THE CASE OF FINLAND
Snt,—Commenting in your issue of August 1st on Finland's break of diplomatic relations with Britain, you remarked that Finland cannot expect much British sympathy in the face of possible Russian claims. when Germany has been finally defeated. To this I should like to add that it is difficult to foresee the relations between Finland and Russia after the war in the East. Much will depend on its issue. At the present time Finland has invaded Russia, and claims annexa- tion of certain Russian territories, on military grounds. At the same time she is busily helping the Axis Powers to win the war by trying to cut the Russian " Burma Road "—the Murmansk line—connecting the British Empire and the United States with Russia.
Should Finland succeed in this, and separate the Russian armies from the industrial resources of Britain and America, enormous harm for all three countries will follow automatically, leading to a pro- longation of the war and ultimately to a great loss of Russian, British, and eventually American jives. Besides, by siding with Germany and offering her Finnish territory for joint military operations, Finland is diverting against her very great Russian forces, bound to defend the Murmansk line and Leningrad, forces which might have been other- wise better employed on the main Russian fronts, to the great benefit of Russia, Britain and America. This cannot go on indefinitely. The moment is approaching when Russia, Britain and the United States will have to decide how to deal with this most serious and urgent situation, and it is time to treat the Finnish problem exclusively from ■ point of view of military expediency.—Yours faithfully,
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