Day-by-Day Timeline of Events
Sunday, November 26th, 1939
With worsening relations between Finland and the Soviet Union, the Soviets pull out of their non-aggression pact with Finland.
Thursday, November 30th, 1939
Five Soviet armies cross into Finland, beginning the Winter War.
Friday, December 1st, 1939
The Soviet Union installs a Finnish-Soviet puppet government in Terijoki to be led by Otto Kuusinen.
Saturday, December 2nd, 1939
The Finnish government seeks assistance from the League of Nations.
Tuesday, December 5th, 1939
After some initial advances, the Soviet Army if forced to stop by the Finnish defenses at the Mannerheim Line.
Saturday, December 9th, 1939
As the Finnish winter worsens, Soviet attacks on Helsinki stall.
Saturday, December 9th, 1939
The Soviet 44th and 163rd Divisions take the Finnish town of Soumussalmi.
Friday, December 15th, 1939
The deteriorating conditions of a Finnish winter protect Helsinki from additional Soviet attacks.
Friday, December 15th, 1939
The Mannerheim Line holds as Soviet Army elements are kept at bay.
Friday, December 15th, 1939
Valliant Finnish forces repel the Soviet Army out of Soumussalmi, retaking the town.
Friday, December 15th, 1939
The Soviet 14th Army takes Petsamo.
Friday, December 15th, 1939
Finnish defenders keep the town of Nautsi from falling under Soviet control.
Sunday, December 17th - December 31st, 1939
Finnish Army elements cross into Soviet Karelia, unleashing hell on the Russian 44th and 163rd Divisions. Some 27,000 Russian soldiers are killed.
Monday, February 5th, 1940
The Allied Supreme War Council agrees to come to the aid of Finland and Norway - if only to protect valuable Swedish ore from falling to the Germans.
Monday, March 11th, 1940
The Finns agree to the Treaty of Moscow with the Soviets. 10 percent of Finnish territory is ceded to the invaders at the cost of 25,000 Finns to 200,000 Soviets.
Wednesday, March 20th, 1940
French PM Daladier resigns his post after the failure to save Finland.
Tuesday, January 2nd, 1940
A new Soviet offensive on the Karelian isthmus fails.
Sunday, January 7th, 1940
Stalin appoints a new commander to oversee the Winter War - General Semyon Timoshenko.
Sunday, January 28th, 1940
Finnish ground forces recover territory from the Soviet 54th Division at Kuhmo.
Thursday, February 1st, 1940
The Soviets enact a new offensive against Finnish positions along the Mannerheim Line, beginning with artillery attack accounting for some 300,000 shells.
Sunday, February 11th - February 17th, 1940
The Soviet Army breaks through the defenses at the Mannerheim Line at Summa. Finnish Army units retreat.
Friday, February 23rd, 1940
The Soviet government delivers terms of surrender to the Finnish government, claiming the Karelian isthmus and Lake Lagoda as their own. The Finns are required to defend the Soviet Union from the north if the empire is attacked.
Tuesday, March 5th, 1940
Finland responds to the Soviet surrender overture with negotiations.
Tuesday, March 12th, 1940
After months of fighting and countless lives lost on both sides, the Finnish government officially accepts the surrender terms of the Russian proposal in an internal vote numbering 145 to 3.
