Tartu peace treaty between RSFSR and Finland signed

On October 14, 1920 in Tartu town (Estonia) there was concluded the Tartu peace treaty between RSFSR and Finland.

The treaty with Finland was signed on October 14, 1920 after four months of negotiations. It put the end to the first Soviet-Finnish war of 1918-1920 when Finnish army invaded the Russian territory in East Karelia and beyond the Arctic circle. These territories never belonged to Swedish-Finnish state and the Grand Duchy of Finland. The treaty determined the new Finnish-Soviet border and fixed territorial concessions made in favor of Finland.

The treaty text was written in Russian, Finnish and Sweden languages, each in duplicate.  Besides, during the ratification instruments exchange on December 31, 1920 there was also signed the treaty in French, in duplicate too. Thus each party received the text of the treaty in four languages – the only case in the world diplomatic history while concluding the treaty between two countries.

Under the Tartu treaty of 1920, Finland obtained a non-freezing Petsamo (Pechenga) port. In its turn Finland renounced its territorial claims for Karelia. Besides territorial terms, the treaty defined political, military, financial, economical, communication, cultural, hydrological and legal terms.

Tartu treaty also annulled for Finland the treaty of Fredrikshamn of 1809 concluded between Russia and Sweden under which Finland had been included in Russian empire.

The border fixed by the treaty remained unchanged until 1940 when in the result of Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940, RSFSR and Finland signed the Moscow peace treaty that fixed a range of territorial concessions made in favor of USSR.

Lit.: Похлёбкин В. В. Советско-финляндские отношения в 1917-1922 гг. // Похлёбкин В. В. Внешняя политика Руси, России и СССР за 1000 лет в именах, датах, фактах. Вып. 2. Войны и мирные договоры. М., 1995.

Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:

Russia - Finland: from the history of relations: [digital collection].