Winter War end, 75 years ago

Talvisota oli 30. marraskuuta 1939 – 13. maaliskuuta 1940 Suomen ja Neuvostoliiton välillä käyty sota. Neuvostoliitto aloitti talvisodan hyökkäämällä ilman sodanjulistusta, ja sota päättyi 105 päivää myöhemmin Moskovan rauhansopimukseen. Kansainliitto tuomitsi hyökkäyksen ja erotti Neuvostoliiton 14. joulukuuta 1939.

Toinen maailmansota oli alkanut kolme kuukautta aikaisemmin Saksan ja Neuvostoliiton miehitettyä Puolan. Koska länsirintamalla oli käynnissä vähätapahtumainen valesota, länsimaiden lehdistö seurasi talvisotaa tarkasti. 
Termeistä sisu ja Molotov cocktail tuli kansainvälisesti tunnettuja.

(Sisu is a tough, relentless willpower, perseverance, indomitable)

Spirit of the Winter War

Winter War 

White Death 

Sota on tunnettu erityisen vaikeista talviolosuhteista (talvi 1939–1940 oli vuosisadan kylmimpiä), puna-armeijan valtavista miestappioista, suomalaisten mottitaktiikasta sekä ”talvisodan hengestä”. 

Sodan seurauksena Suomi menetti Neuvostoliitolle 11 prosenttia maa-alueistaan ja toiseksi suurimman kaupunkinsa Viipurin. 

Talvisodan synnyttämä revanssihenki oli osaltaan viemässä Suomea jatkosotaan.

Winter War
Part of World War II
A Finnish machine gun crew during the Winter War
Date 30 November 1939 – 13 March 1940 (3 months, 1 week and 5 days) Location Eastern Finland Result Moscow Peace Treaty Territorial changes Cession of the Gulf of Finland islands,Karelian Isthmus, Ladoga Karelia,Salla, and Rybachy Peninsula, and rental of Hanko to the Soviet Union
Belligerents
Finland  Swedish Volunteer Corps Foreign volunteers	Soviet Union Finnish Democratic Republic
Commanders and leaders
Risto Ryti  Field Marshal C.G.E. Mannerheim	Joseph Stalin  Kirill Meretskov  Kliment Voroshilov  Semyon Timoshenko
Strength
250,000–340,000 men 32 tanks 114 aircraft	425,640–760,578 men 998,100 men (overall) 2,514–6,541 tanks 3,880 aircraft
Casualties and losses
25,904 dead or missing 43,557 wounded 1,000 captured 957 civilians in air raids 20–30 tanks 62 aircraft 70,000 total casualties	126,875 dead or missing 188,671 wounded, concussed or burned 5,572 capture 3,543 tanks 261–515 aircraft 323,000 total casualties

---------------------

The Winter War (Finnish: talvisota, Swedish: vinterkriget, Russian: Зи́мняя война́, tr. Zimnyaya voyna) was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland in 1939–1940. It began with the Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939 (three months after the outbreak of World War II), and ended with the Moscow Peace Treaty on 13 March 1940. The League of Nations deemed the attack illegal and expelled the Soviet Union from the League on 14 December 1939.

Submachine-gun Finland

Tokarev automatic rifle

Lahti-Saloranta M 26 - light machine gun

Degtyaryov machine gun

The Soviet Union ostensibly sought to claim parts of Finnish territory, demanding—amongst other concessions—that Finland cede substantial border territories in exchange for land elsewhere, claiming security reasons, primarily the protection of Leningrad, which was only 32 km (20 mi) from the Finnish border. Finland refused and the USSR invaded the country. Many sources conclude that the Soviet Union had intended to conquer all of Finland, and use the establishment of the puppet Finnish Communist government and the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact's secret protocols as proof of this, while other sources argue against this idea of a full Soviet conquest.

                          

The Soviets possessed more than three times as many soldiers as the Finns, thirty times as many aircraft, and a hundred times as many tanks. The Red Army, however, had been crippled by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin's Great Purge of 1937. With more than 30,000 of its officers executed or imprisoned, including most of those of the highest ranks, the Red Army in 1939 had many inexperienced senior and mid-level officers. Because of these factors, and high morale in the Finnish forces, Finland repelled Soviet attacks for several months, much longer than the Soviets expected.

                      

However, after reorganization and adoption of different tactics, the renewed Soviet offensive overcame Finnish defenses at the borders. Finland then agreed to cede more territory than originally demanded by the Soviet Union in 1939; the Soviets, having conquered the areas they demanded from Finland but at a cost of heavier losses in troops than anticipated, accepted this offer.

                   

Hostilities ceased in March 1940 with the signing of the Moscow Peace Treaty. Finland ceded territory representing 11% of its land area and 30% of its economy to the Soviet Union. 

Four minutes of work                   
The video is based on the text of Jorma Sarvanto. He describes his dogfight in 1940 against 7 Soviet DB-3 bombers. 
During a flight of 25 minutes he in a battle of four minutes shot down six of them.

Jorma Sarvanto 6.1.1940

Soviet losses were heavy, and the country's international reputation suffered. While the Soviet Union did not conquer all Finland, Soviet gains somewhat exceeded their pre-war demands. 

They gained substantial territory along Lake Ladoga, providing a buffer for Leningrad, and territory in northern Finland. 

Finland retained its sovereignty and enhanced its international reputation.

The end of the war cancelled the Franco-British plan to send troops to Finland through northern Scandinavia. 

Some authors would suggest that the official statement by Sweden, Norway and Denmark of February 1940, declaring they would not allow British troops to use their territories on their way to Finland, was a factor in Finland's decision of commencing the peace talks with Russia. 

One of the operation's major goals in the projected Franco-British operation had been to take control of northern Sweden's iron ore and cut its deliveries to Germany. 

For this reason it was also a major factor in the launching of Operation Weserübung, Nazi Germany's invasion of Denmark and Norway.