The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939, three months after the German invasion of Poland and the start of World War II, and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty. The League of Nations deemed the attack illegal, and the Soviet Union was expelled from the League on 14 December.
The Soviet forces had four times as many soldiers as the Finns, 30 times as many aircraft and 218 times as many tanks. However, the Red Army had recently been crippled by a drastic purge in 1937, reducing its morale and efficiency shortly before the outbreak of hostilities. With up to 50 percent of army officers executed or imprisoned, including the vast majority of those of the highest rank, the Red Army in 1939 had many inexperienced senior officers. Due to a combination of these factors as well as extremely high commitment and morale in the Finnish forces, Finland was able to successfully resist the Soviet invasion for far longer than the Soviets had expected.
Hostilities ceased in March 1940 with the signing of the Moscow Peace Treaty. Finland ceded about 9 percent of its pre-war territory and 20 percent of its industrial capacity to the Soviet Union. Soviet losses on the front were heavy and the country’s international standing also suffered. Moreover, the war cast doubt on the fighting ability of the Red Army, a factor that may have contributed to Adolf Hitler’s decision to launch Operation Barbarossa. Finally, the Soviet forces did not accomplish their objective of the total conquest of Finland, but did gain sufficient territory along Lake Ladoga to provide a buffer for Leningrad. The Finns retained their sovereignty and gained considerable international goodwill.
A heroic achievement.
Freedom!
The Finns are a tough bunch indeed. I remember one time when I was visiting friends in Finland we came across a pair of old pistols by accident in their house. Since guns were so tabboo in Germany, I was pleasantly surprised to see them and was told they were my friend’s grandfather’s and used during the Winter War.
One of the strangest and best films I’ve ever seen, The Cuckoo, takes place in the immediate, chaotic aftermath of the Winter War:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0308476/plotsummary
Apparently, Finnish farm boys made very effective snipers. They’d hide in trees, so the Russians called them Cuckoos. There’s plenty of dialogue in this movie, but none of the three main characters can understand each other: a Finnish soldier chained to rock as punishment for some offense or other, a Soviet officer on his way to be purged for some unnamed crime, and Saami woman, who takes them both in and heals their various psychic and physical wounds.