Editing Axis powers (section)

===Finland===
{{Main|Finland in World War II}}
[[File:Axis attaches at the Finnish front2.jpg|thumb|The visit of German, Italian, Japanese, Hungarian and Romanian military delegates in the [[Uhtua]] sector of the front on 5 April 1943]]
Although Finland never signed the Tripartite Pact, it fought against the Soviet Union alongside Germany in the 1941–44 [[Continuation War]], during which the official position of the wartime Finnish government was that Finland was a co-belligerent of the Germans whom they described as "brothers-in-arms".{{sfn|Kirby|1979|p=134}} Finland did sign the revived Anti-Comintern Pact of November 1941.<ref>Kent Forster, "Finland's Foreign Policy 1940–1941: An Ongoing Historiographic Controversy," ''Scandinavian Studies'' (1979) 51#2 pp. 109–123</ref> Finland signed a [[Paris Peace Treaties, 1947|peace treaty]] with the Allied powers in 1947 which described Finland as having been "an ally of Hitlerite Germany" during the continuation war.<ref>{{cite web |title=Treaty of Peace With Finland |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32435066406612&view=1up&seq=229&q1=Finland |access-date=23 October 2020 |page=229 |year=1947}}</ref> As such, Finland was the only democracy to join the Axis.<ref name="Wagner et al. p. 39">{{cite book |last1=Wagner |first1=Margaret E. |last2=Osbourne |first2=Linda Barrett |last3=Reyburn |first3=Susan |title=The Library of Congress World War II companion |date=2007 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |isbn=9780743252195 |page=39 |url=https://archive.org/details/libraryofcongres0000wagn/page/38/mode/2up?q=Finland |access-date=29 April 2021}}</ref><ref name="Jukes & O'Neill">{{cite book |last1=Jukes |first1=Geoffrey |last2=O'Neill |first2=Robert |title=World War II: The Eastern Front 1941–1945 |year=2010 |publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group |isbn=978-1435891340 |page=52 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ALd6AcDEuBEC&q=%22Axis+Finland%22&pg=PA52 |access-date=7 February 2021}}</ref> Finland's relative independence from Germany put it in the most advantageous position of all the minor Axis powers.<ref name="DiNardo1">{{cite book |last1=DiNardo |first1=R.L. |title=Germany and the Axis Powers from Coalition to Collapse |year=2005 |publisher=University Press of Kansas |isbn=9780700614127 |page=95 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZypnAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Minor%20Axis%20countries%22 |access-date=9 February 2021}}</ref> Finland was unusual in the Axis in its relative lack of participation in [[the Holocaust]], and its lack of a fascist regime.{{sfn|Piehler|Grant|2023|pp=109–110}}

Whilst Finland's relationship with Nazi Germany during the Continuation War remains controversial within Finland,<ref name="Tallgren1">{{cite journal |last1=Tallgren |first1=Immi |title=Martyrs and Scapegoats of the Nation? The Finnish War-Responsibility Trial, 1945–1946 |journal=Historical Origins of International Criminal Law |year=2014 |volume=2 |issue=21 |page=512 |url=https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/50a462/pdf/ |access-date=25 October 2020}}</ref> in a 2008 {{lang|fi|[[Helsingin Sanomat]]}} survey of 28 Finnish historians, 16 agreed that Finland had been an ally of Nazi Germany, with only 6 disagreeing.<ref name="Mäkinen1">{{cite news |last1=Mäkinen |first1=Esa |title=Historian professorit hautaavat pitkät kiistat |url=https://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/art-2000004606365.html |access-date=7 February 2021 |work=Helsingin Sanomat |date=19 October 2008}}</ref>

The August 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between Germany and the Soviet Union contained a secret protocol dividing much of eastern Europe and assigning Finland to the Soviet sphere of influence.{{sfn|Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact|1939}}{{sfn|Kirby|1979|p=120}} After unsuccessfully attempting to force territorial and other concessions on the Finns, the Soviet Union invaded Finland in November 1939, launching the [[Winter War]], intending to [[Finnish Democratic Republic|establish a communist puppet government]] in Finland.{{sfn|Kirby|1979|pp=120–121}}{{sfn|Kennedy-Pipe|1995|p={{page needed|date=March 2012}}}} The conflict threatened [[Swedish iron-ore industry during World War II|Germany's iron-ore supplies]] and offered the prospect of Allied interference in the region.{{sfn|Kirby|1979|p=123}} Despite Finnish resistance, a peace treaty was signed in March 1940, wherein Finland ceded some key territory to the Soviet Union, including the [[Karelian Isthmus]], containing Finland's second-largest city, [[Viipuri]], and the critical defensive structure of the [[Mannerheim Line]]. After this war, Finland sought protection and support from the United Kingdom{{sfn|Seppinen|1983|p={{page needed|date=March 2012}}}}<ref name="FOFinland">British Foreign Office Archive, 371/24809/461–556.</ref> and non-aligned Sweden,{{sfn|Jokipii|1987|p={{page needed|date=March 2012}}}} but was thwarted by Soviet and German actions. This resulted in Finland being drawn closer to Germany, first with the intent of enlisting German support as a counterweight to thwart continuing Soviet pressure, and later to help regain lost territories.

In the opening days of Operation Barbarossa, Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union, Finland permitted German planes returning from mine dropping runs over [[Kronstadt]] and [[Neva River]] to refuel at Finnish airfields before returning to bases in [[East Prussia]]. In retaliation, the Soviet Union launched a major air offensive against [[Finnish Air Force]] bases and towns, which resulted in a Finnish declaration of war against the Soviet Union on 25 June 1941. The Finnish conflict with the Soviet Union is generally referred to as the [[Continuation War]].

[[File:Hitler Mannerheim 2.jpg|upright|thumb| [[Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim|Mannerheim]] with Hitler]]
Finland's main objective was to regain territory lost to the Soviet Union in the Winter War. However, on 10 July 1941, Field Marshal [[Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim]] issued an [[Order of the Day]] that contained a formulation understood internationally as a Finnish territorial interest in Russian [[Karelia]].

Diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and Finland were severed on 1 August 1941, after the British [[Royal Air Force]] bombed German forces in the Finnish village and port of [[Pechenga (urban-type settlement), Murmansk Oblast|Petsamo]]. The United Kingdom repeatedly called on Finland to cease its offensive against the Soviet Union, and declared war on Finland on 6 December 1941, although no other military operations followed. War was never declared between Finland and the United States, though relations were severed between the two countries in 1944 as a result of the [[Ryti-Ribbentrop Agreement]].
[[File:Tali-Ihantala.jpg|left|thumb|Finnish troops passing by the remains of a destroyed Soviet T-34 at the [[battle of Tali-Ihantala]]]]
Finland maintained command of [[Finnish Defence Forces|its armed forces]] and pursued war objectives independently of Germany. Germans and Finns did work closely together during [[Operation Silver Fox]], a joint offensive against Murmansk. Finland took part in the [[Siege of Leningrad]]. Finland was one of Germany's most important allies in its war with the USSR.<ref name="Goda1" />

The relationship between Finland and Germany was also affected by the [[Ryti-Ribbentrop Agreement]], which was presented as a German condition for help with munitions and air support, as the [[Fourth strategic offensive|Soviet offensive coordinated with D-Day]] threatened Finland with complete occupation. The agreement, signed by President [[Risto Ryti]] but never ratified by the Finnish Parliament, bound Finland not to seek a separate peace.

After Soviet offensives were fought to a standstill, Ryti's successor as president, Marshal [[Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim]], dismissed the agreement and opened secret negotiations with the Soviets, which resulted in a ceasefire on 4 September and the [[Moscow Armistice]] on 19 September 1944. Under the terms of the armistice, Finland was obliged to expel German troops from Finnish territory, which resulted in the [[Lapland War]].