March 13, 1940 · Moscow Theater
March 13, 1940
The Moscow Peace Treaty, signed on March 12, 1940 and entering into force on March 13, ended the Winter War. Finland ceded approximately 11% of its territory, including the entire Karelian Isthmus with Viipuri, the Salla region, part of Lapland near Salla, and leased the Hanko Peninsula to the Soviet Union as a naval base for 30 years. The human cost was severe: roughly 430,000 Finnish Karelians — 12% of Finland's population — were evacuated to rump Finland, abandoning their ancestral homes. The Finns were given 10 days to evacuate the ceded territories.
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