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The Winter War: A Soviet Failure
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union (USSR) and Finland in 1939–1940. The war began with the Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended with the Moscow Peace Treaty on 13 March 1940. The League of Nations deemed the attack illegal and expelled the Soviet Union from the League.
The Soviet Union ostensibly sought to claim parts of Finnish territory, demanding—amongst other concessions—that Finland cede substantial border territories in exchange for land elsewhere, claiming security reasons, primarily the protection of Leningrad, 32 km (20 mi) from the Finnish border. Finland refused and the USSR invaded the country. Many sources conclude that the Soviet Union had intended to conquer all of Finland, and use the establishment of the puppet Finnish Communist government and the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact's secret protocols as proof of this, while other sources argue against the idea of a full Soviet conquest.
The Soviets possessed more than three times the amount of soldiers as Finland, thirty times as many aircraft, and a hundred times as many tanks. The Red Army, however, had been crippled by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin's Great Purge of 1936–1938. With over 36,000 of its officers executed or imprisoned, the Red Army had many inexperienced senior and mid-level officers. Because of these factors, and high morale in the defending forces, Finland repelled Soviet attacks for three months, much longer than the Soviets expected. However, after reorganization and adoption of different tactics, the renewed Soviet offensive overcame Finnish defences at the borders.
Hostilities ceased in March 1940 with the signing of the Moscow Peace Treaty. Finland ceded territory representing 11 percent of its land area and 13 percent of its economy to the Soviet Union. Soviet losses were heavy, and the country's international reputation suffered.[47] Soviet gains exceeded their pre-war demands and the USSR received substantial territory along Lake Ladoga and in Northern Finland. Finland retained its sovereignty and enhanced its international reputation. The poor performance of the Red Army encouraged Adolf Hitler to think that an attack on the Soviet Union would be successful and reconfirmed negative Western opinions of the Soviet military. After 15 months of interim peace, the Continuation War between Finland and the USSR began in June 1941."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_War .
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union (USSR) and Finland in 1939–1940. The war began with the Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended with the Moscow Peace Treaty on 13 March 1940. The League of Nations deemed the attack illegal and expelled the Soviet Union from the League.
The Soviet Union ostensibly sought to claim parts of Finnish territory, demanding—amongst other concessions—that Finland cede substantial border territories in exchange for land elsewhere, claiming security reasons, primarily the protection of Leningrad, 32 km (20 mi) from the Finnish border. Finland refused and the USSR invaded the country. Many sources conclude that the Soviet Union had intended to conquer all of Finland, and use the establishment of the puppet Finnish Communist government and the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact's secret protocols as proof of this, while other sources argue against the idea of a full Soviet conquest.
The Soviets possessed more than three times the amount of soldiers as Finland, thirty times as many aircraft, and a hundred times as many tanks. The Red Army, however, had been crippled by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin's Great Purge of 1936–1938. With over 36,000 of its officers executed or imprisoned, the Red Army had many inexperienced senior and mid-level officers. Because of these factors, and high morale in the defending forces, Finland repelled Soviet attacks for three months, much longer than the Soviets expected. However, after reorganization and adoption of different tactics, the renewed Soviet offensive overcame Finnish defences at the borders.
Hostilities ceased in March 1940 with the signing of the Moscow Peace Treaty. Finland ceded territory representing 11 percent of its land area and 13 percent of its economy to the Soviet Union. Soviet losses were heavy, and the country's international reputation suffered.[47] Soviet gains exceeded their pre-war demands and the USSR received substantial territory along Lake Ladoga and in Northern Finland. Finland retained its sovereignty and enhanced its international reputation. The poor performance of the Red Army encouraged Adolf Hitler to think that an attack on the Soviet Union would be successful and reconfirmed negative Western opinions of the Soviet military. After 15 months of interim peace, the Continuation War between Finland and the USSR began in June 1941."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_War .
Comment 1:
"Most of the territories Finland lost were already lost after the Winter War, including the second largest city and a large portion of the best arable land. The Continuation War was mainly motivated as an attempt to regain them to give the war refugees their homes back, which failed but the annexed area was mostly the same as it had been after the Winter War."
"Most of the territories Finland lost were already lost after the Winter War, including the second largest city and a large portion of the best arable land. The Continuation War was mainly motivated as an attempt to regain them to give the war refugees their homes back, which failed but the annexed area was mostly the same as it had been after the Winter War."
Comment 2:
"Finnish history, 1939-1945: Finland managed a stalemate in the Winter War, but finally the Soviets applied overwhelming force, and defeated the Finns. Finland lost a big part of Karelia as a result of Moscow's desire to push the border away from Leningrad; it also had to lease Hangko, a strategic port, to the USSR. In 1941, Finland joined Germany in the attack on the Soviet Union, in order to regain its lost territories. This is known to the Finns as "The Continuation War". The war on the Eastern Front went badly for the Axis, and in addition to losing what she had regained, Finland also lost the nickel-mining area and port of Petsamo; it assumed the status of a neutral state in the Cold War."
"Finnish history, 1939-1945: Finland managed a stalemate in the Winter War, but finally the Soviets applied overwhelming force, and defeated the Finns. Finland lost a big part of Karelia as a result of Moscow's desire to push the border away from Leningrad; it also had to lease Hangko, a strategic port, to the USSR. In 1941, Finland joined Germany in the attack on the Soviet Union, in order to regain its lost territories. This is known to the Finns as "The Continuation War". The war on the Eastern Front went badly for the Axis, and in addition to losing what she had regained, Finland also lost the nickel-mining area and port of Petsamo; it assumed the status of a neutral state in the Cold War."
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