Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1939, Page 521
CHRONIQUE TRIMESTRIELLE
5ii
During the negotiations between
Finland and the USSR, Finland had
become the object of world-wide in-
terest. Sympathy for Finland found
expression in many forms. The Fin-
nish public, on its part, remained
calm in spite of the extensive mea-
sures taken by the Government to
safeguard the country’s neutrality.
Among such measures might be
mentioned the evacuation of the
population living near the USSR
frontier in the southern part of the
Carelian Isthmus. A partial volun-
tary evacuation was also carried out
in Viipuri and the capital, Helsinki,
from where about one third of the
inhabitants moved into the country
in the space of a few days. Beneath
the outward calm, however, was
hidden grave concern which reveal-
ed itself in many ways. Anxiety
was, however, alleviated by the
knowledge that Finland had trusted
friends beyond her borders. Especi-
ally from the other Northern Coun-
tries there was such a flood of sym-
phaty that the Finnish people were
definitively convinced in their belief
in the reality of Northern co-
operation and convinced that the
idea of a community of interests be-
tween the Northern Countries had
found positive expression during the
weeks of the negotiations. This con-
viction was strengthened by the
meeting of Heads of the Northern
States called together in Stockholm
on Oct. 18 and 19 by H. M. Gustaf
V, King of Sweden, which was at-
tended by the President of the Re-
public. Similarly encouraging was
the sympathy displayed both by the
Government and the people of the
USA.
Leading Finnish statesmen have
on various occasions voiced their
views of the situation and revealed
in this way what Finland’s attitude
is to the demands presented to her.
For instance, early in the morning
of Oct. 15 Foreign Minister Erkko
broadcast a speech to the American
nation, in which he touched on the
issues that had come up during the
negotiations, though without of
course disclosing their extent. In this
speech he declared:
“The Finnish people, living with-
in their centuries-old frontiers as a
united nation, have no such
problems as could give cause for
another Government to make claims
on us. For this reason our attitude
towards the world’s events has been
calm and we have concentrated our
efforts on maintaining the normal
course of our economic life during
the present crisis. We have wished
to present the picture of a peaceful
nation, which does not want to add
to the present chaos. Unfortunately,
the swell of European events has
already begun to wash our shores as
well, creating unrest in our minds
and compelling also Finland to take
precautionary measures. These
measures are necessary solely be-
cause we wish to feel that we have
at least that security, which we our-