The Winter War 1939-40 and the Continuation War 1941-44 did not alter the situation at the
border, but merely moved the border to the west. Finland had to cede much of Finnish
Karelia to the Soviet Union, and more than 400,000 Finns/Karelians were forced to leave
their homes and moved to other parts of Finland. The Soviets re-populated the deserted
parts of Karelia with Russians, Byelorussians and Ukrainians, and as for population
Russian Karelia today therefore hardly has any connection to the Karelia of the past.
