Abstract
EARLY this year, Czechoslovakia was lost to democraey by the action of Germany; last September, Poland was invaded and very shortly afterwards divided between Germany and the U.S.S.R. Now Finland has been attacked by the U.S.S.R. The methods adopted by the aggressors, German and Russian, have been similar in each case. These two dictatorships are making a determined onslaught on smaller and independent States, and all who value freedom of thought and other democratic institutions will regard their actions with abhorrence. Finland, as a separate State, is young in years, but her people have already established for themselves a reputation for enterprise and industry. A considerable export trade in timber, wood-pulp and butter has been built up, and the country also possesses valuable nickel deposits which were being developed. Helsinki, the capital, has an ancient university and a teclinical institution. Readers of NATURE will recall several communications in these columns from Prof. A. I. Virtanen and colleagues, of the Biochemical Institute, Helsinki, describing work on chemical aspects of the biological fixation of nitrogen, while Dr. P. Suomalainen has recorded work on changes in the blood which occur in hibernating animals. It is also of interest to note that M. Pekkala, finance minister in the new Government formed immediately after the invasion of Finland, is director of the State Forest Institute.
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Invasion of Finland. Nature 144, 971 (1939). https://doi.org/10.1038/144971b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/144971b0