ABSTRACT
The Nazi-Soviet pact meant that the Soviet Union could no longer be considered a possible ally against Germany. Unknown to the Northern Department, or anyone else outside the Soviet and German Governments, it also meant that Finland had been assigned a place within Moscow’s sphere of influence. This chapter shows the reaction by the Northern Department to the growing tension between Finland and the USSR which was one consequence of the pact, and also demonstrates the divergent opinions between Collier and the Northern Department in London and Thomas Snow in Helsinki. While the latter saw Soviet aggression as something to be resisted, the former viewed it as something which was almost to be welcomed.
