Winter War
November 30, 2014 1:28 PM   Subscribe

Finland commemorates the 75 anniversary of the start of the Winter War today with services held across the country. Hostilities began on 30 November 1939 with an attack by the Soviet Union including bombing raids on the capital Helsinki. via
posted by infini (21 comments total) 23 users marked this as a favorite
 
One thing that amazes me about Russians' sense of history is that for them, World War Two (the "Great Patriotic War") began with the German invasion on June 22, 1941. The joint carving up of Poland with Germany and the invasion of Finland (in which they got their asses handed to them by the Finns) are never mentioned, and I'm not at all sure they're even thought of. It's a two-year gap, a historical blind spot. But the Finns don't forget!
posted by languagehat at 1:44 PM on November 30, 2014 [9 favorites]


Sisu.
posted by BinaryApe at 1:57 PM on November 30, 2014 [7 favorites]


A fascinating period. I'd recommend anyone with an interest to seek out The Winter War
by William Trotter. It's a great synopsis of events. I also really enjoyed The Burnt-Out Town of Miracles by Roy Jacobsen, which is a beautiful little novel. Set in the small Finnish town of Suomussalmi in the winter of 1939-40, if you know anything about the Winter War, Suomussalmi alone should get you to read it!
posted by Tasmanian_Kris at 2:01 PM on November 30, 2014 [2 favorites]




Also previously: the laconic Simo Häyhä.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 2:07 PM on November 30, 2014 [1 favorite]


Also previously: Finnish Wartime Photographic Archive
posted by TWinbrook8 at 2:10 PM on November 30, 2014


I love the etymology of the Molotov cocktail as a part of the Winter War.

There's quite a good Finnish film about it all called Talvisota too. Not up there with the greatest war films, but interesting nonetheless.
posted by horopter at 2:30 PM on November 30, 2014


Her soldiers were spectacularly educated in winter fighting and also how to make things posh (every company usually had a sauna nearby, and trenches were lined with fur to keep in the warmth).

In Finland, where the word 'sauna' originated, public saunas are traditionally found in working-class neighborhoods, and are crucial for cultivating winter morale. Fur likewise is an exceptional technology of warmth -- I remember an article in The New Yorker about visiting Greenland, in which the visitors are forced to borrow the locals' fur and abandon their jackets made from high-tech military fabric, which cracks in extreme cold.

'Posh'. Faugh! Sisu.
posted by feral_goldfish at 2:34 PM on November 30, 2014 [1 favorite]


One thing that amazes me about Russians' sense of history

I always assumed they followed the same line that Joseph Davies/Mission to Moscow took, that somehow they were forced into it. To the extent that they think about it at all. Easy to forget about details like that when you have millions of your own dead. (And of course, Russia had had Finland and Poland for its own in the past, so, you know, just a matter of reclaiming what was always yours.)

But denial and silence over past excesses are surely the rule, no? Think Japan and their school textbooks. With the exception of Germany, I'm hard pressed to think of any country that makes an official point of owning up to its own historical wickedness. (At least, assuming there isn't a New Boss political party on the make trying to differentiate itself from the Old Boss.)

Re Finnish toughness, I once read that a test of manliness in those parts was for two men to sit opposite each other, stiletto in hand, and millimeter by millimeter to push the blades into each other's chest until one contestant gave in. I have no idea if this is true, or some outgrowth of a fascination with knives in general and an old crime wave in particular, the but the fact that anyone could come up with the idea says a lot about the people. Anyone with further information on this topic is urged to weigh in.
posted by IndigoJones at 3:03 PM on November 30, 2014 [2 favorites]


I recall seeing ski troopers all in white with rifles hung on shoulders skiin down hills to figh t the Russians. So valiant. And. They held. Out much longer than was expected.
posted by Postroad at 3:03 PM on November 30, 2014


Talvisota, by my almost-favorite power metal band, Sabaton.
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 3:30 PM on November 30, 2014


This war is probably a large contribution to the importance my Finnish grandparents placed on the biathalon as the ideal winter sport. I guess if the zombie apocalypse ever comes to Canada, the ability to ski with a rifle on my back and shoot while on skis will come in handy.
posted by [expletive deleted] at 3:34 PM on November 30, 2014 [7 favorites]


Yes, if anyone ever invades Alaska they're fucked because most everyhigh school kid can ski endlessly and is an expert marksman/woman. God knows how many own scoped rifles but it's a lot. With all the ski trails everywhere you wouldn't make it 4 blocks into any town.
posted by fshgrl at 4:55 PM on November 30, 2014 [1 favorite]


In the conflict zone there were no roads, no settlements – just forests and lakes. Nothing to get your bearings from.

QFT. If you're out on the ice, your entire horizon consists of things that might be a shore or might be an island. If you're on land, the surrounding ice might be either a network of lakes or the Gulf of Finland -- it's a fine distinction, really.
posted by feral_goldfish at 5:33 PM on November 30, 2014


Yes, if anyone ever invades Alaska they're fucked because most everyhigh school kid can ski endlessly and is an expert marksman/woman. God knows how many own scoped rifles but it's a lot. With all the ski trails everywhere you wouldn't make it 4 blocks into any town.

Sarah Palin's Red Dawn III: I Can See Russia From My House, And They're Sending Troops!
posted by bitter-girl.com at 5:41 PM on November 30, 2014 [1 favorite]


One Finnish war veteran, Lars Loflund, believes there was nothing wrong with the Russian people. It was the system that was wrong.

After World War II, Finland would go on to become one of the USSR’s closest partners in the West.


That's a rather misleading segue. Finland was 'close' to the USSR not so much sentimentally as in order to avoid being invaded again. (Another word we owe to Finland: Finlandization.) On the western side of this tricky balancing act, Finland sought to be 'close' enough to NATO that the USSR would think twice before invading, but not so 'close' to NATO as to provoke the Soviets.

The Russian people's 'system' may have dissolved, but Finland's strategic balancing act has not.
posted by feral_goldfish at 5:53 PM on November 30, 2014 [2 favorites]


Sarah Palin's Red Dawn III: I Can See Russia From My House, And They're Sending Troops!

This was a movie, with Rock Hudson as the President.
posted by honestcoyote at 5:57 PM on November 30, 2014 [1 favorite]


The father of one of my father's friends returned to Finland (after having played AAA baseball, if I recall the chronology correctly) and fought as a skiing guerrilla. He told more stories about post-game drunken baseball fights, but didn't seem to have been traumatized by his wartime experience, or it wasn't obvious, anyway.

Also, the sniper with the highest number of confirmed kills ever (just over 500) was a Finn fighting the Soviets. They were a tough bunch.
posted by mr. digits at 6:25 PM on November 30, 2014


Also, the sniper with the highest number of confirmed kills ever (just over 500) was a Finn fighting the Soviets.

Yeah, previously.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:30 PM on November 30, 2014


My grandfather fought the Russians in the Winter War. He got a lot of medals and the story in my family was that he was the last to leave the front. Though generally pacifist in nature, it does give me a lot of pleasure every time I am reminded that my ancestor and kin kicked the Russian's butts.
posted by drnick at 9:52 PM on November 30, 2014 [1 favorite]


There is a Twitter feed from the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) that tweets summaries of the events, newspaper articles, photos and other historical material at the same dates as they originally happened 75 years ago. It's in Finnish.

https://twitter.com/Sota1939

Someone is tweeting unofficial English translations.

https://twitter.com/WinterWar1939
posted by tykky at 2:30 AM on December 1, 2014 [2 favorites]


« Older Speculative questions from research into mental...   |   "Work Therapy" Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments