Finland in British Foreign Policy (1918–1939)

This article analyzes the foreign policy relations between Finland and Great Britain in the first half of the 20th century and before the start of the Winter War. Topic of the research has been little studied in Russian historiography. Article provides readers with a view of the events of that period from various British government institutions. During the 1920/30s, Great Britain was the largest trading partner of the northern country, but the British administration had only trade and economic interests in Finland. This approach had to be revised due to the aggravation of the political situation in Europe in the late 1930s. The British leadership tried to prevent Finland from falling into the sphere of influence of Nazi Germany, and at the same time tried to negotiate with the Soviet administration on the creation of an alliance. Many small nations of Europe, including the Finns, did not trust the Soviet Union, which made the task for British diplomats much more difficult. Eventually, the Soviet Union switched to aggressive actions towards Finland, and the British had to seriously consider plans of clash with the USSR and provide comprehensive assistance to Finland. The research aims to characterize the tasks which the British diplomatic leadership set in relation to Finland before the Second World War. In the research was used the method of historical and political analysis and content analysis of such data as diplomatic correspondence, notes and scientific articles, as well as the chronological method, which made possible to describe the events in chronological order. The research is based on Finnish and Russian sources and historical literature in English. The research contains first attempt in Russian historiography to present a general picture of events from the point of view of British diplomacy. In result of research were identified factors which influenced British foreign policy towards Finland, such as poor material preparation for the war, uncertainty and disagreement among the British top-brass on many foreign policy issues, close trade cooperation between Great Britain and Finland, and the interests of Great Britain in Northern Europe. The results of research allow to make a conclusion how changed the attitude of the British leadership towards Finland.