As a Finn, this is great. I would just like to downgrade "strong support from Nazi Germany" just to support, and later a nuisance.
Initially Germany and Soviets made the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact to divide the Europe. Nazis would get Poland and Soviets would get Finland etc. They were agreement at first, so Nazis stayed away for the Winter War (1939-1940) and Finland had to block attack on their own since most of the Europe was allied with Soviets or Nazis.
Later in the following Continuation War (1941-1944), Finland asked for Germany's support when they tried to reclaim some of the areas Soviets had previously taken, including the city of Vyborg. German sent some arsenal and troops from Norway. I think the number was 40,000 compared to 500,000 Finnish troops.
So I think it wasn't that much of a "strong support". Also the German troops didn't have the tactical skills or right equipment for long lasting forest/winter warfare, so they weren't that effective either. They were used to Blitzkrieging everything.
Most of the German troops were stationed in the Northern Finland and once the peace was found with Soviets, Finland had to fight the Germans to get them out of the country. Along the way, the German troops scorched everything they came across on their retreat to Norway.
Thanks, it's good to point out to an international audience that Finland was not enamoured with national socialism, but rather it was driven by the will to survive by any means necessary.
Strong or not, given the situation, I don't think Finland could have survived without german support. If we look this from a very high granularity level (like in a board game of Diplomacy) I think you also have to factor in the fact that the bulk of the red army was tied to battles against the axis powers elsewhere. So it's not just how much the germans actually poured material and men to finland, it's also about how much they tied the enemy forces elsewhere.
Initially Germany and Soviets made the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact to divide the Europe. Nazis would get Poland and Soviets would get Finland etc. They were agreement at first, so Nazis stayed away for the Winter War (1939-1940) and Finland had to block attack on their own since most of the Europe was allied with Soviets or Nazis.
Later in the following Continuation War (1941-1944), Finland asked for Germany's support when they tried to reclaim some of the areas Soviets had previously taken, including the city of Vyborg. German sent some arsenal and troops from Norway. I think the number was 40,000 compared to 500,000 Finnish troops.
So I think it wasn't that much of a "strong support". Also the German troops didn't have the tactical skills or right equipment for long lasting forest/winter warfare, so they weren't that effective either. They were used to Blitzkrieging everything.
Most of the German troops were stationed in the Northern Finland and once the peace was found with Soviets, Finland had to fight the Germans to get them out of the country. Along the way, the German troops scorched everything they came across on their retreat to Norway.