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Results of the war with Finland 1939 1940. Soviet-Finnish war: causes, course of events, consequences

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 the Russians in the battles of early December marched with songs in dense ranks - and even holding hands - on minefields Finns, 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?

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 1,000 aircraft, 2,300 tanks and armored vehicles, as well as huge amount various military equipment..."

Thus, the Russians won, filling the Finns with “meat”.
Mannerheim writes about the reasons for the defeat as follows:
"On final stage the war itself weak point it was not a lack of materials, but a lack of manpower.”

Stop!

Why is this?
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

Regarding the calculation Soviet losses, then 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.
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.”

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. But 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.

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 Unknown War” is the name given to the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939-1940. It is mentioned in many history books. However, it does not reflect the real state of affairs: everyone who is even slightly interested in the history of the Soviet Union knows about the military actions of the USSR and Finland at the end of 1939 and the beginning of 1940.

It tested the communist empire in battles of increased complexity, provided invaluable experience and ultimately led to the expansion of the territory of the Union by annexing parts of Finland, Moldova, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Everyone needs to know about an event of this magnitude.

Fast start

The start date of the confrontation is considered to be November 26, 1939, when, according to Soviet media reports, near the village of Mainila, a group of Finnish troops attacked Soviet border guards serving in this region. Despite the fact that the Finnish side tried with all its might to indicate its non-involvement in the episode, events began to develop very rapidly.

Just two days later, the Treaty on Non-Aggression and Peaceful Settlement of Conflicts between Finland and the Soviet Union of January 21, 1932 was terminated in Moscow without following the procedure for creating a conciliation commission to investigate the episode of shelling of the village. The offensive was launched on November 30th.

Prerequisites for military conflict

The beginning of the conflict can hardly be called “unexpected.” The “explosive” year of 1939 is a conditional date, because disagreements between the Soviet Union and Finland have existed for a long time. The main reason for the conflict is invariably said to be the desire of the leadership of the Union to move the border away from Leningrad due to the military operations that began in Europe with the participation of Germany, while at the same time gaining the opportunity to own the maritime territories of Karelia.

Back in 1938, the Finns were offered an exchange - in exchange for the part of the Karelian Isthmus that interested the commander-in-chief, it was proposed to take control of the territory of a part of Karelia, twice as large as what the “Country of Soviets” would have received.

Finland, despite the fairly adequate terms of the exchange, did not agree to the demands proposed to it by the Soviet Union. This was precisely the key cause of the conflict. The country's leadership believed that the proposed territory could not be equivalent to the Karelian Isthmus, on which, by the way, a network of fortifications had already been built between Ladoga and the Gulf of Finland (the so-called “Mannerheim Line”).

Mannerheim Line 1939

In general, there are many myths associated with the Mannerheim Line. One of them says that its size was so huge and its intensity so gigantic that it would have been impossible for any of the armies operating at that time to pass it without serious losses.

Mannerheim line device

In fact, even Carl Gustav Mannerheim himself, the President of Finland, admitted that most of these structures were single-story and single-level, unable for a long time to resist an army equipped with any equipment.

Fighting

The course of hostilities was as follows. Mobilization within the country was not announced, and all military operations were carried out either with the participation of regular formations or with the help of detachments formed in the Leningrad region. Limiting ourselves to numbers, it is worth briefly saying that 425,000 army personnel, 2,876 guns and mortars, almost 2,500 aircraft and 2,300 tanks were concentrated on the side of the Red Army. Finland, having carried out a general mobilization, was able to counter only 265,000 people, 834 guns, 270 aircraft and 64 tanks.

Combat map

The movement of the Red Army, which began on November 30, 1939, gradually slowed down by December 21. The huge army, which had no tactical experience in conditions of widespread snow, stopped and, having dug in, moved on to defensive measures. The situation with snow-covered areas where equipment was stuck led to the fact that the offensive was delayed for several months.

A separate episode known to everyone who is interested in the history of the Soviet-Finnish confrontation was the situation with the 44th and 163rd rifle divisions. At the beginning of January 1940, these formations advancing on Suomussalmi were surrounded by Finnish troops. Despite the tangible superiority of the Red Army, the Finns, who mastered the techniques of rapid landing and camouflage, continually attacked flank formations, achieving superiority over the enemy with small forces. As a result, command errors and inept management of the retreat led to the fact that the bulk of the forces of the Soviet military personnel of these divisions were surrounded.

Only by the beginning of February 1940 was it possible to go on the offensive, which lasted until the signing of the peace agreement. By the end of the month, the Red Army reached the last Finnish rear fortifications near Vyborg, opening a direct road to Helsinki and bringing the fighting to a conclusion.

I have already reported to Moscow about the possibility of occupying the entire territory of the country in a few weeks. Real threat complete defeat and the capture of the country forced the Finns to negotiate a ceasefire with the USSR. On March 12, 1940, a peace agreement was signed, the very next day hostilities ceased, and the war of 1939-1940 was over.

How did the fighting end?

The Soviet leadership, having lost about 126,000 people, nevertheless gained possession of the entire Karelian Isthmus, the cities of Vyborg and Sortavala, as well as a number of islands and peninsulas in the Gulf of Finland. Despite the fact that from a formal point of view the war was won, historians agree that this campaign still ended in defeat for the USSR. Who won this war? The answer is simple: the Soviet Union. But it was a Pyrrhic victory!

It showed the complete inability of the Red Army to carry out full-scale military operations in a modern war. And she showed this first of all to Hitler.

One should not, however, forget that the “small victorious war” turned out to be certain negative consequences. For the attack on the Finns, the Union was recognized as an aggressor, which led to exclusion from the League of Nations. In the West, given the expansion of territory as a result of the victory, an entire anti-Soviet campaign was launched.

Consequences

The significance of the war, seemingly lost for the Union, is still difficult to overestimate. It gave the Red Army invaluable experience in fighting in winter conditions, which later bore fruit in the confrontation with the Third Reich.

The white camouflage uniform of the Finns was adopted by the Red Army, which made it possible to seriously reduce personnel losses. In addition, we must not forget that already in the summer of 1940, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, seeing the spread of Germany in Europe, drew a conclusion from the results of the “winter war” and voluntarily became part of the USSR. Later, the border of the Union was changed in the region of Romania - there the Red Army troops crossed the Dniester and entered Bessarabia.

Thus, the Soviet-Finnish War was a serious prerequisite for the unification of many lands under the flag of the USSR. This historical event has invariably given rise to many theories and conjectures. For example, Marshal of the USSR K.A. Meretskov, who at that time commanded the 7th Army, directly showed in his memoirs that the shelling of the village of Maynila was carried out by Soviet troops in order to compromise the leadership of the Scandinavian country and launch an offensive.

History shows that the “Country of Soviets,” operating in conditions of increased danger, nevertheless managed to turn both the conflict on the border with the Finns and the fear of the Baltic countries for their future to its advantage, emerging victorious in a further, larger-scale battle.

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The Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940 became Russian Federation enough popular topic. All authors who love to walk through the “totalitarian past” love to remember this war, remember the balance of forces, losses, failures initial period war.


Reasonable reasons for the war are denied or hushed up. The decision about war is often blamed on Comrade Stalin personally. As a result, many of the citizens of the Russian Federation who have even heard about this war are sure that we lost it, suffered huge losses and showed the whole world the weakness of the Red Army.

Origins of Finnish statehood

The land of the Finns (in Russian chronicles - “Sum”) did not have its own statehood; in the 12th-14th centuries it was conquered by the Swedes. Three Crusades were carried out on the lands of the Finnish tribes (Sum, Em, Karelians) - 1157, 1249-1250 and 1293-1300. The Finnish tribes were conquered and forced to convert to Catholicism. The further invasion of the Swedes and crusaders was stopped by the Novgorodians, who inflicted several defeats on them. In 1323, the Orekhovsky Peace was concluded between the Swedes and Novgorodians.

The lands were ruled by Swedish feudal lords, the control centers were castles (Abo, Vyborg and Tavastgus). The Swedes had all administrative and judicial power. Official language was Swedish, the Finns did not even have cultural autonomy. Swedish was spoken by the nobility and the entire educated layer of the population, Finnish was the language ordinary people. The church, the Abo episcopate, had great power, but paganism retained its position among the common people for quite a long time.

In 1577, Finland received the status of a Grand Duchy and received a coat of arms with a lion. Gradually, the Finnish nobility merged with the Swedish one.

In 1808, the Russian-Swedish war began, the reason was Sweden’s refusal to act together with Russia and France against England; Russia won. According to the Treaty of Fredericksburg in September 1809, Finland became the property of the Russian Empire.

For a little over a hundred years Russian Empire turned the Swedish province into a practically autonomous state with its own authorities, monetary unit, mail, customs and even the army. Since 1863, Finnish, along with Swedish, became the state language. All administrative posts, except for the governor-general, were occupied by local residents. All taxes collected in Finland remained there; St. Petersburg almost did not interfere in the internal affairs of the grand duchy. Migration of Russians to the principality was prohibited, the rights of Russians living there were limited, and Russification of the province was not carried out.


Sweden and the territories it colonized, 1280

In 1811, the principality was given the Russian Vyborg province, which was formed from lands transferred to Russia under the treaties of 1721 and 1743. Then the administrative border with Finland approached the capital of the empire. In 1906, by decree of the Russian Emperor, Finnish women, the first in all of Europe, received the right to vote. The Finnish intelligentsia, nurtured by Russia, did not remain in debt and wanted independence.


The territory of Finland as part of Sweden in the 17th century

Beginning of independence

On December 6, 1917, the Sejm (Finnish Parliament) declared independence, and on December 31, 1917, the Soviet government recognized the independence of Finland.

On January 15 (28), 1918, a revolution began in Finland, which grew into civil war. The White Finns called German troops for help. The Germans did not refuse; in early April they landed a 12,000-strong division (the “Baltic Division”) under the command of General von der Goltz on the Hanko Peninsula. Another detachment of 3 thousand people was sent on April 7. With their support, the supporters of Red Finland were defeated, on the 14th the Germans occupied Helsinki, on April 29th Vyborg fell, and in early May the Reds were completely defeated. The Whites carried out massive repressions: more than 8 thousand people were killed, about 12 thousand rotted in concentration camps, approximately 90 thousand people were arrested and imprisoned in prisons and camps. Genocide was unleashed against the Russian inhabitants of Finland, they killed everyone indiscriminately: officers, students, women, old people, children.

Berlin demanded that a German prince, Frederick Charles of Hesse, be placed on the throne; on October 9, the Diet elected him King of Finland. But Germany was defeated in the First World War and therefore Finland became a republic.

The first two Soviet-Finnish wars

Independence was not enough, the Finnish elite wanted an increase in territory, deciding to take advantage of the Troubles in Russia, Finland attacked Russia. Karl Mannerheim promised to annex Eastern Karelia. On March 15, the so-called “Wallenius plan” was approved, according to which the Finns wanted to seize Russian lands along the border: White Sea - Lake Onega - Svir River - Lake Ladoga, in addition, the Pechenga region, the Kola Peninsula, Petrograd were supposed to go to Suomi become a “free city”. On the same day, volunteer detachments received orders to begin the conquest of Eastern Karelia.

On May 15, 1918, Helsinki declared war on Russia; there were no active hostilities until the fall; Germany concluded the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty with the Bolsheviks. But after its defeat, the situation changed; on October 15, 1918, the Finns captured the Rebolsk region, and in January 1919, the Porosozero region. In April, the Olonets Volunteer Army launched an offensive, captured Olonets, and approached Petrozavodsk. During the Vidlitsa operation (June 27-July 8), the Finns were defeated and expelled from Soviet soil. In the fall of 1919, the Finns repeated their attack on Petrozavodsk, but were repulsed at the end of September. In July 1920, the Finns suffered several more defeats, and negotiations began.

In mid-October 1920, the Yuriev (Tartu) Peace Treaty was signed, Soviet Russia ceded the Pechenga-Petsamo region, Western Karelia to the Sestra River, the western part of the Rybachy Peninsula and most of the Sredny Peninsula.

But this was not enough for the Finns; the “Greater Finland” plan was not implemented. The second war was unleashed, it began with the formation of partisan detachments in October 1921 on the territory of Soviet Karelia; on November 6, Finnish volunteer detachments invaded Russian territory. By mid-February 1922 Soviet troops The occupied territories were liberated, and an agreement on the inviolability of borders was signed on March 21.


Border changes according to the Tartu Treaty of 1920

Years of cold neutrality


Svinhuvud, Per Evind, 3rd President of Finland, March 2, 1931 - March 1, 1937

Helsinki did not give up hopes of profiting from Soviet territories. But after two wars, they made conclusions for themselves: they need to act not with volunteer detachments, but with an entire army (Soviet Russia has become stronger) and allies are needed. As the first Prime Minister of Finland, Svinhuvud, put it: “Any enemy of Russia must always be a friend of Finland.”

With the deterioration of Soviet-Japanese relations, Finland began to establish contacts with Japan. Japanese officers began to come to Finland for internships. Helsinki had a negative attitude towards the USSR's entry into the League of Nations and the mutual assistance agreement with France. Hopes for a major conflict between the USSR and Japan did not materialize.

Finland's hostility and its readiness for war against the USSR was no secret either in Warsaw or in Washington. Thus, in September 1937, the American military attache to the USSR, Colonel F. Faymonville, reported: “The most pressing military problem of the Soviet Union is preparing to repel a simultaneous attack by Japan in the East and Germany together with Finland in the West.”

There were constant provocations on the border between the USSR and Finland. For example: on October 7, 1936, a Soviet border guard making a round was killed by a shot from the Finnish side. Only after much wrangling did Helsinki pay compensation to the family of the deceased and admit guilt. Finnish planes violated both land and water borders.

Moscow was especially concerned about cooperation between Finland and Germany. The Finnish public supported Germany's actions in Spain. German designers designed submarines for the Finns. Finland supplied Berlin with nickel and copper, received 20-mm anti-aircraft guns, and planned to purchase combat aircraft. In 1939, a German intelligence and counterintelligence center was created on the territory of Finland; its main task was intelligence work against the Soviet Union. The center collected information about the Baltic Fleet, the Leningrad Military District, and Leningrad industry. Finnish intelligence worked closely with the Abwehr. During the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940, the blue swastika became the identifying mark of the Finnish Air Force.

By the beginning of 1939, with the help of German specialists, a network of military airfields was built in Finland, which could accommodate 10 times more aircraft than the Finnish Air Force had.

Helsinki was ready to fight against the USSR not only in alliance with Germany, but also with France and England.

The problem of defending Leningrad

By 1939, we had an absolutely hostile state on our northwestern borders. There was the problem of protecting Leningrad, the border was only 32 km away, the Finns could fire at the city with heavy artillery. In addition, it was necessary to protect the city from the sea.

In the south, the problem was solved by concluding a mutual assistance agreement with Estonia in September 1939. The USSR received the right to station garrisons and naval bases on the territory of Estonia.

Helsinki did not want to resolve the most important issue for the USSR through diplomatic means. Moscow proposed an exchange of territories, a mutual assistance agreement, joint defense of the Gulf of Finland, selling part of the territory for a military base or leasing it. But Helsinki did not accept either option. Although the most far-sighted figures, for example, Karl Mannerheim, understood the strategic necessity of Moscow's demands. Mannerheim proposed moving the border away from Leningrad and receiving good compensation, and offering the island of Yussarö for a Soviet naval base. But in the end, the position of not making a compromise prevailed.

It should be noted that London did not stand aside and provoked the conflict in its own way. They hinted to Moscow that they would not interfere in a possible conflict, but the Finns were told that they needed to hold their positions and give in.

As a result, on November 30, 1939, the third Soviet-Finnish war began. The first stage of the war, until the end of December 1939, was unsuccessful; due to a lack of intelligence and insufficient forces, the Red Army suffered significant losses. The enemy was underestimated Finnish army carried out mobilization in advance. She occupied the defensive fortifications of the Mannerheim Line.

The new Finnish fortifications (1938-1939) were not known to intelligence, they did not allocate the required amount of forces (to successfully break into the fortifications it was necessary to create a superiority in the ratio 3: 1).

Western position

The USSR was expelled from the League of Nations, violating the rules: 7 countries out of 15 that were on the Council of the League of Nations voted for expulsion, 8 did not participate or abstained. That is, they were excluded by a minority of votes.

The Finns were supplied by England, France, Sweden and other countries. More than 11 thousand foreign volunteers arrived in Finland.

London and Paris eventually decided to start a war with the USSR. They planned to land an Anglo-French expeditionary force in Scandinavia. Allied aircraft were to carry out airstrikes against the Union's oil fields in the Caucasus. From Syria, the Allied troops planned to attack Baku.

The Red Army thwarted its large-scale plans, Finland was defeated. Despite the entreaties of the French and British to hold out, on March 12, 1940, the Finns signed peace.

The USSR lost the war?

According to the Moscow Treaty of 1940, the USSR received the Rybachy Peninsula in the north, part of Karelia with Vyborg, the northern Ladoga region, and the Hanko Peninsula was leased to the USSR for a period of 30 years, and a naval base was created there. After the start of the Great Patriotic War The Finnish army was able to reach the old border only in September 1941.

We received these territories without giving up ours (they offered twice as much as they asked for), and for free - they also offered monetary compensation. When the Finns remembered compensation and cited the example of Peter the Great, who gave Sweden 2 million thalers, Molotov replied: “Write a letter to Peter the Great. If he orders, we will pay compensation.” Moscow also insisted on 95 million rubles in compensation for damage to equipment and property from lands seized by the Finns. Plus, 350 sea and river transport, 76 steam locomotives, and 2 thousand carriages were also transferred to the USSR.

The Red Army gained important combat experience and saw its shortcomings.

It was a victory, albeit not a brilliant one, but a victory.


Territories ceded by Finland to the USSR, as well as leased by the USSR in 1940

Sources:
Civil war and intervention in the USSR. M., 1987.
Diplomatic Dictionary in three volumes. M., 1986.
Winter War 1939-1940. M., 1998.
Isaev A. Antisuvorov. M., 2004.
international relations (1918-2003). M., 2000.
Meinander H. History of Finland. M., 2008.
Pykhalov I. The Great Slandered War. M., 2006.

Soviet-Finnish war of 1939–40 (another name is Winter War) took place from November 30, 1939 to March 12, 1940.

The formal cause of hostilities was the so-called Mainila incident - artillery shelling from Finnish territory of Soviet border guards in the village of Mainila on the Karelian Isthmus, which, according to the Soviet side, occurred on November 26, 1939. The Finnish side categorically denied any involvement in the shelling. Two days later, on November 28, the USSR denounced the Soviet-Finnish non-aggression pact concluded in 1932, and on November 30 began hostilities.

The underlying causes of the conflict were based on a number of factors, not the least of which was the fact that in 1918-22 Finland twice attacked the territory of the RSFSR. As a result of the Tartu Peace Treaty of 1920 and the Moscow Agreement on the adoption of measures to ensure the inviolability of the Soviet-Finnish border of 1922 between the governments of the RSFSR and Finland, the original Russian Pecheneg region (Petsamo) and part of the Sredny and Rybachy peninsulas were transferred to Finland.

Despite the fact that a Non-Aggression Pact was signed between Finland and the USSR in 1932, relations between the two countries were quite tense. In Finland they were afraid that sooner or later the Soviet Union, which had strengthened many times since 1922, would want to return its territories, and in the USSR they were afraid that Finland, as in 1919 (when the British torpedo boats attacked Kronstadt from Finnish ports), may offer its territory to another unfriendly country for attack. The situation was aggravated by the fact that the second most important city of the USSR, Leningrad, was only 32 kilometers from the Soviet-Finnish border.

During this period, the activities of the Communist Party were banned in Finland and secret consultations were held with the governments of Poland and the Baltic countries on joint actions in the event of war with the USSR. In 1939, the USSR signed a Non-Aggression Pact with Germany, also known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. In accordance with the secret protocols to it, Finland moves into the zone of interests of the Soviet Union.

In 1938-39, during lengthy negotiations with Finland, the USSR tried to achieve the exchange of part of the Karelian Isthmus for twice the area, but less suitable for agricultural use, in Karelia, as well as the transfer of several islands and parts of the Hanko Peninsula to the USSR for military bases. Finland, firstly, did not agree with the size of the territories being given to it (not least because of its reluctance to part with the line of defensive fortifications built in the 30s, also known as the Mannerheim Line (see. And ), and secondly, she tried to achieve the conclusion of a Soviet-Finnish trade agreement and the right to armament of the demilitarized Åland Islands.

The negotiations were very difficult and were accompanied by mutual reproaches and accusations (see: ). The last attempt was the USSR's proposal on October 5, 1939 to conclude a Mutual Assistance Pact with Finland.

Negotiations dragged on and reached a dead end. The parties began to prepare for war.

On October 13-14, 1939, general mobilization was announced in Finland. And two weeks later, on November 3, the troops of the Leningrad Military District and the Red Banner Baltic Fleet received directives to begin preparations for military operations. Newspaper article "Is it true" on the same day reported that the Soviet Union intends to ensure its security at any cost. A massive anti-Finnish campaign began in the Soviet press, to which the opposite side immediately responded.

There was less than a month left before the Maynila incident, which served as a formal reason for the war.

Most Western and some Russian researchers They believe that the shelling was a fiction - either it did not happen at all, but there were only unsubstantiated statements by the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs, or the shelling was a provocation. There are no documents confirming this or that version. Finland proposed a joint investigation of the incident, but the Soviet side harshly rejected the proposal.

Immediately after the start of the war, official relations with the Ryti government were terminated, and on December 2, 1939, the USSR signed an agreement on mutual assistance and friendship with the so-called « by the people's government Finland", formed from communists and headed by Otto Kuusinen. At the same time, in the USSR, on the basis of the 106th Mountain Rifle Division, the "Finnish People's Army" from Finns and Karelians. However, it did not take part in the hostilities and was eventually disbanded, like the Kuusinen government.

The Soviet Union planned to launch military operations in two main directions - the Karelian Isthmus and north of Lake Ladoga. After a successful breakthrough (or bypassing the line of fortifications from the north), the Red Army was able to make maximum use of its advantage in manpower and its overwhelming advantage in technology. According to the time frame, the operation should have taken place within a period of two weeks to a month. The Finnish command, in turn, counted on stabilizing the front on the Karelian Isthmus and active containment in the northern sector, believing that the army would be able to independently hold off the enemy for up to six months and then wait for help from Western countries. Both plans turned out to be an illusion: the Soviet Union underestimated the strength of Finland, while Finland relied too much on the help of foreign powers and on the reliability of its fortifications.

As already mentioned, by the beginning of hostilities in Finland there was a general mobilization. The USSR decided to confine itself to parts of the Leningrad Military District, believing that additional involvement of forces would not be required. At the start of the war, the USSR concentrated 425,640 personnel, 2,876 guns and mortars, 2,289 tanks, and 2,446 aircraft for the operation. They were opposed by 265,000 people, 834 guns, 64 tanks and 270 aircraft.

As part of the Red Army, units of the 7th, 8th, 9th and 14th armies attacked Finland. The 7th Army advanced on the Karelian Isthmus, the 8th Army north of Lake Ladoga, the 9th Army in Karelia, and the 14th Army in the Arctic.

The most favorable situation for the USSR developed on the front of the 14th Army, which, interacting with Northern Fleet, occupied the Rybachy and Sredny peninsulas, the city of Petsamo (Pechenga) and closed Finland’s access to Barents Sea. The 9th Army penetrated the Finnish defense to a depth of 35-45 km and was stopped (see. ). The 8th Army initially began to advance successfully, but was also stopped, with part of its forces being surrounded and forced to withdraw. The heaviest and bloodiest battles took place in the sector of the 7th Army, which was advancing on the Karelian Isthmus. The army had to storm the Mannerheim Line.

As it turned out later, the Soviet side had fragmentary and extremely meager information about the enemy opposing it on the Karelian Isthmus, and, most importantly, about the line of fortifications. Underestimating the enemy immediately affected the course of hostilities. The forces allocated to break through the Finnish defenses in this area turned out to be insufficient. By December 12, the Red Army units with losses were able to overcome only the support zone of the Mannerheim Line and stopped. Until the end of December, several desperate attempts to break through were made, but they were also unsuccessful. By the end of December it became obvious that attempts at an offensive in this style were pointless. There was relative calm at the front.

Having understood and studied the reasons for the failure in the first period of the war, the Soviet command undertook a serious reorganization of forces and means. Throughout January and early February, there was a significant reinforcement of troops, saturation of them with large-caliber artillery capable of fighting fortifications, replenishment of material reserves, and reorganization of units and formations. Methods of combating defensive structures were developed, mass exercises and training of personnel were carried out, assault groups and detachments were formed, work was carried out to improve the interaction of military branches and to raise morale (see. ).

The USSR learned quickly. To break through the fortified area, the North-Western Front was created under the command of Army Commander 1st Rank Timoshenko and member of the Leningrad Military District Military Council Zhdanov. The front included the 7th and 13th armies.

Finland at this moment also carried out measures to increase the combat effectiveness of its own troops. Both new equipment and weapons captured in battles and those supplied from abroad were put into service, and the units received the necessary reinforcements.

Both sides were ready for the second round of the fight.

At the same time, fighting in Karelia did not stop.

The most famous in the historiography of the Soviet-Finnish war during that period was the encirclement of the 163rd and 44th rifle divisions of the 9th Army near Suomussalmi. Since mid-December, the 44th Division had been advancing to help the encircled 163rd Division. In the period from January 3 to January 7, 1940, its units were repeatedly surrounded, but, despite the difficult situation, they continued to fight, having superiority in technical equipment over the Finns. In conditions of constant fighting and a rapidly changing situation, the division command incorrectly assessed the current situation and gave the order to leave the encirclement in groups, leaving behind the heavy equipment. This only made the situation worse. Parts of the division were still able to break out of the encirclement, but with heavy losses... Subsequently, the division commander Vinogradov, the regimental commissar Pakhomenko and the chief of staff Volkov, who left the division in the most difficult moment, were sentenced to capital punishment by a military tribunal and shot in front of the line.

It is also worth noting that since the end of December, the Finns tried to counterattack on the Karelian Isthmus in order to disrupt the preparations for a new Soviet offensive. Counterattacks were unsuccessful and were repulsed.

On February 11, 1940, after a massive multi-day artillery preparation of the Red Army together with units of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet and Ladoga military flotilla launched a new offensive. The main blow fell on the Karelian Isthmus. Within three days, the troops of the 7th Army broke through the first line of Finnish defense and brought tank formations into the breach. On February 17, Finnish troops, by order of the command, retreated to the second lane due to the threat of encirclement.

On February 21, the 7th Army reached the second defense line, and the 13th Army reached the main line north of Muolaa. On February 28, both armies of the Northwestern Front launched an offensive along the entire Karelian Isthmus. Finnish troops retreated, putting up fierce resistance. In an attempt to stop the advancing units of the Red Army, the Finns opened the floodgates of the Saimaa Canal, but this did not help: on March 13, Soviet troops entered Vyborg.

In parallel with the fighting, there were battles on the diplomatic front. After the breakthrough of the Mannerheim Line and the entry of Soviet troops into the operational space, the Finnish government understood that there was no chance of continuing the struggle. Therefore, it turned to the USSR with a proposal to begin peace negotiations. On March 7, a Finnish delegation arrived in Moscow, and on March 12 a peace treaty was concluded.

As a result of the war, the Karelian Isthmus went to the USSR and major cities Vyborg and Sortavala, a number of islands in the Gulf of Finland, part of the Finnish territory with the city of Kuolajärvi, part of the Rybachy and Sredny peninsulas. Lake Ladoga became an internal lake of the USSR. The Petsamo (Pechenga) region captured during the fighting was returned to Finland. The USSR leased part of the Hanko (Gangut) peninsula for a period of 30 years to equip a naval base there.

At the same time, the reputation of the Soviet state in the international arena suffered: the USSR was declared an aggressor and expelled from the League of Nations. Mutual distrust between Western countries and the USSR has reached a critical point.

Recommended reading:
1. Irincheev Bair. Stalin's Forgotten Front. M.: Yauza, Eksmo, 2008. (Series: Unknown Wars XX century.)
2. Soviet-Finnish War 1939-1940 / Comp. P. Petrov, V. Stepakov. SP b.: Polygon, 2003. In 2 volumes.
3. Tanner Väinö. Winter War. Diplomatic confrontation between the Soviet Union and Finland, 1939–1940. M.: Tsentrpoligraf, 2003.
4. “Winter War”: working on mistakes (April-May 1940). Materials of the commissions of the Main Military Council of the Red Army to summarize the experience of the Finnish campaign / Responsible. comp. N. S. Tarkhova. SP b., Summer garden, 2003.

Tatiana Vorontsova

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 activity was banned in Finland communist party;
  • 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 already 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 the support of Stalin, 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 huge 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. For short term 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 due to 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 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.

On the Karelian Isthmus began very brutal fighting. 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 the huge reserves of equipment, materiel, 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 major cities 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 total loss autonomy 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 in difficult weather conditions is unfit for combat. 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 had to go through locality 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.