Figure 1.--
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Figure 1.-- |
It was the Soviet Union not Germany that first struck after the invasion of Poland. Finland is located on the far northern perifery of Europe. Rarely has Finland played a significant role in European history. For a few months, however, it was the Finns who galantly resisted totalitarian resistance. The first effective resistance after a decade of totalitarian successes. Only 2 months after seizing eastern Poland, the Soviet Union on November 30, 1939 invaded Finland, launching the Winter War. Stalin sought a security belt to the west. Finland was the next step in that process. Soviet planes and naval vessels bombarded Finish cities. Roosevelt called it the "rape of Finland". [Freidel, p. 324.] Former Ameican President Herbert Hoover, who had organized American relief efforts for Belgium during World War I, headed voluntary war relief for the Finns. (The President hoped that Hoover would work with Mrs. Roosevelt to work on Government sponsored civilian war relief for the Allies. Such was Hoover animosity toward Roosevelt that he refused. If he had agreed, he suely would haave eventually headed American World War II relief efforts. [Freidel, p.325.] The Finns and Soviets reached a peace agreement in March 1940. The Soviets got the security belt they wanted around Lenningrad. The Soviet invasion of Finland had significant repercussions. The Allies for a time considered actively aiding Finland, but the Germans offensives in the West soon made that impossible. The Red Army energed victorious from the Winter War (1939-40), but at considerable cost. The poor performance of the Red Army in Finland was a factor in Hitler's decission to attack the Soviet Union before Britain had been defeated.
NAZI Foreign Minister Ribbentrop and newly appointed Soviet Commissar for Foreign Affairs Molotov on August 23, 1939, signed the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact. At the time of the signing, British and French delegations were in Moscow trying to reach an understanding with Stalin. Hewas convinced, however, that they were tring to draw him into a war with Hitler. The two countries which until that time had been bitter foes, pledged not attack each other. Any problems developing between the two countries were to be delt with amicably. It was last for 10 years. The Pact shocked the world and the purpose was immedietly apparent. It meant that Germany could attack Poland without fear of Soviet intervention. Thus after defeating Poland, Germany did not have to fear a full-scale European war on two fronts. What was not known at the time was that there was a secret protocol to the pact which in effect divided Eastern Europe betwen the two countries. This protocol was discoered after the end of the World War II in 1945. The Soviets continued to deny this protocol until 1989. The NAZIs 8 days after signing the Pact invade Poland on September 1, 1939, launching World War II. Although the Soviet's did not enter the War against Britain and France, the Soviets were virtual NAZI allies as they provided large quantaies of strategic materials, especially oil. Communist parties in Britainand France opposedthe war effort. The Communst Party in America opposed President Roosevelt's efforts to expand defense spending and assist Britain and France
The NAZIs 8 days after signing the Pact invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, launching World War II. Britain and France declared war September 3. The Germans more than any other military, correctly assessed the lessons of World War II. The War in Europe began on September 1, 1939 when the German blitzkrieg smashed Poland in only a few weeks. The Panzers crossed the Polish frontier on September 1 along with a devestating strike by the Luftwaffe. The Polish Army and Air Force was shattered. Britain and France declared war September 3. Within 6 days Cracow, the center of Polish nationhood, fell. Pincer movements began on September 9 to encirle the major remaining Polish forces. Once certain of Polish defeat, Stalin ordered the Red Army to attack from the East. German and Russian forces met at Brest-Litovsk on September 18. Warsaw fell a few days later after a ruthless bombing assault. The Blitzkrieg tactics that were to prove so devestaing in the West during 1940 were all on display in 1939. Neither the British or French showed much attention, abscribing Polish defeat to military incompetance. The French had promissed the Poles an offensive in the West. It never came. [Fest, pp. 602-603.] Poland's fate was sealed on September 17, when the Soviets invaded Poland from the east.
Once certain of Polish defeat, Stalin ordered the Red Army to attack from the East. Poland's fate was sealed on September 17, when the Soviets invaded Poland from the east. Already shattered by the NAZI invasion, the Polish Army offered little resistance to the Soviets. German and Russian forces met at Brest-Litovsk on September 18. Polish soldiers were internened in camps by the Soviets. Soviet actions in eastern Poland were extremely brutal. An estimated 0.1 million Poles were killed by the Soviets (1939-41). The most publicized killings were the Polish officers shot by the NKVD in the Katyn Forrest, but this was only a part of the wide spread executions of Poles by the Soviets. Some estimates suggest that 2.0 million Poles were deported to Siberia and other areas in the Soviet Union.
Soviet goals and by this we mean, Stalin's goals, are not known. Here only Stalin knows what his goals were in Filand. Presumably he told Molotov. Neither have left a historical record of what their goals were. The damands they made on Finland were to create a security zone to better protect Lenningrad. It is unclear just who the Soviets were concerned about. At the time the Soviets were a NAZI ally. Thus one might think that the security zone was aimed at the Allies. But the Allies had not way of opening aar against the oviets. Perhaps Stalin was thining about the NAZIs even at this stage of the War. There was no indication in 1939 of a diplomatic or military reltionship between Finland and NAZI Germany. Unlike many European countrids, there was mno appreciazble Fascost movemdent in Finland. If this was Stalin's concern, the Soviet invasion simply drove the Finns into the hands of the NAZIS. It is unclear if the Soviet demands were the limits to the Soviet goals or what seems more likely, the first step in the process they would persue in the Baltic states of actually taking over the country. Once the War began the Soviets sought to replace the Finnish government with a pro-Soviet puppet regime--the "Terijoki government".
The Soviet Government presented demands to the Finnish Government. The Soviets wanted Finnish territory along the south-eastern border with the Soviet Union. The Soviets justified the demand as necessary to build a security belt to the west. Finland was the next step in that process. Lenningrad was only 20 miles from the Finish border. The Soviets wanted to push the border 16 more miles into Finish terrirory. The Finnish Governments rejected to Soviet demands as "unthinkable".
It was the Soviet Union not Germany that first struck after the invasion of Poland. Only 2 months after seizing eastern Poland, the Soviet Union invaded Finland, launching the Winter War (November 30, 1939). Soviets estimates were that they would smash the small Finnish Army in 10 days.
The Soviet attacks began at 06.50 AM without any formal declaration of war. The Red Army crossed the border with a force outnumbering the Finns 4 to 1 in men and 200 to 1 in ttanks. [Edwards]
The Red Air Force and Navy bombarded Finish cities. The air attacks seem to have been terror raids rather than attacks on military targets. It is unclear why this was. Many Red Air Force commanders were arrested in the Purges. Thus may reflect a lack of competence. Air warfare was very new. Commanders mat have thought that air attacks on cities would convince the Finns to comply with the Soviet demands.
The Finns were totally unprepared for a war. Finland was amall country nor did it have the resources to build a substantial military as was the case of the Soviet Union. The Finns were poorly equipped and after the initial fighting found themselves desperatly short of munitions. The small Finnish Army and volunteers while lsacking virtually everything in terms of military rquipmebt, however, devised a strategy to stop the huge, but poorly trained Red Army. The highly motivated and well-led Finninsh soldiers was an importantv factor in the War.
Most historians believe that Stalin's purge of the Red Army was a major factor here. The professional core of the Red Army was consumed by the purges. Stalin had carried out a massibe purge of the Red Army just 2 -years before laubching the Red Army. The purge included perhaps 80 percent of the experienced commnders. This surely had a major impact on the Red Army's performance in Finland. [Edwards]
Soviet troops at first advanced with some success, except in Karelia where there was a well organized defensive system. This became known as the "Mannerheim line". After the initial success, the Soviet offensive stalled. The Soviets used World War I tactics of frontal attacks on fixed defenses. Red Army tactics were often just massed frontal attacks on prepared positions. Whole battaloins were desimated.
The Red Army was defeated in major engagements such as the Battle of Suomussalmi.
The Soviets in the north advanced primarily on the roads. There were very few roads and the ones that existed were poorly developed. This left the Soviet columns exposed. The Finns effectively developed small-unit tactics. Ski troops in white camouflage proved highly effetive in hitting Soviet supply lines and dark-uniformed Red army soldiers huddled around camp fires. Field kitchens were another favorite target. [Edeards]
Moving on skis in the back country the Finns were able to encircle and cut off Soviet units. Generally these were small units, but whole divisions were eventually surrounded and destroyed. The Soviet 44th infabtry Division (25,000 men) was virtually destroyed by an attacking Finnish force 0f 6,300 men. [Edwards]
This was an important source of equipment as the Finns began the War with a small, poorly equipped army.
Finland is located on the far northern perifery of Europe. Rarely has Finland played a significant role in European history. For a few months, however, it was the Finns who galantly resisted totalitarian resistance. The first effective resistance after a decade of totalitarian successes. The Finns fought the Red Army while the Allies offered only moral support. The Allies (Britain and France) at the time were at war with Germany. Even so, the Allies for a time considered actively aiding Finland. Reaching Finland was, however, virtually impossivle. Finish ports were on the Baltic. The Germans controlled the Baltic. Allied convoys would also face Red Army and Navy attacks. Part of the reason for the planned Allied operation in Norway was to open supply lines to Finland. The negotiated peace and the NAZI attacks in Norway (April 1940) and the West (May 1940) made such aid moot.
President Roosevelt called the Soviet invasion the "rape of Finland". [Freidel, p. 324.] Former Ameican President Herbert Hoover, who had organized American relief efforts for Belgium during World War I, headed voluntary war relief for the Finns. (The President hoped that Hoover would work with Mrs. Roosevelt to work on Government sponsored civilian war relief for the Allies. Such was Hoover animosity toward Roosevelt that he refused. If he had agreed, he suely would haave eventually headed American World War II relief efforts. [Freidel, p.325.]
Stlalin after the reverses in Finland appointed new commanders. Marshall Timichenko was put in chrge of the offensive. Timichenko during the Great Patriotic War was go prove one of the more competent Red Army Commanders. Red Army losses were heavy, but the Soviets could replace those losses. The Red Army adjusted tactics. And against the much smaller Finnish Army were able to make considerable progress, albeit at considerable cost. It was the vast disparity in military force, however, that decided the issue. The Soviets had the advantage of strong artillery support. The Soviets gradually ground down Finnish resistance. The Soviets not only had a massive air force and army, but were well equipped with artillery and armor. The Finns had very limited equipment and could not import the needed equipment. The Soviets breeched the Finnish defence line on the Karelian isthmus. The Finns had to fall back to secondary defence lines. The Finns soon ran low on both munitions and men to sustain the front.
Fighting dragged on while the two countries conducted peace negotiations.
Finnish forces were able to hold the front, but it was obvious that it was just a matter of time before the Soviets broke through. Also the Finnish Government saw that foreign aid was not arriving. It is unclear why Stalin did not persue the war to total victory. One factor may have been the huge losses sustained by the Red Army. We supect that NAZI diplomats may have also intervened, but Hitler until he had succeeded n the West, did not want trouble with Stalin. Here we do not yet have details. We do know that Hitler was disturbed about the Soviet invasion. The two countries agreed to a cease fire (Match 13, 1940). The Soviets received very substantial concessions from the Finns. The Soviets obtained their security belt and more. On the whole, however, it was an embarassment to the Soviets. One Red Army General commented, that just enough ground was won "to bury our dead". Finland had to ceed 10 percent of its territory. More importantly over 10 percent of Finland's population lived in the ceeded territories. Nearly all of these people, about 0.4 million Finns, moved out of the ceded territory back to Finland forefiting their homes, shops, and farms. Finland managed, however, to salvage its independence.
The Soviet invasion of Finland had significant repercussions. The Red Army energed victorious from the Winter War (1939-40), but at considerable cost. The Soviets at the time minimized the losses. Soviet estimates released during the Khrushev thaw estimated that as many as 1 million Red Army soldiers were killed. Some observers contend that sounds unrealistically high. We know that Red Army losses were very large. The precise number may never be known. Historians contend that the poor performance of the Red Army in Finland was a factor in Hitler's decission to attack the Soviet Union before Britain had been defeated. Of course Hitler's war aims from the beginning was on the East. The poor performance of the Red Army in the Winter War may have enduced him to minimize the dangers. [Edwards] The precise importance of the Winter War in Hitler's thinking will probably never be known. Another impact was on the battle readiness of the Red Army. The Winter War meant that some Red Army units had battle experiene. This is another factor that is difficult to assess, but There is no doubt that the War and subsequent demands on Finland pushed the Finn's into the aems of the NAZIs, giving them a valuably ally in Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union. On the other hand, had it not been for the Winter War, the Red Army may have been even less prepared than proved to be the case when the NAZIs attacked (June 1941). On the other hand, the Soviet losses in the Winter War had been very sizeable.
The Soviet attack on Finland was followed by a series of other aggressions. Although it is the NAZI aggressions that are most commonly addressed in World War II histories, the Soviet Union compiled nearly as long a list of aggressions as the NAZIs. Operating within secret protocols to the Non-agression Pact, Hitler and Stalin were in fact close partners in the waging of aggressive war. The Great Patriotic War fought against the NAZIs after the 1941 German invsion came to be an icon in Soviet history. Left unsaid was the fact that Hitler and Stalin were partners in the virtul partition of Europe.
The NAZI's launched Operation Barbarossa (June 22, 1941). Finland joined the Germans only 3 days later (June 25). Actually the Finns claim that the Soviets initiated hostilities with air attacks on Finnish cities. Prime minister Rangell then declared in a sppech to Parliament that Finland was at war with Soviet Union. I'm not sure if any historian has fully accessed the motives of the Finnish Government. Surely the desire to recover the lost territory was the primary factor. There may have been other factors such as the view at the time that the Stalin and the Skviet Union was a mortal threat to Finnland. Finland joined the Germans as a co-beligerent but not an ally or member of the Axis. The Finns refer to this as the Coninuation War. The Finnish Army innitiated an offensive om the cease-fire line (June 30). The Finns refused, however, to go significantly beyond the lost territory, much to Hitler's despleasure. This was a major reason that the NAZIs failed to capture Lenningrad.
Bayer, James and Orvik, Nils. The Scandinavian Flank as History, 1939-1940 (Kingston Ont: Queen's University, 1984).
Edwards, Robert. The Winter War: Russia's Invasion of Finland, 1939-40 (2008).
Fridel, Frank. Franklin D. Roosevelt: Rendezuous with Destiny (Little Brown: Boston, 1990), 710p.
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