The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on November 30, 1939. - three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland. Hostilities ended on March 13, 1940. with the Moscow Peace Treaty. The attack was deemed illegal by the League of Nations and the Soviet Union was expelled on December 14, 1939.
Soviet forces have three times as many soldiers as the Finns, thirty times as many planes and a hundred times as many tanks. However, the Red Army was cut down by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin during the Great Purge of 1937. Over 30,000 officers were executed or sent to prison, including those of the highest rank.
In the Red Army in 1939. there are also many inexperienced senior officers. Due to these facts, as well as the high commitment and morale of the Finnish forces, Finland was able to resist the Soviet invasion much longer than the Russians expected. Finnish forces inflicted staggering losses on the Red Army in the first 3-4 months. Hostilities ceased in March 1940. with the signing of a peace treaty in Moscow.
While the Finns suffered 22,800 killed and 43,500 wounded, Soviet casualties were much higher - 200,000 killed and missing and 260,000 wounded. The difficulties experienced by the Red Army in overcoming an opponent that was clearly giving way to it gave Hitler a strong trump card and a motive for attacking the USSR, even though the two countries were still allies at the time. Planning for Operation Barbarossa, which began on June 22, 1941, had been underway since early 1940.
For the good resistance of the Finns, the fact that their commander in chief Karl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, until 1917, when Finland gained independence, was an active soldier of the Russian army is also important. The chosen tactics of guerrilla warfare, the knowledge of local conditions and the harsh winter also worked in favor of the Finns, who, although losing the war, retained their independence and ceded only 10 percent of their territory to the USSR.
Finland cedes 11% of its pre-war territory and 30% of its economic assets to the Soviet Union. Soviet losses at the front were heavy and the country's international reputation suffered.
Soviet troops did not achieve their goal of complete conquest of Finland, but they captured enough territory, including Lake Ladoga, Petsamo and Sala.
However, the Finns retain their sovereignty and improve their international reputation .