The Winter War

Podcast Transcript

On November 30, 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Finland.

The Soviet Union forced the Finns to sue for peace after three months of fighting, and on paper, one could conclude that the Soviets won.

However, despite the supposed military victory, the Soviets’ performance and the resistance they faced severely damaged their reputation as a military force to be taken seriously.

It was something that other European leaders took notice of.

Learn about the Winter War on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

The origins of the conflict between Russia and Finland reach much further back than the Winter War itself, with over a century of tense relations leading to the events of 1939.

In the early 19th century, the Russian Empire fought the Kingdom of Sweden during the Napoleonic Wars. As Russia was aligned with Napoleon at the time, the invasion was justified by Sweden’s failure to comply with the Continental System.

The Continental System was Napoleon’s trade decree that prohibited trade between continental Europe and Great Britain. Because Sweden wasn’t conforming, the Russian economy was directly affected.

Simultaneously, the Russian monarchy was growing fearful that its capital, Saint Petersburg, was too exposed. Therefore, they wanted territory to create a larger buffer.

To make a long story short, Russia won the war and annexed Finland, which became an autonomous Russian buffer state until the end of the nineteenth century.

Russia had decided to “Russify” Finland or make it more Russian, though these efforts were never fully realized. Despite failing to fully “Russify” Finland, the relationship between the two nations was destroyed because of the occupation.

In response, Finland began campaigning for self-determination. This was realized during the First World War when Russia underwent a revolution, which I’ve covered in a previous episode.

The new Bolshevik government granted national minorities the right to self-determination, leading Finland to declare independence from Russia in December 1917. The USSR recognized the claim, and Finland received full sovereignty four months later.

After gaining independence, Finland joined the League of Nations and sought better relationships with other Nordic countries.

Though these relationships improved, the other Nordic nations never committed to coming to Finland’s aid if they were to enter another war, despite helping them with defense preparations.

Finnish-Soviet relations soured when Finnish volunteers aided independence uprisings in the Soviet Union. In response, the Soviet Union backed the Finnish Communist Party. To ease tensions, the two countries signed a nonaggression pact in 1924.

After Stalin consolidated power following his purges, Soviet policy towards Finland shifted, as he aimed to regain territories that Russia had previously lost.

Fast forward a few years to 1938, when tensions throughout Europe were rising.

Nazi Germany was aggressive and expansionistic with strong a racial ideology. These beliefs included hatred of the Slavic people and of Communists, two groups the Soviet Union was full of. This led to the Soviet Leadership growing more concerned about the Nazis becoming a potential threat.

The Soviet Union contacted the Finnish Foreign Minister and warned them that they were threatened by the Nazis. In this message, they warned the Finns that they would not sit idly by and let the Nazis enter the Soviet Union through the Finnish border.

In response, the Finns affirmed their policy of neutrality during the war and that they would resist any attacks.

The Soviets were unhappy with this response and asked for islands in the Gulf of Finland to protect Leningrad from any seaward threats.

Finland said no.

Finland continued to deny the Soviet Union’s attempts to negotiate.

In August 1939, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was signed, allying with the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.

This pact was self-serving for both countries. Not only did the pact promise non-aggression, but it also laid out plans to create spheres of influence without interference from the other country.

The most direct consequence of this was the joint invasion of Poland, which is often viewed as a catalyst for the start of World War II. However, the pact also impacted many other countries, including Finland, which, according to the agreement, fell under the Soviet sphere of influence.

After the agreement was signed, the Soviets began forcing the Baltic countries of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia into unwanted treaties. Seeing the writing on the wall, Finland moved to mobilise and protect their autonomy.

Finland began to do this covertly, mobilizing troops under the pretense of training. At the same time, the Soviets began to move troops to the Finnish border.

Negotiations between Finland and the Soviet Union began in October 1939. The Soviets invited Finland to negotiate, demanding a territorial concession.

The Soviets requested that Finland cede islands in the Gulf of Finland, move the Karelian Isthmus border westward, and demolish border forts. They also requested that the Hanko Peninsula be leased to the Soviets for 30 years.

In exchange, the Soviets offered economic assistance, security assurances, and territory. Though the Finns debated the offer, they ultimately declined it, viewing the deal as a risk to their autonomy. Because they mistrusted Stalin, they feared that making an agreement with the Soviets would lead to future demands that could endanger the country.

There were further attempts to negotiate between the two countries, but to the Soviets’ surprise, the Finns ultimately rejected them, even though the Soviets had reduced their demands.

Because of this, the Soviet military began to prepare for an attack along the Finnish border.

The first incident between the two countries occurred in the Soviet Village, Mainila. According to Soviet Reports, a border guard post had been shelled by the Finns, resulting in the death of four guards and nine others injured.

Later historians have concluded that this was a false flag operation carried out by the NKVD to allow the Soviets a way to get out of the non-aggression pact and to sever diplomatic relations.

The Soviets invaded Finland on November 30, 1939, marking the start of what became known as the Winter War.

Many counted the Finns out as soon as war was declared, predicting it to last at most a few short weeks. This estimation was mainly based on how rapidly Poland had fallen, but some Soviets were more cautious, as Finland’s geography is very different from Poland’s.

Finland is made up of dense forests that cover most of the country and contains many lakes, rivers, and swamps. Comparatively, Poland was flatter and more open. Yet, despite these concerns, it was not reflected in Soviet military deployment.

The Soviets were so confident that they publicly stated the invasion would take no more than two weeks and would be careful not to invade Sweden by accident.

But this statement proved to be wildly inaccurate.

There were many underlying problems in the Soviet Army. The main issue was that Stalin had purged the majority of his officers, marshals, and commanders, replacing them with loyal but inexperienced new leaders.

Additionally, the military leaders needed permission from politicians to make military decisions. This may not have been a problem if the politicians had been experienced in military strategy, but they were not. This made it so officers were unable to make independent decisions, muddying the chain of command..

To invade Finland, the Soviets wanted to model the invasion on the Blitzkrieg strategy used by the Nazis. This strategy is essentially “lightning war,” where you concentrate offensive efforts on a narrow front to quickly wipe out defenses.

This strategy worked well in the plains of Central Europe, but was less applicable in Finland.

Central Europe had many paved roads that appeared on maps. It was an easy target. Finland had few paved roads, and the very few roads they did have were gravel or dirt. Additionally, the Finnish army’s center was deep in the forested, swampy terrain, making a Blitzkrieg extremely difficult.

During the war, Finland used its natural defenses to their advantage. Soldiers and reservists were trained in basic survival and knew how to ski. Although not all troops were given official uniforms, all were given warm clothes.

Despite these advantages, the Finns were disadvantaged in many ways.

They had significantly fewer fighters, had to draft most of their workforce, which strained their economy, faced shortages in anti-tank weapons and aircraft, and only had enough ammunition and fuel for at most 60 days. This meant that the Finns couldn’t afford to counterfire or use artillery bombardment as a strategy.

The ammunition issues did lessen a bit when they realized the Mosin-Nagant rifles they were using had the same cartridge as the Soviets, allowing them to loot dead Soviets’ bodies for ammunition.

The Soviets started their invasion by invading with 450,000 men and bombing the capital, Helsinki. To prevent the Russian advance, the Finns created a defense line known as the Mannerheim Line.

The Finnish strategy during the war was called “Defense in Depth.” The Finns’ basically deployed a Fabian strategy to delay the Soviet advance. The goal was to buy time and create more casualties. This, in turn, would cause the attacker to lose momentum and eventually allow the defenders to push the attacker back.

As the Soviets were executing a simple front charge, the Defense of Depth strategy became very effective. The Finns jammed logs and crowbars into the wheels of tanks, making it difficult for the Soviet troops to advance.

They also invented a more effective tool to prevent Soviet advancement. One that has been used in conflicts every since: the Molotov Cocktail.

To make a Molotov Cocktail, the Finns used alcoholic beverages provided by the company Alko, placed a fuse around the lid, and lit it. This devilishly simple technique was used to destroy 80 Soviet tanks.

The first major attack of the War was on December 6, 1939, when the Red Army hit the Finnish line in Taipale with a forty-hour artillery barrage.

The Finns were prepared for this, and for the next six days, the Soviets attempted to advance but were repeatedly repelled by the better-prepared Finns, leading to a Finnish victory.

As the War continued past the expected two weeks, winter set in, and it got cold, with temperatures dropping to as low as -43 degrees Celsius or -45 degrees Fahrenheit.

Finland used this to their advantage. They dressed in snow camouflage and cross-country skied across the land, mounting guerrilla. The Soviets, who were wearing their regular green gear, stuck out like a sore thumb.

Additionally, the Soviets did not have ski training and were forced to walk along the minimal roads, making them easy targets for the enemy. So, while the Soviet Union had a numerical advantage and more supplies, the Finns were faster and could rely on surprise attacks.

Eventually, the Red Army did reach the Mannerheim Line, but was unable to exploit its advantages.

The line was fairly weak, but the Finns were able to defend it by preventing a large assault. This destroyed the morale of the Soviet Troops, who refused to participate further.

The Soviets did have more success in Northern Finland and were able to push the Finns back. However, the Finnish Northern Army had a secret weapon: Simo Häyhä, the subject of a previous episode.

Simo Häyhä, otherwise known as “the White Death,” became a legendary sniper during the war, having over 500 confirmed kills. He and the other Finns managed to halt the Russians at the Battle of Kollaa. This battle lasted until the end of the war, preventing further movement in the North.

The Soviets were humiliated by how long the Winter War was taking, especially given the significantly lopsided size of their armies.

One example of this was the Battle of Raate Road, where 6,000 Finnish troops faced at least twice as many Soviet Troops. Yet, the battle ended with only 400 casualties for the Finns, with the Russians having lost between 7,000 and 9,000, with another 1,300 captured.

The Soviets, desperate to retain an image of military strength, needed to come up with a different solution quickly. Stalin placed new leadership in charge of the Finnish campaign. This proved to be the correct choice as basic, tactfully controlled movements occurred.

With new leadership in charge, the Soviets easily broke through the Finnish defense lines. Although the Finns were brave, and the troops attempted to hold their ground, strongholds began to fall.

On February 12, 1940, the Soviet Union reopened talks with Finland.

Both sides wanted the war to end. The Finns were exhausted, being almost completely out of weapons and ammunition and unable to receive aid, and the Soviets faced far too many casualties for what they had gained.

The war continued into March, before peace was finally achieved. The peace treaty was harsh for the Finns, who were forced to give up 10% of their territory, including their second-largest city, 12% of the population, and 13% of their economy.

The Soviet difficulties in fighting a vastly smaller army were noticed by the rest of the world, including Adolf Hitler, who used the Soviet performance in Finland as part of his rationale for invading the Soviet Union.

In 1941, when Germany appeared to have the upper hand in their invasion of the Soviet Union, the Finns broke the treaty and invaded, beginning what became known as the Continuation War, which lasted until September 1944.

While Finland was forced to cede territory, the outcome of the Winter War could have been much, much worse. Finland was able to survive and remain independent thanks to the ferocious defense put up by the Finnish Army.