The Finnish Army is the land forces branch of the military of Finland, founded in 1918. The Finnish military first saw combat with the communist Finnish Red Guards during the Finnish Civil War, and the army would later fight against the Soviet Red Army during the Winter War of 1939-1940 and the Continuation War of 1941-1944. From 1944 to 1945, the Finns fought their last war, the Lapland War, against Nazi Germany, forcing the Axis Powers out of Finland. At its height during World War II, the Finns had 150,000 troops, pitting them against 700,000 Soviet troops in 1939 and 214,000 German troops in 1944. Since the end of the war, Finns have served as UN peacekeepers, but Finland has stayed out of most wars since 1945.
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