Stalin’s next step
Stalin’s alliance with Hitler, which was concluded on the 23rd of August 1939, continued apace. The Soviets’ first and most important achievement was to capture more than half of Polish territory through the 17th of September aggression and incorporate it into their state. However, this was not the Kremlin’s final war aim. Now, the hope of subjugating the Baltic states and Finland shone brightly before Stalin’s warlike gaze. Against all these countries, the Soviets issued demands to locate Red Army military bases on their territories. The Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian authorities, realising that they stood no chance in a clash with their strong neighbour, acceded to these demands. However, the Finns decided on an opposite course.
The Soviets do not let go
Finland’s opposition failed to discourage the Soviets from their plans to subjugate their country. Moreover, the Soviet Union made further demands on Finland: to reposition the Soviet-Finnish border 25 km to the west (so that the Mannerheim Line, i.e. the Finnish belt of fortifications would be on Soviet territory), to hand over the Hanko peninsula for 30 years, to surrender the islands of Koivisto, Suursari, Lavansarri and Tytarsaari, and to divide the Rybacka peninsula. However, the Finns stood firm, rejecting all of Moscow’s demands. Stalin decided therefore to achieve his goal by the use of force.
A cocktail “waiting in Helsinki”
On the 30th of November 1939, without officially declaring war, the Red Army launched its attack on Finland. Soviet propaganda pointed out how this came in response to Finnish provocations. The truth, however, was different – it was the Soviets who had shelled their own territory in order to obtain the pretext to attack. What the Kremlin did not expect was how embarrassing the decision to invade would ultimately turn out to be. Moreover, Vyacheslav Molotov, People’s Commissar of Foreign Affairs of the USSR, was said to have assured that on Stalin’s birthday (the 18th of December) he would drink a cocktail in honour of his leader in captured Helsinki. Cocktails were indeed eagerly “delivered” to the Soviets, but they were Molotov cocktails, or incendiary bottles, employed by Finns to attack Soviet tanks. Their name, which was coined by Finnish soldiers, was intended as a response to the words of the People’s Commissar.
The Red Army in a mess
The first weeks of the war brought painful defeats for the Soviets. The Red Army was unable to break through the Finnish defences, and several factors contributed to their failures: a lack of experienced command (a result of the Great Purge of the 1930s), a lack of winter and camouflage uniforms, difficult terrain and the weather conditions. Added to this was the Finnish tactic of breaking up large Soviet units into smaller ones and then destroying them, or the creation of special skier squads that were able to move much faster through snow-covered terrain.
A breakthrough in the war and truce
The breakthrough came only with a change in command of the Red Army. Kliment Voroshilov was replaced by Semyon Timoshenko. In addition, little Finland was already beginning to feel the fatigue of war and, despite international support, was forced to enter into negotiations with the Soviets. On the 13th of March 1940, after two weeks of negotiations, a peace treaty was signed. Under its terms, the Finns lost 10% of their territory, including the city of Viipuri. Finland, however, managed to hold onto its independence, which must be considered the greatest success of the Finnish defence.