The Winter War: How Finland Resisted Russia's WW2 Expansion | Battlefield | War Stories

In 1939, three months after the outset of the Second World War, the USSR turned their attention to the icy landscapes of Finland. Stalin anticipated Finland would simply sign their land over, given the USSR's vastly superior military strength, but to his shock they fought tooth and nail for their freedom. The determined Finnish defenses at the Mannerheim line saw some of the most brutal fighting in the early part of the war.

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[davidbowie]

Finland, the first to resist Stalin's imperialism! Salute from Ireland.

[aarolamsa]

My great grandfather was a corporal during the winter war, in the Erillispataljoona 16, (separate battalion 16) which was later united with Jalkaväkirykmentti 65(Infantry regiment 65) to form "Ryhmä Susi" (Group Susi/Wolf) which was commanded by lieutenant colonel Paavo Susitaival. He fought in the battle of Suomussalmi. He survived the winter war, and went on to fight in the continuation war, where he got wounded twice. He recovered from his wounds and went on to fight in the Lapland war against the nazis. I'm forever grateful for him, for what he did for our country.

[pierrelombaard]

Salut to those brave souls that defended their hearts and soul. Because of them we are still saluting country named Finland

[paulgilliland]

Such a heroic defense by the Finnish against a far superior numerical but unmotivated Soviet and this is one of many that wouldn’t have heard about thanks to this channel.

[AdrianMartinez-hodb]

I always ignored this war when studying ww2 history and things around this time. Glad I finally checked this out

[greendragon]

Thanks for the story I love Finland and it's nice to hear some Finnish history❤ I watched a story on TV was dubbed over on how the fins did what they could during the war

[RobertEnsley-mtys]

And Simo did it all with just iron sights.

[AverageHouseHusband]

Historically those with the most to lose are the most dangerous. A man fighting for home and family tends to fight the hardest.

[JohnJames-beqe]

Very interesting video. We constantly are feed the evils of the NAZIS but hear much much less about the extreme evilness of Stalin and his soviets. He had no concern for his people. I guess they were only Russians and he being a Georgian thought they were inferior. The Baltic states have been fearful of a similar invasion since Putin has been around, even before the Ukrainian invasion.

[skiker]

The blurring! The BLURRING! Stop it!!
Besides that…great documentary and high five to the Finn’s. They changed the entire war!! ❤❤❤

[Nordkampf]

There are so many things wrong with this even in the first few minutes. The biggest thing is showing the wrong Finnish borders prior to the war

[BorderGuardJaegerFinlandia]

I was honored to meet and to speak with Simo Häyhä in 1991. It was during my time in the Border Jaegers lower officer school in Immola, Karelia.
He and a lot of other ww2 hero veterans where guests of honors.
We held a military parade to them and because it was exactly 51 years to date that the Winter War came to an end.
Back then it was only we in Finland that knew about Simo (White Death) Häyhä.
The world only knew about them Soviet, American and German snipers back then.
We Finns on the other hand knew that Simo was the undefeated champion 😊😊🇫🇮🇫🇮💪🙏

[kot]

So weird, just go into Finnish history and this pops up! Nice.

[fsdspdf]

No mention of the secret protocols of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact?

[SoldierDrew]

Much respect and love to the courageous Fins from America 🇺🇸🦅.
U.S. Army Infantry Soldiers have highest professional respect for Fin Soldiers, Nepali Ghurka soldiers and Sikh Soldiers. As well as Israeli IDF Soldiers.

[LIONTAMERD]

The Finnish people are descendants of deeply badass warriors

[Floraaltonen]

Thanks to Finnish heroes, who fought for a free Finland.

[jaredkurittu]

My grandfather was a finnish soldier in this war after it was over he came to Australia .

[vaughnmojado]

I still believe that about Russia. I still believe that the bully mentality isn’t a viable solution. That’s my belief. Finland is a superior country. I’ve listened to this story before but not in this way. This is quite the documentary. Thank you.

[ariraatikainen]

Not an accurate document. On 27:10 the document tells quite right that the Soviet divisions 163 an 44 attacked and were supposed to cut Finland in half from the waist. But the document does not tell, that both of these attacking divisions were destroyed. Some remnants of those divisions managed to flee back to Soviet Union and Finland regained its territory back on that stage of war.