The Winter War: How Finland Held Against the USSR

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Ukraine is not the first time Russia has got bogged down invading a smaller nation.

As the Western powers of Britain and France prepared to make good on their promise to Poland in 1939, another war was waged on the Eastern Front: the Russo-Finnish War.

Often named the “Winter War” due to the extremely snowy terrain, and the time of year it began, the much smaller Finnish army held back the humongous Red Army, defending their territory and country against terrifying odds.

Here’s everything you need to know about how the conflict began, how the smaller nation of Finland held off against one of the world’s great powers, and why Finland’s defeat was really a victory.

A Brief History of the Finnish-Russian Relationship

From the 14^th to the 18^th Century the majority of modern Finland was ruled by the Swedes, but across the course of the 18^th Century Russia slowly conquered the territory, leading to several hundred years of Russian rule.

Under Swedish rule, a sense of Finnish national identity grew, and this only continued under Russian rule, pushed forward by the Fennoman cause, despite later attempts at Russification.

This was an official policy of the Russian Tsars to replace native identities and sentiments in conquered areas such as Poland, Finland, Ukraine, and other areas, pushing for the adoption of the Russian language and teaching of Russian history.

In 1917, at the tail end of WW1, the Russian Revolution erupted across the Empire, and spawning from this the Finnish civil war quickly followed in a similar fashion.

With the socialist Reds fighting for communist rule against the non-socialist Whites, the war lasted roughly six months and led to almost 38,000 dead. The Whites claimed victory, proclaiming it a nationalist success over Russian-associated Bolsheviks.

Prelude to Invasion

In October 1939, with concerns that Finland might pose a threat should the Germans attack, Stalin wished to secure his border and remove the possibility of military action from the Finns – alongside gaining additional territory.

Thus, he summoned Finnish negotiators to Moscow with demands that would effectively end Finnish independence. The Soviets wanted Finland to cede the Karelian Isthmus, lease the Hanko Peninsula for a naval base, and allow Soviet troops transit rights through Finnish territory.

In exchange, the USSR offered a larger but largely worthless tract of land in eastern Karelia.

There was little thought that Finland would be bold enough to reject the deal, given the overwhelming size and military disparity, yet the Finns had no wish to become a Soviet satellite state.

They rejected the deal, leaving the Soviets with what seemed an easy decision – invasion.

The Great Purge

Amongst many of the horrifying actions of Stalinist Russia was the Great Purge of 1937-1938. Carried out across all levels of Russian society, Stalin’s great purge was borne out of paranoia, with Stalin aiming to root out any potential opposition within the Soviet government.

Amongst other areas such as the NKVD and Politburo, the Great Purge had decimated Soviet military leadership, with an estimated 35,000 officers dismissed, tens of thousands imprisoned and thousands executed, including three of five marshals, 13 of 15 army commanders, and eight of nine admirals.

Happening only a year before the Winter War, this left the Red Army severely weakened in terms of tactical knowledge and strategic planning, with many of the officers who replaced the purged leadership being militarily inexperienced, promoted for their loyalty to Stalin over competency.

A Quick Victory? Soviet Plans

Despite the Finnish civil war, communist sympathies still lingered in 1939 Finland. Following the impressive encirclement manoeuvres carried out by the German Army in the invasion of Poland, the Russian Red Army was eager for a crushing victory, and Stalin was eager to reconquer lost Russian territory.

With a huge advantage in manpower, machinery, and resources, and believing Finnish communist sympathisers may rise up and support the Soviets upon invasion, Finland seemed an easy target for invasion.

The stage was set for an easy victory, securing the northern border and showing off the martial prowess of the Red Army.

First Days of the War

At the outbreak of war, the Soviets had assembled ~425,000 men, though this number would expand to 760,000 by the end of the war. Meanwhile, the Finnish National Army consisted of 33,000 experienced and trained soldiers, bolstered by a reserve force to total over 400,000 men.

Because the USSR’s forces were tied on other defensive fronts such as the Polish border, and with the expectation of superior firepower and a swift victory, the initial army sizes were actually equally matched.

On November 30th, 1939, Soviet forces launched their invasion without formal declaration, bombing Finnish cities as Red Army units rushed across the border.

Rather than a rout, they quickly encountered stiff Finnish resistance.

Guerilla Tactics

Led by Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, Finnish forces conducted fighting withdrawals, using the terrain to their advantage while inflicting maximum casualties on the advancing Red Army.

The initial Soviet advances were met with fierce resistance at every turn.

Finnish ski troops, dressed in white winter camouflage and intimately familiar with the terrain, struck Soviet columns and then disappeared into the forest. The Red Army, unprepared for winter warfare and operating with poor communication between units, found itself struggling against an enemy that seemed to appear and disappear at will.

With a huge advantage in machinery, the Soviets had advanced in several large and separated columns along main roads, making them easy targets for mobile Finnish forces using unconventional warfare.

Mocking the Soviet Minister Molotov, the Finns created and used extensively the now infamous Molotov cocktail to destroy tanks and equipment at close range, alongside sticking crowbars in tank tracks and other methods.

The Soviet advance quickly stalled amidst growing casualties.

The Line Falters

As the Finns desperately defended from their fortified “Mannerheim Line”, 1939 became 1940, and Stalin appointed new leadership to bring his now embarrassing invasion attempt to a close.

In February 1940 fresh attacks were launched with overwhelming artillery firepower reaching up to 400 rounds per minute. Under the sheer weight of additional soviet forces and intense shelling, the Finnish lines began to falter, but not without inflicting great casualties upon the invaders.

Within two weeks on February 11^th, the Red Army broke through the Mannerheim line for the first time. Hoping for a change in weather to alter the terrain, or for western powers to come to their aid, the Finns held out for almost another month as their line slowly bent and broke under Russian assaults.

On March 13th, Helsinki requested a ceasefire, and the war came to an end.

A Pyrrhic Victory for the USSR

On paper, the Soviets had won.

Yet for many, the Winter War is seen as a Pyrrhic victory at best, and a Finnish success at worst. The casualties were staggering: for the Soviets, between 215,000 and 270,000 dead, and an additional 200,000 to 300,000 wounded – roughly 61,000 due to illness or frostbite.

Alongside this was the loss of up to 3,500 tanks, more than 500 aircraft, and 5,000 captured soldiers.

For the Finns, the losses were much less, at roughly 25,000 Finnish soldiers dead and ~50,000 wounded, their already meagre machinery depleted by 30 tanks and ~60 aircraft.

Though the Finns had lost some land and suffered casualties, they had given the Red Army a bloody nose and strongly discouraged any thought in Moscow of reconquering its former territory. Meanwhile, the Red Army had suffered up to 5:1 losses and thoroughly embarrassed itself on the world stage.

Some even believe that the Winter War was a significant factor in Hitler and the German Army’s confidence in their operation Barbarossa just a year later.

Return of the Finns

Despite plans from the Allies to aid Finland in its Winter War of 1939, mobilisation was slow and aid never arrived in time.

Thus, when the Germans launched their invasion of Russia in 1941 with Operation Barbarossa, the Finns took their chance to retake lost territory. In the Continuation War of 1941 to 1944, Finland successfully retook much of its previously lost land initially.

Eventually, as the Nazi’s offensive failed and was pushed back, so too were the Finns, who in 1944 signed the Moscow Armistice, giving up some of their territory in exchange for peace.

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