Question:
Final question to the HMS/GRD regarding TW map 102: There is a geographical zone on this map in the USSR territory along the USSR/Finnish border called the “Reboly District” around hex 4333. What is this? Is this the area the Soviets offered the Finns in return to border adjustments around the Leningrad area, along with some islands in the Gulf of Finland, and maybe Hango, in the negotiations prior to the beginning of the Winter War, or is this something else?
Answer:
The Reboly (or Repola) district (Soviet/Finnish spellings), as well as the Porosozero (or Porajarvi) district (hexes 102:4531, 4631, 4630, 4731, 4730, and 4829/Porosozero), were to have gone to Finland after a 1921 plebescite. The Soviets refused to honor this, however, and eventually transferred the Petsamo area to Finland instead (before they knew about the nickel deposits there). During the negotiations prior to the Winter War, the Soviets offered the Reboly district in exchange for the Finnish islands in Gulf of Finland and part of the Karelian peninsula. Some secondary sources (but not any primary source that I could find) say the offer was later amended to include the Porosozero district as well. The Finns rejected the offer, but in Grand Europa the die roll for Finnish reaction to the Soviet attempt to pressure Finland might go differently so the map has the district marked to accomodate this.
Source:
Posted by Arthur E. Goodwin on the Yahoo Europa Mailing list on
01.02.2013 07:00.
