This Day in History: November 30, 1939

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by Simonov

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This Day in History

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On November 30, 1939, Soviet forces invade Finland, beginning the Winter War. The war stemmed from a Soviet desire to push back the Finnish border (and thus further secure the city of Leningrad) and possibly annex the entire country. While the Soviet Union had likely expected a brief fight due to have numerical superiority, the tenacity of the Finnish defenders soon stalled out the Soviet advance and led to a three and a half month long conflict. Eventually the conflict ended with Finland losing some territory, particularly along Karelia and the Soviet border, while successfully retaining its sovereignty. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union had been given a black eye. Soviet losses had number between 321,000 and 380,000 casualties with hundreds of planes and thousand of tanks destroyed to a much smaller force. The costs of the conflict highlighted the need for changes in the Soviet military structure, many of which were still in the process of being implemented when Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, began. The poor Soviet performance in the conflict also emboldened Germany, leading them to believe that the Soviets would be a much easier to defeat than originally anticipated. As for Finland, the country would have a second chance to the fight the Soviets when it launched the Continuation War in conjunction with Operation Barbarossa. While the Finns were ultimately defeated in the conflict and lost more territory, Finland successfully managed to retain its sovereignty in the post-World War II era.

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