of the Whites and captured the capital Helsinki by mid-April. After the civil war, the jäger volunteers would go on to take leading roles in the post-civil war Finnish Army, which was consequently heavily influenced by a German military tradition. Following the civil war, Germanophilic, Russophobic and anti-communist stances were prevalent especially among the ruling elites and the military leadership. These anti-communist sentiments were common even among those Finnish officers whose background was in the Russian Army. At the same time, this Germanophilia was not accompanied by keen Nazi sympathy. For example, Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, who commanded the White forces during the Finnish Civil War and would go on to command them during World War II, "preferred alliances with the Western Powers and the Scandinavian countries rather than with Germany." The Finno-Soviet Winter War began on 26 November 1939, when the Soviet Union attacked Finland. The attack followed the signing of the Soviet–German Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact which in a secret appendix assigned Finland into the Soviet sphere of influence. While the international reactions to the war were strongly against the Soviet Union, the international outrage materialized in only limited support, focused on materiel rather than troops. The British and French planned for an expeditionary force in December 1939, but the plans remained "diffused" and vague to the end of the war. Similarly, the lack of German support came as a shock to many in Finland. After the end of the Winter War in early 1940, Finnish officers began discussions with Germans about a possible future war with the Soviet Union. While historians have been unable to establish exactly what was discussed when and by whom, it is known that Hermann Göring messaged the Finnish leadership already during the Winter War, urging them to seek peace as the losses would be returned later. Later in the fall of 1940, the Finnish government allowed German troop movements to northern Norway. Concrete negotiations for the future war between military officials began in 1941, potentially as early as January, but at the latest on 25 May 1941 in Salzburg. The Finns and the Germans agreed that Germany would take responsibility for operations in northern Finland, while the Finnish army was in charge of operations in the southeast of Finland and east of Lake Ladoga. The Finns would advance into Soviet Eastern Karelia where they would link up with German forces on the Svir.