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| result = Finnish victory | combatant1 = Germany | combatant2 = Finland | commander1 = | commander2 = | strength1 = 214,000〔 | strength2 = 75,000〔 | casualties1 = | casualties2 = | campaignbox = }} The Lapland War ((フィンランド語:Lapin sota); (スウェーデン語:Lapplandskriget); (ドイツ語:Lapplandkrieg)) was fought between Finland and Germany from September 1944 to April 1945 in Finland's northernmost Lapland Province. While the Finns saw this as a separate conflict, much like the Continuation War, German forces considered their actions to be part of the Second World War. A peculiarity of the war was that the Finnish Army was forced to demobilise their forces while at the same time fighting to force the German Army to leave Finland. German forces retreated to Norway, and Finland managed to uphold its obligations under the Moscow Armistice, although it remained formally at war with the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the British Dominions until the formal conclusion of the Continuation War was ratified by the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty. == Prelude == Germany and Finland had been at war with the Soviet Union since June 1941, co-operating closely in the Continuation War. However, as early as the summer of 1943, the German High Command began making plans for the eventuality that Finland might make a separate peace agreement with the Soviet Union. The Germans planned to withdraw their forces northward in order to shield the nickel mines near Petsamo. During the winter of 1943–1944, the Germans improved the roads from northern Norway to northern Finland by extensive use of prisoner of war (POW) labour in certain areas. Casualties among these POWs were high, in part because many of them had been captured in southern Europe and were still in summer uniform. In addition, the Germans surveyed defensive positions and made plans to evacuate as much material as possible from the region and made meticulous preparations for withdrawing their forces. On 9 April 1944, the German withdrawal was named "Operation Birke". In June 1944 the Germans started actively constructing fortifications against an enemy advance from the south. The accidental death of ''Generaloberst'' Eduard Dietl on 23 June 1944 brought ''Generaloberst'' Lothar Rendulic to the command of the 20th Mountain Army. A change of Finnish leadership in early August 1944 led the Germans to believe that Finland would attempt to achieve a separate agreement with the Soviet Union. The Finnish announcement of the ceasefire triggered frantic efforts in the German 20th Mountain Army, which immediately started Operation Birke and other material evacuations from Finland. Large amounts of materiel were evacuated from southern Finland and harsh punishments were set for any hindering of the withdrawal. Finnish forces, which included the 3rd, 6th, and 11th divisions, the armoured division as well as the 15th and Border Jaeger brigades, were moved to face the Germans. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lapland War」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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