(My answer on Quora)
The Finns as a people greatly value their independence and are extremely pragmatic. They were resolute in their stance against Soviet aggression and maximized the three cards that they held in their favour - knowledge of their territory, competent field commanders and an understanding of the ramifications of General Winter.
The nation’s leadership utilized their population very well in the war effort. It is important to note that many of the troops that were used in the defense were volunteers. If ever there was a David v Goliath War this was it.
Finland was also let down by promises of support from France and Britain that never arrived, although there were a non-insignificant number of volunteers from Sweden in particular who signed up to fight alongside the Finns.
Looking at the odds.
The Finns faced a Soviet force that could bring into play over twice as many troops, almost eighty times as much tanks and thirty-four times the number of aircraft than they could muster yet the Finns held out against the Soviets for over three months.
Between the 30th of November 1939 to 13th of March 1940 the Finns inflicted somewhere between 320,000–360,000* casualties on the enemy at a cost to Finland of 70,000 casualties including almost 26.000 deaths (the population of Finland at the time was slightly less than four million people).
(*Soviet deaths may be as high as 167,000 and but probably no lower than 126,000…over three times the losses the US suffered during the Vietnam War)
Carl Gustaf Mannerheim source: NIPHT
Much credit goes to Finland’s Commander-in-chief Gustaf Mannerheim who would later serve as the country’s 6th President. His forces held firmly to the famed Mannerheim line and delivered high causality rates on the Soviets by a combination of the effective use of small group Nordic ski units, sniper fire, booby traps, and molotov cocktail attacks on enemy tanks.
Simo "Simuna" Häyhä -Finnish sniper. He is believed to have had over 500 kills during the Winter War. Source www2.gravestone.com
The Finns also employed a locally developed attack mechanism known as the Motti that encircled and isolated smaller pockets of the long Soviet military lines before targeting them for destruction. The Finnish victory at the Battle of Suomussalmi is testament to the efficacy of this creative and lethal tactic.
Finish encirclement (Blue) of a Soviet unit (Red) using Motti tactic. Source: Winter War
However the Finns had other factors that indirectly served them well. The Red Army showed a lack of competent leadership in the early part of the war (a likely consequence of Stalin’s military purges), struggled to motivate their troops, were caught up in the hubris surrounding their military superiority and sent troops into battle that were ill prepared for the brutal winter conditions. Frost bite numbers were very high. Soviet Winter clothing was inadequate in temperatures that dropped to -40 C.
Finish soldier clad in all white - they were dubbed the ‘Ghosts of War;’ Source: Business Insider.
Ultimately though the Finns could only hold off the Soviets for so long especially as supplies dwindled. The Soviets had too much firepower at hand especially when the offensive thrust directed by Semyon Timoshenko kicked into play (he would play a key role later in modernizing the Red Army based on the Winter War experience).
Hostilities ceased and the Finns agreed in the signing of the Moscow Peace treaty to hand over the Karelian Isthmus, Ladoga, Salla and the Rybachy Peninsula . Hanko was also leased to the Soviets. In exchange the Finns secured their independence. That in itself was a success.
Treaty of Moscow territory transfers. Source: Talviosta
Information Sources: The Winter War (includes casualty numbers).
- Ahtiainen, Ilkka (16 July 2000). "The Never-Ending Karelia Question". Helsinki Times. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
- Soviet Casualties and Combat Losses in the Twentieth Century
No comments:
Post a Comment