Finnish Democratic Republic
The Finnish Democratic Republic (Finnish: Suomen kansanvaltainen tasavalta or Suomen kansantasavalta, Swedish: Demokratiska Republiken Finland, Russian: Финляндская Демократическая Республика), also known as the Terijoki Government (Finnish: Terijoen hallitus), was a short-lived communist puppet state of the Soviet Union in occupied Finnish territory from December 1939 to March 1940.
Finnish Democratic Republic Suomen kansanvaltainen tasavalta Demokratiska Republiken Finland | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1939–1940 | |||||||||
Seal
| |||||||||
Anticipated territorial changes of the Finnish Democratic Republic, with areas to be ceded to the Soviet Union (red) and to the Finnish Democratic Republic (green). | |||||||||
| Status | Puppet state of the Soviet Union | ||||||||
| Capital | Helsinki (de jure) Terijoki (de facto) | ||||||||
| Government | One-party socialist republic under a Stalinist totalitarian dictatorship | ||||||||
| Chairman of the People's Government | |||||||||
• 1939–1940 | Otto Wille Kuusinen | ||||||||
| Historical era | World War II | ||||||||
• Established | 1 December 1939 | ||||||||
• Merged into the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic | 12 March 1940 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Russia | ||||||||
The Finnish Democratic Republic was established by Joseph Stalin upon outbreak of the Winter War and headed by Otto Wille Kuusinen to govern Finland after Soviet conquest. The Finnish Democratic Republic was only recognised by the Soviet Union and nominally operated in Soviet-occupied areas of Finnish Karelia from the de facto capital of Terijoki. The Finnish Democratic Republic was portrayed by the Soviet Union as the official socialist government of Finland capable of restoring peace, but lost favor as the Soviets sought rapprochement with the Finnish Government. The Finnish Democratic Republic was dissolved and merged into the Karelo-Finnish SSR upon the signing of the Moscow Peace Treaty.