In the bloody days of World War One, Tsar Nicholas ordered that a naval port be built in the White Sea, so that Russia's allies could continue to send her supplies without fear of German U-Boat attacks. With such a vital strategic role, it took Murmansk just a few years to become humanity's largest city beyond the Arctic Circle.

Though it held against the Axis armies for years, Murmansk ultimately fell during the final months of World War Two, becoming Finland's 2nd largest city. Home to more than a third of the ethnically Russian population in the country, and its isolated location complicating efforts to assimilate its residents, Murmansk is a simmering hotbed of Russian nationalism. Should Finland maintain control of the city, it will no doubt become the gateway enabling Finns to obtain goods from the Nazis' rivals.