MANNERHEIM - Commander-in-Chief



	In 1940, Germany proposed a military pact between Germany and Finland, which was then concluded in September and confirmed by the ensuing correspondence. The pact gave the German troops permission to pass through Finland on their way to northern Norway and back, starting from September, 1940.
	On the basis of this agreement, the Germans built maintenance and supply bases on Finnish territory, and transferred entire divisions to Finland before the Continuation War, in order to attack the Soviet Union. The Transit Pact was proposed to Mannerheim on 18 August, 1940, by Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Veltjens, a German businessman. He also informed Mannerheim that Finland could buy artillery and other weapons from Germany, to relieve the shortage of arms in Finland. The proposal was discussed in secret among the members of a small inner circle, and later there have been differing opinions, whether Mannerheim, when giving his first oral consent, had the permission of the political leaders to do so. There are many instances that prove that at least Prime Minister Ryti gave his blessing to German transit as early as the evening of the 18th August, 1940, and participated in negotiations on the following days. It is, however, not entirely certain at what stage President Kallio, who was ill at the time, gave his consent
	World War II \| Pacific War \| Winter War \| Headquarters \| Mannerheim Line \| Vilho Petter Nenonen \| K.L. Oesch \| Harald Öhquist \| Paavo Talvela \| Continuation War \|Transit Pact \| Risto Ryti \| Order of the Day of the Sword Scabbard \| Erik Heinrichs \| A.F. Airo \| Hugo Österman \| Marshal's Drink \| Mannerheim Cross \| Title of Marshal of Finland \| Air War - Air Forces

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