Valahian Journal of Historical Studies Vol. 10, Winter 2008 Diverging their destinies. Romania, Finland and the September 1944 armistices Silviu - Marian MILOIU 1 Keywords: Romania, Finland, Great Powers, World War II, armistices, similarities, differences Abstract This article investigates comparatively the roads of Romania and Finland to their September 1944 armistices with Soviet Union and their bilateral relations during these dramatic months. It also seeks to compare the two armistices and to explain the slightly different situations in which the two countries found themselves at the end of the war and especially after the armistices. An answer to the question whether the Romanian armistice has influenced in any way the Finnish decision-making for withdrawing from the war is also given. Introduction n the Barbarossa Operation launched in June 1941 against Soviet Union the attackers were driven by large spam of motives: ideology, imperialism, national resurgence and so forth. Two mid-sized nations, Finland and Romania were caught in the middle of a struggle of giants, and their situation would not be eased by the outcome of the Battle of Stalingrad and of the 1943 and summer 1944 campaigns. They found themselves in a tragic situation and were compelled to take dramatic decisions as the summer 1944 drew to its end. Five years after the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact’s signature, which infringed so seriously upon Romania’s ability to steer an independent course on the international arena, a coup overthrew Antonescu’s regime from power. On September 12, after three weeks of incertitude, when the country was still regarded as an enemy by Soviet Union while fighting against the Germans, too, an armistice was concluded in Moscow. In the meantime, Finland also withdrew from the war and a week after Romanian truce it concluded the Moscow Armistice. The aims of research This paper aims at analyzing the circumstances in which the two armistices were concluded and enlightening over the paradox that, although many provisions of the Finnish armistice were basically elaborated by a copy paste technique, the effect of these armistices greatly affected the Romanian-Finnish relations. A comparison between the content of the two armistices will be also achieved. In addition to what 1 Senior lecturer, Valahia University of Targoviste. I