How Finland held off the Russians and won a moral victory -- with lessons for Ukraine

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

It was seven days into the Russian invasion.

“The army has that sound and comforting gaiety of good troops,” wrote an American correspondent after visiting troops defending the former Russian territory.

-snip-

The year was 1939. The reporter was Martha Gellhorn, a trailblazing female war correspondent. The pilot Gellhorn had interviewed, who had already shot down several Russian planes, was Finnish.

A week earlier, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin had invaded Finland with a massive land, air and sea assault — much like the shock assault Russian President Vladimir Putin recently launched against Ukraine, sans thermobaric cannons.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/03/04/finland-russia-winter-war/

[Hoyt]

1. The article is quite good. Thanks.

[AlexSFCA]

2. great read! Learning so much history lately

[Raine]

3. Very interesting and informative ... Thank you for posting it. 👍 nt

[Straw Man]

4. I am of Finnish descent ...

... and this history is very well known to Finnish-Americans. My grandmother sat in her Bronx apartment knitting winter socks to be sent to the Finnish troops.

The Finns had several distinct advantages. Being on their home turf, they had caches of weapons and food, as well as "warming stations" -- hidden bunkers where they could get warm and sleep while the Russians were freezing in their tents. The Russians were't well equipped for winter conditions, due to the overconfidence that led them to believe that their invasion, launched in November, would be over before the depths of the Finnish winter. Also, Stalin had recently purged his officer corps, so the invasion was mostly led by officers who were politically correct but not experienced in warfare. Finally, the Finnish terrain was heavily wooded, meaning that the Russian tanks had to stick to narrow roads, where they were easily trapped and ambushed.

The Finns had only been independent of Russia since 1917, and they had no desire to return to Russian domination. Finns were generally contemptuous of Russians, both before and after the Revolution. This attitude persists. I remember one of my uncles picking up a book of matches to light his cigarette, and, noticing that the matches were of Russian origin, asking if anybody wanted to place bets on how many matches he would have to try before he got one that would light. Nobody took the bet, but the answer was five.

[Raven]

5. Great post! n/t

[c-rational]

6. Good post. Thanks.