The Winter War (1939) Showdown of Finland vs Russia (Part 1 of 2) DOCUMENTARY

In this history documentary we turn our attention to Winter War of 1939 which saw the Red Army invade Finland. While the conflict appeared one sided at the outset, the Finnish defenders stunned their world by holding the Soviet juggernaut at bay. In this Units of History series we will explore the soldiers who made this feat of arms possible in the face of the Russian Invasion of Finland.

In this first episode we explore the roots of the conflict between Finland and Russia and how this would inform the evolution of the Finnish Army in the lead up to the Winter War. We then cover the defensive doctrine which was to characterize the war and the nature of the soldiers who would conduct it. This includes a focus on the equipment of the Finnish Ski Troops responsible for manning the front lines and carrying out the defense in depth. In comparison Red Army troops had more numbers and equipment but lacked the specialized gear necessary to operate in winter conditions. In our next episode we will focus on the organization, tactics, and service history of these Finnish ski troops.

Sources:
Vesa Nenye, with Peter Munter and Toni Wirtanen: Finland at War: The Winter War 1939-40 (Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2015)
Pasi Tuunainen: Finnish MIlitary Effectiveness in the Winter War 1939-1940 (Helsinki: Palgrave MacMillan, 2016)
Philip Jowett, Brent Snodgrass, Raffaele Ruggeri: Finland at War 1939-45 (Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2006)

Credits:
Research = Mark Evans
Script = Mark Evans
Narration = Guy Michaels
Production = Penta Limited

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
02:13 Finnish-Soviet Geopolitics
04:27 The Jaeger Movement
06:09 Finnish Civil War
08:05 Interwar Period
09:51 Defensive Doctrine
11:46 Start of the Winter War
14:32 Equipment of Finnish Soldiers
16:23 Weaponry of Finnish Soldiers
20:23 Conclusion

#history
#military
#documentary

[Bullet-Tooth-Tony-]

The Finns were brilliant soldiers.

They did not rely on advantages in air power, manpower, tanks and artillery, but maximised the use of terrain and out of the box thinking to slow down the Red armies advance. The Winter War is fascinating to read about.

[Alien.Musk]

I served in Lapland Jägerbrigade on top a Bandwagen what we use in arctic circle to move around jägers. In winter time they dragged 9 men behind for many km to disperse quiqly into all directions and ready to action. I had stay behind the ITKO 12, 7mm AA gun. Living in tents in all weathers. I still live in Lapland.🇫🇮

[MS-iokl]

Just a side note: lieutenant Mannerheim was one of the honour guards for the coronation of Tzar Nikolaus II in 1896. He stood there for hours regarding it to his end as one of the high points of his life.

[levelbearhuntingarmor]

The story of Finnish resistance against bolshevism is truly inspiring

[SolidAvenger]

I seemed to recall that my late grandfather who was a US Ranger in WW2 on D-Day said how much he respected the Finns facing the Russians. Besides helping encouraging Hitler's plans in the East, elements of the US public were concerned about Russia as well and Finland really shocked the world with it's resistance against Stalin's ambitions.

[finnishculturalchannel]

Before Jaegers were trained in Germany, some Finns fought in the Boer War, in which hit-and-run tactics played a role against an overwhelming enemy. Some of those Finns found their way back to Finland and fought later also in the Finnish Civil War: "Finnish Kommandos - Finns in the Second Boer War". One of those Finns in the Boer War was Ernst Lindberg from Vyborg. A book about his events in the war and captivity was published in 1904 and reprinted in 2014. Some of the Finns in that war found their last resting place in Saint Helena, where also Napoleon Bonaparte was in exile and died some 80 years earlier as a British prisoner.

[Finnofenno]

Great video! Some notes;

1. Finland isn't traditionally considered a Baltic country (or Scandinavian for that matter), but a Nordic country instead. The Baltic countries refers specifically to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

2. The White movement was indeed backed by the wealthy, the clergy and other elites, but it also largely stood on the backs of the land owning peasantry. Feudalism never took off in most of Finland, so there was a large class of peasant-farmers who owned the land they worked on. These peasants were rural & conservative and were afraid of land reforms taking their rights to their property. Thus the White army is sometimes referred to as the "Talonpoikaisarmeija" or "Peasant army", as it largely ran on these volunteers and conscripts.

In the south where feudalism had slightly taken root in the form of farm estates where peasants worked without ownership of the land, the peasants flocked to the Red guard instead. A similar phenomena happened with the "Torpparit", a class of land renting peasantry.

3. The "Petturin palka on kuolema" poster is a modified version from the historical one made as fan art for the HOI4 "Kaiserreich" mod. It features the logo of the fascist IKL (founded in 1932) and a syndicalist logo (did not exist in Finland in our timeline). The real historical poster didn't have these logos and was produced around 1918. Small mistake, but drawing a false correlation between the White movement and the explicitly fascist IKL is a bit iffy.

4. Forest are almost the least of your worries in the Finnish wilds, it's the lakes and marshlands that trouble any large conventional army. From Tolvajärvi to Suomussalmi, many important battlefields were dotted with these features and played heavily into the Finnish victories won there.

5. Soviet bombers firebombed major Finnish cities (especially Helsinki) prior to a declaration of war. I think it's a fair detail to bring up to highlight the indefensible nature of the invasion. The Molotov Cocktail gets its name from these bombings, as the namesake Soviet foreign minister claimed their bombers were only dropping food rations to starving Finnish workers. Finn's wanted to return the favor by giving the Soviets something to drink with their "breadbaskets" (incendiary cluster bombs).

6. The poor state of Finnish equipment was snarkily referred to as "Model Cajander", after the then Prime Minister, by Finnish soldiers. Due to stingy defense spending, many soldiers could only be fitted with a a cockade, belt and a rifle (if lucky, otherwise they'd bring their own).

Overall a good video! It can be hard to get all the details right or cover everything, especially with a nation that has a limited amount of English sources available for the fine details.

[Jrski]

The spirit of the winter war was raised by the fact that the companies and battalions were formed from villages and municipalities in the surrounding area (often your brothers and cousins were in the same trench). If you saw your neighbor/relative fall in melee, you wanted to avenge it. In the long run, the death rate of the number of men in some villages became so large that in the continuation war the teams/battalions and divisions were formed more based on random selections and thus the losses could be spread over wider areas.

[skyten]

What the Partisans did to the Finnish villagers was and is still barbaric. Never forgive never forget🇸🇪🇫🇮

[emrk]

A Baltic nation is more of a geopolitical definition that includes three countries Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. A nation on the Baltic Sea would be more fitting and purely a geographical description. Finland is a Nordic nation, if you want to use a geopolitical definition. Nordic nations include Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.

[scottlillard]

Dude, this one is really good. Excellent narration, music, and sound effects. The quality is perfect.

[LKLM]

Thank you for this! It's always heartwarming to hear the well deserved praise of our heroes.

[vitorpereira]

They painted the snow with the blood of the invaders. They are an inspiration of courage and boldness.

[theicepickthatkilledtrotsk]

Reading about Simo Hayha, Lauri Törni, and Aimo Koivunen's meth-fueled odyssey. Makes me realize that if Finald had 10x the population it might have ruled the world. It's amazing what it manages to accomplish.

[claireconolly]

Thank you to all who made this video. Absolutely superb. I can't wait for the next episode. The Finnish are truly inspiring people and nation 🙏🙌💪

[tonituomanen]

It is interesting how quickly Finland tried to repair the trauma of the civil war (1918). The left party and the working class were included in the state administration as early as 1925. Thanks to this, the so-called "Spirit of the Winter War" was born. In 1939, the left wing and the workers also wanted to defend an independent Finland.

[Random_Username]

Y’all are quite literally the perfect channel for studying. I don’t know what it is, the voice, the topics, I don’t know. But with most things I get distracted watching it, but with y’all I can watch it when I want, but also listen and take in what y’all say while working

[anggi]

I hope people give more credits to the artillery units of Finland because the truth is they were the one who stop the advance of Soviet armored units. And the reason why the Finnish lines were collapsing was because they were running out of shells.

[robr]

Not enough people know about this feat of bravery overshadowed by events in mainland Europe. Everybody needs to listen to the metal anthem "Ram - Suomussalmi (The Few of Iron)" a fitting soundtrack to the epic battle of the same name. It is where I first heard about the winter war.

[davidhughes]

INVICTA is the absolute master of hard work paying off.
Thank you all.