12.3.1940 Winter War ended

Hundreds of thousands of lives were lost in the armed conflicts between Finland and the Soviet Union. One of them was the so-called Winter War, when the Russians claimed some Finnish territories. It ended on 12 March 1940 with the conclusion of the Peace of Moscow.

The Soviet Union had been trying hard for a long time to acquire some Finnish territories that belonged to it before the civil war. The Russians demanded that Finland cede parts of the country to them in exchange for other territories. The reason was to protect Leningrad. But there was no agreement, and so the Soviet Union invaded Finland. This encounter is known as the Winter War.

The Soviet newspapers at the time said that the Finnish soldiers 30. November 1939 crossed the Soviet border at night at the shore of Lake Ladoga, and a little later Finnish infantry attacked the Karelian Isthmus in the Raasuli area towards Korkiamäki and the village of Termolovo. "However, it was a lie. Just like the Germans in the invasion of Poland, the Soviets justified their invasion of Finland, which was the beginning of the war, by fabricating"The Finnish army's aggressive actions were fabricated by the Germans," writes Karel Richter in his book The Border Paid in Blood: The Soviet-Finnish Wars.

In fact, by that time, Soviet submarines had already taken up a fighting position in the Baltic Sea and all Soviet warships were ordered to intercept all Finnish ships at all costs. The final preparations for the war were completed by the Soviet ground troops, and also by the air force. The army waited in positions on the border. The commanders were just waiting for the order to open the envelopes with the operational documents.

"The Finnish government, army and population had no idea that war was imminent. On the contrary, there was a belief that tensions had eased as a result of diplomatic negotiations and that the Soviet Union would not start a war at the beginning of the winter period," Richter further states.

Originally, the operation was expected to last about 10 to 15 days. In fact, the Soviet army had planned a massive strike with large forces and the crushing of the enemy within a maximum of three weeks. In the end, the war dragged on until March 1940. In all, it claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. It ended on 12 March 1940 with the signing of the so-called Peace of Moscow. Although Finland's independence was preserved, some parts of the country were acquired by the Soviet Union. Finland lost over ten percent of its territory, including the port of Viipuri-Viborg, the Kandalaksha Neck and part of the territory around the port of Petsamo-Pechenga. In addition, the lease of a wartime base on the Hangö peninsula.

The peace did not last long, however, and in 1941 the so-called Continuation War between Finland and the Soviet Union took place as part of the Second World War. It lasted until 1944.

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