Home Headquarters Update

the landscape. The heavy artillery, new tank units and reinforced infantry were put in place for a tactically simple, but numerically massive advance. On February 1st the Soviets started their new offensive by firing 300,000 shells at the Finnish positions in 24 hours.

The Soviet advance did not achieve an immediate breakthrough or victory. Huge numbers of Red Army troops were again mown down by Finnish machine gunners, but the Soviet tanks kept with the infantry and losses in the Soviet forces were quickly made up with reinforcements. For the Finns – exhaustion, lack of supplies and the attritional warfare took its toll. After ten days of battle, the Soviet forces on the West of the Istmus made a breakthrough. Mannerheim ordered a retreat to a reserve defensive line on February 15th .

FORCED SETTLEMENT

Negotiations to end the fighting began in Stockholm Sweden on February 12th. Soviet pressure and the obvious appearance that Finnish forces were near exhaustion led the Soviet authorities to make further demands on the Finnish Government despite their willingness to come to terms on February 29th. Soviet forces continued to advance until a treaty was finally signed on March 12th in Moscow.

Finland lost more territory than had been originally demanded by the Soviet Union in 1939. The war had lasted 105 days and cost the Finns around 25,000 dead. Figures for Red Army deaths vary from 50,000 to 138,000 men.

The war led Finland to join the axis forces in the summer of 1941 as Germany invaded the Soviet Union and Finland saw an opportunity to reclaim lost lands. For the Soviet Union the poor command structure and failure to dominate despite greater numbers led to a return to more traditional rank structures and the reduction in importance of the political commissar. New equipment was coming into service along with the expansion of the Army when Germany invaded Soviet Russia in the summer of 1941. Little could be seen to have overtly changed in the Red Army performance when compared to the Winter War – but one thing clearly stayed the same. The incredible ability of the average Russian soldier to endure hardship, neglect, poor leadership and tremendous losses but still continue to fight for the motherland.

A Finnish soldier looks at a knocked out T26 tank. Such images flooded western media and acutely embarrassed Stalin.

A destroyed Soviet column. The problems faced by the invading Red Army can be seen in these two images. A narrow road limiting mobility, close forest hiding attackers and appalling weather conditions.