1939-1940 (Soviet-Finnish War, in Finland known as the Winter War) - an armed conflict between the USSR and Finland from November 30, 1939 to March 12, 1940.
Its reason was the desire of the Soviet leadership to move the Finnish border away from Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) in order to strengthen the security of the northwestern borders of the USSR, and the refusal of the Finnish side to do this. The Soviet government asked to lease parts of the Hanko Peninsula and some islands in the Gulf of Finland in exchange for a larger area of Soviet territory in Karelia, with the subsequent conclusion of a mutual assistance agreement.
The Finnish government believed that accepting Soviet demands would weaken the strategic position of the state and lead to Finland losing its neutrality and its subordination to the USSR. The Soviet leadership, in turn, did not want to give up its demands, which, in its opinion, were necessary to ensure the security of Leningrad.
The Soviet-Finnish border on the Karelian Isthmus (Western Karelia) ran just 32 kilometers from Leningrad, the largest center of Soviet industry and the second largest city in the country.
The reason for the start of the Soviet-Finnish war was the so-called Maynila incident. According to the Soviet version, on November 26, 1939, at 15.45, Finnish artillery in the Mainila area fired seven shells at the positions of the 68th Infantry Regiment on Soviet territory. Three Red Army soldiers and one junior commander were allegedly killed. On the same day, the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs of the USSR addressed a note of protest to the Finnish government and demanded the withdrawal of Finnish troops from the border by 20-25 kilometers.
The Finnish government denied the shelling of Soviet territory and proposed that not only Finnish, but also Soviet troops be withdrawn 25 kilometers from the border. This formally equal demand was impossible to fulfill, because then Soviet troops would have to be withdrawn from Leningrad.
On November 29, 1939, the Finnish envoy in Moscow was handed a note about the severance of diplomatic relations between the USSR and Finland. On November 30 at 8 a.m., troops of the Leningrad Front received orders to cross the border with Finland. On the same day, Finnish President Kyusti Kallio declared war on the USSR.
During "perestroika" several versions of the Maynila incident became known. According to one of them, the shelling of the positions of the 68th regiment was carried out by a secret unit of the NKVD. According to another, there was no shooting at all, and in the 68th regiment on November 26 there were neither killed nor wounded. There were other versions that did not receive documentary confirmation.
From the very beginning of the war, the superiority of forces was on the side of the USSR. The Soviet command concentrated 21 rifle divisions, one tank corps, three separate tank brigades (a total of 425 thousand people, about 1.6 thousand guns, 1,476 tanks and about 1,200 aircraft) near the border with Finland. To support the ground forces, it was planned to attract about 500 aircraft and more than 200 ships of the Northern and Baltic fleets. 40% of Soviet forces were deployed on the Karelian Isthmus.
The group of Finnish troops had about 300 thousand people, 768 guns, 26 tanks, 114 aircraft and 14 warships. The Finnish command concentrated 42% of its forces on the Karelian Isthmus, deploying the Isthmus Army there. The remaining troops covered separate directions from the Barents Sea to Lake Ladoga.
The main line of defense of Finland was the “Mannerheim Line” - unique, impregnable fortifications. The main architect of Mannerheim's line was nature itself. Its flanks rested on the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga. The shore of the Gulf of Finland was covered by large-caliber coastal batteries, and in the Taipale area on the shore of Lake Ladoga, reinforced concrete forts with eight 120- and 152-mm coastal guns were created.
The "Mannerheim Line" had a front width of 135 kilometers, a depth of up to 95 kilometers and consisted of a support strip (depth 15-60 kilometers), a main strip (depth 7-10 kilometers), a second strip 2-15 kilometers from the main one, and rear (Vyborg) defense line. Over two thousand long-term fire structures (DOS) and wood-earth fire structures (DZOS) were erected, which were united into strong points of 2-3 DOS and 3-5 DZOS in each, and the latter - into resistance nodes (3-4 strong points point). The main line of defense consisted of 25 resistance units, numbering 280 DOS and 800 DZOS. Strong points were defended by permanent garrisons (from a company to a battalion in each). In the gaps between the strong points and the nodes of resistance there were positions for field troops. Strongholds and positions of field troops were covered by anti-tank and anti-personnel barriers. In the support zone alone, 220 kilometers of wire barriers in 15-45 rows, 200 kilometers of forest debris, 80 kilometers of granite obstacles up to 12 rows, anti-tank ditches, scarps (anti-tank walls) and numerous minefields were created.
All fortifications were connected by a system of trenches and underground passages and were supplied with food and ammunition necessary for long-term independent combat.
On November 30, 1939, after a lengthy artillery preparation, Soviet troops crossed the border with Finland and began an offensive on the front from the Barents Sea to the Gulf of Finland. In 10-13 days, in separate directions they overcame the zone of operational obstacles and reached the main strip of the “Mannerheim Line”. Unsuccessful attempts to break through it continued for more than two weeks.
At the end of December, the Soviet command decided to stop further offensive on the Karelian Isthmus and begin systematic preparations for breaking through the Mannerheim Line.
The front went on the defensive. The troops were regrouped. The North-Western Front was created on the Karelian Isthmus. The troops received reinforcements. As a result, Soviet troops deployed against Finland numbered more than 1.3 million people, 1.5 thousand tanks, 3.5 thousand guns, and three thousand aircraft. By the beginning of February 1940, the Finnish side had 600 thousand people, 600 guns and 350 aircraft.
On February 11, 1940, the assault on the fortifications on the Karelian Isthmus resumed - the troops of the North-Western Front, after 2-3 hours of artillery preparation, went on the offensive.
Having broken through two lines of defense, Soviet troops reached the third on February 28. They broke the enemy's resistance, forced him to begin a retreat along the entire front and, developing an offensive, enveloped the Vyborg group of Finnish troops from the northeast, captured most of Vyborg, crossed the Vyborg Bay, bypassed the Vyborg fortified area from the northwest, and cut the highway to Helsinki.
The fall of the Mannerheim Line and the defeat of the main group of Finnish troops put the enemy in a difficult situation. Under these conditions, Finland turned to the Soviet government asking for peace.
On the night of March 13, 1940, a peace treaty was signed in Moscow, according to which Finland ceded about a tenth of its territory to the USSR and pledged not to participate in coalitions hostile to the USSR. On March 13, hostilities ceased.
In accordance with the agreement, the border on the Karelian Isthmus was moved away from Leningrad by 120-130 kilometers. The entire Karelian Isthmus with Vyborg, the Vyborg Bay with islands, the western and northern coasts of Lake Ladoga, a number of islands in the Gulf of Finland, and part of the Rybachy and Sredny peninsulas went to the Soviet Union. The Hanko Peninsula and the maritime territory around it were leased to the USSR for 30 years. This improved the position of the Baltic Fleet.
As a result of the Soviet-Finnish war, the main strategic goal pursued by the Soviet leadership was achieved - to secure the northwestern border. However, the international position of the Soviet Union worsened: it was expelled from the League of Nations, relations with England and France worsened, and an anti-Soviet campaign unfolded in the West.
The losses of Soviet troops in the war were: irrevocable - about 130 thousand people, sanitary - about 265 thousand people. Irreversible losses of Finnish troops are about 23 thousand people, sanitary losses are over 43 thousand people.
(Additional
The war with Finland 1939-1940 is one of the shortest armed conflicts in the history of Soviet Russia. It lasted only 3.5 months, from November 30, 1939 to March 13, 1940. The significant numerical superiority of the Soviet armed forces initially predicted the outcome of the conflict, and as a result, Finland was forced to sign a peace agreement. According to this agreement, the Finns ceded almost a 10th part of their territory to the USSR and took upon themselves the obligation not to take part in any actions that threaten the Soviet Union.
Local small military conflicts were typical on the eve of the Second World War, and not only representatives of Europe, but also Asian countries took part in them. The Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940 was one of these short-term conflicts that did not suffer large human losses. It was caused by a single incident of artillery shelling from the Finnish side on the territory of the USSR, more precisely, on the Leningrad region, which borders Finland.
It is still not known for certain whether the shelling took place, or whether the government of the Soviet Union decided to push its borders towards Finland in order to maximally secure Leningrad in the event of a serious military conflict developing between European countries.
The participants in the conflict, which lasted only 3.5 months, were only Finnish and Soviet troops, and the Red Army outnumbered the Finnish by 2 times, and by 4 times in terms of equipment and guns.
The initial goal of the military conflict on the part of the USSR was the desire to obtain the Karelian Isthmus in order to ensure the territorial security of one of the largest and most significant cities of the Soviet Union - Leningrad. Finland hoped for help from its European allies, but received only the entry of volunteers into the ranks of its army, which did not make the task any easier, and the war ended without the development of a large-scale confrontation. Its results were the following territorial changes: the USSR received
- cities of Sortavala and Vyborg, Kuolojärvi,
- Karelian Isthmus,
- territory with Lake Ladoga,
- Rybachy and Sredniy peninsulas partially,
- part of the Hanko Peninsula for rent to accommodate a military base.
As a result, the state border of Soviet Russia was shifted 150 km towards Europe from Leningrad, which actually saved the city. The Soviet-Finnish War of 1939-1940 was a serious, thoughtful and successful strategic move on the part of the USSR on the eve of the Second World War. It was this step and several others taken by Stalin that made it possible to predetermine its outcome and save Europe, and perhaps the whole world, from being captured by the Nazis.
On the eve of the World War, both Europe and Asia were already in flames with many local conflicts. International tension was due to the high probability of a new big war, and all the most powerful political players on the world map before it began tried to secure favorable starting positions for themselves, without neglecting any means. The USSR was no exception. In 1939-1940 The Soviet-Finnish war began. The reasons for the inevitable military conflict lay in the same looming threat of a major European war. The USSR, increasingly aware of its inevitability, was forced to look for an opportunity to move the state border as far as possible from one of the most strategically important cities - Leningrad. Taking this into account, the Soviet leadership entered into negotiations with the Finns, offering their neighbors an exchange of territories. At the same time, the Finns were offered a territory almost twice as large as what the USSR planned to receive in return. One of the demands that the Finns did not want to accept under any circumstances was the USSR’s request to locate military bases on Finnish territory. Even the admonitions of Germany (an ally of Helsinki), including Hermann Goering, who hinted to the Finns that they could not count on Berlin’s help, did not force Finland to move away from its positions. Thus, the parties who did not come to a compromise came to the beginning of the conflict.
Progress of hostilities
The Soviet-Finnish war began on November 30, 1939. Obviously, the Soviet command was counting on a quick and victorious war with minimal losses. However, the Finns themselves were also not going to surrender to the mercy of their big neighbor. The president of the country, the military Mannerheim, who, by the way, received his education in the Russian Empire, planned to delay the Soviet troops with a massive defense for as long as possible, until the start of assistance from Europe. The complete quantitative advantage of the Soviet country in both human resources and equipment was obvious. The war for the USSR began with heavy fighting. Its first stage in historiography is usually dated from November 30, 1939 to February 10, 1940 - the time that became the bloodiest for the advancing Soviet troops. The line of defense, called the Mannerheim Line, became an insurmountable obstacle for the Red Army soldiers. Fortified pillboxes and bunkers, Molotov cocktails, which later became known as Molotov cocktails, severe frosts that reached 40 degrees - all this is considered to be the main reasons for the failures of the USSR in the Finnish campaign.
The turning point in the war and its end
The second stage of the war begins on February 11, the moment of the general offensive of the Red Army. At this time, a significant amount of manpower and equipment was concentrated on the Karelian Isthmus. For several days before the attack, the Soviet army carried out artillery preparations, subjecting the entire surrounding area to heavy bombardment.
As a result of the successful preparation of the operation and the further assault, the first line of defense was broken within three days, and by February 17 the Finns had completely switched to the second line. During February 21-28, the second line was also broken. On March 13, the Soviet-Finnish war ended. On this day, the USSR stormed Vyborg. The leaders of Suomi realized that there was no longer a chance to defend themselves after a breakthrough in the defense, and the Soviet-Finnish war itself was doomed to remain a local conflict, without outside support, which is what Mannerheim was counting on. Given this, a request for negotiations was a logical conclusion.
Results of the war
As a result of protracted bloody battles, the USSR achieved satisfaction of all its claims. In particular, the country became the sole owner of the waters of Lake Ladoga. In total, the Soviet-Finnish war guaranteed the USSR an increase in territory by 40 thousand square meters. km. As for losses, this war cost the Soviet country dearly. According to some estimates, about 150 thousand people left their lives in the snows of Finland. Was this company necessary? Considering the fact that Leningrad was the target of German troops almost from the very beginning of the attack, it is worth admitting that yes. However, heavy losses seriously cast doubt on the combat effectiveness of the Soviet army. By the way, the end of hostilities did not mark the end of the conflict. Soviet-Finnish War 1941-1944 became a continuation of the epic, during which the Finns, trying to regain what they had lost, failed again.
Another old entry of mine made it to the top after 4 whole years. Today, of course, I would correct some of the statements from that time. But, alas, there is absolutely no time.
gusev_a_v in the Soviet-Finnish War. Losses Part 2
The Soviet-Finnish War and Finland's participation in World War II are extremely mythologized. A special place in this mythology is occupied by the losses of the parties. Very small in Finland and huge in the USSR. Mannerheim wrote that the Russians walked through minefields, in dense rows and holding hands. Every Russian person who recognizes the incomparability of losses must at the same time admit that our grandfathers were idiots.
I’ll quote Finnish Commander-in-Chief Mannerheim again:
« It happened that in the battles of early December, Russians marched singing in tight ranks - and even holding hands - into Finnish minefields, not paying attention to explosions and accurate fire from the defenders.”
Can you imagine these cretins?
After such statements, the loss figures cited by Mannerheim are not surprising. He counted 24,923 Finns killed and dying from wounds. Russians, in his opinion, killed 200 thousand people.
Why feel sorry for these Russians?
Finnish soldier in a coffin...
Engle, E. Paanenen L. in the book “The Soviet-Finnish War. Breakthrough of the Mannerheim Line 1939 - 1940.” with reference to Nikita Khrushchev they give the following data:
“Of the total number of 1.5 million people sent to fight in Finland, the USSR’s losses in killed (according to Khrushchev) amounted to 1 million people. The Russians lost about 1000 aircraft, 2300 tanks and armored vehicles, as well as a huge amount of various military equipment... "
Thus, the Russians won, filling the Finns with “meat”.
Finnish military cemetery...
Mannerheim writes about the reasons for the defeat as follows:
“In the final stages of the war, the weakest point was not the lack of materials, but the lack of manpower.”
Why?
According to Mannerheim, the Finns lost only 24 thousand killed and 43 thousand wounded. And after such scanty losses, Finland began to lack manpower?
Something doesn't add up!
But let's see what other researchers write and have written about the losses of the parties.
For example, Pykhalov in “The Great Slandered War” states:
« Of course, during the fighting, the Soviet Armed Forces suffered significantly greater losses than the enemy. According to the name lists, in the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940. 126,875 Red Army soldiers were killed, died or went missing. The losses of the Finnish troops, according to official data, were 21,396 killed and 1,434 missing. However, another figure for Finnish losses is often found in Russian literature - 48,243 killed, 43 thousand wounded. The primary source of this figure is a translation of an article by Lieutenant Colonel of the Finnish General Staff Helge Seppälä published in the newspaper “Abroad” No. 48 for 1989, originally published in the Finnish publication “Maailma ya me”. Regarding the Finnish losses, Seppälä writes the following:
“Finland lost more than 23,000 people killed in the “winter war”; more than 43,000 people were injured. 25,243 people were killed in the bombings, including on merchant ships.”
The last figure - 25,243 killed in bombings - is questionable. Perhaps there is a newspaper typo here. Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to familiarize myself with the Finnish original of Seppälä’s article.”
Mannerheim, as you know, assessed the losses from the bombing:
“More than seven hundred civilians were killed and twice that number were wounded.”
The largest figures for Finnish losses are given by Military Historical Journal No. 4, 1993:
“So, according to far from complete data, the losses of the Red Army amounted to 285,510 people (72,408 killed, 17,520 missing, 13,213 frostbitten and 240 shell-shocked). The losses of the Finnish side, according to official data, amounted to 95 thousand killed and 45 thousand wounded.”
And finally, Finnish losses on Wikipedia:
According to Finnish data:
25,904 killed
43,557 wounded
1000 prisoners
According to Russian sources:
up to 95 thousand soldiers killed
45 thousand wounded
806 prisoners
As for the calculation of Soviet losses, the mechanism of these calculations is given in detail in the book “Russia in the Wars of the 20th Century. The Book of Loss." The number of irretrievable losses of the Red Army and the fleet includes even those with whom their relatives broke off contact in 1939-1940.
That is, there is no evidence that they died in the Soviet-Finnish war. And our researchers counted these among the losses of more than 25 thousand people.
Red Army soldiers examine captured Boffors anti-tank guns
Who and how counted the Finnish losses is absolutely unclear. It is known that by the end of the Soviet-Finnish war the total number of Finnish armed forces reached 300 thousand people. The loss of 25 thousand fighters is less than 10% of the armed forces.
But Mannerheim writes that by the end of the war Finland was experiencing a shortage of manpower. However, there is another version. There are few Finns in general, and even minor losses for such a small country are a threat to the gene pool.
However, in the book “Results of the Second World War. Conclusions of the Vanquished,” Professor Helmut Aritz estimates the population of Finland in 1938 at 3 million 697 thousand people.
The irretrievable loss of 25 thousand people does not pose any threat to the gene pool of the nation.
According to Aritz's calculations, the Finns lost in 1941 - 1945. more than 84 thousand people. And after that, the population of Finland by 1947 grew by 238 thousand people!!!
At the same time, Mannerheim, describing the year 1944, again cries in his memoirs about the lack of people:
“Finland was gradually forced to mobilize its trained reserves down to people aged 45, something that had never happened in any country, not even Germany.”
Funeral of Finnish skiers
What kind of cunning manipulations the Finns are doing with their losses - I don’t know. On Wikipedia, Finnish losses in the period 1941 - 1945 are indicated as 58 thousand 715 people. Losses during the war of 1939 - 1940 - 25 thousand 904 people.
A total of 84 thousand 619 people.
But the Finnish website http://kronos.narc.fi/menehtyneet/ contains data on 95 thousand Finns who died between 1939 and 1945. Even if we add here the victims of the “Lapland War” (according to Wikipedia, about 1000 people), the numbers still do not add up.
Vladimir Medinsky in his book “War. Myths of the USSR” claims that ardent Finnish historians pulled off a simple trick: they counted only army losses. And the losses of numerous paramilitary formations, such as the Shutskor, were not included in the general loss statistics. And they had many paramilitary forces.
How much - Medinsky does not explain.
"Fighters" of the "Lotta" formations
Be that as it may, two explanations arise:
First, if the Finnish data about their losses is correct, then the Finns are the most cowardly people in the world, because they “raised their paws” without suffering almost any losses.
The second is that if we assume that the Finns are a brave and courageous people, then Finnish historians simply vastly underestimated their own losses.
The Soviet-Finnish or Winter War began on November 30, 1939, and ended on March 12, 1940. The reasons for the start, course and results of the war are still considered very controversial. The instigator of the war was the USSR, whose leadership was interested in territorial acquisitions in the Karelian Isthmus region. Western countries almost did not react to the Soviet-Finnish conflict. France, England and the United States tried to adhere to a position of non-interference in local conflicts, so as not to give Hitler a reason for new territorial seizures. Therefore, Finland was left without the support of its Western allies.
Reason and reasons for the war
The Soviet-Finnish war was provoked by a whole complex of reasons related, first of all, to the protection of the border between the two countries, as well as geopolitical differences.
- During 1918-1922 The Finns attacked the RSFSR twice. To prevent further conflicts, an agreement on the inviolability of the Soviet-Finnish border was signed in 1922; according to the same document, Finland received Petsamo or the Pecheneg region, the Rybachy Peninsula and part of the Sredny Peninsula. In the 1930s, Finland and the USSR signed a Non-Aggression Pact. At the same time, relations between the states remained tense; the leadership of both countries feared mutual territorial claims.
- Stalin regularly received information that Finland had signed secret agreements on support and assistance with the Baltic countries and Poland if the Soviet Union attacked one of them.
- At the end of the 1930s, Stalin and his circle were also concerned about the rise of Adolf Hitler. Despite the signing of the Non-Aggression Pact and the secret protocol on the division of spheres of influence in Europe, many in the USSR feared a military clash and considered it necessary to begin preparations for war. One of the most strategically important cities in the USSR was Leningrad, but the city was too close to the Soviet-Finnish border. In the event that Finland decided to support Germany (and this is exactly what happened), Leningrad would find itself in a very vulnerable position. Shortly before the start of the war, the USSR repeatedly appealed to the leadership of Finland with a request to exchange part of the Karelian Isthmus for other territories. However, the Finns refused. Firstly, the lands offered in exchange were infertile, and secondly, in the area that interested the USSR, there were important military fortifications - the Mannerheim Line.
- Also, the Finnish side did not give its consent to the Soviet Union leasing several Finnish islands and part of the Hanko Peninsula. The USSR leadership planned to place its military bases in these territories.
- Soon the activities of the Communist Party were banned in Finland;
- Germany and the USSR signed a secret non-aggression treaty and secret protocols to it, according to which Finnish territory was to fall into the zone of influence of the Soviet Union. To some extent, this agreement freed the hands of the Soviet leadership with regard to regulating the situation with Finland
The reason for the start of the Winter War was. On November 26, 1939, the village of Mainila, located on the Karelian Isthmus, was shelled from Finland. The Soviet border guards who were in the village at that time suffered the most from the shelling. Finland denied its involvement in this act and did not want the conflict to develop further. However, the Soviet leadership took advantage of the current situation and declared the start of war.
There is still no evidence confirming the guilt of the Finns in the shelling of Mainila. Although, however, there are no documents indicating the involvement of the Soviet military in the November provocation. The papers provided by both parties cannot be considered as unambiguous evidence of anyone’s guilt. At the end of November, Finland advocated the creation of a general commission to investigate the incident, but the Soviet Union rejected this proposal.
On November 28, the leadership of the USSR denounced the Soviet-Finnish non-aggression pact (1932). Two days later, active hostilities began, which went down in history as the Soviet-Finnish war.
In Finland, the mobilization of those liable for military service was carried out; in the Soviet Union, the troops of the Leningrad Military District and the Red Banner Baltic Fleet were brought into full combat readiness. A broad propaganda campaign was launched against the Finns in the Soviet media. In response, Finland began to carry out an anti-Soviet campaign in the press.
From mid-November 1939, the USSR deployed four armies against Finland, which included: 24 divisions (the total number of military personnel reached 425 thousand), 2.3 thousand tanks and 2.5 thousand aircraft.
The Finns had only 14 divisions, in which 270 thousand people served, they had 30 tanks and 270 aircraft.
Course of events
The Winter War can be divided into two stages:
- November 1939 - January 1940: the USSR advanced in several directions at once, the fighting was quite fierce;
- February - March 1940: massive shelling of Finnish territory, attack on the Mannerheim Line, Finnish surrender and peace negotiations.
On November 30, 1939, Stalin gave the order to advance on the Karelian Isthmus, and on December 1, Soviet troops captured the city of Terijoki (now Zelenogorsk).
In the occupied territory, the Soviet army established contacts with Otto Kuusinen, who was the head of the Finnish Communist Party and an active participant in the Comintern. With Stalin's support, he proclaimed the creation of the Finnish Democratic Republic. Kuusinen became its president and began negotiations with the Soviet Union on behalf of the Finnish people. Official diplomatic relations were established between the FDR and the USSR.
The Soviet 7th Army moved very quickly towards the Mannerheim Line. The first chain of fortifications was broken through in the first ten days of 1939. The Soviet soldiers were unable to advance further. All attempts to break through the next lines of defense ended in losses and defeats. Failures on the line led to the suspension of further advance into the interior of the country.
Another army - the 8th - was advancing in the north of Lake Ladoga. In just a few days, the troops covered 80 kilometers, but were stopped by a lightning attack by the Finns, as a result of which half of the army was destroyed. Finland's success was due, first of all, to the fact that Soviet troops were tied to the roads. The Finns, moving in small mobile units, easily cut off equipment and people from the necessary communications. The 8th Army retreated with casualties, but did not leave the region until the very end of the war.
The most unsuccessful campaign of the Red Army during the Winter War is considered to be the attack on Central Karelia. Stalin sent the 9th Army here, which successfully advanced from the first days of the war. The troops were tasked with capturing the city of Oulu. This was supposed to cut Finland into two parts, demoralize and disorganize the army in the northern regions of the country. Already on December 7, 1939, the soldiers managed to capture the village of Suomussalmi, but the Finns were able to encircle the division. The Red Army switched to a perimeter defense, repelling attacks by Finnish skiers. Finnish detachments carried out their actions suddenly, and the main striking force of the Finns were almost elusive snipers. The clumsy and insufficiently mobile Soviet troops began to suffer enormous human losses, and equipment also broke down. The 44th Infantry Division was sent to help the encircled division, which also found itself surrounded by Finnish forces. Due to the fact that the two divisions were under constant fire, the 163rd Rifle Division gradually began to fight its way back. Almost 30% of the personnel died, more than 90% of the equipment was left to the Finns. The latter almost completely destroyed the 44th division and regained control of the state border in Central Karelia. In this direction, the actions of the Red Army were paralyzed, and the Finnish army received huge trophies. The victory over the enemy raised the morale of the soldiers, but Stalin repressed the leadership of the 163rd and 44th rifle divisions of the Red Army.
In the area of the Rybachy Peninsula, the 14th Army advanced quite successfully. Within a short period of time, the soldiers captured the city of Petsamo with its nickel mines and went straight to the border with Norway. Thus, Finland was cut off from access to the Barents Sea.
In January 1940, the Finns encircled the 54th Infantry Division (in the Suomussalmi area, in the south), but did not have the strength and resources to destroy it. Soviet soldiers were surrounded until March 1940. The same fate awaited the 168th Infantry Division, which tried to advance in the Sortavala area. Also, a Soviet tank division fell into Finnish encirclement near Lemetti-Yuzhny. She managed to escape from the encirclement, losing all her equipment and more than half her soldiers.
The Karelian Isthmus became the zone of the most active military operations. But by the end of December 1939, the fighting here stopped. This was caused by the fact that the leadership of the Red Army began to understand the futility of attacks on the Mannerheim line. The Finns tried to use the lull in the war to maximum advantage and go on the attack. But all operations ended unsuccessfully with huge casualties.
By the end of the first stage of the war, in January 1940, the Red Army was in a difficult situation. She fought in unfamiliar, practically unexplored territory; moving forward was dangerous due to numerous ambushes. In addition, the weather made planning operations difficult. The position of the Finns was also unenviable. They had problems with the number of soldiers and lacked equipment, but the country's population had enormous experience in guerrilla warfare. Such tactics made it possible to attack with small forces, inflicting significant losses on large Soviet detachments.
Second period of the Winter War
Already on February 1, 1940, on the Karelian Isthmus, the Red Army began a massive artillery shelling that lasted 10 days. The purpose of this action was to damage the fortifications on the Mannerheim Line and the Finnish troops, to exhaust the soldiers, and to break their morale. The actions taken achieved their goals, and on February 11, 1940, the Red Army began an offensive into the interior of the country.
Very fierce fighting began on the Karelian Isthmus. The Red Army first planned to deliver the main blow to the settlement of Summa, which was located in the Vyborg direction. But the USSR army began to get stuck on foreign territory, suffering losses. As a result, the direction of the main attack was changed to Lyakhde. In the area of this settlement, the Finnish defenses were broken through, which allowed the Red Army to pass through the first strip of the Mannerheim Line. The Finns began to withdraw their troops.
By the end of February 1940, the Soviet army also crossed Mannerheim’s second line of defense, breaking through it in several places. By the beginning of March, the Finns began to retreat because they were in a difficult situation. Reserves were depleted, the morale of the soldiers was broken. A different situation was observed in the Red Army, the main advantage of which was its huge reserves of equipment, materiel, and replenished personnel. In March 1940, the 7th Army approached Vyborg, where the Finns put up stiff resistance.
On March 13, hostilities ceased, which was initiated by the Finnish side. The reasons for this decision were as follows:
- Vyborg was one of the largest cities in the country, its loss could have a negative impact on the morale of citizens and the economy;
- After the capture of Vyborg, the Red Army could easily reach Helsinki, which threatened Finland with a complete loss of independence and independence.
Peace negotiations began on March 7, 1940 and took place in Moscow. Based on the results of the discussion, the parties decided to cease hostilities. The Soviet Union received all the territories on the Karelian Isthmus and the cities: Salla, Sortavala and Vyborg, located in Lapland. Stalin also achieved that the Hanko Peninsula be given to him on a long-term lease.
- The Red Army lost about 88 thousand people killed, dying from wounds and frostbite. Almost 40 thousand more people were missing, and 160 thousand were injured. Finland lost 26 thousand people killed, 40 thousand Finns were injured;
- The Soviet Union achieved one of its key foreign policy objectives - ensuring the security of Leningrad;
- The USSR strengthened its position on the Baltic coast, which was achieved through the acquisition of Vyborg and the Hanko Peninsula, where Soviet military bases were moved;
- The Red Army gained vast experience in conducting military operations in difficult weather and tactical conditions, learning to break through fortified lines;
- In 1941, Finland supported Nazi Germany in the war against the USSR and allowed German troops through its territory, who managed to establish a blockade of Leningrad;
- The destruction of the Mannerheim Line was fatal for the USSR, since Germany was able to quickly capture Finland and enter the territory of the Soviet Union;
- The war showed Germany that the Red Army was unfit for combat in difficult weather conditions. The same opinion was formed among the leaders of other countries;
- Finland, under the terms of the peace agreement, had to build a railway track, with the help of which it was planned to connect the Kola Peninsula and the Gulf of Bothnia. The road was supposed to pass through the village of Alakurtia and connect with Tornio. But this part of the agreement was never implemented;
- On October 11, 1940, another agreement was signed between the USSR and Finland, which concerned the Åland Islands. The Soviet Union received the right to establish a consulate here, and the archipelago was declared a demilitarized zone;
- The international organization League of Nations, created following the First World War, excluded the Soviet Union from its membership. This was due to the fact that the international community reacted negatively to the USSR intervention in Finland. The reasons for exclusion were also the constant aerial bombing of Finnish civilian targets. Incendiary bombs were often used during raids;
Thus, the Winter War became the reason for Germany and Finland to gradually move closer and interact. The Soviet Union tried to resist such cooperation, restraining the growing influence of Germany and trying to establish a loyal regime in Finland. All this led to the fact that with the outbreak of World War II, the Finns joined the Axis countries in order to free themselves from the USSR and return lost territories.