What was the Western involvement in Finland's deal with the Soviets to be neutral?
Upvote:9
The comparison between Ukraine and Finland is an attempt to shift the blame for the current war from Russia to the West. Alas, there are plenty of "useful idiots" in the West who are promoting this narrative.
In short, there is nothing in common.
Finland
History
Finns are not Slavs. Their languages are completely different.
Finland was incorporated into Russia only in 1809 and enjoyed significant autonomy until its independence in 1917, despite policy of Russification of Finland.
1940-ies
Stalin tried to conquer Finland and saw that the cost will be too high (guerrilla war) while the value is low (little industry). So he settled for some (developed) land and military bases - getting all the benefits of conquest without the cost of an insurgency and bad PR with the West.
Ukraine
Ukraine is a slavic country, so Russians can claim it to be theirs with some credibility among the credulous.
Ukraine has been the battlefield between Poland, Turkey and Russia for centuries, eventually landing in the Russian hands.
Ukraine is heterogeneous - East speaks mostly Russian, West speaks a version of Ukrainian unintelligible to the rest - however, everyone understands and can speak the "Kiev TV Ukrainian" (cf. "BBC English").
This, the benefits (to Russia, not Ukraine!) of peaceful incorporation of Ukraine into Russia are immense.
Russia miscalculated the costs of the invasion. It might well be that this war will help Ukraine overcome the internal divisions, but this is no longer history...
The bottom line
The West did nothing to save Finland - it fought and won its independence by demonstrating that the occupation cost will be too high. (actually, not quite true, IIRC, US did lobby on behalf of Finland - but that was inconsequential compared to the Finnish war effort).
The West could do nothing to prevent Russian aggression in Ukraine, and the only thing it can do now is keep arming and feeding Ukraine - and not listening to Russian shills.
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