From 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809, the Russian Empire waged the Finnish War against the Kingdom of Sweden, ostensibly to protect the Russian capital Saint Petersburg, eventually conquering and annexing Finland, converting it into an autonomous buffer state.
From 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809, the Russian Empire waged the Finnish War against the Kingdom of Sweden, ostensibly to protect the Russian capital Saint Petersburg, eventually conquering and annexing Finland, converting it into an autonomous buffer state.
These attempts were aborted because of Russia's internal strife, but they ruined Russia's relations with the Finns and increased support for Finnish self-determination movements. World War I led to the collapse of the Russian Empire during the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Russian Civil War of 1917–1920.
On 15 November 1917, the Bolshevik Russian government declared that national minorities possessed the right of self-determination, including the right to secede and form a separate state, giving Finland a window of opportunity.
On 6 December 1917, the Senate of Finland declared the nation's independence.
The issue continued to divide Russian historiography even after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. In 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated at a meeting with military historians that the USSR launched the Winter War to "correct mistakes" made in determining the border with Finland after 1917.
By the late 1930s, the export-oriented Finnish economy was growing and the nation's extreme political movements had diminished. After Soviet involvement in the Finnish Civil War in 1918, no formal peace treaty was signed.
In 1918 and 1919, Finnish volunteers conducted two unsuccessful military incursions across the Soviet border, the Viena and Aunus expeditions, to annex Karelian areas according to the Greater Finland ideology of combining all Finnic peoples into a single state.
In 1918 and 1919, Finnish volunteers conducted two unsuccessful military incursions across the Soviet border, the Viena and Aunus expeditions, to annex Karelian areas according to the Greater Finland ideology of combining all Finnic peoples into a single state.
In 1920, Finnish communists based in the USSR attempted to assassinate the former Finnish White Guard Commander-in-Chief, Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim.
On 14 October 1920, Finland and Soviet Russia signed the Treaty of Tartu, confirming the old border between the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland and Imperial Russia proper as the new Finnish–Soviet border.
Paasikivi commented that the Soviet attack without a declaration of war violated three separate non-aggression pacts: the Treaty of Tartu signed in 1920, the non-aggression pact between Finland and the Soviet Union signed in 1932 and again in 1934, and also the Covenant of the League of Nations, which the Soviet Union signed in 1934.
The Finns had built 221 strong-points along the Karelian Isthmus, mostly in the early 1920s.
The Finnish Government allowed volunteers to cross the border to support the East Karelian uprising in Russia in 1921, and Finnish communists in the Soviet Union continued to prepare for a revanche and staged a cross-border raid into Finland, called the Pork mutiny, in 1922.
The Finnish Government allowed volunteers to cross the border to support the East Karelian uprising in Russia in 1921, and Finnish communists in the Soviet Union continued to prepare for a revanche and staged a cross-border raid into Finland, called the Pork mutiny, in 1922.
Finland's military policy included clandestine defence co-operation with Estonia. The period after the Finnish Civil War till the early 1930s was a politically unstable time in Finland due to the continued rivalry between the conservative and socialist parties.
By the late 1930s, the export-oriented Finnish economy was growing and the nation's extreme political movements had diminished. After Soviet involvement in the Finnish Civil War in 1918, no formal peace treaty was signed.
Soviet soldiers had even been warned not to cross the border into Sweden by mistake. Stalin's purges in the 1930s had devastated the officer corps of the Red Army; those purged included three of its five marshals, 220 of its 264 division or higher-level commanders, and 36,761 officers of all ranks.
Many were extended in the late 1930s.
The Communist Party of Finland was declared illegal in 1931, and the nationalist Lapua Movement organised anti-communist violence, which culminated in a failed coup attempt in 1932.
The Communist Party of Finland was declared illegal in 1931, and the nationalist Lapua Movement organised anti-communist violence, which culminated in a failed coup attempt in 1932.
In 1932, the USSR and Finland signed a non-aggression pact, which was reaffirmed for a ten-year period in 1934.
Paasikivi commented that the Soviet attack without a declaration of war violated three separate non-aggression pacts: the Treaty of Tartu signed in 1920, the non-aggression pact between Finland and the Soviet Union signed in 1932 and again in 1934, and also the Covenant of the League of Nations, which the Soviet Union signed in 1934.
In 1932, the USSR and Finland signed a non-aggression pact, which was reaffirmed for a ten-year period in 1934.
In 1934, the Soviet Union joined the League of Nations. Joseph Stalin regarded it a disappointment that the Soviet Union could not halt the Finnish revolution.
Paasikivi commented that the Soviet attack without a declaration of war violated three separate non-aggression pacts: the Treaty of Tartu signed in 1920, the non-aggression pact between Finland and the Soviet Union signed in 1932 and again in 1934, and also the Covenant of the League of Nations, which the Soviet Union signed in 1934.
When Stalin gained absolute power through the Great Purge of 1938, the USSR changed its foreign policy toward Finland and began to pursue the reconquest of the provinces of Tsarist Russia lost during the chaos of the October Revolution and the Russian Civil War almost two decades earlier.
In essence, the border between the Grand Duchy of Finland and Russia proper was never supposed to become international. === Negotiations === In April 1938, NKVD agent Boris Yartsev contacted the Finnish Foreign Minister Rudolf Holsti and Prime Minister Aimo Cajander, stating that the Soviet Union did not trust Germany and that war was considered possible between the two countries.
Yartsev suggested that Finland cede or lease some islands in the Gulf of Finland along the seaward approaches to Leningrad; Finland refused. Negotiations continued throughout 1938 without results.
The Soviets had already started intensive mobilisation near the Finnish border in 1938–39.
Finland also lost 30 percent of the economic assets since March 1938.
It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peace Treaty on 13 March 1940.
At the same time, Finland was attempting to negotiate a military co-operation plan with Sweden and hoping to jointly defend the Åland Islands. The Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact in August 1939.
On 1 September 1939, Germany began its invasion of Poland and two days later Great Britain and France declared war on Germany.
Assault troops thought necessary for the invasion did not begin deployment until October 1939.
Operational plans made in September called for the invasion to start in November. On 5 October 1939, the Soviet Union invited a Finnish delegation to Moscow for negotiations.
The Finns made two counteroffers whereby Finland would cede the Terijoki area to the Soviet Union, which would double the distance between Leningrad and the Finnish border, far less than the Soviets had demanded, as well as the islands in the Gulf of Finland. ===Shelling of Mainila and Soviet intentions=== On 26 November 1939, an incident was reported near the Soviet village of Mainila, close to the border with Finland.
Hungarian historian István Ravasz wrote that the Soviet Central Committee had set out in 1939 that the former borders of the Tsarist Empire were to be restored—including Finland.
He quotes Molotov, who commented in November 1939 on the regime-change plan to a Soviet ambassador that the new government "will not be Soviet, but one of a democratic republic.
He stated that "the strongest argument" against a Soviet intention of full conquest is that it did not happen in either 1939 or during the Continuation War in 1944—even though Stalin "could have done so with comparative ease".
It was composed of two divisions under Juho Heiskanen, who was soon replaced by Woldemar Hägglund. The North Finland Group was a collection of White Guards, border guards and drafted reservist units under Wiljo Tuompo. ==Soviet invasion== === Start of the invasion and political operations === On 30 November 1939, Soviet forces invaded Finland with 21 divisions, totalling 450,000 men, and bombed Helsinki, killing about a hundred citizens and destroying more than fifty buildings.
The League expelled the USSR on 14 December 1939 and exhorted its members to aid Finland. On 1 December 1939, the Soviet Union formed a puppet government, called the Finnish Democratic Republic and headed by Otto Wille Kuusinen, in the parts of Finnish Karelia occupied by the Soviets.
The Arctic port of Petsamo was attacked by the 104th Mountain Rifle Division by sea and land, supported by naval gunfire. ==Operations from December to January== ===Weather conditions=== The winter of 1939–40 was exceptionally cold with the Karelian Isthmus experiencing a record low temperature of on 16 January 1940.
World War II, which had started before the Winter War, proved more costly for the Finnish merchant vessels, with 26 lost due to hostile action in 1939 and 1940. ===Coastal artillery=== Finnish coastal artillery batteries defended important harbours and naval bases.
The matter was raised by British Admiral Reginald Plunkett on 18 September 1939, and the next day Winston Churchill brought up the subject in the Chamberlain War Cabinet.
In his radio speech of 29 November 1939, Molotov argued that the Soviet Union had tried to negotiate guarantees of security for Leningrad for two months.
The Winter War: The Soviet Attack on Finland 1939–1940 (). (online review) Trotter, William R.: A Frozen Hell: The Russo-Finnish Winter War of 1939–1940 (). Weeks, Jessica L.
It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peace Treaty on 13 March 1940.
After the Soviet military reorganized and adopted different tactics, they renewed their offensive in February and overcame Finnish defences. Hostilities ceased in March 1940 with the signing of the Moscow Peace Treaty, in which Finland ceded 11% of its territory to the Soviet Union.
The Arctic port of Petsamo was attacked by the 104th Mountain Rifle Division by sea and land, supported by naval gunfire. ==Operations from December to January== ===Weather conditions=== The winter of 1939–40 was exceptionally cold with the Karelian Isthmus experiencing a record low temperature of on 16 January 1940.
Not until late January 1940 did the Soviets paint their equipment white and issue snowsuits to their infantry. Most Soviet soldiers had proper winter clothes, but this was not the case with every unit.
It was not until the period of 6–16 January 1940 that the Finns resumed their offensive, dividing Soviet divisions into smaller mottis.
In January 1940, the Soviet Pravda newspaper continued to stress that no civilian targets in Finland had been struck, even accidentally.
World War II, which had started before the Winter War, proved more costly for the Finnish merchant vessels, with 26 lost due to hostile action in 1939 and 1940. ===Coastal artillery=== Finnish coastal artillery batteries defended important harbours and naval bases.
When he signed the document, the tormented president uttered the well-known words: ===Moscow Peace Treaty=== The Moscow Peace Treaty was signed in Moscow on 12 March 1940.
Norway and Sweden rejected the offer on 5 January 1940.
In 1940, Finland and Sweden conducted negotiations for a military alliance, but the negotiations ended once it became clear that both Germany and the Soviet Union opposed such an alliance.
Also, Finland had to cede all the ships of the Finnish Ladoga Naval Detachment to the Soviet Union by virtue of the Moscow Peace Treaty. ===Soviet Union=== The Soviet General Staff Supreme Command (Stavka) met in April 1940, reviewed the lessons of the Finnish campaign, and recommended reforms.
According to Molotov, the Soviet Union did not want to occupy or annex Finland; the goal was purely to secure Leningrad. The official Soviet figure in 1940 for their dead was 48,745.
After 15 months of Interim Peace, in June 1941, Nazi Germany commenced Operation Barbarossa, and the Continuation War between Finland and the USSR began. ==Background== === Soviet–Finnish relations and politics === Until the beginning of the 19th century, Finland constituted the eastern part of the Kingdom of Sweden.
In June 1941, Hitler declared, 'we have only to kick in the door and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down'. ===Allies=== The Winter War laid bare the disorganisation and ineffectiveness of the Red Army as well as of the Allies.
He stated that "the strongest argument" against a Soviet intention of full conquest is that it did not happen in either 1939 or during the Continuation War in 1944—even though Stalin "could have done so with comparative ease".
Doubt on the official Soviet version was cast only in the late 1980s, during the policy of glasnost.
Not all of the reforms had been completed by the time Germans initiated Operation Barbarossa 14 months later. During the period between the Winter War and perestroika in the late 1980s, Soviet historiography relied solely on Vyacheslav Molotov's speeches on the Winter War.
More recent Russian estimates vary: in 1990, Mikhail Semiryaga claimed 53,522 dead and N.
The issue continued to divide Russian historiography even after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. In 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated at a meeting with military historians that the USSR launched the Winter War to "correct mistakes" made in determining the border with Finland after 1917.
In 1991, Yuri Kilin claimed 63,990 dead and total casualties of 271,528.
In 1997, Grigoriy Krivosheyev claimed 126,875 dead and missing, and total casualties of 391,783 with 188,671 wounded.
Bradley Lightbody wrote that the "entire Soviet aim had been to make the Soviet border more secure." In 2002, Russian historian A.
According to revised estimates in 2005 by Finnish historians, 25,904 people died or went missing and 43,557 were wounded on the Finnish side during the war.
In 2007, he revised the estimate of dead to 134,000 and in 2012, he updated the estimate to 138,533.
In 2007, he revised the estimate of dead to 134,000 and in 2012, he updated the estimate to 138,533.
The issue continued to divide Russian historiography even after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. In 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated at a meeting with military historians that the USSR launched the Winter War to "correct mistakes" made in determining the border with Finland after 1917.
In 2013, Pavel Petrov stated that the Russian State Military Archive has a database confirming 167,976 killed or missing along with the soldiers' names, dates of birth, and ranks.
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