Joseph Stalin knew better than Vladimir Putin. After world war two, as the Cold War began, the Soviet dictator took the view that it was more trouble than it was worth to invade Finland again, as he had done with humiliating setbacks in the Winter War of 1939-1940.
Too many parents or grandparents of those in the Finnish audience had died in the 1939-1940 war for suspicion of Russia to have faded
And so the Finns were spared the fate of Poles, Hungarians, Bulgarians and other peoples of eastern and central Europe who were occupied and then communised. They had to pay a price for this absolution. The country was compelled to adopt neutral status during the decades of confrontation between the Warsaw Pact and Nato. Finnish politicians and media observed discretion in what they said about the USSR. The boon was that Finland could enjoy liberal democracy, market freedom and the rule of law.
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