12 World War II Moments (That Hardly Anybody Ever Talks About)

Finland was involved in its own little-known war with the Soviet Union in 1939 and 1940, when the latter invaded after the former refused to cede territory. Despite the huge numerical advantage that the Russians held and the fact that the Finns received zero military and little materiel support from their neighbours, they managed to hold their ground for 105 days before conceding defeat.

When the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, the Finns saw an opportunity to strike back, allowing the stationing of Nazi forces across their remaining land. They were quickly able to take back everything they had lost and create a new border and front line in Russian Karelia.

Their involvement was then limited until 1944, when the Russian advance brought them to their neighbours once more. A sizable offensive pushed the Finns back to their previous positions, prompting the resignation of Prime Minister Risto Rygi. His successor sued for peace and then declared war on Germany.

This led to Finland’s third successive war and saw them take more than 1000 lives as the German forces fled to Norway, destroying Lapland in their stead.

Finland were the only country to change their allegiance three times over the course of the war, switching from being theoretically against Germany (given the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact that was made with Russia) to joining them in the Axis to opposing them with the Allies. Romania, Bulgaria and Italy also changed sides, albeit only once apiece.