ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses Finnish national memories of the Second World War and the ways in which these have been embodied in the making of commemorative landscapes and sites, including cemeteries, monuments, battlefields and contemporary heritage sites. It explores the changing functions, forms and meanings of these sites during the post-war decades, and considers how and to whom they tell their stories of the national past on the threshold of the new millennium, sixty years after the outbreak of the war. In common with previous episodes in Finnish war history, Finland’s specific national experience of the Second World War was shaped by the country’s geography. Despite the size and weakness of the Finnish army – its sixteen divisions suffered shortages of artillery, heavy ammunition, transport and signal equipment – and the almost total lack of a defence structure, Finnish military successes exceeded all expectations. Finnish war cemeteries were places of personal and veneration, where local people could mourn their loved ones.
