The
Winter War (
Finnish:
Talvisota, Swedish:
Vinterkriget, Russian:
Зимняя война, also known as the
Soviet-Finnish War or the
Russo-Finnish War[9]) began when the
Soviet Union led by
Josef Stalin attacked
Finland on
November 30,
1939, three months after the invasion of Poland by Germany that started
World War II. Because the attack was judged as illegal, the Soviet Union was expelled from the
League of Nations on
December 14. Stalin had expected to conquer the whole country by the end of 1939[
citation needed], but Finnish resistance frustrated the Soviet forces, who outnumbered the Finns 4 to 1 in men, 200 to 1 in tanks and 30 to 1 in aircraft
[4]. The Soviet Union had just recently seen a
drastic purge in 1937 that had crippled the
Red Army, reducing its morale and efficiency just before the German invasion.
[10] With up to 50% of army officers executed, including the vast majority of the highest ranking officers, the result was that the Red Army officer corps in 1941 had many inexperienced senior officers.
[11] Finland held out until March 1940, when the
Moscow Peace Treaty was signed ceding about 10% of Finland's territory (
excluding its population) and 20% of its industrial capacity to the Soviet Union.
The results of the war were mixed. Soviet losses on the front were tremendous, and the country's international standing suffered, especially following its earlier
attack on Poland. Also, the fighting ability of the
Red Army was put into question, a fact that contributed to
Adolf Hitler's decision to launch
Operation Barbarossa. Finally, the Soviet forces did not accomplish their primary objective of conquest of Finland but gained only a slice of territory along
Lake Ladoga. The Finns retained their
sovereignty and gained considerable international goodwill.
The
March 15 peace treaty thwarted Franco-British preparations to send support to Finland through northern
Scandinavia (the
Allied campaign in Norway) which would also have hindered
German access to
northern Sweden's iron ore. Germany's
invasion of Denmark and Norway on
April 9,
1940, diverted the attention of the world to the struggle for possession of Norway.
