On November 30, 1939, the Soviet-Finnish war began. This military conflict was preceded by long negotiations over the exchange of territories, which ultimately ended in failure. In the USSR and Russia, this war, for obvious reasons, remains in the shadow of the war with Germany that soon followed, but in Finland it is still the equivalent of our Great Patriotic War.

Although the war remains half-forgotten, heroic films are not made about it, books about it are relatively rare and it is poorly reflected in art (with the exception of the famous song "Take Us, Suomi Beauty"), there are still disputes about the causes of this conflict. What was Stalin counting on when starting this war? Did he want to Sovietize Finland or even include it in the USSR as a separate union republic, or was the Karelian Isthmus and the security of Leningrad his main goals? Can the war be considered successful or, given the ratio of sides and the scale of losses, a failure?

background

A propaganda poster from the war and a photo of the Red Army party meeting in the trenches. Collage © L!FE. Photo: © wikimedia.org , © wikimedia.org

In the second half of the 1930s, unusually active diplomatic negotiations were going on in pre-war Europe. All major states were feverishly looking for allies, feeling the approach of a new war. The USSR did not stand aside either, which was forced to negotiate with the capitalists, who, in Marxist dogma, were considered the main enemies. In addition, the events in Germany, where the Nazis came to power, an important part of whose ideology was anti-communism, pushed for active action. The situation was further complicated by the fact that Germany had been the main Soviet trading partner since the early 1920s, when both defeated Germany and the USSR found themselves in international isolation, which brought them closer.

In 1935, the USSR and France signed an agreement on mutual assistance, clearly directed against Germany. It was planned as part of a more global eastern pact, according to which all Eastern European countries, including Germany, were to enter a single system. collective security, which would fix the status quo and make aggression against any of the participants impossible. However, the Germans did not want to tie their hands, the Poles also did not agree, so the pact remained only on paper.

In 1939, shortly before the expiration of the Franco-Soviet treaty, new negotiations began, to which Britain joined. The negotiations took place against the backdrop of the aggressive actions of Germany, which had already taken part of Czechoslovakia for itself, annexed Austria and, apparently, did not plan to stop there. The British and French planned to conclude an alliance treaty with the USSR to contain Hitler. At the same time, the Germans began to make contacts with a proposal to stay away from a future war. Stalin probably felt like a marriageable bride when a whole line of “suitors” lined up for him.

Stalin did not trust any of the potential allies, however, the British and French wanted the USSR to fight on their side, which caused Stalin to fear that in the end it would be mainly the USSR that would fight, and the Germans promised a whole bunch of gifts just for the USSR to stay aside, which was much more in line with the aspirations of Stalin himself (let the damned capitalists fight each other).

In addition, negotiations with England and France reached an impasse due to the refusal of the Poles to let Soviet troops through its territory in the event of war (which was inevitable in the conditions of a European war). In the end, the USSR decided to stay out of the war by signing a non-aggression pact with the Germans.

Negotiations with the Finns

Arrival of Juho Kusti Paasikivi from talks in Moscow. October 16, 1939. Collage © L!FE. Photo: © wikimedia.org

Against the backdrop of all these diplomatic maneuvers, long negotiations began with the Finns. In 1938, the USSR offered the Finns to allow it to establish a military base on the island of Gogland. The Soviet side was afraid of the possibility of a German strike from Finland and offered the Finns an agreement on mutual assistance, and also gave guarantees that the USSR would stand up for Finland in the event of aggression from the Germans.

However, the Finns at that time adhered to strict neutrality (according to the laws in force, it was forbidden to join any alliances and place military bases on their territory) and feared that such agreements would drag them into an unpleasant story or, which is good, bring them to war. Although the USSR offered to conclude the treaty in secret, so that no one would know about it, the Finns did not agree.

The second round of negotiations began in 1939. This time the USSR wanted to lease a group of islands in Gulf of Finland to strengthen the defense of Leningrad from the sea. Negotiations also ended in vain.

The third round began in October 1939, after the conclusion of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact and the outbreak of World War II, when all the leading European powers were distracted by the war and the USSR had a free hand to a large extent. This time the USSR offered to arrange an exchange of territories. In exchange for the Karelian Isthmus and a group of islands in the Gulf of Finland, the USSR offered to give large territories Eastern Karelia, even larger than those given by the Finns.

True, it is worth considering one fact: the Karelian Isthmus was a highly developed territory in terms of infrastructure, where the second largest Finnish city of Vyborg was located and a tenth of the Finnish population lived, but the lands offered by the USSR in Karelia were, although large, but completely undeveloped and there were no there was nothing but woods. So the exchange was, to put it mildly, not quite equivalent.

The Finns agreed to give up the islands, but they could not afford to give up the Karelian Isthmus, which, besides being a developed territory with large population, so the Mannerheim defensive line was also located there, around which the entire Finnish defensive strategy was based. The USSR, on the contrary, was primarily interested in the isthmus, since this would allow moving the border from Leningrad at least a few tens of kilometers. At that time, there were about 30 kilometers between the Finnish border and the outskirts of Leningrad.

Mainil incident

In the photographs: a Suomi submachine gun and Soviet soldiers dig a pole at the Mainil frontier post, November 30, 1939. Collage © L!FE. Photo: © wikimedia.org , © wikimedia.org

Negotiations ended without results on 9 November. And already on November 26, an incident occurred near the border village of Mainila, which was used as a pretext for starting a war. According to the Soviet side, from Finnish territory to Soviet territory flew artillery shell, which killed three Soviet soldiers and a commander.

Molotov immediately sent a formidable demand to the Finns to withdraw their troops from the border by 20-25 kilometers. The Finns, on the other hand, stated that, according to the results of the investigation, it turned out that no one from the Finnish side fired and, probably, we are talking about some kind of accident on the Soviet side. The Finns responded by suggesting that both sides withdraw their troops from the border and conduct a joint investigation into the incident.

The next day, Molotov sent a note to the Finns accusing them of perfidy and hostility, and announced the rupture of the Soviet-Finnish non-aggression pact. Two days later, diplomatic relations were broken off and the Soviet troops went on the offensive.

At present, most researchers believe that the incident was organized by the Soviet side in order to obtain a casus belli for an attack on Finland. In any case, it is clear that the incident was only a pretext.

War

In the photo: Finnish machine-gun crew and propaganda poster from the war. Collage © L!FE. Photo: © wikimedia.org , © wikimedia.org

The main direction for the strike of the Soviet troops was the Karelian Isthmus, which was protected by a line of fortifications. This was the most suitable direction for a massive strike, which also made it possible to use tanks, which the Red Army had in abundance. It was planned to break through the defenses with a powerful blow, capture Vyborg and head towards Helsinki. A secondary direction was Central Karelia, where massive fighting aggravated by the undeveloped territory. The third blow was delivered from the northern direction.

The first month of the war was a real disaster for the Soviet army. It was disorganized, disoriented, chaos and misunderstanding of the situation reigned in the headquarters. On the Karelian Isthmus, the army managed to advance several kilometers in a month, after which the soldiers ran into the Mannerheim line and were unable to overcome it, since the army simply did not have heavy artillery.

In Central Karelia, things were even worse. The local forest areas opened wide scope for partisan tactics, for which the Soviet divisions were not ready. Small detachments of Finns attacked columns of Soviet troops moving along the roads, after which they quickly left and lay in forest caches. Road mining was also actively used, because of which the Soviet troops suffered significant losses.

Further complicating the situation was the fact that the Soviet troops did not have enough camouflage coats and the soldiers were a convenient target for Finnish snipers in winter time. At the same time, the Finns used camouflage, which made them invisible.

The 163rd Soviet division was advancing in the Karelian direction, the task of which was to reach the city of Oulu, which would cut Finland in two. The shortest direction between the Soviet border and the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia was specially chosen for the offensive. In the area of ​​​​the village of Suomussalmi, the division was surrounded. Only the 44th division, which had arrived at the front, reinforced by a tank brigade, was sent to help her.

The 44th division moved along the Raat road, stretching for 30 kilometers. After waiting for the division to stretch out, the Finns defeated the Soviet division, which had a significant numerical superiority. Barriers were placed on the road from the north and south, which blocked the division in a narrow and well-shootable area, after which forces small detachments the division was cut on the road into several mini-"boilers".

As a result, the division suffered heavy losses in killed, wounded, frostbite and prisoners, lost almost all equipment and heavy weapons, and the division command, which got out of the encirclement, was shot by the verdict of the Soviet tribunal. Soon, several more divisions were surrounded in this way, which managed to escape from the encirclement, suffering huge losses and losing most of the equipment. The most notable example is the 18th Division, which was surrounded in South Lemetti. Only one and a half thousand people managed to break out of the encirclement, with a regular strength of the division of 15 thousand. The command of the division was also shot by the Soviet tribunal.

The offensive in Karelia failed. Only in the northern direction did the Soviet troops act more or less successfully and were able to cut off the enemy from access to the Barents Sea.

Finnish Democratic Republic

Campaign leaflets, Finland, 1940. Collage © L!FE. Photo: © wikimedia.org , © wikimedia.org

Almost immediately after the start of the war in the border town of Terioki, occupied by the Red Army, the so-called. the government of the Finnish Democratic Republic, which consisted of high-ranking communist figures of Finnish nationality who lived in the USSR. The USSR immediately recognized this government as the only official one and even concluded a mutual assistance agreement with it, according to which all the pre-war requirements of the USSR regarding the exchange of territories and the organization of military bases were fulfilled.

The formation of the Finnish People's Army also began, which was planned to include soldiers of Finnish and Karelian nationalities. However, during the retreat, the Finns evacuated all their inhabitants, and they had to replenish it at the expense of soldiers of the corresponding nationalities who were already serving in the Soviet army, of which there were not very many.

At first, the government was often featured in the press, but the failures on the battlefields and the unexpectedly stubborn resistance of the Finns led to the prolongation of the war, which was clearly not included in the original plans of the Soviet leadership. Since the end of December, the government of the Finnish Democratic Republic has been mentioned less and less in the press, and since mid-January they no longer remember it, the USSR again recognizes the one that remained in Helsinki as the official government.

End of the war

Collage © L!FE. Photo: © wikimedia.org , © wikimedia.org

In January 1940, active hostilities were not conducted due to severe frosts. The Red Army brought heavy artillery to the Karelian Isthmus to overcome the defensive fortifications of the Finnish army.

In early February, the general offensive of the Soviet army began. This time it was accompanied by artillery preparation and was much better thought out, which made it easier for the attackers. By the end of the month, the first few lines of defense were broken through, and in early March, Soviet troops approached Vyborg.

The original plan of the Finns was to hold back the Soviet troops for as long as possible and wait for help from England and France. However, no help came from them. Under these conditions, the further continuation of resistance was fraught with the loss of independence, so the Finns went to negotiations.

On March 12, a peace treaty was signed in Moscow, which satisfied almost all the pre-war demands of the Soviet side.

What did Stalin want to achieve?

Collage © L!FE. Photo: © wikimedia.org

Until now, there is no unequivocal answer to the question, what were the goals of Stalin in this war. Was he really interested in moving the Soviet-Finnish border from Leningrad for a hundred kilometers, or did he count on the Sovietization of Finland? In favor of the first version is the fact that in the peace treaty, Stalin made the main emphasis on this. The creation of the government of the Finnish Democratic Republic headed by Otto Kuusinen speaks in favor of the second version.

Disputes about this have been going on for almost 80 years, but, most likely, Stalin had both a minimum program, which included only territorial demands in order to move the border from Leningrad, and a maximum program, which provided for the Sovietization of Finland in the event of a favorable combination of circumstances. However, the maximum program was quickly withdrawn due to the unfavorable course of the war. In addition to the fact that the Finns stubbornly resisted, they also evacuated the civilian population in the places of the offensive of the Soviet army, and Soviet propagandists had practically no opportunity to work with the Finnish population.

Stalin himself explained the need for war in April 1940 at a meeting with the commanders of the Red Army: “Did the government and the party do the right thing in declaring war on Finland? Could the war have been avoided? It seems to me that it was impossible. It was impossible to do without war. The war was necessary, since peace negotiations with Finland did not produce results, and the security of Leningrad had to be ensured unconditionally. There, in the West, the three biggest powers are at each other's throats; when to decide the question of Leningrad, if not in such conditions, when our hands are busy and it seems to us favorable environment in order to hit them at this moment"?

The results of the war

Collage © L!FE. Photo: © wikimedia.org , © wikimedia.org

The USSR achieved most of its goals, but this came at a great cost. The USSR suffered huge losses, much larger than the Finnish army. Numbers in various sources differ (about 100 thousand killed, died from wounds and frostbite and missing), but everyone agrees that the Soviet army lost a significantly larger number of soldiers killed, missing and frostbite than the Finnish.

The prestige of the Red Army was undermined. By the beginning of the war, the huge Soviet army not only outnumbered the Finnish one many times over, but was also much better armed. The Red Army had three times more artillery, 9 times more aircraft and 88 times more tanks. At the same time, the Red Army not only failed to take full advantage of its advantages, but also suffered a number of crushing defeats at the initial stage of the war.

The course of hostilities was closely followed both in Germany and in Britain, and they were surprised by the inept actions of the army. It is believed that it was precisely as a result of the war with Finland that Hitler was finally convinced that an attack on the USSR was possible, since the Red Army was extremely weak on the battlefield. In Britain, they also decided that the army was weakened by the purges of officers and were glad that they did not draw the USSR into allied relations.

Reasons for failure

Collage © L!FE. Photo: © wikimedia.org , © wikimedia.org

In Soviet times, the main failures of the army were associated with the Mannerheim Line, which was so well fortified that it was practically impregnable. However, this was actually a very big exaggeration. A significant part of the defensive line was made up of wood-and-earth fortifications or old structures made of low-quality concrete that were outdated for 20 years.

On the eve of the war, the defensive line was fortified with several “millionaire” pillboxes (so they were called because the construction of each fortification cost a million Finnish marks), but it still was not impregnable. As practice has shown, with competent preparation and support of aviation and artillery, even a much more advanced line of defense can be broken through, as happened with the French Maginot line.

In fact, the failures were due to a number of blunders of the command, both higher and people in the field:

1. underestimation of the enemy. The Soviet command was sure that the Finns would not even bring to war and would accept Soviet demands. And when the war began, the USSR was sure that victory was a matter of a few weeks. The Red Army had too much advantage both in personal strength and in firepower;

2. disorganization of the army. The command staff of the Red Army was largely replaced a year before the war as a result of mass purges in the ranks of the military. Some of the new commanders simply did not meet the necessary requirements, but even talented commanders had not yet had time to gain experience in commanding large military units. Confusion and chaos reigned in the units, especially in the conditions of the outbreak of war;

3. insufficient elaboration of offensive plans. In the USSR, they were in a hurry to quickly resolve the issue with the Finnish border, while Germany, France and Britain were still fighting in the West, so the preparations for the offensive were carried out in a hurry. The Soviet plan called for the main attack on the Mannerheim Line, with virtually no intelligence on the line. The troops had only extremely approximate and schematic plans for defensive fortifications, and later it turned out that they did not correspond to reality at all. In fact, the first assaults on the line took place blindly, in addition, light artillery did not cause serious damage to the defensive fortifications, and for their destruction it was necessary to pull up heavy howitzers, which at first were practically absent in the advancing troops. Under these conditions, all attempts to storm turned into huge losses. Only in January 1940 did normal preparations for a breakthrough begin: assault groups were formed to suppress and capture firing points, aviation was involved in photographing the fortifications, which finally made it possible to obtain plans for defensive lines and develop a competent breakthrough plan;

4. The Red Army was not sufficiently prepared to conduct combat operations in a specific area in the winter. There were not enough camouflage robes, not even warm uniforms. All this goodness lay in warehouses and began to arrive in parts only in the second half of December, when it became clear that the war was beginning to take on a protracted character. By the beginning of the war, there was not a single unit of combat skiers in the Red Army, who, with great success used by the Finns. The submachine guns, which turned out to be very effective in rough terrain, were generally absent in the Red Army. Shortly before the war, the PPD (Degtyarev submachine gun) was withdrawn from service, as it was planned to replace it with more modern and advanced weapons, but they did not wait for the new weapon, and the old PPD went to warehouses;

5. the Finns enjoyed all the advantages of the terrain with great success. Soviet divisions, stuffed to capacity with equipment, were forced to move along the roads and practically could not operate in the forest. The Finns, who had almost no equipment, waited until the clumsy Soviet divisions stretched out along the road for several kilometers and, blocking the road, launched simultaneous strikes in several directions at once, cutting the divisions into separate parts. Locked in a narrow space, Soviet soldiers became easy targets for Finnish skiers and snipers. It was possible to break out of the encirclement, but this led to huge losses of equipment that had to be abandoned on the road;

6. the Finns used the scorched earth tactics, but they did it competently. The entire population was evacuated in advance from the areas that were to be occupied by parts of the Red Army, all property was also taken out, and the deserted settlements were destroyed or mined. This had a demoralizing effect on the Soviet soldiers, to whom the propaganda explained that they were going to liberate brother-workers and peasants from the unbearable oppression and bullying of the Finnish White Guard, but instead of crowds of joyful peasants and workers welcoming the liberators, they met only ashes and mined ruins.

However, despite all the shortcomings, the Red Army demonstrated the ability to improve and learn from their own mistakes right in the course of the war. The unsuccessful start of the war contributed to the fact that things were already taken up in a normal way, and in the second stage the army became much more organized and efficient. At the same time, some mistakes were repeated again a year later, when the war with Germany began, which also developed extremely unsuccessfully in the first months.

Evgeny Antonyuk
Historian


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In Russian historiography, the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940, or, as it is called in the West, the Winter War, long years was virtually forgotten. This was facilitated by its not too successful results, and a kind of “political correctness” practiced in our country. Official Soviet propaganda was more than afraid to offend any of the "friends", and after the Great Patriotic War Finland was considered an ally of the USSR.

Over the past 15 years, the situation has changed radically. Contrary to the well-known words of A. T. Tvardovsky about " unknown war"Today this war is very "famous". One after another, books dedicated to her are published, not to mention the many articles in various magazines and collections. Here are just a "celebrity" this is very peculiar. The authors, who have made it their profession to denounce the Soviet "evil empire", cite in their publications an absolutely fantastic correlation of ours and Finnish losses. Any reasonable reasons for the actions of the USSR are completely denied ...

By the end of the 1930s, there was a state clearly unfriendly to us near the northwestern borders of the Soviet Union. It is very significant that even before the start of the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940. identification mark of the Finnish Air Force and tank troops there was a blue swastika. Those who say that it was Stalin who, by his actions, pushed Finland into the Nazi camp, prefer not to remember this. As well as why peace-loving Suomi needed a network of military airfields built by the beginning of 1939 with the help of German specialists, capable of receiving 10 times more aircraft than the Finnish Air Force had. However, in Helsinki they were ready to fight against us both in alliance with Germany and Japan, and in alliance with England and France.

Seeing the approach of a new world conflict, the leadership of the USSR sought to secure the border near the second largest and most important city in the country. Back in March 1939, Soviet diplomacy probed the issue of transferring or leasing a number of islands in the Gulf of Finland, but in Helsinki they answered with a categorical refusal.

The accusers of the “crimes of the Stalinist regime” like to rant about the fact that Finland is a sovereign country that controls its own territory, and therefore, they say, it was not at all obliged to agree to an exchange. In this regard, we can recall the events that took place two decades later. When Soviet missiles began to be deployed in Cuba in 1962, the Americans had no legal basis to impose a naval blockade of the Island of Freedom, much less to launch a military strike on it. Both Cuba and the USSR are sovereign countries, the deployment of Soviet nuclear weapons concerned only them and was in full compliance with the standards international law. Nevertheless, the US was ready to start World War 3 if the missiles were not removed. There is such a thing as a "sphere of vital interests." For our country in 1939, such a sphere included the Gulf of Finland and the Karelian Isthmus. Even the former leader of the Kadet Party P. N. Milyukov, who was by no means sympathetic to the Soviet regime, in a letter to I. P. Demidov expressed the following attitude towards the outbreak of war with Finland: “I feel sorry for the Finns, but I am for the Vyborg province.”

On November 26, a well-known incident occurred near the village of Mainila. According to the official Soviet version, at 15:45 Finnish artillery shelled our territory, as a result of which 4 Soviet servicemen were killed and 9 wounded. Today it is considered good form to interpret this event as the work of the NKVD. The statements of the Finnish side that their artillery was deployed at such a distance that its fire could not reach the border are taken as indisputable. Meanwhile, according to Soviet documentary sources, one of the Finnish batteries was located in the Jaappinen area (5 km from Mainila). However, whoever organized the provocation at Mainila, it was used by the Soviet side as a pretext for war. On November 28, the government of the USSR denounced the Soviet-Finnish non-aggression pact and recalled its diplomatic representatives from Finland. On November 30, hostilities began.

I will not describe in detail the course of the war, since there are already enough publications on this topic. Its first stage, which lasted until the end of December 1939, was generally unsuccessful for the Red Army. On the Karelian Isthmus, Soviet troops, having overcome the forefield of the Mannerheim Line, reached its main defensive zone on December 4-10. However, attempts to break it were unsuccessful. After bloody battles, the parties switched to positional struggle.

What are the reasons for the failures of the initial period of the war? First of all, in underestimating the enemy. Finland mobilized in advance, increasing the size of its Armed Forces from 37 to 337 thousand (459). Finnish troops were deployed in the border zone, the main forces occupied defensive lines on the Karelian Isthmus and even managed to carry out full-scale maneuvers at the end of October 1939.

Soviet intelligence was also not up to par, which could not reveal complete and reliable information about the Finnish fortifications.

Finally, the Soviet leadership harbored unfounded hopes for the "class solidarity of the Finnish working people." The belief was widespread that the population of the countries that had entered the war against the USSR would almost immediately "revolt and go over to the side of the Red Army", that the workers and peasants would come out to greet the Soviet soldiers with flowers.

As a result, the proper number of troops was not allocated for combat operations and, accordingly, the necessary superiority in forces was not ensured. So, on the Karelian Isthmus, which was the most important sector of the front, the Finnish side had in December 1939 6 infantry divisions, 4 infantry brigades, 1 cavalry brigade and 10 separate battalions - a total of 80 settlement battalions. On the Soviet side, they were opposed by 9 rifle divisions, 1 rifle and machine gun brigade and 6 tank brigades - a total of 84 calculated rifle battalions. If we compare the number of personnel, then the Finnish troops on the Karelian Isthmus numbered 130 thousand, the Soviet - 169 thousand people. In general, 425 thousand soldiers of the Red Army acted along the entire front against 265 thousand Finnish troops.

Defeat or victory?

So, let's sum up the results of the Soviet-Finnish conflict. As a rule, such a war is considered won, as a result of which the winner is in a better position than he was before the war. What do we see from this point of view?

As we have already seen, by the end of the 1930s, Finland was a country that was clearly unfriendly to the USSR and ready to enter into an alliance with any of our enemies. So in this regard, the situation has not worsened at all. On the other hand, it is known that an unbelted hooligan understands only the language of brute force and begins to respect the one who managed to beat him. Finland was no exception. On May 22, 1940, the Society for Peace and Friendship with the USSR was established there. Despite the persecution of the Finnish authorities, by the time it was banned in December of that year, it had 40,000 members. Such a mass character indicates that not only supporters of the communists joined the Society, but also simply sane people who believed that it was better to maintain normal relations with a great neighbor.

According to the Moscow Treaty, the USSR received new territories, as well as a naval base on the Hanko Peninsula. This is a clear plus. After the start of the Great Patriotic War, Finnish troops were able to reach the line of the old state border only by September 1941.

It should be noted that if at the negotiations in October-November 1939 Soviet Union requested less than 3 thousand square meters. km, and even in exchange for twice the territory, then as a result of the war he acquired about 40 thousand square meters. km without giving anything in return.

It should also be taken into account that in the pre-war negotiations, the USSR, in addition to territorial compensation, offered to reimburse the value of the property left by the Finns. According to the calculations of the Finnish side, even in the case of the transfer of a small piece of land, which she agreed to cede to us, it was about 800 million marks. If it came to the cession of the entire Karelian Isthmus, the bill would have gone to many billions.

But now, when on March 10, 1940, on the eve of the signing of the Moscow Peace Treaty, Paasikivi started talking about compensation for the transferred territory, remembering that Peter I paid Sweden 2 million thalers in the Nystadt peace, Molotov could calmly answer: “Write a letter to Peter the Great. If he orders, we will pay compensation.”.

Moreover, the USSR demanded an amount of 95 million rubles. as compensation for equipment removed from the occupied territory and damage to property. Finland also had to transfer to the USSR 350 sea and river vehicles, 76 locomotives, 2 thousand wagons, a significant number of cars.

Of course, during the hostilities, 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 soldiers of the Red Army were killed, died or went missing. The losses of the Finnish troops amounted, according to official figures, to 21,396 killed and 1,434 missing. However, another figure of Finnish losses is often found in Russian literature - 48,243 killed, 43,000 wounded.

Be that as it may, Soviet losses are several times higher than Finnish ones. This ratio is not surprising. Take, for example, Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905 If we consider the fighting in Manchuria, the losses of both sides are approximately the same. Moreover, often the Russians lost more than the Japanese. However, during the assault on the fortress of Port Arthur, the losses of the Japanese far exceeded the Russian losses. It would seem that the same Russian and Japanese soldiers fought here and there, why is there such a difference? The answer is obvious: if in Manchuria the parties fought in an open field, then in Port Arthur our troops defended a fortress, even if it was unfinished. It is quite natural that the attackers suffered much higher losses. The same situation developed during the Soviet-Finnish war, when our troops had to storm the Mannerheim Line, and even in winter conditions.

As a result, the Soviet troops gained invaluable combat experience, and the command of the Red Army got a reason to think about shortcomings in the training of troops and about urgent measures to increase the combat capability of the army and navy.

Speaking in parliament on March 19, 1940, Daladier declared that for France “The Moscow Peace Treaty is a tragic and shameful event. For Russia, this is a great victory.”. However, do not go to extremes, as some authors do. Not very big. But still a victory.

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1. Parts of the Red Army cross the bridge to the territory of Finland. 1939

2. Soviet fighter guarding a minefield in the area of ​​the former Finnish border outpost. 1939

3. Artillery crew at their guns in a firing position. 1939

4. Major Volin V.S. and boatswain Kapustin I.V., who landed with a landing force on the island of Seiskaari, to inspect the coast of the island. Baltic Fleet. 1939

5. The soldiers of the rifle unit are attacking from the forest. Karelian isthmus. 1939

6. Outfit of border guards on patrol. Karelian isthmus. 1939

7. Border guard Zolotukhin at the post at the outpost of the Finns Beloostrov. 1939

8. Sappers on the construction of a bridge near the Finnish border outpost Japinen. 1939

9. Fighters deliver ammunition to Front edge. Karelian isthmus. 1939

10. Soldiers of the 7th Army are firing at the enemy with rifles. Karelian isthmus. 1939

11. The reconnaissance group of skiers receives the task of the commander before leaving for reconnaissance. 1939

12. Horse artillery on the march. Vyborgsky district. 1939

13. Fighters-skiers on a hike. 1940

14. Red Army soldiers in combat positions in the combat area with the Finns. Vyborgsky district. 1940

15. Fighters for cooking in the woods at the stake in between fights. 1939

16. Cooking dinner in field conditions at a temperature of 40 degrees below zero. 1940

17. anti-aircraft guns in position. 1940

18. Signalers for the restoration of the telegraph line, destroyed by the Finns during the retreat. Karelian isthmus. 1939

19. Fighters - signalmen restore the telegraph line, destroyed by the Finns in Terioki. 1939

20. View of the railway bridge blown up by the Finns at Terioki station. 1939

21. Soldiers and commanders talk with the inhabitants of Terioki. 1939

22. Signalers on the negotiating front line in the area of ​​Kemyar station. 1940

23. Rest of the Red Army after the battle in the Kemerya area. 1940

24. A group of commanders and soldiers of the Red Army is listening to a radio broadcast at a radio horn on one of the streets of Terioki. 1939

25. View of the Suoyarva station, taken by the Red Army. 1939

26. Soldiers of the Red Army are guarding a gas station in the town of Raivola. Karelian isthmus. 1939

27. General form the destroyed Mannerheim Fortification Line. 1939

28. General view of the destroyed Mannerheim Fortification Line. 1939

29. A rally in one of the military units after the breakthrough of the "Mannerheim Line" during the Soviet-Finnish conflict. February 1940

30. General view of the destroyed Mannerheim Fortification Line. 1939

31. Sappers for the repair of the bridge in the Boboshino area. 1939

32. A Red Army soldier lowers a letter into a field mail box. 1939

33. A group of Soviet commanders and fighters inspects the banner of Shutskor recaptured from the Finns. 1939

34. Howitzer B-4 on the front line. 1939

35. General view of the Finnish fortifications at a height of 65.5. 1940

36. View of one of the streets of Koivisto, taken by the Red Army. 1939

37. View of the destroyed bridge near the town of Koivisto, taken by the Red Army. 1939

38. A group of captured Finnish soldiers. 1940

39. Red Army soldiers at the captured guns left after the battles with the Finns. Vyborgsky district. 1940

40. Trophy ammunition depot. 1940

41. Remote-controlled tank TT-26 (217th separate tank battalion of the 30th chemical tank brigade), February 1940.

42. Soviet soldiers on a pillbox taken on the Karelian Isthmus. 1940

43. Parts of the Red Army enter the liberated city of Vyborg. 1940

44. Soldiers of the Red Army on the fortifications in the city of Vyborg. 1940

45. The ruins of the city of Vyborg after the fighting. 1940

46. ​​Soldiers of the Red Army clear the streets of the liberated city of Vyborg from snow. 1940

47. Icebreaking ship "Dezhnev" during the transfer of troops from Arkhangelsk to Kandalaksha. 1940

48. Soviet skiers move to the forefront. Winter 1939-1940.

49. Soviet attack aircraft I-15bis taxis to take off before a sortie during the Soviet-Finnish war.

50. Finnish Foreign Minister Weine Tanner speaks on the radio with a message about the end of the Soviet-Finnish war. 03/13/1940

51. The crossing of the Finnish border by Soviet units near the village of Hautavaara. November 30, 1939

52. Finnish prisoners are talking with a Soviet political worker. The picture was taken in the Gryazovets camp of the NKVD. 1939-1940

53. Soviet soldiers are talking with one of the first Finnish prisoners of war. November 30, 1939

54. Finnish aircraft Fokker C.X. shot down by Soviet fighters on the Karelian Isthmus. December 1939

55. Hero of the Soviet Union, platoon commander of the 7th pontoon-bridge battalion of the 7th Army, Junior Lieutenant Pavel Vasilyevich Usov (right) unloads a mine.

56. The calculation of the Soviet 203-mm howitzer B-4 fires at the Finnish fortifications. December 2, 1939

57. The commanders of the Red Army are considering the captured Finnish tank Vickers Mk.E. March 1940

58. Hero of the Soviet Union Senior Lieutenant Vladimir Mikhailovich Kurochkin (1913-1941) at the I-16 fighter. 1940

The topic of the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940 has now become a fairly popular topic for discussion in Russia. Many call it the shame of the Soviet army - in 105 days, from November 30, 1939 to March 13, 1940, the sides lost more than 150 thousand people only killed. The Russians won the war, and 430 thousand Finns were forced to leave their homes and return to their historical homeland.

In Soviet textbooks, we were assured that the armed conflict was started by the "Finnish military". On November 26, near the town of Mainila, an artillery shelling of Soviet troops stationed near the Finnish border took place, as a result of which 4 soldiers were killed and 10 wounded.

The Finns offered to create a joint commission to investigate the incident, which the Soviet side refused and stated that they no longer consider themselves bound by the Soviet-Finnish non-aggression pact. Was the shooting staged?

“I got acquainted with documents that were recently classified,” says military historian Miroslav Morozov. - In the divisional combat log, the pages with records of shelling are of a much later origin.

There are no reports to the division headquarters, the names of the victims are not indicated, it is not known which hospital the wounded were sent to ... Apparently, at that time the Soviet leadership did not really care about the plausibility of the reason for starting the war.

Since the declaration of independence by Finland in December 1917, territorial claims have constantly arisen between it and the USSR. But they often became the subject of negotiations. The situation changed in the late 30s, when it became clear that the Second World War would soon begin. The USSR demanded from Finland non-participation in the war against the USSR, permission to build Soviet military bases on Finnish territory. Finland hesitated and played for time.

The situation escalated with the signing of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, according to which Finland belonged to the sphere of interests of the USSR. The Soviet Union began to insist on its terms, although it offered certain territorial concessions in Karelia. But the Finnish government rejected all proposals. Then, on November 30, 1939, the invasion of Soviet troops into the territory of Finland began.

In January, frosts hit -30 degrees. The soldiers surrounded by the Finns were forbidden to leave heavy weapons and equipment to the enemy. However, seeing the inevitability of the death of the division, Vinogradov gave the order to leave the encirclement.

Out of almost 7,500 people, 1,500 came out to their own. The divisional commander, regimental commissar and chief of staff were shot. And the 18th Infantry Division, which found itself in the same conditions, remained in place and completely died north of Lake Ladoga.

But the Soviet troops suffered the heaviest losses in the battles in the main direction - the Karelian Isthmus. The 140-kilometer Mannerheim defensive line covering it on the main defensive strip consisted of 210 long-term and 546 wood-and-earth firing points. It was possible to break through it and capture the city of Vyborg only during the third assault, which began on February 11, 1940.

The Finnish government, seeing that there were no hopes left, went to negotiations and on March 12 a peace treaty was concluded. The fighting is over. Having won a dubious victory over Finland, the Red Army began to prepare for war with a much larger predator - Nazi Germany. The story took 1 year, 3 months and 10 days to prepare.

According to the results of the war, 26,000 servicemen died on the Finnish side, and 126,000 on the Soviet side. The USSR received new territories and moved the border away from Leningrad. Finland later sided with Germany. And the USSR was excluded from the League of Nations.

Some facts from the history of the Soviet-Finnish war

1. The Soviet-Finnish war of 1939/1940 was not the first armed conflict between the two states. In 1918-1920, and then in 1921-1922, the so-called first and second Soviet-Finnish wars were fought, during which the Finnish authorities, who dreamed of a "Great Finland", tried to seize the territory of Eastern Karelia.

The wars themselves became a continuation of the bloody battle that blazed in Finland in 1918-1919. civil war, which ended with the victory of the Finnish "whites" over the Finnish "reds". As a result of the wars, the RSFSR retained control over Eastern Karelia, but transferred the polar Pechenga region to Finland, as well as the western part of the Rybachy Peninsula and most of the Sredny Peninsula.

2. At the end of the wars of the 1920s, relations between the USSR and Finland were not friendly, but did not reach an open confrontation. In 1932, the Soviet Union and Finland signed a non-aggression pact, which was later extended until 1945, but in the fall of 1939 the USSR was unilaterally broken.

3. In 1938-1939, the Soviet government held secret negotiations with the Finnish side on the exchange of territories. In the context of the impending world war, the Soviet Union intended to push back state border from Leningrad, since it passed only 18 kilometers from the city. In exchange, Finland was offered territories in Eastern Karelia, much larger in area. The negotiations, however, were not successful.

4. The so-called “Mainil incident” became the immediate cause of the war: on November 26, 1939, a group of Soviet servicemen was fired upon by artillery on a section of the border near the village of Mainila. Seven cannon shots were fired, as a result of which three privates and one junior commander were killed, seven privates and two from the command staff were wounded.

Modern historians are still arguing about whether the shelling in Mainil was a provocation by the Soviet Union or not. One way or another, two days later, the USSR denounced the non-aggression pact, and on November 30 began hostilities against Finland.

5. On December 1, 1939, the Soviet Union announced the creation of an alternative " people's government» Finland, led by communist Otto Kuusinen. The next day, the USSR concluded a Treaty of Mutual Assistance and Friendship with the Kuusinen government, which was recognized as the only legitimate government in Finland.

At the same time, the formation of the Finnish People's Army from Finns and Karelians was going on. However, by the end of January 1940, the position of the USSR was revised - the Kuusinen government was no longer mentioned, and all negotiations were conducted with the official authorities in Helsinki.

6. The main obstacle to the offensive of the Soviet troops was the "Mannerheim Line" - named after the Finnish military leader and politician, the defense line between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga, consisting of multi-level concrete fortifications equipped with heavy weapons.

Initially, having no means to destroy such a line of defense, the Soviet troops suffered heavy losses during numerous frontal attacks on the fortifications.

7. Finland was simultaneously provided with military assistance as Nazi Germany, and its opponents - England and France. But if Germany limited itself to unofficial military supplies, then the Anglo-French forces considered plans for military intervention against the Soviet Union. However, these plans were never implemented for fear that the USSR in such a case could take part in the Second World War on the side of Nazi Germany.

8. By the beginning of March 1940, Soviet troops managed to break through the "Mannerheim Line", which created a threat of the complete defeat of Finland. Under these conditions, without waiting for the Anglo-French intervention against the USSR, the Finnish government entered into peace negotiations with the Soviet Union. The peace treaty was concluded in Moscow on March 12, 1940, and the fighting ended on March 13 with the capture of Vyborg by the Red Army.

9. In accordance with the Moscow Treaty, the Soviet-Finnish border was moved away from Leningrad from 18 to 150 km. According to many historians, it was this fact that largely helped to avoid the capture of the city by the Nazis during the Great Patriotic War.

In total, the territorial acquisitions of the USSR following the results of the Soviet-Finnish war amounted to 40 thousand square kilometers. Data on the human losses of the parties to the conflict to this day remain contradictory: the Red Army lost from 125 to 170 thousand people killed and missing, the Finnish army - from 26 to 95 thousand people.

10. Famous Soviet poet Alexander Tvardovsky in 1943 wrote the poem "Two Lines", which became perhaps the most striking artistic reminder of the Soviet-Finnish war:

From a shabby notebook

Two lines about a boy fighter

What was in the fortieth year

Killed in Finland on the ice.

Lying somehow clumsily

Childishly small body.

Frost pressed the overcoat to the ice,

The hat flew off.

It seemed that the boy was not lying,

And still running

Yes, the ice held the floor ...

In the midst of a great war cruel,

From what - I will not apply my mind,

I feel sorry for that distant fate,

As if dead, alone

Like I'm lying

Frozen, small, dead

In that war, not famous,

Forgotten, small, lying.

Photos of the "unknown" war

Hero of the Soviet Union Lieutenant M.I. Sipovich and Captain Korovin on the captured Finnish bunker.

Soviet soldiers inspect the observation cap of a captured Finnish bunker.

Soviet soldiers are preparing a Maxim machine gun for anti-aircraft fire.

Burning after the bombing of the house in the Finnish city of Turku.

A Soviet sentry next to a Soviet quad anti-aircraft machine gun mount based on the Maxim machine gun.

Soviet soldiers dig a Finnish border post near the Mainil frontier post.

Soviet military dog ​​breeders of a separate communications battalion with liaison dogs.

Soviet border guards inspect captured Finnish weapons.

Finnish soldier next to the downed Soviet fighter I-15 bis.

The formation of soldiers and commanders of the 123rd Infantry Division on the march after the fighting on the Karelian Isthmus.

Finnish soldiers in the trenches near Suomussalmi during the Winter War.

Captured Red Army soldiers captured by the Finns in the winter of 1940.

Finnish soldiers in the forest are trying to disperse, noticing the approach of Soviet aircraft.

A frozen Red Army soldier of the 44th Infantry Division.

Frozen in the trenches, the Red Army soldiers of the 44th Infantry Division.

A Soviet wounded man lies on a plaster cast table made from improvised means.

Three Corners Park in Helsinki with open slits dug out to shelter the population in the event of an air raid.

Blood transfusion before surgery in a Soviet military hospital.

Finnish women sew winter camouflage at the factory

A Finnish soldier walks past a broken Soviet tank column/

Finnish soldier firing from light machine gun Lahti-Saloranta M-26/

Residents of Leningrad greet tankers of the 20th tank brigade on T-28 tanks returning from the Karelian Isthmus /

Finnish soldier with machine gun Lahti-Saloranta M-26/

Finnish soldiers with a machine gun "Maxim" M / 32-33 in the forest.

Finnish calculation anti-aircraft machine gun"Maksim".

Finnish Vickers tanks, shot down near Pero station.

Finnish soldiers at the 152 mm Kane gun.

Finnish civilians who fled their homes during the Winter War.

Broken column of the Soviet 44th division.

Soviet SB-2 bombers over Helsinki.

Three Finnish skiers on the march.

Two Soviet soldiers with a Maxim machine gun in the forest on the Mannerheim Line.

A burning house in the Finnish city of Vaasa (Vaasa) after a Soviet air raid.

View of the streets of Helsinki after the Soviet air raid.

A house in the center of Helsinki, damaged after a Soviet air raid.

Finnish soldiers raise the frozen body of a Soviet officer.

A Finnish soldier looks at the changing clothes of captured Red Army soldiers.

A Soviet prisoner captured by the Finns sits on a box.

Captured Red Army soldiers enter the house under the escort of Finnish soldiers.

Finnish soldiers are carrying a wounded comrade in a dog sled.

Finnish orderlies carry a stretcher with a wounded man near the tent of a field hospital.

Finnish doctors load a stretcher with a wounded man into an ambulance bus manufactured by AUTOKORI OY.

Finnish skiers with reindeer and drags at a halt during the retreat.

Finnish soldiers disassemble the captured Soviet military equipment.

Sandbags covering the windows of a house on Sofiankatu Street in Helsinki.

T-28 tanks of the 20th heavy tank brigade before going on a combat operation.

Soviet tank T-28, shot down on the Karelian Isthmus at a height of 65.5.

A Finnish tanker next to a captured Soviet T-28 tank.

Residents of Leningrad welcome the tankers of the 20th Heavy Tank Brigade.

Soviet officers in front of the Vyborg Castle.

A Finnish air defense soldier looks at the sky through a rangefinder.

Finnish ski battalion with deer and drags.

Swedish volunteer in position during the Soviet-Finnish war.

Calculation of the Soviet 122-mm howitzer in position during the Winter War.

The orderly on a motorcycle transmits a message to the crew of the Soviet BA-10 armored car.

Pilots Heroes of the Soviet Union - Ivan Pyatykhin, Alexander Flying and Alexander Kostylev.

Finnish propaganda during the Soviet-Finnish war

Finnish propaganda promised a carefree life to surrendered Red Army soldiers: bread and butter, cigars, vodka and dancing to the accordion. They generously paid for the weapons they brought with them, made a reservation, promised to pay: for a revolver - 100 rubles, for a machine gun - 1500 rubles, and for a cannon as much as 10,000 rubles.

1939-1940 (Soviet-Finnish War, known in Finland as the Winter War) - an armed conflict between the USSR and Finland from November 30, 1939 to March 12, 1940.

Its reason was the desire of the Soviet leadership to move the Finnish border away from Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) in order to strengthen the security of the northwestern borders of the USSR, and the refusal of the Finnish side to do this. The Soviet government asked to lease parts of the Hanko peninsula and some islands in the Gulf of Finland in exchange for a large Soviet territory in Karelia, followed by the conclusion of a mutual assistance agreement.

The Finnish government believed that the acceptance of Soviet demands would weaken the strategic position of the state, lead to the loss of neutrality by Finland and its subordination to the USSR. The Soviet leadership, in turn, did not want to give up its demands, which, in its opinion, were necessary to ensure the security of Leningrad.

The Soviet-Finnish border on the Karelian Isthmus (Western Karelia) was only 32 kilometers from Leningrad, the largest center of Soviet industry and the second largest city in the country.

The reason for the start of the Soviet-Finnish war was the so-called Mainil incident. According to the Soviet version, on November 26, 1939, at 15.45, Finnish artillery in the Mainila area fired seven shells at the positions of the 68th Infantry Regiment on Soviet territory. Allegedly, three Red Army soldiers and one junior commander were killed. On the same day, the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs of the USSR addressed a note of protest to the government of Finland and demanded the withdrawal of Finnish troops from the border by 20-25 kilometers.

The Finnish government denied the shelling of Soviet territory and proposed that not only Finnish, but also Soviet troops be withdrawn 25 kilometers from the border. This formally equal demand was not feasible, because then the Soviet troops would have to be withdrawn from Leningrad.

On November 29, 1939, the Finnish envoy in Moscow was presented with a note about the severance of diplomatic relations between the USSR and Finland. On November 30, at 8 o'clock in the morning, the troops of the Leningrad Front received an order to cross the border with Finland. On the same day, Finnish President Kyösti Kallio declared war on the USSR.

During the "perestroika" several versions of the Mainilsky incident became known. According to one of them, the shelling of the positions of the 68th regiment was carried out by a secret NKVD unit. According to another, there was no shooting at all, and in the 68th regiment on November 26 there were neither killed nor wounded. There were other versions that did not receive documentary confirmation.

From the very beginning of the war, the advantage in forces was on the side of the USSR. The Soviet command concentrated near the border with Finland 21 rifle division, one tank corps, three separate tank brigades (a total of 425 thousand people, about 1.6 thousand guns, 1476 tanks and about 1200 aircraft). To support the ground forces, it was planned to attract about 500 aircraft and more than 200 ships from the Northern and Baltic fleets. 40% of Soviet forces were deployed on the Karelian Isthmus.

The grouping of Finnish troops had about 300 thousand people, 768 guns, 26 tanks, 114 aircraft and 14 warships. The Finnish command concentrated 42% of its forces on the Karelian Isthmus, deploying the Isthmus Army there. The rest of the troops covered separate areas from the Barents Sea to Lake Ladoga.

The main line of defense of Finland was the "Mannerheim Line" - unique, impregnable fortifications. The main architect of the Mannerheim line was nature itself. Its flanks rested on the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga. The coast of the Gulf of Finland was covered by large-caliber coastal batteries, and in the Taipale region on the shores of Lake Ladoga, reinforced concrete forts with eight 120- and 152-mm coastal guns were created.

"Mannerheim Line" had a frontal width of 135 kilometers, a depth of up to 95 kilometers and consisted of a support strip (depth 15-60 kilometers), a main strip (depth 7-10 kilometers), a second strip, 2-15 kilometers away from the main one, and the rear (Vyborg) line of defense. Over two thousand long-term firing structures (DOS) and wood-and-earth firing structures (DZOS) were erected, which were combined into strong points of 2-3 DOS and 3-5 DZOS each, and the latter - into resistance nodes (3-4 item). The main line of defense consisted of 25 nodes of resistance, numbering 280 DOS and 800 DZOS. The strongholds were defended by permanent garrisons (from a company to a battalion in each). Between the strongholds and nodes of resistance were positions for field troops. The strongholds and positions of the field troops were covered by anti-tank and anti-personnel barriers. Only in the security zone, 220 kilometers of wire barriers in 15-45 rows, 200 kilometers of forest debris, 80 kilometers of granite gouges up to 12 rows, anti-tank ditches, scarps (anti-tank walls) and numerous minefields were created.

All fortifications were connected by a system of trenches, underground passages and were supplied with food and ammunition necessary for a long-term autonomous battle.

On November 30, 1939, after a long artillery preparation, Soviet troops crossed the border with Finland and launched an offensive on the front from the Barents Sea to the Gulf of Finland. In 10-13 days, they overcame the zone of operational obstacles in separate directions and reached the main strip of the Mannerheim Line. For more than two weeks, unsuccessful attempts to break through it continued.

At the end of December, the Soviet command decided to stop further offensive on the Karelian Isthmus and begin systematic preparations for breaking through the Mannerheim Line.

The front went on the defensive. The troops were regrouped. The North-Western Front was created on the Karelian Isthmus. Troops have been replenished. As a result, the Soviet troops deployed against Finland numbered more than 1.3 million people, 1.5 thousand tanks, 3.5 thousand guns, and three thousand aircraft. The Finnish side by the beginning of February 1940 had 600 thousand people, 600 guns and 350 aircraft.

On February 11, 1940, the assault on the fortifications on the Karelian Isthmus resumed - the troops of the North-Western Front, after 2-3 hours of artillery preparation, went on the offensive.

Having broken through two lines of defense, on February 28, Soviet troops reached the third. They broke the enemy's resistance, forced him to start a retreat along the entire front and, developing the offensive, captured the Vyborg grouping of Finnish troops from the northeast, captured most of Vyborg, crossed the Vyborg Bay, bypassed the Vyborg fortified area from the northwest, cut the highway to Helsinki.

The fall of the "Mannerheim Line" and the defeat of the main grouping of Finnish troops put the enemy in a difficult position. Under these conditions, Finland turned to the Soviet government with a request for peace.

On the night of March 13, 1940, a peace treaty was signed in Moscow, according to which Finland ceded about a tenth of its territory to the USSR and pledged not to participate in coalitions hostile to the USSR. On March 13, hostilities ceased.

In accordance with the agreement, the border on the Karelian Isthmus was moved away from Leningrad by 120-130 kilometers. The entire Karelian Isthmus with Vyborg, the Vyborg Bay with islands, the western and northern shores of Lake Ladoga, a number of islands in the Gulf of Finland, part of the Rybachy and Sredny peninsulas went to the Soviet Union. The Hanko Peninsula and the sea area around it were leased by the USSR for 30 years. This improved the position of the Baltic Fleet.

As a result of the Soviet-Finnish war, the main strategic goal pursued by the Soviet leadership - to secure the northwestern border. However, the international position of the Soviet Union worsened: it was expelled from the League of Nations, relations with England and France became aggravated, and an anti-Soviet campaign was launched in the West.

The losses of the Soviet troops in the war amounted to: irretrievable - about 130 thousand people, sanitary - about 265 thousand people. Irretrievable losses of the Finnish troops - about 23 thousand people, sanitary - over 43 thousand people.

(Additional

The Soviet-Finnish or Winter War began on November 30, 1939, and ended on March 12, 1940. The reasons for the start, the course and results of the war are still considered very ambiguous. The instigator of the war was the USSR, whose leadership was interested in territorial acquisitions in the area of ​​the Karelian Isthmus. Western countries almost did not react to the Soviet-Finnish conflict. France England and the United States tried to adhere to the position of non-intervention in local conflicts, so as not to give Hitler a pretext for new territorial seizures. Therefore, Finland was left without the support of the Western allies.

Reason and causes of the war

The Soviet-Finnish war was provoked by a whole range of reasons, primarily related 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 in 1922, an agreement was signed on the inviolability of the Soviet-Finnish border, 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 leaderships of both countries were afraid of mutual territorial claims.
  • Stalin regularly received intelligence that Finland had signed secret pacts of support and assistance with the Baltic states and Poland if the Soviet Union attacked one of them.
  • In the late 1930s, Stalin and his associates were also worried 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 start preparing 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 be 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 change part of the Karelian Isthmus to other territories. However, the Finns refused. Firstly, the lands offered in exchange were infertile, and secondly, on the site that interested the USSR, there were important military fortifications - the Mannerheim Line.
  • Also, the Finnish side did not give its consent to the lease by the Soviet Union of several Finnish islands and part of the Hanko Peninsula. The leadership of the USSR planned to place its military bases in these territories.
  • Soon the activities of the Communist Party were banned in Finland;
  • Germany and the USSR signed a secret non-aggression pact and secret protocols to it, according to which the Finnish territory was to fall into the zone of influence of the Soviet Union. To some extent, this agreement untied the hands of the Soviet leadership regarding the regulation of 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 fired 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 situation and announced the start of the war.

Until now, there is 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 sides cannot be considered as unambiguous evidence of someone's guilt. Back in late November, Finland advocated the creation of a common 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 conscripts was carried out, in the Soviet Union in full combat readiness troops of the Leningrad Military District and the Red Banner Baltic Fleet were brought. An extensive 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 reached 425 thousand), 2.3 thousand tanks and 2.5 thousand aircraft.

The Finns had only 14 divisions, in which 270 thousand people served, 30 tanks and 270 aircraft were available.

Course of events

The Winter War can be divided into two phases:

  • November 1939 - January 1940: the Soviet offensive in several directions at once, the fighting was quite fierce;
  • February - March 1940: massive shelling of Finnish territory, attack on the Mannerheim Line, capitulation of Finland 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 Soviet army established contacts with Otto Kuusinen, who was the head of the Communist Party of Finland and an active member of the Comintern. With the support of Stalin, he proclaimed the creation of the Finnish Democratic Republic. Kuusinen became its president and began to negotiate with the Soviet Union on behalf of the Finnish people. Official diplomatic relations were established between the FDR and the USSR.

The 7th Soviet Army moved very quickly towards the Mannerheim Line. The first chain of fortifications was broken in the first decade of 1939. The Soviet soldiers could not advance further. All attempts to break through the following lines of defense ended in losses and defeats. Failures on the line led to the suspension of further advance inland.

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, half of the army was destroyed. The success of Finland was due, first of all, to the fact that the Soviet troops were tied to the roads. The Finns, moving in small mobile detachments, easily cut off equipment and people from the necessary communications. The 8th Army retreated, having lost people, but did not leave this 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 in two, 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 surround the division. The Red Army switched to all-round defense, repulsing the attacks of Finnish skiers. The Finnish detachments carried out their actions suddenly, moreover, the main striking force of the Finns was the almost elusive snipers. The clumsy and insufficiently mobile Soviet troops began to suffer huge human losses, equipment also broke down. The 44th rifle division was sent to help the encircled division, which also fell into the Finnish encirclement. Due to the fact that two divisions were under constant fire, the 163rd Rifle Division began to gradually 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 returned the state border in Central Karelia under their control. In this direction, the actions of the Red Army were paralyzed, and the Finnish army received huge trophies. The victory over the enemy raised the morale of the soldiers, but Stalin repressed the leadership of the 163rd and 44th rifle divisions of the Red Army.

In the area of ​​the Rybachy Peninsula, the 14th Army advanced quite successfully. Within a short time, the soldiers captured the city of Petsamo with its nickel mines and went straight to the border with Norway. Thus, Finland was cut off from access to the Barents Sea.

In January 1940, the Finns encircled the 54th Infantry Division (in the Suomussalmi region, 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 Rifle Division, which tried to advance in the Sortavala area. Also, a Soviet tank division fell into the Finnish encirclement near Lemetti-Yuzhny. She managed to get out of the encirclement, losing all the equipment and more than half of the soldiers.

The Karelian Isthmus has become a zone of the most active hostilities. But by the end of December 1939, the fighting stopped here. This was due to the fact that the leadership of the Red Army began to understand the futility of strikes along the Mannerheim line. The Finns tried to use the lull in the war to the maximum advantage and go on the attack. But all operations ended unsuccessfully with huge human casualties.

By the end of the first stage of the war, in January 1940, the Red Army was in difficult situation. She fought in an unfamiliar, practically unexplored territory, it was dangerous to move forward due to numerous ambushes. In addition, the weather complicated the planning of operations. The position of the Finns was also unenviable. They had problems with the number of soldiers and lacked equipment, but the population of the country had tremendous experience in guerrilla war. 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 shelling that lasted 10 days. The purpose of this action was to damage the fortifications on the Mannerheim Line and the troops of Finland, to exhaust the soldiers, to morally break their spirit. The actions taken achieved their goals, and on February 11, 1940, the Red Army launched an offensive inland.

Very fierce battles began on the Karelian Isthmus. At first, the Red Army planned to strike the main blow at the settlement of Summa, which was located in the Vyborg direction. But the army of the USSR began to get stuck on foreign territory, incurring losses. As a result, the direction of the main attack was changed to Lyakhda. In the area of ​​​​this settlement, the Finnish defenses were broken through, which allowed the Red Army to pass the first strip of the Mannerheim Line. The Finns began to withdraw troops.

By the end of February 1940, the Soviet army also crossed the second line of defense of Mannerheim, breaking through it in several places. By the beginning of March, the Finns began to retreat, because they were in a difficult position. The 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 stocks of equipment, materiel, replenished personnel. In March 1940, the 7th Army approached Vyborg, where the Finns put up stiff resistance.

On March 13, hostilities were stopped, which was initiated by the Finnish side. The reasons for this decision were as follows:

  • Vyborg was one of the largest cities in the country, its loss could have a negative impact on the morale of citizens and the economy;
  • After the capture of Vyborg, the Red Army could easily reach Helsinki, which threatened Finland with a complete loss of independence and independence.

Peace negotiations began on March 7, 1940 and took place in Moscow. As a result of the discussion, the parties decided to stop 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 he was given the Hanko peninsula for a long lease.

  • The Red Army lost about 88 thousand people who died from wounds and frostbite. Almost 40 thousand more people were missing, 160 thousand were injured. Finland lost 26 thousand people dead, 40 thousand Finns were injured;
  • The Soviet Union achieved one of its key foreign policy objectives - it ensured the security of Leningrad;
  • The USSR strengthened its positions on the Baltic coast, which was achieved by acquiring 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, having learned 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 became fatal for the USSR, as Germany was able to quickly capture Finland and pass into the territory of the Soviet Union;
  • The war showed Germany that the Red Army in difficult weather conditions is unfit for combat. The same opinion was formed by the leaders of other countries;
  • Finland, under the terms of the peace agreement, was to build a railway track, with the help of which it was planned to connect the Kola Peninsula and the Gulf of Bothnia. The road was supposed to pass through the settlement of Alakurtia and connect with Tornio. But this part of the agreement was never carried out;
  • On October 11, 1940, another treaty was signed between the USSR and Finland, which concerned the Åland Islands. The Soviet Union received the right to place a consulate here, and the archipelago was declared a demilitarized zone;
  • The international organization League of Nations, created following the results of 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 Soviet intervention in Finland. The reasons for the exclusion were also constant aerial bombardments of Finnish civilian targets. Incendiary bombs were often used during the raids;

Thus, the Winter War became an occasion for Germany and Finland to gradually draw 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 the lost territories.