Soviet-Finnish War

The Soviet-Finnish War was a war fought between the Soviet Union and Finland from November 30, 1939, to March 13, 1940, over the Karelian isthmus, which Stalin demanded from the Finns. Also called the Winter War, it began when the Soviet Union attacked Finland. The Soviet's objective was the annexation of most of Finland. Nevertheless, at the end of the war, only a section of the Karelian Isthmus had been annexed, successfully negotiated by a treaty.

Brief history of Finland

Finland had been the eastern part of the Swedish kingdom until Russia invaded it in 1809, and in order to protect Saint Petersburg, the imperial capital, turned it into an autonomous buffer state in the Russian Empire. In the 19th century the Fennoman movement took place; it was Finland's language strife and the birth of Finnish nationalism with the publication of the Finnish national epic Kalevala. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Russian Empire endeavored to strengthen central government and unify its territory through a policy of Russification. But the cultural assimilation of Finland failed. This soured relations between the two countries as support for movements vying for self-determination increased.

The Finnish independence movements had been strongly supported by Germany during World War I. In 1917, during the Bolshebik Revolution, Finland finally declared its independence. After the Great War, German-Finnish ties remained close, thanks to the German role in Finnish independence. When the National Socialists rose to power Stalin feared that Nazi Germany could eventually attack one day, and with the Soviet-Finnish border in the Karelian Isthmus only 20 miles away from Leningrad, Finnish territory would provide a good base from which to launch an assault on the Soviet Union.

Summary of the war

In the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of August 23, 1939, signed between the Soviet Union and Germany, there was a secret clause that divided Eastern Europe into German and Soviet's sphere of influence. Although it was not written in the secret clause of the pact, the Soviet Union included Finland within the Soviet sphere. Shortly after the invasion of Poland by Germany and the USSR, Josef Stalin demanded from Finland most of the Karelian Isthmus north of Leningrad and additional land west of Murmansk along the Barents Sea. When Finnish President Kiosti Kallio rejected the Soviet demands, the Red Army, on November 30, 1939, poured over the Finnish border while the Soviet Air Force bombed Helsinki.

Stretching across the Krelian Isthmus, Finland's defense system consisted of a line of hundreds of concrete bunkers, pillboxes, anti-tank obstacles, barbed wire, and underground shelters. This defensive line had been organized by the commander of the Finnish Armed Forces, General Carl Gustaf Mannerheim. At the beginning of the war, Finland had an army of only 240,000 men, but these troops surprised the world as they turned out to be ferocious fighters that employed different tactics which entailed the use of small fast units that moved on ski in white camouflage suits. Under severe weather conditions with temperatures of -40 degrees F, the Finns launched surprise attacks on Soviet logistic groups, targeting field kitchens and picking off Soviet troops huddled around camp fires. The Soviets marched into Findland in regimental strength, with their dark uniforms easily visible against the white snow, so they were easily targeted by the Finns' snipers and machine guns along the Mannerheim Line.

By February, 1940, the Soviet Union had increased its forces to 1.2 million men against a Finnish army of 240,000. In March the Red Army could finally break through the Mannerheim Line and then moved toward Helsinki. Finland accepted the terms of the Moscow Peace Treaty, which was signed in Moscow on March 12, 1940, putting an end to the Soviet-Finnish War. Finland was forced to cede the Finnish part of Karelia which included the city of Viipuri, and significant parts still held by Finland's army: over 10 % of pre-war Finland. Some 420,000 Karelians lost their homes. Military troops and remaining civilians were evacuated. Only a few score civilians chose to remain under Soviet rule. Through this peace treaty, Finland also ceded to the Soviets a part of the Salla area, the Kalastajansaarento peninsula in the Barents Sea and four islands in the Gulf of Finland.

Soviet-Finnish War (footage)