The Winter War

The Winter War The impressive progress made by Finland during the first two decades of independence was threatened by the gathering war clouds which loomed over Europe in the late 1930s. Although many Finns hoped that they could escape the conflagration by declaring their neutrality, this illusion was finally shattered on 30 November 1939 when the Red Army invaded, ostensibly in the name of a ‘Peoples Republic’ established by the Soviet government in the border town of Terijoki and headed by the founder of the Finnish Communist Party, O. V. Kuusinen.

The reasons for the invasion lay primarily in the larger strategic interests of the Soviet Union and had little to do with the real or imaginary threat which tiny Finland was supposed to present to its giant eastern neighbour. Stalin was obsessed by the fear of a German attack on the Soviet Union, possibly assisted by other capitalist powers. The Anti-Comintern Pact, signed in November 1936 by Germany and Japan and joined a year later by Italy, signalled Hitler's intention to destroy international communism.

The Finnish frontier came to within 32 kilometres of Leningrad, the chief seaport and second city of the Soviet Union. Finland had begun its independent life as an ally of Germany. Pro-German sentiment was still strong in senior military circles and amongst elements of the ruling classes. Mannerheim, who may not have shared the pro-German sentiments of some of his fellow officers, was nevertheless a dedicated anti-communist.