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Summary:
Sinikka Wunsch,
Seething sea frontiers. Clashes along the border between Finland and
the Soviet Union were common in the late 1930s.
Faravid (2004), 133–148.
My article focuses in border clashes
along the border frontier between Finland and the Soviet Union in
1938–1939. I cite as examples two border disputes that were given much
attention by the newspapers in July 1938. Both took place in water
areas between the countries.
In the first case the Soviets transported
to a harbor on the Soviet side two Finnish vessels and their crew who
were marking the sea frontier. The vessels and the crew were not
allowed to return to Finland until three weeks later.
The second dispute took place on the Neva
River. In the Peace of Tartu in 1920 the Soviet Union had agreed to
allow Finnish trading ships to travel along the Neva River between the
Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga. Simultaneously with the
aforementioned clash the Soviet Union prevented Finnish vessels from
traveling on the river.
The newspapers include the two Finnish
papers with the widest circulation and the papers of the main
political parties. The former are the politically independent
Helsingin Sanomat and Hufvudstadsbladet and the second are Ajan
Suunta, the organ of the right-wing Patriotic People’s Front, Uusi
Suomi, the representative of the National Coalition Party, Ilkka, the
organ of the Agrarian Union, Turun Sanomat, the representative of the
National Progressive Party and Suomen Sosialidemokraatti, the organ of
the Social Democratic Party.
Both incidents were strictly condemned by
all the non-socialist newspapers. They stated that the Soviet Union
had hijacked the coastguard vessels in Finnish territorial waters.
They also stated that by hindering traffic on the Neva River the
Soviet Union committed a serious offence against international rights
violating a valid agreement.
The newspapers also related numerous
other border violations on land, at sea and in the air. With the
exception of the working class paper, the newspapers condemned the
incidents with clear words. The tone and points of emphasis of the
articles in the non-socialist papers were affected more questions of
dispute related to Finland’s foreign policy and ongoing power
struggles in domestic policy than by weather the paper presented an
opposition or government party.
Faravid 28/2004
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