Speaking of Finland, the first thing we think of now is Santa Claus, and what comes to mind is the Nordic fairytale scenery, and in the history of Finland, this country has basically nothing to do with international events. But in the winter of 1939-1940, a large-scale war broke out between the Soviet and Finnish sides, which came to be known as the "Winter War" in Finland, and Finland stood at the center of the world stage. The war between Finland and the Soviet Union seemed to be fought to the death on both sides, with a look of endless death. However, the Winter War was only a prelude to Finland's gradual entry into World War II.
Finnish soldiers and reindeer stand on very slippery ice, Finland, October 26, 1941
The main cause of the Winter War was the Soviet Union's concerns about Nazi expansionism in Germany. Finland, with a population of only 3.5 million, was not a threat to the Soviet Union itself, but Finland's geographical location was particularly close to Leningrad, and it had a tactical advantage that could be exploited by the Germans. From the spring of 1938 to the summer of 1939, the Soviet Union negotiated with Finland intermittently, but did not come up with a single result.
Soviet Pyro in the forest near Ninitsalo, Finland, fighting, July 1, 1942
Finland promised that its neutrality in the war would not be affected by Germany, but the Soviet Union did not accept this claim and demanded further assurances. So the Soviets proposed the establishment of a base on the coast on the back side of the Finnish Strait, where naval attacks on the Finnish coast could be blocked. The Finnish government feared that by accepting the agreement, the Soviet Union would intensify its efforts to make more unreasonable demands.
The Signing of the Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact in August 1939 changed European politics. The treaty's secret agreement allowed Soviet influence to cover the Baltic states and parts of Eastern Europe. When Germany defeated Poland at an astonishing rate, the Soviet Union, not to be outdone, wanted to quickly take control of the circles affected by it. Finland has been closely following these events. On 5 October, when the Soviets invited Finland to discuss "more specific political issues," Finland vaguely felt that they were the next target of the Soviet Union. Finland's first reaction was to arm the field forces.
Soviet pilots fly over Yemiervi, Finland, July 17, 1942
During the negotiations, the Soviets' main proposal was for Finland to cede a small part of its territory, including a naval base in finnish ports, and for the Soviets to help them protect Leningrad. In exchange, the Soviet Union ceded 88,000 square kilometers of land on the Soviet-Finnish border, twice as much land ceded by Finland. Unlike before, this time it was in the immediate public eye, and all the people in Finland, like the government, were unanimous in their opposition to the Soviet proposal.
Finland refused, ostensibly on the grounds of maintaining neutrality and territorial integrity. This part of the border was again an important part of the Finnish defensive line, and if it was ceded, it would be tantamount to weakening Finland's defenses. In fact, the deeper reason was that Finland did not trust the Soviet Union at all, and this proposal was actually only the first step in the conquest of Finland. Finland's superficial attitude, which had another reason on the surface, made the Soviet Union suspicious, and they doubted that Finland would help Germany in future wars.
The propeller-controlled snowmobile, interestingly the "Nazi swastika" on it, was the official symbol of the Finnish Air Force and tank units between 1918 and 1945
Finland uses telescopes and large sonic locators in reconnaissance aircraft
On November 30, 1939, the Soviet Union launched an offensive against Finland without declaring war. The Soviets were not very well prepared for the offensive, because their arrogance underestimated Finland's ability to resist.
The Finnish army had a difficult task, resisting a much larger army than them on a 1,300-kilometer-long border. However, the geographical advantage is biased towards Finland's side. Because the northern region is a large wilderness, only a few roads are left that are easy to defend. Finland's complex terrain made it particularly difficult for the attacking side. The Finnish side's tactic was to force the entire offensive team to be scattered into scattered groups. Finland also had an advantage over the morale of its soldiers. They know that they have the survival of the country on their shoulders. But Finland's disadvantage was also obvious, with a 50-to-1 difference in numbers from the Soviet Union. Finland intends to insist as much as possible until the support of Western countries such as Britain and France arrives, but there is little hope.
A 62-year-old Finnish-American soldier who volunteered to travel to the Soviet-Finnish Battlefield, Mikkeli, Finland, September 4, 1941
Onlookers thought the Soviets would win easily, much like Chechnya 50 years later. The Soviets were so confident that large armies were rushing up to the front and wanted to annex all of Finland. The railways and bases built by the Soviets on the Soviet-Finnish border in the years leading up to the war also played a large role in allowing them to send larger troops than Finland expected. But by December 1939, the Soviet offensive against Finland was stuck on the Mannarin Line.
To the north of this defensive line, Finnish dispersion tactics played a role. One of the most famous battles of Suomsamsami, in which two Soviet divisions were almost completely wiped out. By December 1939, Finland had successfully resisted several Soviet offensives, losing face to their faces. At this time, the Finnish army was mythologized in other countries around the world as an image of carrying ski equipment and appearing in the snow and ice.
Tank Squad in Finland, 8 July 1941
The Soviet offensive united the Finns as never before. After several defeats, the Soviet Union strengthened their determination to defeat Finland. In February 1940, a new round of offensives began, with simple tactics, bombarded with powerful artillery and tank escorts, followed by strong firepower from ground forces. The continuous bombardment and artillery fire in the sky gradually made the Finnish army unable to hold on, and finally the Soviet Union broke through the Mannarin Line, and Finland had to retreat several times. By the beginning of March, Finland was in danger of total captivity, and only by agreeing to the Soviet agreement was the Soviet Union' agreement, and finally the Soviet terms were included in the Moscow Peace Agreement, which was signed on March 13, 1940. Finland thus lost large areas of territory, and the civilian population living in these areas had to abandon their homes and move to areas that still belonged to Finland.
Finnish civilians evacuated, 1 July 1941
Finland was defeated, with an estimated 25,000 deaths, 10,000 disabled and 35,000 wounded. Four months after the end of the Winter War, Germany began its offensive against the Soviet Union, which historians recognize as a turning point in World War II.
Hitler briefly visited Finland in June 1942
Although victorious, the Red Army actually performed poorly in the war with Finland for reasons of weather that they could not foresee. The winter of 1939-1940 was the coldest of the century (although by the time of the Battle of Stalingrad, the Germans had encountered what it claimed to be the coldest winter of the century), and the Red Army had not been trained in polar warfare. For a year after the End of the Winter War, the Soviet Union did its best to correct their weaknesses, which helped the later Battle of 1941 and made their armies more efficient.
Anti-aircraft missiles over Solomonina
The Finnish government was suddenly defeated. The Finnish people were shocked because the Finnish government's report on the battlefield has been very optimistic. Finland's transition to a new society after its defeat was not a bumpy one, thanks to the superiority of Finland's democratic society. In post-war Finland, nothing has changed dramatically. After the war, the Finns did two things: first, they accepted 400,000 refugees who had moved from the ceded territories. The second is to re-arm yourself.
In the months that followed, the Soviet Union began to interfere in Finland's internal affairs, confirming the idea that the Soviet Union wanted to occupy Finland at that time. When the Soviet foreign minister visited Berlin, he also confessed to other Germans the idea of the Soviet Union occupying Finland.
Soviet bombing of Helsinki (the capital of Finland), 30 November 1939. On this day, 21 Soviet divisions marched into Finland, with a total of 450,00 soldiers
Hitler gradually came to see the importance of Finland as a base for future invasions of the Soviet Union. The agreement between Germany and Finland, signed in August 1940, came into force in September. He gave germany the right to use trains to send soldiers into Finnish territory, ostensibly to consolidate German power in northern Norway. In December 1940, a new agreement between Germany and Finland allowed German soldiers to be stationed in Finland, and in the following months, the numbers gradually increased. Although the Finnish public does not know much about the details of the agreement with Germany, most people advocate supporting Germany. The desire for popular unity was to reclaim the territories that had been ceded.
By the spring of 1941, the Finnish army had joined the German army in preparation for an attack on Russia. Finland initially showed no intention of entering the war. Just three days after the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, the Soviets attacked Finland in the air, giving the Finnish government a reason to go to war. On June 26, the war officially began.
This dispute was later named "Continuing War" because it was a continuation of the Winter War. From the beginning of the defensive strategy, just to give Some Help to Germany, it later developed into an offensive strategy, with the invasion of the Soviet Union as a goal. The Winter War was enough to prove the Soviet Threat to Finland's survival, and finland was caught up in the war because it wanted to regain its territory and get rid of the Soviet threat. Typically, you are sick and want to kill you.
Finland gave Great help to Germany during the war and caused great trouble for the Soviet Union. The Soviet fleet was blocked in the Gulf of Finland, freeing up space in the Baltic Sea for various training exercises for German submarines and for transporting supplies. Finland's 16th Division held back the Pace of soviet troops and put pressure on Leningrad. Switzerland also had to accept German conditions because of its quarantine.
Finland's support for Germany made the Western Allies very ambivalent: on the one hand, they wanted to remain friendly with Finland, but they had to support their ally, the Soviet Union. So Britain declared war on Finland, but the United States did not. The reason why the United States did not turn the other cheek with Finland was because Finland had been paying off the debts lent to them by the United States during World War I during this difficult war. Although Finland joined Germany in the war, it did not allow Germany to bring the anti-Semitic system into Finland. This move made the Western countries respect Finland very much. Finland not only accepted Jews, but also put them into battle, which created a strange scene: Jews in the Finnish army fought alongside the Nazis.
In February 1943, Germany suffered a crushing defeat at Stalingrad, and Finland began to find ways to withdraw from the war. Finland and the Allies, including the Soviet Union, began negotiations from 1943 to 1944 without a single result. In June 1944, the Soviet Union launched a major offensive against Finland. At a critical juncture, Finland repelled the Russians in July with the help of Germany. Although the Finnish front was once again stable, Finland was exhausted and desperate to withdraw from the war.
In September 1944, the Soviet Union and Finland signed a preliminary peace agreement in Moscow, the content of which greatly limited Finnish sovereignty. The border was restored to its 1940 appearance, except for the cession of the Bechaimo area. German soldiers in Finland had to retreat, and the Pokhara Peninsula was leased to the Soviet Union for 50 years. The size of the Finnish army was limited. Finland promised to pay reparations to the Soviet Union, and Finland accepted the trial of war criminals. Although Finland was defeated in the second war, it was not occupied by the Soviet Union.
Finnish Air Defense Group
Finnish armored van
Military dogs in Finnish training
More than 400 Russian soldiers killed in the forest, February 1, 1940
After 1940, Finland could buy equipment from the Germans
Repair of the power lines of the bus that were blown up
Russian prisoners of war
At the end of World War II, Finland's decisive withdrawal from the Axis group avoided its own fate of being occupied, much like Thailand in Asia.