Szepessy, along with four fellows from the Military Technical College of Berlin, went to Finland where he was wounded in action.
Italy violated the pact for the second time by promptly responding to requests by the Republic of Finland for military assistance and equipment for use against the Soviet government. However, the Soviet Union's new partner Germany intercepted most of Italy's aid and only released it once peace had been made. A handful of Italian volunteers also fought in the Winter War on the side of Finland. An exception were Danish pilots that were stationed at various air bases.
Marshall-planen, 1948-1953
Among these were two marine pilots that deserted to join Finland, one of which was killed after having shot down four Soviet planes. The Norwegian government prohibited officers or under-officers to volunteer for the war in Finland out of fear that this would aggravate the Germans they wanted to remain neutral at all costs. Of the Norwegians that volunteered to fight for Finland, only made it to the relatively tranquil Salla front and then just three weeks before the war ended.
None of the volunteers were killed or wounded. Many of the volunteers were unfit for combat and many ended up in rest homes and institutions for alcoholics during their stay in Finland. Several of the future leaders of the Norwegian resistance movement such as Max Manus and Leif "Shetland" Larsen were among the volunteers. The most highly decorated Norwegian in the later resistance movement, Gunnar Sønsteby , spent his stay as an office clerk like many of his countrymen in the Winter War.
In addition to the military volunteers, 30 physicians and 40 nurses went to help the Finnish medical system, under the auspices of the Norwegian People's Aid. There were numerous nationwide collection campaigns of supplies and money in Norway to help the Finns. In all, the Finland collection Norwegian: Finlandsinnsamlingen brought in some 2,, kr , the largest popular collection in Norwegian history. Initial flying training was given, close to Oslo, with these aircraft to students sent from Finland.