Winter War Pros And Cons

The Winter War

The Winter War erupted on 30 November 1939, when Stalin unleashed his Red Army in an all-out assault against Finland. In August that year Stalin and Hitler had divided Eastern Europe between their two countries in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact officially known as the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact of August 1939, hereafter known as The Pact, putting Finland in the Soviet sphere of influence. During the fall, Stalin demanded that Finland cede key parts of the country to the USSR. When Finland refused to meet all his demands Stalin waged war between the giant Soviet Union and the microscopic Finland ( Ries). The war ended with the Peace of Moscow. A breakdown of the war follows including the causes, Finland and the USSR’s
The geography of Finland aided the Finnish Armed Forces. Much of Northern Finland was mostly wilderness containing few functioning roads. Finland generally presented difficult terrain on which to conduct offensive operations or the use of mechanized warfare ( U.S. Library of Congress). This allowed the Finns to use a small amount of forces in the north and to concentrate more troops in the crucial southeastern sector and on the Mannerheim Line (U.S. Library of Congress). The weather also favored the Finns. The winter of 1939 was one of the coldest in history, making it difficult for machinery to operate. The Finns knowing these things, took advantage of it and prepared accordingly. Finnish troops dressed in white camouflage, making themselves virtually invisible to Soviet troops. Another advantage for the Finns was their sense of unity for national survival and their high morale. All segments of Finnish society came together against a common enemy, the Soviets (Irincheev). Finland's main disadvantage was the fifty-to-one person difference between its population and that of the Soviet Union (U.S. Library of