Military Junk 2

At the edge of empires lies Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. They actually live on the edge of a number of empires. To the west lies Sweden. Sweden was once a great power in the Baltic region. The Swedish empire at its height covered today's Finland, part of Russia, Estonia as well as parts of what is today Germany and Poland. Sweden even held Norway for a time. To the east lies Imperial Russia and, later, the Soviet Union. The Russian empire covered a vast area at one time, including the Baltic states and Finland. It also fought wars with Sweden to gain other, former, Swedish territory in the area. After its collapse, the Soviet Union took its place. The Baltic states and Finland broke free but the Baltic states didn't stay independent for long and eventually became part of the USSR during the Second World War. Another empire laid to the South; the German Empire, and later, Nazi Germany. Imperial Germany had a great influence on Finland and Nazi Germany briefly occupied the Baltic states and fought with Finland against the Soviet Union. This varied history leaves quite a bit of interest, for the military enthusiast, in the area. We will take a tour through time and space, from the days when Sweden ruled in the area, through to the German invasions of the First and Second World Wars and onto the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states and finally to the modern, post Soviet, World. I have divided the book into sections. Starting with the individual soldier's kit and uniform. After that I will look at a sample of the vehicles found on the edge of so many empires. This will include, of course, many Soviet vehicles, like the BMP-1 as it was used by Finland as well, but also some home grown vehicles such as the Finnish Patria Pasi. There are also vehicles from other countries such as Sweden, so we will have quite a few overlaps. For the artillery part, I will be a bit generous with my definition of "artillery" and include things like grenades. I will then move on to radios before I get to aircraft. Next, I will look to seaborne craft. After that, I will look at bases. Again, I'm generous with my definition of bases and will include any location with a military connection. Then we will look at some battlefields. The area has seen many battles and I include some of the famous ones, like the Battle of Suomussalmi, but also some less well known battles, like the Battle of Partakoski and Kärnäkoski passes. After that we will look at flags and emblems, as the military like that sort of thing there are many fascinating badges and flags around. Far too many for this book so I will just give a taste. Then we will go on to museums before looking briefly at models. I hope to inspire people to go out and visit these places themselves; see the battlefields and museums. This book is meant as a teaser, there is far more to see and do between the empires than I could possibly put into a book. .... So, enjoy ...