Results of the winter war. Finnish war losses

The Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940 became the Russian Federation quite a popular topic. All authors who like to walk through the "totalitarian past" like to remember this war, to recall the balance of forces, the losses, the failures of the initial period of the war.

Reasonable causes of war are denied or hushed up. The decision to war is often blamed on Comrade Stalin personally. As a result, many of the citizens of the Russian Federation who have even heard about this war are sure that we lost it, suffered huge losses and showed the whole world the weakness of the Red Army.

Origins of Finnish statehood

The land of the Finns (in Russian chronicles - "Sum") did not have its own statehood, in the XII-XIV centuries it was conquered by the Swedes. On the lands of the Finnish tribes (sum, em, Karelians) three crusades were made - 1157, 1249-1250 and 1293-1300. The Finnish tribes were subjugated and forced to accept Catholicism. The further invasion of the Swedes and the Crusaders was stopped by the Novgorodians, who inflicted several defeats on them. In 1323, the Peace of Orekhov was concluded between the Swedes and Novgorodians.

The lands were controlled by Swedish feudal lords, the castles (Abo, Vyborg and Tavastgus) were the centers of control. The Swedes had all the administrative, judicial power. The official language was Swedish, the Finns did not even have cultural autonomy. Swedish was spoken by the nobility and the entire educated layer of the population, Finnish was the language of ordinary people. The church, the Abo episcopate, had great power, but paganism retained its position among the common people for quite a long time.

In 1577, Finland received the status of a Grand Duchy and received a coat of arms with a lion. Gradually, the Finnish nobility merged with the Swedish.

In 1808, the Russian-Swedish war began, the reason was the refusal of Sweden to act together with Russia and France against England; Russia has won. According to the Friedrichsham Peace Treaty of September 1809, Finland became the property of the Russian Empire.

For a little over a hundred years, the Russian Empire turned the Swedish province into a practically autonomous state with its own authorities, monetary unit, post office, customs and even an army. Since 1863, Finnish, along with Swedish, has become the state language. All administrative posts, except for the governor-general, were occupied by local residents. All taxes collected in Finland remained in the same place, Petersburg almost did not interfere in the internal affairs of the Grand Duchy. The migration of Russians to the principality was prohibited, the rights of Russians living there were limited, and Russification of the province was not carried out.

In 1811, the principality was given the Russian province of Vyborg, which was formed from the lands that had ceded to Russia under the treaties of 1721 and 1743. Then the administrative border with Finland approached the capital of the empire. In 1906, by decree Russian emperor Finnish women, the first in all of Europe, were given the right to vote. Cherished by Russia, the Finnish intelligentsia did not remain in debt and wanted independence.

Beginning of independence

On December 6, 1917, the Sejm (Parliament of Finland) declared independence; on December 31, 1917, the Soviet government recognized the independence of Finland.

On January 15 (28), 1918, a revolution began in Finland, which grew into a civil war. The White Finns called for help from German troops. The Germans did not refuse, in early April they landed a 12,000th division (“Baltic Division”) under the command of General von der Goltz on the Hanko Peninsula. Another detachment of 3 thousand people was sent on April 7. With their support, the supporters of Red Finland were defeated, on the 14th the Germans occupied Helsinki, on April 29 Vyborg fell, in early May the Reds were completely defeated. The Whites carried out mass repressions: more than 8 thousand people were killed, about 12 thousand rotted in concentration camps, about 90 thousand people were arrested and put in prisons and camps. A genocide was unleashed against the Russian inhabitants of Finland, killed everyone indiscriminately: officers, students, women, old people, children.

Berlin demanded that the German prince, Friedrich Karl of Hesse, be placed on the throne; on October 9, the Sejm elected him King of Finland. But Germany was defeated in World War I and so Finland became a republic.

First two Soviet-Finnish wars

Independence was not enough, the Finnish elite wanted an increase in territory, deciding to take advantage of the Time of Troubles in Russia, Finland attacked Russia. Karl Mannerheim promised to annex Eastern Karelia. On March 15, the so-called “Wallenius plan” was approved, according to which the Finns wanted to seize Russian lands along the border: the White Sea - Lake Onega - the Svir River - Lake Ladoga, in addition, the Pechenga region, the Kola Peninsula, Petrograd was supposed to move to Suomi become a "free city". On the same day, detachments of volunteers received an order to begin the conquest of Eastern Karelia.

On May 15, 1918, Helsinki declared war on Russia, until the autumn there were no active hostilities, Germany concluded the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the Bolsheviks. But after her defeat, the situation changed, on October 15, 1918, the Finns captured the Rebolsk region, and in January 1919, the Porosozersk region. In April, the Olonets Volunteer Army launched an offensive, it captured Olonets and approached Petrozavodsk. During the Vidlitsa operation (June 27-July 8), the Finns were defeated and expelled from Soviet soil. In the autumn of 1919, the Finns repeated the attack on Petrozavodsk, but at the end of September they were repulsed. In July 1920, the Finns suffered several more defeats, negotiations began.

In mid-October 1920, the Yuryev (Tartu) peace treaty was signed, Soviet Russia ceded the Pechengi-Petsamo region, Western Karelia to the Sestra River, the western part of the Rybachy Peninsula and most of the Sredny Peninsula.

But this was not enough for the Finns, the Great Finland plan was not implemented. The second war was unleashed, it began with the formation of partisan detachments in October 1921 on the territory of Soviet Karelia, on November 6, Finnish volunteer detachments invaded the territory of Russia. By mid-February 1922, Soviet troops liberated the occupied territories, and on March 21 an agreement on the inviolability of the borders was signed.

Svinhufvud, Per Evind, 3rd President of Finland, March 2, 1931 - March 1, 1937

In Helsinki, they did not give up hope of profiting at the expense of Soviet territories. But after two wars, they drew conclusions for themselves - it is necessary to act not with volunteer detachments, but with an entire army (Soviet Russia has grown stronger) and allies are needed. As the first Prime Minister of Finland, Svinhufvud, put it: "Any enemy of Russia must always be a friend of Finland."

With the aggravation of Soviet-Japanese relations, Finland began to establish contacts with Japan. Japanese officers began to come to Finland for internships. Helsinki reacted negatively to the entry of the USSR into the League of Nations and the treaty of mutual assistance with France. Hopes for a big conflict between the USSR and Japan did not come true.

The hostility of Finland and its readiness for war against the USSR was not a secret either in Warsaw or in Washington. Thus, in September 1937, the American military attaché in the USSR, Colonel F. Faymonville, reported: “The most pressing military problem of the Soviet Union is preparation to repel a simultaneous attack by Japan in the East and Germany together with Finland in the West.”

There were constant provocations on the border between the USSR and Finland. For example: on October 7, 1936, a Soviet border guard who was making a detour was killed by a shot from the Finnish side. Only after a long wrangling did Helsinki pay compensation to the family of the deceased and plead guilty. Finnish planes violated both land and water borders.

Moscow was especially concerned about Finland's cooperation with Germany. The Finnish public supported Germany's actions in Spain. German designers designed submarines for the Finns. Finland supplied Berlin with nickel and copper, receiving 20-mm anti-aircraft guns, they planned to purchase combat aircraft. In 1939, a German intelligence and counterintelligence center was established in Finland, its main task was intelligence work against the Soviet Union. The Center collected information about the Baltic Fleet, the Leningrad Military District, and the Leningrad industry. Finnish intelligence worked closely with the Abwehr. During Soviet-Finnish war 1939-1940, the blue swastika became the identification mark of the Finnish Air Force.

By the beginning of 1939, with the help of German specialists, a network of military airfields was built in Finland, which could receive 10 times more aircraft than the Finnish Air Force had.

Helsinki was ready to fight against the USSR not only in alliance with Germany, but also with France and England.

The problem of defending Leningrad

By 1939, we had an absolutely hostile state on the northwestern borders. There was a problem of protecting Leningrad, the border was only 32 km away, the Finns could shell the city with heavy artillery. In addition, it was necessary to protect the city from the sea.

From the south, the problem was solved by concluding an agreement on mutual assistance with Estonia in September 1939. The USSR received the right to place garrisons and naval bases on the territory of Estonia.

Helsinki, on the other hand, did not want to solve the most important issue for the USSR through diplomacy. Moscow proposed an exchange of territories, an agreement on mutual assistance, joint defense of the Gulf of Finland, sell part of the territory for a military base or lease it. But Helsinki did not accept any option. Although the most far-sighted figures, for example, Karl Mannerheim, understood the strategic necessity of Moscow's demands. Mannerheim proposed to move the border away from Leningrad and receive good compensation, and offer Yussarö Island for a Soviet naval base. But in the end, the position of not compromising prevailed.

It should be noted that London did not stand aside and provoked the conflict in its own way. Moscow was hinted that they would not intervene in a possible conflict, and the Finns were told that they had to hold their positions and give in.

As a result, on November 30, 1939, the third Soviet-Finnish war began. The first stage of the war, until the end of December 1939, was unsuccessful, due to a lack of intelligence and insufficient forces, the Red Army suffered significant losses. The enemy was underestimated, the Finnish army mobilized in advance. She occupied the defensive fortifications of the Mannerheim Line.

The new Finnish fortifications (1938-1939) were not known to intelligence, they did not allocate the required number of forces (for a successful breach of the fortifications, it was necessary to create superiority in the ratio of 3:1).

Position of the West

The USSR was expelled from the League of Nations, violating the rules: 7 out of 15 countries that were members of the Council of the League of Nations voted for the exclusion, 8 did not participate or abstained. That is, they were expelled by a minority of votes.

The Finns were supplied by England, France, Sweden and other countries. More than 11,000 foreign volunteers have arrived in Finland.

London and Paris eventually decided to start a war with the USSR. In Scandinavia, they planned to land an Anglo-French expeditionary force. Allied aviation was supposed to launch airstrikes on the oil fields of the Union in the Caucasus. From Syria, the Allied troops planned to attack Baku.

The Red Army thwarted large-scale plans, Finland was defeated. Despite the persuasion of the French and the British to hold on, on March 12, 1940, the Finns sign peace.

USSR lost the war?

Under the Moscow Treaty of 1940, the USSR received the Rybachy Peninsula in the north, part of Karelia with Vyborg, northern Ladoga, and the Khanko Peninsula was leased to the USSR for a period of 30 years, a naval base was created there. After the start of the Great Patriotic War the Finnish army was able to reach the old border only in September 1941.

We received these territories without giving up ours (they offered twice as much as they asked for), and for free - they also offered monetary compensation. When the Finns remembered the compensation and cited the example of Peter the Great, who gave Sweden 2 million thalers, Molotov replied: “Write a letter to Peter the Great. If he orders, we will pay compensation.” Moscow also insisted on 95 million rubles in compensation for damage to equipment and property from the lands seized by the Finns. Plus, 350 sea and river transports, 76 steam locomotives, 2 thousand wagons were also transferred to the USSR.

The Red Army gained important combat experience and saw its shortcomings.

It was a victory, albeit not a brilliant one, but a victory.

Sources:
Civil war and intervention in the USSR. M., 1987.
Dictionary Dictionary in three volumes. M., 1986.
Winter war 1939-1940. M., 1998.
Isaev A. Antisuvorov. M., 2004.
international relations (1918-2003). M., 2000.
Meinander H. History of Finland. M., 2008.
Pykhalov I. The Great Slandered War. M., 2006.

On the eve of the World War, both Europe and Asia were already blazing with many local conflicts. International tension was due to the high probability of a new big war, and all the most powerful political players on the world map before it began tried to secure favorable starting positions for themselves, while not neglecting any means. The USSR was no exception. In 1939-1940. the Soviet-Finnish war began. The reasons for the inevitable military conflict lay in the same impending threat of a major European war. The USSR, more and more aware of its inevitability, was forced to look for an opportunity to move the state border as far as possible from one of the most strategically important cities - Leningrad. With this in mind, the Soviet leadership entered into negotiations with the Finns, offering their neighbors an exchange of territories. At the same time, the Finns were offered a territory almost twice as large as the USSR planned to receive in return. One of the demands that the Finns did not want to accept in any case was the request of the USSR to deploy military bases in Finland. Even the admonitions of Germany (Helsinki's ally), including Hermann Goering, who hinted to the Finns that Berlin's help could not be counted on, did not force Finland to move away from its positions. Thus, the parties that did not come to a compromise came to the beginning of the conflict.

The course of hostilities

The Soviet-Finnish war began on November 30, 1939. Obviously, the Soviet command was counting on a quick and victorious war with minimal losses. However, the Finns themselves were also not going to surrender to the mercy of their big neighbor. The President of the country, the military Mannerheim, who, by the way, was educated in the Russian Empire, planned to delay the Soviet troops with a massive defense for as long as possible, until the start of assistance from Europe. The complete quantitative advantage of the country of the Soviets was obvious both in human resources and in equipment. The war for the USSR began with heavy fighting. Its first stage in historiography is usually dated from 11/30/1939 to 02/10/1940 - the time that became the most bloody for the advancing Soviet troops. The line of defense, called the Mannerheim Line, became an insurmountable obstacle for the soldiers of the Red Army. Fortified pillboxes and bunkers, Molotov cocktails, later called "Molotov cocktails", severe frosts, reaching up to 40 degrees - all this is considered to be the main reasons for the failures of the USSR in the Finnish campaign.

Turning point in the war and its end

The second stage of the war begins on February 11, the moment of the general offensive of the Red Army. At that time, a significant amount of manpower and equipment was concentrated on the Karelian Isthmus. For several days before the attack, the Soviet army carried out artillery preparation, subjecting the entire surrounding area to heavy bombardment.

As a result of the successful preparation of the operation and the further assault, the first line of defense was broken through within three days, and by February 17, the Finns completely switched to the second line. During February 21-28, the second line was also broken. On March 13, the Soviet-Finnish war ended. On this day, the USSR stormed Vyborg. The leaders of Suomi realized that there was no longer any chance to defend themselves after breaking through the defense, and the Soviet-Finnish war itself was doomed to remain a local conflict, without outside support, which Mannerheim counted on so much. Given this, the request for negotiations was the logical end.

The results of the war

As a result of protracted bloody battles, the USSR achieved the satisfaction of all its claims. In particular, the country has become the sole owner of the waters of Lake Ladoga. In total, the Soviet-Finnish war guaranteed the USSR an increase in territory by 40 thousand square meters. km. As for losses, this war cost the country of the Soviets dearly. According to some estimates, about 150 thousand people left their lives in the snows of Finland. Was this company necessary? Given the moment that Leningrad was the target German troops almost from the very beginning of the attack, it is worth recognizing that yes. However, heavy losses seriously called into question the combat capability of the Soviet army. By the way, the end of hostilities was not the end of the conflict. Soviet-Finnish war 1941-1944 became a continuation of the epic, during which the Finns, trying to return the lost, again failed.

1939-1940 (Soviet-Finnish War, known in Finland as the Winter War) - an armed conflict between the USSR and Finland from November 30, 1939 to March 12, 1940.

Its reason was the desire of the Soviet leadership to move the Finnish border away from Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) in order to strengthen the security of the northwestern borders of the USSR, and the refusal of the Finnish side to do this. The Soviet government asked to lease parts of the Hanko peninsula and some islands in the Gulf of Finland in exchange for a large Soviet territory in Karelia, followed by the conclusion of a mutual assistance agreement.

The Finnish government believed that the acceptance of Soviet demands would weaken the strategic position of the state, lead to the loss of neutrality by Finland and its subordination to the USSR. The Soviet leadership, in turn, did not want to give up its demands, which, in its opinion, were necessary to ensure the security of Leningrad.

The Soviet-Finnish border on the Karelian Isthmus (Western Karelia) was only 32 kilometers from Leningrad, the largest center of Soviet industry and the second largest city in the country.

The reason for the start of the Soviet-Finnish war was the so-called Mainil incident. According to the Soviet version, on November 26, 1939, at 15.45, Finnish artillery in the Mainila area fired seven shells at the positions of the 68th Infantry Regiment on Soviet territory. Allegedly, three Red Army soldiers and one junior commander were killed. On the same day, the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs of the USSR addressed a note of protest to the government of Finland and demanded the withdrawal of Finnish troops from the border by 20-25 kilometers.

The Finnish government denied the shelling of Soviet territory and proposed that not only Finnish, but also Soviet troops be withdrawn 25 kilometers from the border. This formally equal demand was not feasible, because then the Soviet troops would have to be withdrawn from Leningrad.

On November 29, 1939, the Finnish envoy in Moscow was presented with a note about the severance of diplomatic relations between the USSR and Finland. On November 30, at 8 o'clock in the morning, the troops of the Leningrad Front received an order to cross the border with Finland. On the same day, Finnish President Kyösti Kallio declared war on the USSR.

During the "perestroika" several versions of the Mainilsky incident became known. According to one of them, the shelling of the positions of the 68th regiment was carried out by a secret NKVD unit. According to another, there was no shooting at all, and in the 68th regiment on November 26 there were neither killed nor wounded. There were other versions that did not receive documentary confirmation.

From the very beginning of the war, the advantage in forces was on the side of the USSR. The Soviet command concentrated 21 rifle divisions, one tank corps, three separate tank brigades (a total of 425 thousand people, about 1.6 thousand guns, 1476 tanks and about 1200 aircraft) near the border with Finland. To support the ground forces, it was planned to attract about 500 aircraft and more than 200 ships from the Northern and Baltic fleets. 40% of Soviet forces were deployed on the Karelian Isthmus.

The grouping of Finnish troops had about 300 thousand people, 768 guns, 26 tanks, 114 aircraft and 14 warships. The Finnish command concentrated 42% of its forces on the Karelian Isthmus, deploying the Isthmus Army there. The rest of the troops covered separate areas from the Barents Sea to Lake Ladoga.

The main line of defense of Finland was the "Mannerheim Line" - unique, impregnable fortifications. The main architect of the Mannerheim line was nature itself. Its flanks rested on the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga. The coast of the Gulf of Finland was covered by large-caliber coastal batteries, and in the Taipale region on the shores of Lake Ladoga, reinforced concrete forts with eight 120- and 152-mm coastal guns were created.

"Mannerheim Line" had a frontal width of 135 kilometers, a depth of up to 95 kilometers and consisted of a support strip (depth 15-60 kilometers), a main strip (depth 7-10 kilometers), a second strip, 2-15 kilometers away from the main one, and the rear (Vyborg) line of defense. Over two thousand long-term firing structures (DOS) and wood-and-earth firing structures (DZOS) were erected, which were combined into strong points of 2-3 DOS and 3-5 DZOS each, and the latter - into resistance nodes (3-4 point). The main line of defense consisted of 25 nodes of resistance, numbering 280 DOS and 800 DZOS. The strongholds were defended by permanent garrisons (from a company to a battalion in each). Between the strongholds and nodes of resistance were positions for field troops. The strongholds and positions of the field troops were covered by anti-tank and anti-personnel barriers. Only in the security zone, 220 kilometers of wire barriers in 15-45 rows, 200 kilometers of forest debris, 80 kilometers of granite gouges up to 12 rows, anti-tank ditches, scarps (anti-tank walls) and numerous minefields were created.

All fortifications were connected by a system of trenches, underground passages and were supplied with food and ammunition necessary for a long-term autonomous battle.

On November 30, 1939, after a long artillery preparation, Soviet troops crossed the border with Finland and launched an offensive on the front from the Barents Sea to the Gulf of Finland. In 10-13 days, they overcame the zone of operational obstacles in separate directions and reached the main strip of the Mannerheim Line. For more than two weeks, unsuccessful attempts to break through it continued.

At the end of December, the Soviet command decided to stop further offensive on the Karelian Isthmus and begin systematic preparations for breaking through the Mannerheim Line.

The front went on the defensive. The troops were regrouped. The North-Western Front was created on the Karelian Isthmus. Troops have been replenished. As a result, the Soviet troops deployed against Finland numbered more than 1.3 million people, 1.5 thousand tanks, 3.5 thousand guns, and three thousand aircraft. The Finnish side by the beginning of February 1940 had 600 thousand people, 600 guns and 350 aircraft.

On February 11, 1940, the assault on the fortifications on the Karelian Isthmus resumed - the troops of the North-Western Front, after 2-3 hours of artillery preparation, went on the offensive.

Having broken through two lines of defense, on February 28, Soviet troops reached the third. They broke the resistance of the enemy, forced him to start a retreat along the entire front and, developing the offensive, covered the Vyborg grouping of Finnish troops from the northeast, captured for the most part Vyborg, crossed the Vyborg Bay, bypassed the Vyborg fortified area from the northwest, cut the highway to Helsinki.

The fall of the "Mannerheim Line" and the defeat of the main grouping of Finnish troops put the enemy in a difficult position. Under these conditions, Finland turned to the Soviet government with a request for peace.

On the night of March 13, 1940, a peace treaty was signed in Moscow, according to which Finland ceded about a tenth of its territory to the USSR and pledged not to participate in coalitions hostile to the USSR. March 13 fighting stopped.

In accordance with the agreement, the border on the Karelian Isthmus was moved away from Leningrad by 120-130 kilometers. The entire Karelian Isthmus with Vyborg, the Vyborg Bay with islands, the western and northern shores of Lake Ladoga, a number of islands in the Gulf of Finland, part of the Rybachy and Sredny peninsulas went to the Soviet Union. The Hanko Peninsula and the sea area around it were leased by the USSR for 30 years. This improved the position of the Baltic Fleet.

As a result of the Soviet-Finnish war, the main strategic goal pursued by the Soviet leadership was achieved - to secure the northwestern border. However, worsened international position Soviet Union: he was expelled from the League of Nations, relations with England and France worsened, an anti-Soviet campaign unfolded in the West.

The losses of the Soviet troops in the war amounted to: irretrievable - about 130 thousand people, sanitary - about 265 thousand people. Irretrievable losses of the Finnish troops - about 23 thousand people, sanitary - over 43 thousand people.

(Additional

The Finnish war lasted 105 days. During this time, over a hundred thousand Red Army soldiers died, about a quarter of a million were injured or dangerously frostbitten. Historians are still arguing whether the USSR was an aggressor, and whether the losses were unjustified.

look back

It is impossible to understand the causes of that war without an excursion into the history of Russian-Finnish relations. Prior to gaining independence, the "Land of a Thousand Lakes" never had statehood. In 1808 - an insignificant episode of the twentieth anniversary of the Napoleonic Wars - the land of Suomi was conquered by Russia from Sweden.

The new territorial acquisition enjoys unprecedented autonomy within the Empire: the Grand Duchy of Finland has its own parliament, legislation, and since 1860, its own monetary unit. For a century, this blessed corner of Europe has not known wars - until 1901, the Finns were not drafted into Russian army. The population of the principality grows from 860 thousand inhabitants in 1810 to almost three million in 1910.

After the October Revolution, Suomi gained independence. During the local civil war, the local version of the "whites" won; chasing the "reds", the hot guys crossed the old border, the First Soviet-Finnish War (1918-1920) began. Bloodless Russia, having still formidable white armies in the South and Siberia, preferred to make territorial concessions to its northern neighbor: according to the results of the Tartu Peace Treaty, Helsinki received Western Karelia, and the state border passed forty kilometers northwest of Petrograd.

How historically fair such a verdict turned out to be is difficult to say; The Vyborg province that fell to Finland belonged to Russia for more than a hundred years, from the times of Peter the Great until 1811, when it was included in the Grand Duchy of Finland, perhaps, among other things, as a token of gratitude for the voluntary consent of the Finnish Seimas to pass under the hand of the Russian Tsar.

The knots that later led to new bloody clashes were successfully tied.

Geography is judgment

Look at the map. The year is 1939, Europe smells of a new war. At the same time, your imports and exports mainly go through seaports. But the Baltic and the Black Sea are two big puddles, all the exits from which Germany and its satellites can clog in no time. The Pacific sea lanes will be blocked by another member of the Axis, Japan.

Thus, the only potentially protected channel for exports, for which the Soviet Union receives the gold so necessary to complete the industrialization, and the import of strategic military materials, is only the port on the Arctic Ocean, Murmansk, one of the few year-round not freezing harbors of the USSR. The only railway to which, suddenly, in some places passes through rugged deserted terrain just a few tens of kilometers from the border (when this railway was being laid, even under the tsar, no one could have imagined that the Finns and Russians would fight along different side barricade). Moreover, at a distance of three days from this border there is another strategic transport artery, the White Sea-Baltic Canal.

But that's another half of the geographical troubles. Leningrad, the cradle of the revolution, which has concentrated a third of the country's military-industrial potential, is located within a radius of one march-throw of a potential enemy. A metropolis, on the streets of which an enemy shell has never fallen before, can be fired from heavy guns from the very first day of a probable war. The ships of the Baltic Fleet are deprived of their only base. And no, up to the Neva itself, natural defensive lines.

friend of your enemy

Today, wise and calm Finns can only attack someone in a joke. But three quarters of a century ago, when forced national building continued in Suomi on the wings of independence gained much later than other European nations, you would not be in the mood for jokes.

In 1918, Karl-Gustav-Emil Mannerheim pronounces the well-known "sword oath", publicly promising to annex Eastern (Russian) Karelia. At the end of the thirties, Gustav Karlovich (as he was called while serving in the Russian Imperial Army, where the path of the future field marshal began) is the most influential person in the country.

Of course, Finland was not going to attack the USSR. I mean, she wasn't going to do it alone. The ties of the young state with Germany were, perhaps, even stronger than with the countries of their native Scandinavia. In 1918, when intense discussions were going on in the newly independent country about the form state structure, by decision of the Finnish Senate, the brother-in-law of Emperor Wilhelm, Prince Friedrich-Karl of Hesse, was declared the King of Finland; for various reasons, nothing came of the Suom monarchist project, but the choice of personnel is very indicative. Further, the very victory of the “Finnish White Guard” (as the northern neighbors were called in Soviet newspapers) in the internal civil war 1918 was also largely, if not completely, due to the participation of the expeditionary force sent by the Kaiser (numbering up to 15 thousand people, despite the fact that the total number of local “reds” and “whites”, significantly inferior to the Germans in combat qualities, did not exceed 100 thousand people).

Cooperation with the Third Reich developed no less successfully than with the Second. The ships of the Kriegsmarine freely entered the Finnish skerries; German stations in the area of ​​Turku, Helsinki and Rovaniemi were engaged in radio reconnaissance; from the second half of the thirties, the airfields of the "Country of a Thousand Lakes" were modernized to accept heavy bombers, which Mannerheim did not even have in the project ... It should be said that subsequently Germany already in the first hours of the war with the USSR (which Finland officially joined only on June 25, 1941 ) really used the territory and water area of ​​​​Suomi for laying mines in the Gulf of Finland and bombing Leningrad.

Yes, at that moment the idea of ​​attacking the Russians did not seem so crazy. The Soviet Union of the 1939 model did not look like a formidable adversary at all. The assets include the successful (for Helsinki) First Soviet-Finnish War. The brutal defeat of the Red Army by Poland during the Western campaign in 1920. Of course, one can recall the successful reflection of Japanese aggression on Khasan and Khalkhin Gol, but, firstly, these were local clashes far from the European theater, and, secondly, the qualities of the Japanese infantry were rated very low. And thirdly, the Red Army, as Western analysts believed, was weakened by the repressions of 1937. Of course, human and economic resources empire and its former province are incomparable. But Mannerheim, unlike Hitler, was not going to go to the Volga to bomb the Urals. The field marshal had enough of one Karelia.

Negotiation

Stalin was anything but a fool. If in order to improve the strategic situation it is necessary to move the border away from Leningrad, it should be so. Another issue is that the goal cannot necessarily be achieved by military means alone. Although, honestly, right now, in the autumn of the 39th, when the Germans are ready to grapple with the hated Gauls and Anglo-Saxons, I want to quietly solve my little problem with the “Finnish White Guards” - not out of revenge for the old defeat, no, in politics, following emotions leads to imminent death - and to test what the Red Army is capable of in a fight with a real enemy, small in number, but drilled by the European military school; in the end, if the Laplanders can be defeated, as our General Staff plans, in two weeks, Hitler will think a hundred times before attacking us ...

But Stalin would not have been Stalin if he had not tried to settle the issue amicably, if such a word is appropriate for a man of his character. Since 1938, the negotiations in Helsinki have been neither shaky nor fluctuating; in the fall of the 39th they were transferred to Moscow. Instead of the Leningrad underbelly, the Soviets offered twice the area north of Ladoga. Germany, through diplomatic channels, recommended that the Finnish delegation agree. But they did not make any concessions (perhaps, as the Soviet press transparently hinted, at the suggestion of "Western partners"), and on November 13 they departed for home. Two weeks left before the Winter War.

On November 26, 1939, near the village of Mainila on the Soviet-Finnish border, the positions of the Red Army came under artillery fire. The diplomats exchanged notes of protest; according to the Soviet side, about a dozen fighters and commanders were killed and wounded. Was the Mainilsky incident a deliberate provocation (which is evidenced, for example, by the absence of a list of victims by name), or did one of the thousands of armed people who stood tensely in front of the same armed enemy for long days finally lost their nerve - in any case , this incident served as a pretext for the outbreak of hostilities.

The Winter Campaign began, where there was a heroic breakthrough of the seemingly indestructible "Mannerheim Line", and a belated understanding of the role of snipers in modern warfare, and the first use of the KV-1 tank - but they did not like to remember all this for a long time. The losses turned out to be too disproportionate, and the damage to the international reputation of the USSR was heavy.

Soviet-Finnish War of 1939–40 (another name is winter war) took place from November 30, 1939 to March 12, 1940.

The formal reason for the hostilities was the so-called Mainil incident - shelling from the Finnish territory of the Soviet border guards in the village of Mainila on the Karelian Isthmus, which occurred, according to the Soviet side, on November 26, 1939. The Finnish side categorically denied any involvement in the shelling. Two days later, on November 28, the USSR denounced the Soviet-Finnish non-aggression pact, concluded in 1932, and on November 30 began hostilities.

The underlying causes of the conflict were based on a number of factors, not the least of which was the fact that in 1918-22 Finland twice attacked the territory of the RSFSR. According to the results of the Tartu Peace Treaty of 1920 and the Moscow Agreement on the adoption of measures to ensure the inviolability of the Soviet-Finnish border of 1922 between the governments of the RSFSR and Finland, the primordially Russian Pecheneg region (Petsamo) and part of the Sredny and Rybachy peninsulas were transferred to Finland.

Despite the fact that in 1932 a non-aggression pact was signed between Finland and the USSR, relations between the two countries were rather tense. In Finland, they feared that sooner or later the Soviet Union, which had strengthened many times since 1922, would want to return its territories, and in the USSR they were afraid that Finland, as in 1919 (when British torpedo boats attacked Kronstadt from Finnish ports), could provide its territory to another hostile country to attack. The situation was aggravated by the fact that the second most important city in the USSR - Leningrad - was only 32 kilometers from the Soviet-Finnish border.

During this period, the activities of the Communist Party were banned in Finland and secret consultations were held with the governments of Poland and the Baltic countries on joint actions in the event of a war with the USSR. In 1939, the USSR signed the Non-Aggression Pact with Germany, also known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. In accordance with the secret protocols to it, Finland retreats to the zone of interests of the Soviet Union.

In 1938-39, during lengthy negotiations with Finland, the USSR tried to achieve an exchange of part of the Karelian Isthmus for twice the area, but less suitable for agricultural use, in Karelia, as well as the transfer of the USSR for military bases of several islands and part of the Hanko Peninsula. Finland, firstly, did not agree with the size of the territories given to it (not least because of the unwillingness to part with the line of defensive fortifications built in the 30s, also known as the Mannerheim Line (see Fig. and ), and secondly, she tried to achieve the conclusion of a Soviet-Finnish trade agreement and the right to arm the demilitarized Aland Islands.

The negotiations were very difficult and were accompanied by mutual reproaches and accusations (see: ). The last attempt was the proposal of the USSR on October 5, 1939 to conclude a Mutual Assistance Pact with Finland.

Negotiations dragged on and reached an impasse. The parties began to prepare for war.

On October 13-14, 1939, general mobilization was announced in Finland. And two weeks later, on November 3, the troops of the Leningrad Military District and the Red Banner Baltic Fleet received directives to start preparing for hostilities. Newspaper article "Truth" on the same day reported that the Soviet Union intended to ensure its security at any cost. A massive anti-Finnish campaign began in the Soviet press, to which the opposite side immediately responded.

Less than a month remained before the Mainilsky incident, which served as a formal pretext for war.

Most Western and a number of Russian researchers believe that the shelling was a fiction - either it did not exist at all, and there were only allegations of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs, or the shelling was a provocation. Documents confirming this or that version have not been preserved. Finland proposed a joint investigation of the incident, but the Soviet side firmly rejected the proposal.

Immediately after the start of the war, official relations with the Ryti government were terminated, and on December 2, 1939, the USSR signed an agreement on mutual assistance and friendship with the so-called "People's Government of Finland", formed from communists and led by Otto Kuusinen. At the same time, in the USSR, on the basis of the 106th Mountain Rifle Division, began to form "Finnish People's Army" from Finns and Karelians. However, she did not take part in the hostilities and was eventually disbanded, like the Kuusinen government.

The Soviet Union planned to deploy military operations in two main directions - the Karelian Isthmus and north of Lake Ladoga. After successful breakthrough(or bypassing the line of fortifications from the north), the Red Army got the opportunity to make the most of the advantage in manpower and the overwhelming advantage in technology. In terms of time, the operation had to meet the period from two weeks to a month. The Finnish command, in turn, counted on the stabilization of the front on the Karelian Isthmus and active containment in the northern sector, believing that the army would be able to independently hold the enemy up to six months and then wait for help from Western countries. Both plans turned out to be an illusion: the Soviet Union underestimated the strength of Finland, while Finland placed too much stake on the help of foreign powers and on the reliability of its fortifications.

As already mentioned, by the beginning of hostilities in Finland, general mobilization took place. The USSR, however, decided to confine itself to parts of the LenVO, believing that additional involvement of forces would not be required. At the start of the war, the USSR concentrated 425,640 personnel, 2,876 guns and mortars, 2,289 tanks, and 2,446 aircraft for the operation. They were opposed by 265,000 people, 834 guns, 64 tanks and 270 aircraft.

As part of the Red Army, units of the 7th, 8th, 9th and 14th armies advanced on Finland. The 7th army advanced on the Karelian Isthmus, the 8th - north of Lake Ladoga, the 9th - in Karelia, the 14th - in the Arctic.

The most favorable situation for the USSR developed on the front of the 14th Army, which, interacting with the Northern Fleet, occupied the Rybachy and Sredny peninsulas, the city of Petsamo (Pechenga) and closed Finland's access to the Barents Sea. The 9th Army penetrated the Finnish defenses to a depth of 35-45 km and was stopped (see. ). The 8th Army initially began to successfully move forward, but was also stopped, and part of its forces were surrounded and forced to withdraw. The most difficult and bloody battles unfolded in the sector of the 7th Army, advancing on the Karelian Isthmus. The army was to storm the Mannerheim Line.

As it turned out later, the Soviet side had fragmentary and extremely scarce data about the enemy opposing it on the Karelian Isthmus, and, most importantly, about the line of fortifications. The underestimation of the enemy immediately affected the course of hostilities. The forces allocated to break through the Finnish defenses in this area turned out to be insufficient. By December 12, units of the Red Army, with losses, were able to overcome only the support strip of the Mannerheim Line and stopped. Until the end of December, several desperate attempts to break through were made, but they were not crowned with success. By the end of December, it became obvious that it was pointless to attempt an offensive in this style. There was a relative calm at the front.

Having understood and studied the reasons for the failure in the first period of the war, the Soviet command undertook a serious reorganization of forces and means. Throughout January and early February, there was a significant strengthening of the troops, their saturation with large-caliber artillery capable of fighting fortifications, replenishment of material reserves, and reorganization of units and formations. Methods were developed to deal with defensive structures, mass exercises and training of personnel were carried out, assault groups and detachments were formed, work was carried out to improve the interaction of military branches, to raise morale (see. ).

The USSR learned quickly. To break through the fortified area, the North-Western Front was created under the command of the commander of the 1st rank Timoshenko and a member of the military council of the LenVO Zhdanov. The front included the 7th and 13th armies.

Finland at that moment also carried out measures to increase the combat capability of its own troops. Both captured in battles and new equipment and weapons delivered from abroad, the units received the necessary replenishment.

Both sides were ready for the second round of the fight.

At the same time, fighting in Karelia did not stop.

The most famous in the historiography of the Soviet-Finnish war during that period was the encirclement of the 163rd and 44th rifle divisions of the 9th army near Suomussalmi. From mid-December, the 44th division advanced to help the encircled 163rd division. In the period from January 3 to January 7, 1940, its units were repeatedly surrounded, but, despite difficult situation, continued to fight, having superiority in technical equipment over the Finns. In conditions of constant fighting, in a rapidly changing situation, the division command misjudged the situation and gave the order to leave the encirclement in groups, leaving behind heavy equipment. This only made the situation worse. Parts of the division still managed to break out of the encirclement, but with heavy losses ... Subsequently, the division commander Vinogradov, the regimental commissar Pakhomenko and the chief of staff Volkov, who left the division at the most difficult moment, were sentenced by a military tribunal to capital punishment and shot in front of the ranks.

It is also worth noting that since the end of December, the Finns have been trying to counterattack on the Karelian Isthmus in order to disrupt the preparations for a new Soviet offensive. Counterattacks were not successful and were repulsed.

On February 11, 1940, after a massive multi-day artillery preparation, the Red Army, together with units of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet and the Ladoga military flotilla, launched a new offensive. The main blow fell on the Karelian Isthmus. Within three days, the troops of the 7th Army broke through the first line of defense of the Finns and introduced tank formations into the breakthrough. On February 17, Finnish troops, by order of the command, retreated to the second lane due to the threat of encirclement.

On February 21, the 7th Army reached the second line of defense, and the 13th Army - to the main line north of Muolaa. On February 28, both armies of the Northwestern Front launched an offensive along the entire length of the Karelian Isthmus. Finnish troops retreated, putting up fierce resistance. In an attempt to stop the advancing units of the Red Army, the Finns opened the floodgates of the Saimaa Canal, but this did not help either: on March 13, Soviet troops entered Vyborg.

Parallel to the fighting, there were also battles on the diplomatic front. After the breakthrough of the Mannerheim Line and the entry of Soviet troops into the operational space, the Finnish government understood that there was no chance of continuing the struggle. Therefore, it turned to the USSR with a proposal to start peace negotiations. On March 7, a Finnish delegation arrived in Moscow, and on March 12 a peace treaty was signed.

As a result of the war, the Karelian Isthmus went to the USSR and big cities Vyborg and Sortavala, a number of islands in the Gulf of Finland, part of the Finnish territory with the city of Kuolajärvi, part of the Rybachy and Sredny peninsulas. Lake Ladoga became an inland lake of the USSR. The Petsamo (Pechenga) region captured during the fighting was returned to Finland. The USSR leased part of the Khanko (Gangut) peninsula for a period of 30 years to equip a naval base there.

At the same time, the reputation of the Soviet state in the international arena suffered: the USSR was declared an aggressor and expelled from the League of Nations. Mutual distrust between the Western countries and the USSR reached a critical point.

Recommended literature:
1. Irincheev Bair. Forgotten front of Stalin. Moscow: Yauza, Eksmo, 2008. (Series: unknown wars 20th century.)
2. Soviet-Finnish war 1939-1940 / Comp. P. Petrov, V. Stepakov. SP b .: Polygon, 2003. In 2 volumes.
3. Tanner Väinö. Winter war. Diplomatic confrontation between the Soviet Union and Finland, 1939-1940. Moscow: Tsentrpoligraf, 2003.
4. "Winter War": work on the mistakes (April-May 1940). Materials of the commissions of the Main Military Council of the Red Army on the generalization of the experience of the Finnish campaign / Ed. comp. N. S. Tarkhova. SP b., Summer Garden, 2003.

Tatiana Vorontsova