Up until end of the First World War and the Russian Civil War, both Finland and Russia were part of the same empire under the same ruler. By the outbreak of World War II and the Winter War, there would have been many Soviets, especially those who lived in or near Leningrad, who would’ve remembered having been countrymen with the Finns. How did they feel about going to war with them? Was there a feeling of Finland being a completely foreign people? Or did many view the fighting as a sort of civil war?
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Finland was under the Russian crown as an autonomous grand duchy. It had its own languages, laws, government, currency, customs region, postal service, and even military forces. It was difficult for Russians to move into Finland even when Finland was part of the same empire. Furthermore the Russification attempts of Finland and the later Soviet support for the Finnish Reds had really soured up the relations. So more like complete foreigners than countrymen.
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