Craig Biryla

Professor Presnell
UWRT 1103
11 Nov. 2014
The Winter War: Russias Invasion of Finland
A small Finnish army defending their homeland against the largest army in the world. In
the 1939 Winter War Finland was under attack by the Soviet Union. Finlands entire army was
less than the half the population of the largest city in the Soviet Union. For all intents and
purposes it should have been a quick war, and thats what the Soviet Union expected. What they
werent expecting was the versatility of the Finland army. There were many factors that gave
Finland an edge in the war, helping to balance the odds. What I what to discover is the factors
allowing Finland to hold back the Soviet Union with such a small army, and how it affected he
course of World War II. Ive always had an interest in war, and have never heard of a war more
interesting than this.
Beginnings of the War
The Soviet Union saw the islands
Finland controlled as a strategic place for a
military base, and were worried Finland would
allow Germany to use it as a base, allowing
easier access to the Soviet Union. After all the
Finnish frontier was only 25 kilometers from

Figure 1A map showing Finland's location in relation to the Soviet

Union. Source: www.wikipedia.com

Leningrad (the Soviet Unions second largest city) at its closest point. The reasoning behind this
came from Finlands support of anti-communist groups in the Soviet Unions civil war.
According to Fred Singletons A Short History of Finland, the Soviet Union demanded
Finland give over part of the Karelian Isthmus (A fortified island on the coast of Finland), the
Hanko Peninsula, and part of the Petsamo area. Finland in response offered an island near
Hanko, which was refused by the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union claimed Finland artillery had
fired on their troops on November 26th on the border of Mainila. They used this to justify
attacking Finland and allowing them to break the 1932 non-aggression pact, beginning the
invasion.
About the war
The Soviet Union sent four armies to Finland with a total of 21 divisions, and over
400,000 troops, along with thousands of tanks, aircraft, and heavy artillery. The army they sent
was three times the size of the Allied landing on D-Day, and this was only the start. Compared to
Finlands army of around 300,000 troops, and under 100 tanks. The first town attacked by the
Soviet Union was Terijoki in the Karelian Isthmus.
The Soviet Union expected to have complete control over Finland in just a few short
weeks, having a vastly superior military. They planned to attack Finland from everywhere at
once and simply overwhelm them. A quote from Nikita Hrustovins memoirs from the Fire and
Ice documentary best describes the Russians expectations of the war, All we had to do was raise
our voice a little bit and the Finns would obey if that didnt work we could fire one shot and the
Finns would put up their hands and surrender, or so we thought. Although in reality the Finns

fought harder than they could ever have imagined. After a month of fighting the Soviet Union
had to send in nearly three quarters of a million more troops.
After the Soviet Union realized attacking all of Finland at once wouldnt work, on
December 17th they focused on breaking through the weakest parts of the Mannerheim line.
Wave after wave of Soviet troops charged the Finnish defenses, only to be mowed down by
Finnish defensive machine gunners. At Taipale three divisions failed to break through the
Finnish defenses. Some Finnish machine gunners became psychologically unstable as they killed
hundreds of troops who practically ran into their fire following orders. Between attacking
Taipale and Suma the Soviet army had lost 7 divisions, and over 250 Soviet tanks were scattered
across the battlefield.
Finlands Advantages
In researching this war it was obvious Finland had to have some advantages to be able to
hold off an army the size of the Soviet Unions but what I didnt expect was the effectiveness of
Finnish tactics.
Finlands strength rallied
around one man, Carl Gustaf
Emil Mannerheim. Mannerheim
was a general in the Soviet
Unions imperial army before
moving to Finland. He came out
of retirement at age 72 to become
commander-in-chief of the
Figure 2 The red x's show Finland's main defensive lined called the Matterheim
line. Fire and Ice

Finnish armed forces to repel the Soviets. He had fought, and commanded the Soviets,
understanding the tactics they would try to use. Before the war had started he expected them to
attack and urged the Finns to build defenses along the strategic line along the Karelian Isthmus,
this defensive line would become the defining factor in Finlands resistance. It allowed Finland
four months to organize and train their army, most of which had never been trained how to fight
a tank, would need to learn quickly as the Soviet Union had thousands on the way. Throughout
the war Mannerheim would continue to lead the Finns and defend their homeland.

Another important factor of the war were the troops themselves. The Soviet Unions
troops wore brown camouflage which made them stick out in Finlands snow covered country.
Finlands soldiers wore white camouflage which made them nearly invisible even while moving.
Fire and Ice describes the Finnish troops, their independence and the survival instincts they
learned as a child that helped them to survive. Its best summed up by the Finnish word Sisu. The
word is defined as having
bravery, determination, and
resilience in the face of adversity
no matter the odds, and to
continue regardless of failure. A
quote from an unknown source in
the Fire and Ice documentary
explains its meaning to Finns, It
means theres a kind of ability or

Figure 3An Soviet tank hit with a Molotov cocktail. Fire and Ice

spirit that every Finn is supposed

to have that when things go wrong you dont give up. They learned how to take out enemy
tanks, by throwing Molotov cocktails (Basically just a bottle with a flammable liquid inside that
explodes when the bottle is broken) at the rear of Soviet tanks where the air intakes were located.
The fire would be sucked in destroying the engine, and setting the fuel tanks on fire. An
unknown source from the Fire and Ice documentary describes one of these soldiers, There was
one ski trooper who was decorated for actually immobilizing Russian tanks by prying the treads
of with brute force whereupon his partner came out with a satchel charge and blew it up.
Another soldier now known to many is Simo Hyh.

Simo Hyh was a sniper during the Winter War and currently holds the record for the
most confirmed sniper kills at 505 kills. He also has around 200 unconfirmed machine gun kills,
all during the Winter War which was only around 100 days long. Jason Bellows goes into detail
on Simo Hyhs ability to snipe in his article White Death. He would go out for days at a time
using just the iron sights of the weapon to avoid detection, as a scope could glint in the sun. He
was so troublesome artillery strikes were called on his possible locations. An anti-sniper squad
was even sent out to kill him and he killed the entire squad. He was hit in the head by a stray
bullet around his jaw near the end of the war. He awoke from a coma the day after the war
ended. He still holds the record for the most confirmed sniper kills.
The Finnish also had an advantage in the food they ate. They were fighting in one of the
coldest winters in history, temperatures were consistently below zero, and not uncommonly
below -40o and -50o Celsius. It was so cold when soldiers were shot and their blood circulation
stopped they would freeze in the posture they were standing in. Because of this soldiers required
an extremely high protein, and fat diet to survive, which the Finnish army had access to. The
Soviet army ate black bread and tea which did not provide enough of the nutrients needed to
keep soldiers alive and fighting strong. In this sense a hot meal was quite literally the difference
between life and death. This was such an important factor, it actually saved Finland in a battle
around mid-December called the Sausage War by the Finns. A Soviet Union battalion had
managed to sneak around the Matterheim line and posed a serious threat as they had the ability to
attack Finnish troops from behind and allow an opening for Soviet troops to pass through. What
stopped the Soviet troops from attacking was sausage soup. Finnish field kitchens were cooking
enough sausage soup to feed the entire 2,000 men in that sector, when they caught the scent of

the field kitchens they ignored their officers and immediately went for them, and were quickly
taken out by Finnish defenders.
Finlands geography and
infrastructure also was a
contributing factor to the war. The
Soviet Unions 44th division was
sent to reinforce the 163rd division
attempting to cross through Finland,
which would separate their troops.

They had 335 artillery pieces,

Figure 4Memorial for the 44th and 163rd division of the Soviet Union. Fire
and Ice

30,000 troops, 100 tanks, and 50

armored cars stretched out for 20 to 30 miles. They had the opportunity to split Finland
defenders, drastically weakening their defenses. Although their plan didnt go as planned due to
Finlands roads. Finland mainly consists of one lane logging trails until you near the center of it.
The column had to move single file, and was ripe for attack. The Finns would move in on skis
nearly invisible, and would destroy the front and rear vehicles trapping the column. They would
then isolate sections of the column and fight them one by one.
There were many other factors that influenced the war, and helped turn the tide in
Finlands favor, but these were the ones I felt had the biggest impact in the course of the war.
Allies/Axis
Throughout the war between Finland and the Soviet Union, Finland never received any
help. This was due to problems getting troops and supplies to Finland. The article The Winter

War 1939 goes into detail about British Minister Gordon Vereker urging the Finns to hold out for
supplies, and not give in. The Soviet Union was expelled from the League of Nations according
to the Fire and Ice documentary, but no other actions would be taken as most believed the odds
too impossible. France and Britain planned to send troops and supplies, but to do so they would
have to pass through Norway and Sweden, both of which were neutral territories. They had to get
permission from each to allow the passage of troops, otherwise they would be violating their
neutrality. On February 22cd Colonel Jean Ganeval from France, and Brigadier C.G. Ling from
Britain arrived in Finland to explain their plan. They would try to get around 20,000 troops
through, but it wasnt likely to happen before mid-April. The Finns decided they couldnt rely on
them to help them since there was no guarantee they would survive that long, and there was no
guarantee help would even be able to get through Sweden and Norway. They would have to try
and make a treaty with the Soviet Union at great expense, while they still had the chance.
Treaty
Throughout the war Finland was always trying to re-open peace negotiations with the
Soviet Union. Although they were able to hold off the Red Army for the time being it would
only be a matter of time before the Soviet Union defeated Finland through sheer force, although
at a great expense. The Soviet Unoin also had to worry about other countries intervening to
prevent them from taking over Finland. On February 29th Finland agreed to the terms set by the
Soviet Union and began entering negotiations.
Aftermath
Finlands tolls from the war, while smaller than the Soviet Union, were much more
devastating. The Soviet Union is a much larger country, with a much higher population

compared to Finland. The war left 20,000 Finnish troops dead, and nearly 50,000 wounded. Over
400,000 Finns were allowed to relocate out of the areas the Soviet Union took over. To help
these people Finland launched the Rapid Emergency Resettlement Act which passed in June
1940, giving 330 hectares dedicated to the resettlement of farmers from Karelia. While other
Finns worked to build new farms and shelters for the displaced persons.
The Importance of the War
According to Fire and Ice many historians believe that if the Winter War had not
happened and the Soviet Union hadnt reevaluated their army that when Hitler invaded, the
Soviet Union would have fallen. This would have completely changed the outcome of the
Second World War in ways we cannot even imagine. But even beyond this The Winter War has
a message the Finns have believed in since they were children. Sisu, no matter what the odds,
never relinquish your freedom and independence. Many countries opted not to help Finland
because the odds were so against them, and even without that help retained their independence
from the Soviet Union. So I believe the most important thing you can learn from this war is to
fight for your freedom, even against the odds, because theres always a chance you could win.

Works Cited
Bellows, Jason. "White Death." Damn Interesting. Word Press, 4 May 2014. Web. 9 Nov. 2014.
Fire and Ice - The Winter War of Finland and Russia. Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), 2008.
Singleton, Fred. "The Winter War." A Short History of Finland. New York: Cambridge UP,
1989. Print.
"The Winter War 1939". HistoryLearningSite.co.uk. 2006. Web.