Winter War: The Soviet Invasion of Finland

In some ways, Soviet leader Josef Stalin became emboldened by Adolph Hitler's actions (and subsequent success) in his capture of several of the smaller nations en route to Poland and France. Not to be outdone - and securing a pact with Hitler's Germany, Stalin moved to expand the Soviet Empire to include the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuanian. With little resistance, the Soviet Army was allowed to set up local garrisons in the respective countries.

Finland was another such nation in the Soviet scope. However, the Finns were not all too ready to bow down to the Communist herd and stood strong in the face of threats from the Soviets. Eventually, the threats were called off and two days later, the Soviet Army invaded Finland. World support from the US, UK, France and Sweden all proposed assistance but little of this actually materialized to help the Finns out.

The defense of Finland more or less revolved around the integrity of the Mannerheim Line, a series of defensive fortifications protecting the Finnish-Russo border. Initial thrusts by Soviet Armor columns and troops to the south of the line were met with disastrous results. Though the Fins were outclassed logistically and materially, they were experts on their home turf - trained to fight in ice and snow (not to mention the resolve inherent in the Finn soldier). Infantry were deadly-accurate with their rifles and machine guns to handle blows against the Soviet soldier. Likewise, the use of crude, yet effective, gasoline-based bombs wreaked havoc on the Soviet armor columns. In the end, the Soviet Army was either beaten back or decimated.

To the North, the Soviets made good headway. So good was the advance, in fact, that this group soon found themselves spread too far out from resupply and ill-equipped to deal with the Finns on equal footing. As a result, this force too was either decimated or forces into retreat.

After regrouping, Stalin launched an all-out offensive in January of 1940. This offensive sent forth Soviet troops, armor and siege artillery to lay waste to the Mannerheim Line and open the road to Helsinki. The Finnish positions eventually gave way under the might of the Red Army and, on March 13th, Finland capitulated to the Russians.

Stalin and his Russians could now claim their prize.