Did Finland win or lose in the Second World War?

You are confused because it is confusing.

Russia invaded Finland.

Which upset Finland.

The Finnish Declaration of Independence from Russia in 1917 was followed by a civil war in which the leftist side was defeated with German support.

Then Russia had its own Revolution -- now Russia is in 2 separate factions -- Red and White.

The UK and the US BOTH went to Russia to help the Whites fight the Reds.

Finland needed help but the only people that would help them was IMPERIAL Germany, because everyone else was busy --- many assuming White Russia would provide more support.

The October Revolution in Russia changed the game.

Suddenly, the right-wing parties in Finland started to reconsider their decision to block the transfer of highest executive power from the Russian government to Finland, as radical communists took power in Russia. Rather than acknowledge the authority of the Power Law of a few months earlier, the right-wing government declared independence on December 6, 1917.

This sparked the brief but bitter civil war.

The Whites, who were supported by Imperial Germany, prevailed over the Reds.

After the war tens of thousands of Reds and suspected sympathizers were interned in camps, where thousands died by execution or from malnutrition and disease

The relationship between Finland and the Soviet Union was tense.

Germany's relations with Finland were also not good.

Then the Nazis took over Imperial Germany.

Poor Finland was stuck like chuck ----- they hated Communist Russia --- did not care for the Nazis either -- they found themselves in a dilemma and alone.

Finland fought the Soviet Union TWICE DURING WWII because they were invaded again by Russia.

In the Winter War of 1939–40 after the Soviet Union had attacked Finland; and in the Continuation War of 1941–44, following Operation Barbarossa, in which Germany invaded the Soviet Union.

The siege of Leningrad -----

Finnish troops occupied and controlled some of the areas around the city from THEIR war with Russia ---

BUT refused to attack or let Germans use those areas for attack.

After fighting a major Soviet offensive in June/July 1944 to a standstill, Finland reached an armistice with the Soviet Union.

This was followed by the Lapland War of 1944–45, when Finland forced the Germans out of northern Finland.

Finland was NOT the "bad guy" here.

Finland had been bullied for years by a country that became one of the major "Allies".

While they were fighting this bully - everyone was busy but the Germans.

Then the Nazis took over the Germans and the bully Russia joined the "Allies".

And Finland found themselves kitty-in-the-middle.

Finland was forced to pay war reparations under the Marshall Plan-- and is as of today the ONLY country in the world to totally pay off their reparation fines from WWII.

Their situation was well understood and the United States provided secret development aid and helped the still non-communist Social Democratic party in hopes of preserving Finland's independence. The UK assisted with numerous business ventures enabling them to establishing trade with the Western powers.

Finland lost in the Second World War.

However like mentioned in the previous posts the case of Finland is slightly different from other axis countries. Mainly because Finland was not de jure part of axis countries. What also helped create the situation that Finland was not occupied by the Soviet Union after the war was the fact that they did not actively take part in the Siege of Leningrad, as well as the amount of sympathy Finland gained from western allies as a result of the 1939-1940 Winter War.

Also in the summer 1944 when the Soviet offensive on the Karelian Isthmus came to a standstill the race for Berlin was already going on, as the Western Allies were strenghtening their spearhead in France. And as the war with Finland was already merely a sideshow for Soviet Union, it was smarter for them to negotiate a peace treaty with Finland and by doing so, get more troops from that front to be used against Germany and the push towards Berlin.

Actually, it was a small vicious war on its own.

Before the start of WW2, the USSR invaded Finland and ceased Finnish territory. This is called the Winterwar. When Germany invaded the USSR and moved towards Leningrad, they asked the Finns to join the fun. Which Finland did. Not as formal ally of Germany, but sharing a mutual enemy.

After Germany was retreating from Leningrad, the Finns hold on to their recovered territory, but of course they couldn't win a war against the USSR. The USSR had no good memories fighting the Finns on their home territory (the USSR losses during the Winterwar were horrific), and they didn't really needed more Finnish territory than they already got.

So a peace treaty was negotiated. The USSR got most of what they gained during the Winterwar, Finland accepted that, and in return the USSR would leave Finland alone.

Finland won in the Second World War. In the armistice of 1944, they had to pay great reparations to USSR, but the Finnish borders were almost the same as agreed on in the armistice with USSR in March 1940.

Most important: Finland never became a "Soviet Socialist Republic" like Estonia or Latvia and they escaped the deportations to Siberia experienced of people from the Balic states.

However: Finland has always been on the alert. Rumours in 1948 told that the Communists would try a coup like the coup in Prague. The government, lead by Fagerholm, mobilised a tank brigade on the outskirts of Helsinki to prevent this.

In 1991, after the reunification of Germany, Finland bought most of the field artillery from the former NAV (Nationale Volksarmee,DDR) for a cheap price.)

The Soviet Union did fight Finland , but were more focused on Nazi Germany, who was the greater threat.

Finland switched sides at the end, so I guess they got what they wanted out of it

Finland allied Nazi Germany in exchange for them to be independent.

But Finland never participated in WWII and therefor did not win or lose.

''Although Finland was never de jure member of Axis powers, as it never signed the Tripartite Pact, it was a companion of Germany from the beginning of Operation Barbarossa 1941 to separate peace with the Soviet Union in 1944. Finland, however, was never a strong supporter of Nazi Germany and felt that an alliance with Hitler would help ensure that the country would remain independent.''