JÜRI KOTŠINEV ⟩ Closing off the Gulf of Finland to the Russians was topical already in the interwar period

The Gulf of Finland. Photo: Postimees

• Estonian and Finnish naval staffs developed a project on blocking the Gulf of Finland.
• This operation would have drawn the Baltic states and Scandinavia into war with the Soviet Union.
• Only force can stop an aggressor. Real deterrence is a good remedy against any aggression.

The plan to block the Gulf of Finland to the Russian fleet is nothing new. In 1927, the United Kingdom broke diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, writes military historian Jüri Kotšinev.

The UK then began to form a coalition against the Soviet Union, which, according to the British plans, was to include Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania. The Estonian and Finnish naval staffs of the time developed a project to block the Gulf of Finland. According to this project, upon the outbreak of war with the Soviet Union, Estonian and Finnish coastal batteries were to block the passage of the Soviet Union's military fleet in the sea area between Tallinn and Helsinki.

Finland and Estonia received financial aid from Western countries and built coastal defense batteries on their coasts in the narrowest part of the Gulf of Finland. At the same time, extensive mine barriers were installed in the gulf. In the event of war with the Soviet Union, the Estonian and Finnish fleets were to unite under Finnish command. This united fleet was supposed to start operating in a joint fight against the Baltic fleet of the Soviet Union, but a war between the Western bloc and the Soviet Union did not end up breaking out then.

The project of blocking the Gulf of Finland was taken into consideration again in 1939, and on the basis of this, joint Finnish and Estonian naval exercises took place at the end of the summer of 1939. Then, the project to block the Gulf of Finland ended with the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact concluded between Germany and the Soviet Union. On September 12 of the same year, the then First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill ordered the British Admiralty to develop a plan for Operation Catherine, according to which a naval squadron was to be created from the Royal Navy that was supposed to operate in the Baltic Sea and block trade between the Soviet Union and Germany by sea.

This operation would have drawn the Baltic states and Scandinavian countries into war with the Soviet Union. The project in question was to be realized in March 1940. However, what happened was that the Soviet Union started a war against Finland at the end of 1939. After the end of the Winter War, Finland signed a peace treaty with the Soviet Union, and this reduced the UK’s chances of realizing Operation Catherine. Without Finland's participation, it was not possible to block the Gulf of Finland, and Estonia was already bound by the Bases Treaty with the Soviet Union. Operation Catherine was changed. In 1940, the Soviet Union, based on the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact signed with Germany, occupied Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and incorporated these countries into the Soviet Union.

It will soon be 85 years since this, but history tends to repeat itself in some ways. However, the difference with the thirties of the last century is significant compared to the present time. None of the Western countries make concessions anymore, as it was done to Germany back then, and concluding a new Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact is impossible at this time. However, it is possible to re-examine the cooperation between Finland and Estonia and, relying on the help of Western allies, to re-introduce the plan that was first reviewed in 1927 and finally block the Gulf of Finland, which at the time was left unblocked.

Regarding this situation, it is safe to say that everything new is well-forgotten old, but the specific plan to block the Gulf of Finland is not so old. The membership of both Estonia and Finland in the NATO bloc makes the realization of this plan possible, and Russia’s Baltic Fleet must take into account that they also cannot use their submarine fleet in such a situation without the movement of their submarines being detected right away already in the Gulf of Finland long before they reach the Danish straits. This is the new reality.

It is likely that the time to block the Gulf of Finland is simply ripe and waiting to be realized. There is no need to fear that Russia will start a war upon the blocking of the Gulf of Finland, because Russia can start a war one way or another when it sees fit. In fact, Russia has only ever respected force. Only force can stop an aggressor. Counterforce and real deterrence are a good remedy against any aggression.