’Without Mercy’—U.S. Strategic Intelligence and Finland in the Cold War

During the Cold War, U.S. intelligence agencies spared no effort to get tactical and strategic information about Finland and its neighbors in order to route bombers and missiles over Finland, to select targets for nuclear strikes, and to plan coastal landings. Especially during the last years of the Cold War, Finnish military intelligence secretly channeled information to the Americans without notifying Finland’s political leadership. Washington gave the Finns military information on Soviet bloc countries on a quid pro quo basis. Although Finland was bound to the Soviet Union by a friendship treaty of a military nature, it seems that the Finnish armed forces actually were prepared to fight the Soviets alongside the West.