Thread: Battle for Finland

In 1939 Russia extended its border at the expense of several neighbouring countries but Finland refuses to be coerced.

Poland was not the only country that figured in the secret clauses of the 1939 Russo-German Pact. They also mentioned the Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, together with Finland, placing them all within the sphere of interest of the USSR. Joseph Stalin, having watched Hitler's army conquer one small nation so spectacularly, seems to have felt that it was time for the Red Army to bring him similar gains.

The long columns of Soviet troops pressing into central Finland were cut to pieces in December. Chopped into pockets, some 30,000 Soviets were killed or captured around Suomussalmi, many frozen to death after their supplies ran out. The Soviet 44th and 163rd Divisions were annihilated.

Political pressure and geographic realities were enough to persuade the three Baltic republics to sign treaties of mutual assistance, which allowed the USSR to establish garrisons and bases within their borders. However, Finland felt herself protected in her most vulnerable area by the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga, and by the wilderness of forest, swamp, lakes and sheer arctic distances that made up her eastern frontier, stretching from Lake Ladoga up to the Arctic Ocean. The Finns also believed that the spirit and training of her armed forces would be enough to hold the first onslaught, and that the sight of their own David fighting off the Soviet Goliath would evoke active aid from the rest of the world.

The Winter War was fought in a sparsely inhabited land of forest and swamp with a savage winter climate. From south of Oulu the countryside was heavily wooded and bad going for mechanised units. Following the German invasion of Russia in 1941 Finland swiftly recaptured the territories it lost in 1940, only to lose them and other areas after World War 11.

Overwhelming odds When, on 28 November, after two months of verbal bullying by Molotov and defiance by the Finnish leaders Paasikivi and Tanner, the USSR broke off negotiations and attacked the Finnish defences two days later, it looked at first as though the Finns had been right. Certainly, all Western Europe and the USA applauded the Finnish stand - and Finnish military successes at first exceeded all expectations. Despite the size of the Finnish army (at its peak, never more than 16 divisions), despite its acute shortage of artillery and heavy ammunition, despite its shortage of transport, signals equipment and total lack of armour, it held the Soviet attack which came up through the Karelian Isthmus, along the whole of the Mannerheim Line (the main Finnish defences) from the Gulf of Finland to the River Vuoksi. The Finnish II and III Corps, in fact, beat back the Soviet 7th and 13th Armies, inflicting astonishing losses on the Red Army infantry by the accuracy of their rifle and machine-gun fire, and on the Soviet tanks with petrol bombs. By 22 December, after six days of pointless battering against a seemingly impregnable line, the Soviets broke off the action and withdrew to regroup and to re-think.

This Soviet soldier wears the standard army greatcoat and high boots. The curious cap is the budionovka, which proved impractical in Finland, fur caps being much warmer. The red colour patches indicate arm of service.

Matters had not gone so well for the Finns north of Lake Ladoga. The six divisions of the Soviet 8th Army crossed the frontier and advanced implacably to the line of Finnish defences between Kitela and Ilomantsi. But in doing so they had given some hostages to fortune: incredibly, the Soviets had no ski troops, whereas every Finnish soldier was well trained on skis and many were expert at using them in a military context. Soviet divisions thus found themselves cut off from communication and supplies; small formations were decimated, some units annihilated.

Much farther north at Suomussalmi, the Soviet 163rd Division was surrounded until 29 December, when it broke completely; the survivors fleeing across the frozen wilderness leaving 11 tanks, 25 guns and 150 lorries to the elated victors.
But of course, it could not go on. Firstly, although the UK, France, the USA and Sweden all professed a desire to help, they produced very little of it, the first two because they needed all their resources for their own use, the others because of their carefully cultivated neutrality; and secondly, when plans were laid to send British and French reinforcements in, Sweden refused to allow them passage.

Finnish troops were desperately short of equipment but their difficulties were exacerbated by the sheer variety of different weapons provided by friendly countries. The Suomi M1931 was Finnish-made and one of the best SMG’s available. It was tough, accurate, reliable, and always in short supply.

By early January, Stalin had decided to bring it all to an end. Command was given to General Semyon Timoshenko, siege artillery, was brought up, and on 15 January 1940 the systematic destruction of the Mannerheim Line began.
Finnish troops spent their days in the trenches connecting the strongpoints and their nights desperately trying to reconstruct smashed concrete boxes and obliterated gun posts. Very soon they also had to spend every night trying to beat off Soviet tanks. Sheer exhaustion spelt the end of the Mannerheim Line, and in due course of every other Finnish line of defence.

The Soviet attacks in December 1939 were so poorly managed that Finnish machine gunners were presented with thick waves of Soviet infantry with no effective support from tanks or artillery. The ensuing bloodbath stopped the Red army in its tracks.

The road to Helsinki.

By the beginning of March the Soviets had driven them back to Viipuri, and from there the Finnish line curved back almost to Tali and on to Vuosalmi, then to the waterline at Taipale on Lake Ladoga. On 3 March Timoshenko sent a battalion and a brigade across the ice to Vilajoki. So the Finnish positions were turned, and the road to Helsinki open.

On 13 March, bowing to the inevitable, Prime Minister Ryti signed the Treaty of Moscow, which returned the Russo-Finnish border more or less to where Peter the Great had drawn it in 1721.

The Soviet 14th Army launched a vigorous offensive aimed at Petsamo to forestall a possible Anglo/French landing. But the Finns could not stop the Soviet advance and they fell back towards the Norwegian border.

You can certainly tell how appropriate the title of the war is (world war) when you see the Scandinavian countries being involved, not to mention those from as far as Australasia.