Comments by "Sar Jim" (@sarjim4381) on "Soviet Tourism. Cruise Diary, Part 9. Back to the USSR! #sovietpeople #ussr" video.

Finland never became truly independent until after the collapse of the USSR in 1981. They were occupied by Sweden and Russia until 1918 after which they became theoretically independent but in reality still under the economic domination of the USSR. The Finns, really for the first time, decided they weren't going to knuckle under to any more Soviet demands and fought. While the Finnish Army performed better than anyone thought they could, the outcome was inevitable, and more demands by the Soviets had to met as part of the ceasefire. The Finns decided to use the support of Germany in 1944-1945 to eject Soviet forces from Finnish territory. Once again, the Finns were on the wrong side, and another armistice and accession ended the war in 1945. This was the start of a period of enforced neutrality and economic domination by the USSR until the collapse of communism in 1981. For the first time in its history., the Finns were truly free to choose their own path. Thanks for this series, Sergei. It;s too bad more people didn't more people didn't seem to find this interesting, but I thought this was a fascinating trip into the mind of a Soviet citizen in the later period of the USSR.
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@vihavoittamaton849 From the written history of Finland. Where did you get yours lol?
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@mezenasuga 1. Yes, that was a typo 2. The agreement was signed in December but Finland wasn't really exercising it's governing power until January. It's a pretty minor point in any case, 3. After many border incidents with Russia, Finland had to do all it could to no longer worsen relations. Right wing and anti-communist groups were ruthlessly suppressed. Finland tried to improve relations with France and Poland to counterbalance the influence of the USSR, but the Soviets were their biggest trading partner. The Soviets tightened their policies against the Finns trade with nations other than themselves, constantly restricting navigation by Finnish merchant ships from 1930 on before stopping navigation from Lake Ladoga and the Gulf of Finland in 1937. It wasn't the kind of economic domination that occured after WWII, but it to say Finland wasn't under the forced influence of the USSR is wrong. 4. I don't understand this one. I said the Finns were ejecting the Soviets from territory lost in the Winter War. You said the same thing. What's in dispute here? 5. Perhaps I wasn't clear. The Lapland War was indeed to get German troops back into Norway. That war had been ongoing on a desultory basis since Germany occupied Petsamo in 1940. The war was more a withdrawal under fire by the German troops, with relatively light casualties on both sides. Unfortunately, the Finnish armed forces were not strong enough to prevent the German destruction of Lapland while they withdrew. The Lapland War ended on April 27, 1945 because that's when the last German units withdrew to Norway. Germany surrendered to the Allies on May 7. 1945, a difference of ten days. Finland hadn't signed any separate armistice or peace with Germany, so their with Germany war also ended on May 7. 8. How many times would you like to set your hair in fire over a typo? Do you think I didn't actually know the correct date?
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@mezenasuga No, I'm prone to making repeat typos once I make the first one. I think it's some kind of aging effect. I turn 74 next month, and I make many more of those mistake now than I used to when I was 40. This is a good example of the problems with written international communication. I assume English isn't your first language (although your English is very good) and I know about three words in the Finnish language. We have to use English as the lingua franca, and that causes both of us problems. If we were sitting across from each other over a beer I'm certain we both would have had a better idea what that other guy was talking about. I have only been able to get to Finland once, but I really liked it. Even did the tourist thing and took the overnight train to Kemijärvi to see the reindeers. :-) Beautiful place. The country has survived war and destruction to become the prosperous place it is now. Finns seem to have a fighting spirit when it comes to business (see Nokia, for example), and that came from the same spirit fighting the Soviets to a standstill twice. It's a very admirable country.
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@mezenasuga I try not sound like an old geezer on here. I've been using the internet from back in the telenet days and Compuserve so at least I understand the net and computers in general, so I have a leg up on other folks my age. As I said, your English is excellent. I'm rather embarrassed to say it's really quite a bit better than some of the native English speakers I encounter here and have no excuse for not writing well. You've never been to Kemijärvi ? Oh man, you have to take the trip up there. It's an easy overnight trip on the sleeper train from Helsinki. Unfortunately, it was one of the towns leveled by the Germans during their retreat, so the historic buildings from the Sami time are gone, but the town was beautifully rebuilt. Lake Kemijärvi, next to town, is one of the prettiest lake anywhere, and the fishing was great. Considering the relative isolation of the place, it looked quite prosperous. The residential sections have well built, typically Finnish houses, and it looked like a nice place to live. Nice at least, until winter comes. Highs of -25c, sunset at 1510, and sunrise of 0938 in late January would be more than I could take. The reindeer were pretty neat. I was there in summer, so no sleigh rides, but the reindeer themselves are really fluffy, and the shape of their head and mouth give the look of a perpetual smile. I can see why Santa chose them for his sleigh. :-) I don't know if you're into astronomy, but that area is one of the darkest sky places in the world. Really spectacular and, if you make the trek up there in winter, I understand the chances of seeing really incredible displays of the aurora during the long hours of darkness are really good. I was there in September, and there was a small display on my second night there, but there was still too much daylight for a long lasting display. Anyway, thanks for the welcome back. I'd love to go, but international travel is just too hard on my old bones now. I lived very frugally when I was younger (still do, actually) just so I could travel to places like Finland, and I'm sure glad now that I did.
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@mezenasuga You won't regret the time or money to visit. I think we foreigners come there all hyped up about the best places to visit while you are just working to make a living and not thinking about tourism, especially at your age. Do it now though, since you don't know how things will be when you're older. I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, nowhere near as dark or cold as Finland in the winter, but way colder and darker than I liked. On top of that, it was commonly cloudy when the sun was up, so we went weeks never seeing the sun. It's the kind of weather that would make me suicidal now.
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@mezenasuga Oh my. Thank goodness I live in the sunny South. Nice talking to you too, and sleep well.
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