Soviet Invasion of Finland: The Winter War 1939 – 1940

Finnish soldier during the Soviet invasion of Finland known as the Winter War

Soviet POWs in the Parikkala collection camp during the Winter War

The Winter War was followed by the Continuation War

The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on Nov. 30 1939 after the Soviet and German invasion of Poland. The Soviet forces had more than three times as many soldiers as the Finns, thirty times as many aircraft, and a hundred times as many tanks. But with more than 30,000 of its army officers executed or imprisoned the Red Army had many inexperienced officers in 1939. The Finns isolated smaller portions of numerically superior Soviet forces. Divided into smaller pieces, the Finns could deal with them individually and attack from all sides. Soviet losses on the front were heavy. Historian William R. Trotter describes these conditions thus: The Soviet soldier had no choice. If he refused to fight, he would be shot. If he tried to sneak through the forest, he would freeze to death. After the Winter War ended on March 13 1940, the Soviet POWs were returned to the Soviet Union. The return was in many cases fatal for these people. They were transported under heavy guard by the NKVD to special camps as suspected traitors. Almost 10 percent of them were found guilty of high treason and executed, but the majority were sentenced to five to eight years in the Soviet forced-labour camp system known as the Gulag. This would lead to the later death of many of the POWs due to harsh camp conditions. In the aftermath of the Winter War, Finland found itself drawing ever closer to Nazi Germany. Top image: this well-known photo taken during the Winter War shows a Finnish soldier taking aim with a Swedish M/96 Mauser. The photograph is often used to represent the world’s deadliest sniper: the then Corporal Simo Häyhä, commonly referred to as The White Death. With at least 505 confirmed kills during the Winter War, Häyhä has been labelled the deadliest sniper in history. One peculiar part that makes him an even more outstanding sniper was the fact that he never used a scope on his rifle. According to Finnish historians the photo was taken in Lapland far from where Häyhä's unit the 6th Co. of the Infantry Regiment 34 was stationed. Also, Häyhä did not use a Swedish M/96 Mauser rifle during the war, he used a Finnish bolt-action Mosin-Nagant M/28-30 rifle. Second Lieutenant Simo Häyhä died aged 96 on April 1 2002 in Fredrikshamn in Finland. Credit: Facundo Filipe. Middle image: Soviet POWs in the Parikkala collection camp on Dec. 1 1939. Credit: Anthony Malesys. Bottom image: Finnish soldiers at the shore of Lake Ladoga on March 7 1942 during the Continuation War. Credit: JHL. All photos: The Finnish Wartime Photo Archive.