The Winter Clash
The Winter War was the great struggle between the young nation of Finland and the mighty USSR and how it changed WW2 and the world. The Winter War was a war between Finland and the Soviet Union over the land around Leningrad (today St. Petersburg), mainly the Karelian Isthmus and the Åland Islands. It was fought around the Finnish-Russian border in Finland mainly. It was fought between 1939-1940 and was 105 days long. But what happened in those 105 days that was so incredible? The USSR invades Finland on the 30th of November, 1939. The Red Army attacked in three places: the Karelian Isthmus, Ladoga Karelia, and Northern Finland. There were only a few major battles and events like the battle of the Mannerheim Line, the Finnish counter attacks, the Battles of Tolvajärvi and Suomussalmi, and the bombings of Helsinki. Finns destroyed whole divisions in some places and capture tons of weapons, tanks, soldiers, and supplies. Soviets claim only a few important points like Viipuri railway station. Soviets however suffer major defeats …show more content…
Finns also had the Mannerheim Line (which was not like the Marriott Line or Siegfried Line) and highly mobile ski troops (History.com). Finns also regarded the forests, lakes, and even winter as allies, and the Russians thought they were just hindrances for the Red Army (winterwar.com). The Finnish ski troops did lots of hit-and-ran attacks that were deadly and even more so during the freezing winter blizzards (History.com). Finns also used mines frequently in towns, roads, and many other places. Finns set up booby traps in towns and sniped Russians troops (mainly officers and commissar). These tactics caused chaos and high casualties for the Russian troops (Robert p.116-119). The Finns however had very few anti- tanks weapons and mainly just skied up to a tank and threw a satchel charge or molotov cocktail at
The Winter War was the great struggle between the young nation of Finland and the mighty USSR and how it changed WW2 and the world. The Winter War was a war between Finland and the Soviet Union over the land around Leningrad (today St. Petersburg), mainly the Karelian Isthmus and the Åland Islands. It was fought around the Finnish-Russian border in Finland mainly. It was fought between 1939-1940 and was 105 days long. But what happened in those 105 days that was so incredible? The USSR invades Finland on the 30th of November, 1939. The Red Army attacked in three places: the Karelian Isthmus, Ladoga Karelia, and Northern Finland. There were only a few major battles and events like the battle of the Mannerheim Line, the Finnish counter attacks, the Battles of Tolvajärvi and Suomussalmi, and the bombings of Helsinki. Finns destroyed whole divisions in some places and capture tons of weapons, tanks, soldiers, and supplies. Soviets claim only a few important points like Viipuri railway station. Soviets however suffer major defeats …show more content…
Finns also had the Mannerheim Line (which was not like the Marriott Line or Siegfried Line) and highly mobile ski troops (History.com). Finns also regarded the forests, lakes, and even winter as allies, and the Russians thought they were just hindrances for the Red Army (winterwar.com). The Finnish ski troops did lots of hit-and-ran attacks that were deadly and even more so during the freezing winter blizzards (History.com). Finns also used mines frequently in towns, roads, and many other places. Finns set up booby traps in towns and sniped Russians troops (mainly officers and commissar). These tactics caused chaos and high casualties for the Russian troops (Robert p.116-119). The Finns however had very few anti- tanks weapons and mainly just skied up to a tank and threw a satchel charge or molotov cocktail at