In a highly competitive society, when you are weak, what kind of self-preservation and development should you have? Then the performance of Finland before and after World War II can give you a lot of inspiration.
In 1939, while China's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression was entering a bitter war, another war in Northern Europe also broke out that made the world stunned by the weak against the strong, that is, the Soviet-Finnish War.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > why Hitler's hot face was pasted with a cold ass! </h1>
Let's start with a small episode, June 4, 1942, when Nazi Germany was in full swing.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish Army, Mannerheim, celebrated his 75th birthday.
On this day he received two different gifts, one was that the Finnish government awarded him the rank of "Finnish Marshal", which he gladly accepted;
Hitler
Second, Hitler himself came to pay homage to him.
Surprisingly, Mannerheim was not impressed by Hitler's surprise visit, and he deliberately chose to meet Hitler on a remote railway line.
When Hitler saw Mannerheim, who had always been admired, he ran to him in spite of his identity.
Mannerheim said to the officers around Hitler: "Officers should not run, this is a loss of identity, only soldiers do this!" (See Memoirs of Marshal Mannerheim for details))
After Hitler delivered an impassioned birthday speech. Mannerheim invited him to a meal, whether it was arranged on purpose, but the quality of the meal was rather poor.
After the meal, Mannerheim lit a very large cigar and gulped down the mist in front of Hitler, but everyone knew that Hitler could not stand the smell of smoke the most.
General Mannerheim
As a result, Hitler stayed in Finland for only 5 hours before hurrying back home.
Hitler had intended to demand that Finland attack Leningrad from the north, but the unpleasant meeting apparently discouraged him and returned home without mentioning anything.
Why did Hitler revere this old man so much, and this old man treated Hitler so abnormally?
The mystery here may lie in the famous Soviet-Finnish War.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > country that "says no" to the Soviet Empire! </h1>
On August 23, 1939, the Soviet Union and Germany signed the Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact, which included the establishment of the "Eastern Front" by the Soviet Union to establish a strategic buffer zone between Germany and the Soviet Union.
In simple terms, the essence of the Eastern Front was to first annex the four small Baltic states, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and Finland.
At this time, the Soviet Union successively demanded that these four countries be incorporated into the Federation. The other three countries all gave in, but only one small country jumped out and said "no"
The country is Finland!
Schematic map of the Baltic States
Thus broke out the world's most bizarre war, the Soviet-Finnish War, which was at the time of the outbreak of World War II, so that the world was shocked, so that Hitler launched a war against the Soviet Union in advance, and greatly overestimated the prospects of a Soviet-German war?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > say Finland</h1>
Finland, if it weren't for Nokia, would have been popular all over the world, and perhaps many people wouldn't have known about the country.
You may not know that Finland is now the richest country in the world, and Finland ranks first in the 2018 Global Happiness Index.
Such a small country of only 330,000 square kilometers is located in the remote and cold peninsula of Northern Europe. How can it be possible to survive tenaciously in such an environment, without relying on any country, in the midst of strong enemies, and become one of the most developed countries?
The truth of this may be seen in the Soviet-Finnish War.
Territorial relations of the Soviet-Finnish War
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" why > Finnish? </h1>
It is necessary to talk about the Soviet-Finnish War first, which was preceded by the First Soviet-Finnish War and later by the Second Soviet-Finnish War. Let's talk mainly about the First Soviet-Finnish War.
At that time, the Soviet Union, through rapid industrialization, was already the largest industrial power in Europe. When it made its request, it was full of people who were all bowed down and close to the ears.
Some people actually say "no"! The huge Soviet Union looked down and saw that it was Finland as small as an ant.
In simple terms, in 1939, the Soviet Union, fearing that Germany would attack from the north through Finland, proposed to "exchange" territory for Finland's Hanko Peninsula. However, the Hanko Peninsula was a barrier for Finland to defend the Soviet Union, which was rejected by Finland.
On November 30, 450,000 troops from 23 Soviet divisions invaded the Finnish border and quickly reached the Mannerheim Line.
Finland's population is only 4.4 million, which is less than the population of a prefecture-level city in China. At this time, after the general mobilization, the strength of the troops was only 125,000 people, and there were almost no armored troops.
Soviet tanks
The cumulative investment of Soviet tanks should not be less than 2,000. The Air Force's 2,500 aircraft entered the war
On the air front, Finland had just over 200 combat aircraft at the time of the war.
On the artillery side, the Soviets had about 2,876 cannons, while the Finnish had 534.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" beat Finland in 16 days >! </h1>
In such a situation of great disparity in strength, it is obvious that the elephant is stepping on the ants.
Stalin believed that Finland's resistance would not exceed 16 days under the crushing superiority of the Soviet army, and he even issued a warrant to the Soviet army before the war, asking the Soviet army not to run too far so as not to enter Swedish territory.
Later Soviet leader Khrushchev said wildly: "As long as we raise our voices slightly, the Finns will obey." If that doesn't work, we can fire a shot and the Finns will raise their hands and surrender. That's what we think. ”
But the truth was astounding, as the Soviets fought against the Finnish army and discovered that this was not the case at all.
Schematic diagram of the Soviet-Finnish War
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > soviets could not conduct swarm operations</h1>
In the first phase of the war, the Soviet army discovered that the problem came.
Finland is the most forested country with 60,000 lakes, and in Finland's trivial terrain, the struggling Soviet army is unable to deploy large troops and carry out mechanized swarm shock operations that they are best at, but are divided into small units by complex terrain.
The Finns took full advantage of Finland's climate and its mountainous and forested terrain against the Soviets. The Soviets were blocked by the "Mannerheim Line", while the Finnish army, dressed in white clothing similar to the snowscape, carried sleighs, sniper rifles and incendiary bombs, engaged in guerrilla warfare with the Soviets.
Soviet-Finnish War
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > Finland's unique tactic</h1>
In the middle of the night, the Finnish army suddenly appeared around the Soviet army in a sleigh, shooting the Soviet soldiers who had no cover and were frozen in the cold.
The Finnish army's main attack strategy was very correct, that is, to attack the other side's supply convoys, field kitchens and hospitals. The Soviet army was unable to eat hot food, and morale was hit.
To what extent was this tactic successful? The commander of the Forty-fourth Division of the Red Army was sentenced to death by Stalin for defeat, one of the charges was to lose 55 field kitchens, pots were seized, what do you eat?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > "White Death" and "Molotov Cocktail"</h1>
The war also set a world record, in the 1939-1940 Su-Finnish War, Finnish sniper king Simon Haye shot 542 Soviet troops (705 snipers in his career) with a Finnish version of the Mosin Nagant rifle in less than four months, becoming the most killed sniper in World War II, nicknamed the "White Death".
Simon Haye, king of world snipers
The Finns also invented the Molotov cocktail Molotov cocktail method of hitting tanks and vehicles, and they also threw homemade "cocktails" at Soviet tanks and transport vehicles one after another. This "cocktail" is a mixture of gasoline, phosphorus, incendiary agents and other mixtures of fuel into glass bottles, and then used to throw tanks and armored vehicles, which actually achieved miraculous results in war.
In the defensive battle in December, the Finnish army under Mannerheim achieved a brilliant victory, annihilating two integrated divisions of the Soviet 9th Army Vasily Ivanovich Trikov, killing 27,500 Soviet troops and capturing 1,300, while the Finnish army lost only 900 men and wounded 1,700.
This is the famous Battle of Sommsalmi.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > forced to make peace</h1>
By early February 1940, the Soviets, under the command of Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko, had once again regrouped 540,000 troops and once again launched a well-prepared general offensive at the Karelian Isthmus before breaking through the Finnish line.
Marshal Timoshenko
However, in view of the stubborn resistance of the Finns and the pressure of the international situation. The Soviet hierarchy also realized that it was possible to occupy Finnish land, but could not conquer the Finns, and eventually abandoned the attempt to annex Finland.
The Soviet-Finnish War, which ended in a crushing Soviet victory, eventually forced Finland to sign the Moscow Peace Agreement. The unequal treaty cost Finland its second-largest city, Vyborg, and ceded 40,000 square kilometers of territory.
In this battle, the Soviet casualties reached 375491, losing more than 2,000 tanks and 521 aircraft, and the Finnish side also paid a huge price, 105904 (including civilian) casualties.
The corpse of a Soviet soldier in the Soviet-Finnish War
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > why this battle was fought so bizarrely, briefly explain the main reasons. </h1>
1. Finland's complex terrain is suitable for guerrilla warfare, which is not conducive to large-scale corps operations of the Soviet Army.
2. Factors such as misjudgment by the light enemy at the top of the Soviet army. The Soviets encountered a cold unprecedented in history. It is good for Finland, which is good at ski combat. This trick was later learned by the Soviet army and played a miraculous role in the Later Battle of Moscow in the Soviet-German War.
3. And after the Great Purge of the Soviet Army, almost all the generals with little actual combat experience frequently made mistakes in their command in actual combat. For example, the Commander of the Soviet Division built a bridge where the pontoon bridge could not be built, resulting in problems such as the rear road being cut off.
4. Finally, of course, the determination and ability of the Finns to unite and fight to the death.
I won't go into that here. But the story doesn't end there.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > the Soviet-Finnish War caused Hitler to seriously misjudge! </h1>
Because of this war, Hitler seriously misjudged when assessing the Soviet-German war, and even believed that the War could be ended without winter when the German army destroyed the decaying combat strength.
At the outbreak of the Soviet-German War in 1941, the German army did not purchase cotton clothes and heating equipment, which directly led to the lack of winter clothes for the German army, and its tanks and cars could not be started in the Battle of Moscow.
At the same time, this war made Hitler impatiently launch the Soviet-German war.
Through the experience of the Soviet-Finnish War, the Soviet Red Army also learned guerrilla warfare, sleigh warfare, logistics warfare and other methods, effectively attacking the German army, and obviously delaying the German offensive.
Frozen Soviet soldiers
Finally, Nazi Germany was dragged into the quagmire of a protracted war.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > the intriguing Second Soviet-Finnish War</h1>
After the outbreak of the Soviet-German War.
Finland has to choose between two mighty elephants. In view of the situation of the Soviet-German war, the Soviet Union decided that Finland was the enemy, and Finland was constantly bombed by the Soviet Air Force, which made the Finns very angry.
In order not to offend Hitler and to regain the lost territory, Finland took the opportunity to declare war on the Soviet Union, which was the Second Soviet-Finnish War.
Cleverly, Finland went to war with the Soviet Union only to regain its lost territory and not to pursue anything outside of it. Point to the end.
After the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943, Manleheim saw that Nazi Germany would lose, and immediately decided to negotiate peace with the Soviet Union, which reluctantly agreed to peace talks with Finland in order to concentrate on Germany.
The Finns immediately turned around and drove the Germans out of northern Finland.
This was the Second Soviet-Finnish War.
A statue of Mannerheim known as the "Father of the Nation" of Finland
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > a condescending post-war attitude! </h1>
In the post-war reckoning, the Attitude of the Finns toward the Soviet Union could be described as condescending.
At that time, the Soviet Union demanded the prosecution of war criminals, war reparations of 300 million US dollars, otherwise it would send troops to occupy Finland. Finnish nationals rushed to donate, and many even donated wedding rings. The Finns also sent their leaders to prison at the request of the Soviets.
In the end, Finland secured its independence after World War II and signed a peace treaty with the Soviet Union.
Moreover, in order not to irritate the Soviet Union, Finland rejected the Marshall Aid Program of the United States and did not join NATO.
Even in 1973, Finland began negotiations with the West to join the European Community in order to promote economic development. Gikonin, then President of Finland, personally went to Moscow and personally promised Soviet leader Brezhnev that Finland's accession to the European Community would never harm soviet interests.
Western countries have a lot of opinions about this, but Finns do not trust Western protection. At the time of the Soviet-Finnish War, none of the Western countries aided Finland.
Finns believe that only self-helpers can help.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > independent development</h1>
In the 1990s, with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the establishment of Russia, the three Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia regained their independence and freedom and resumed state-building.
At this time, Finland, after decades of independent struggle, vigorously developed the economy, education, science and technology. It has become the most developed and wealthy country in the world. It is also the country with the highest people's happiness index.
Now it seems that Finland's achievements are almost a miracle!
A weak country can survive the battle with elephants tenaciously, and it is a good life! It's a miracle.
There is an article on the Internet that says thoroughly, from the "Soviet-Finnish War to See China's War of Resistance Against Japan", why did China's War of Resistance Against Japan not play such an effective role?
It is necessary to reflect on the Chinese War of Resistance at that time, and Finland, as the weaker side, can be so united in its will!
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > so what is the reason for the Finnish miracle? </h1>
The Chinese Book of Rites often says wisdom, benevolence, and courage, which means the common rules of conduct between ancient and modern China and foreign countries. Obviously, the Finns did exactly that.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > first, the unity of the Finnish people</h1>
Why are Finns so united?
Finnish Army Battle Map
At the beginning of Its independence, Finland was an agrarian country like China, with 66 per cent of the agricultural population at the beginning of its independence, and 76 per cent of this 66 per cent of the agrarian population being landless sharecroppers, with a huge disparity between the rich and the poor.
First, the land reform bill is carried out
In 1918, the year after Finland's independence, the government published the Land Reform Act. The Land Reform Act revolutionized the disparity between rich and poor in rural Finland, and by 1930 rural smallholders accounted for 94% of the total agricultural population, completely solving the problem of landless sharecroppers.
At that time, the Nationalist government in China was slow to respond and did not implement such reforms.
Second, the implementation of a social welfare system
For the general population, Finland promulgated an eight-hour working day law as soon as the country became independent in 1917, and soon promulgated a series of welfare systems such as taking care of the elderly, weak women and children, unemployment benefits, etc.
There's a little episode here: At the time, The Finnish leader Mannheim, who was the leader of the plan, decided to reduce the army from 100,000 to 10,000, paying for it with the saved military expenses.
Some people asked, what if the Soviet Union took the opportunity to call in?
Mannheim said: "The Soviets are coming, and all of us are fighting with him, and we must not let them hurt the people." But if the welfare system is not in place now, the state is not yet established, and what is the defense?"
In the following two decades of the Finnish state, the state cared for every citizen, did everything in its power to help him, and truly fulfilled its national responsibilities.
Finland's economy is constantly evolving, society is becoming more and more equal, and by 1939, 50% of the wealth of society is in the hands of workers and peasants, and Finland is known as the "republic of ordinary workers". It is still called a "democratic socialist country" by economists.
As a result, Finnish nationals have a strong sense of national identity.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > third, the market economy developed without forced industrialization. </h1>
Finland did not practice coercive industrialization, as in the Soviet Union, but developed its own market economy. Therefore, although Finland's heavy industry is not developed, compared with the huge price paid by the Soviet people for forced industrialization, the life of Finnish citizens can be described as a world of difference.
When the Finns also saw the heavy burden of the Soviet people, they cherished their way of life even more.
So, by the time the Soviet Union attacked in 1939, the Finnish people were defending the country as if they were their own.
When they defend their country, they are actually defending their own free and well-being way of life.
It is not difficult to understand why Finnish citizens are so united in defending their country.
Like the Soviet-Finnish War, Finland, like China, really did not have a decent military industry. The Finnish anti-tank forces, which had no heavy weapons at all, relied on rifles to shoot into the lookout holes of Soviet tanks. Relying on his own physical impact, he stuffed the wood into the tracks of the Soviet tanks to stop the tanks from advancing. As a result, Finland's anti-tank forces have a 70% death rate.
Even General Vasilevsky of the Soviet Union admitted: "The Finnish war is a great shame for us, it has destroyed the image of our army at home and abroad, and many things need to be accounted for."
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > second, good self-assessment ability</h1>
Throughout the Soviet-Finnish War, Finland knew there was no chance of victory, and nearly 100,000 Finns died in this war. The equivalent of one in 37 people dying, the price is tragic. The Finns held the strategy of killing one by one, desperately resisting the powerful Soviet army, and the final battle loss ratio reached a ratio of 1:8.
This tactic of inflicting as much damage on the enemy as possible did cause the Soviets to change their strategic objectives toward Finland.
After World War II, Finland knew that it was not a rival to the Soviet Union at this time and needed to back down. At this time, Finland was working hard internally while looking up to people's sniffles. Finally, Finland has entered the ranks of the world's developing countries.
This good self-assessment ability keeps Finns in decision-making.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > third, sufficient decision flexibility</h1>
During the Second Soviet-Finnish War, the Finns showed restraint and did not openly recognize allies with Germany, but only recognized the "common fighting power". It is even more important not to advance, but to stop at the lost land before recovering. Hitler's demand that Finland capture Leningrad from the north was rejected. This brings us to the scene that begins with Hitler's visit to Mannerheim.
The President of Finland at the time repeatedly warned his citizens that in the situation of great power struggle, small countries have no emotional capital.
This restrained attitude of staying on the front line also made the anti-fascist Allies at that time not have much ill feelings toward Finland.
So at the Tehran Conference in 1943, Roosevelt and Churchill also persuaded Stalin to keep Finland independent.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > reference significance!</h1>
We will never give up lightly when we can fight a war, and we should bow our heads appropriately when we cannot fight a war. Just in response to the Chinese Zen poem "Look down and see the sky in the water, and the retreat turned out to be forward!" ”
As a model case of survival for small countries against large countries.
In our era of fierce competition today, there is also a big lesson, when you are in a weak position, how you need to maintain your own continuous competitiveness, the internal cohesion of Finns, good self-assessment, flexibility in decision-making, and perhaps a good reference.
Early highlights:
Was the mysterious Battle of Nomonkan the fundamental reason why Japan gave up its northward advance into the Soviet Union?
Can't help it! Why didn't Japan go north to attack the Soviet Union? But instead, it is the logic of going to war with the United States
Why was Britain crippled in World War II? The decade-long "patient" has ascended to the top of the world hegemony
Resources:
100 Battles That Affected the World
The General Book of World Wars, Vol. II - The Soviet-Finnish War
Soviet-Finnish War 1939-1940
History of Finland by Woollinin