Finland
against the Soviet Union, 1939-1940.
On 30th November 1939 Stalin’s Red Army attacked Finland,
expecting to crush the outnumbered, ill-equipped Finnish forces in a matter of
days. But, in one of the most astonishing upsets in modern military history, the
Finnish defenders broke the Red Army’s advance, inflicting devastating
casualties and destroying some of the divisions that had been thrown against
them.
Eventually, in March 1940, the overhauled Red Army prevailed through
the deployment of massive force. The Finns were compelled to cede territory and
cities to their overbearing neighbour, but the moral victory was theirs. The
courage and skill their army displayed in the face of the Soviet onslaught – and
the chaotic and reckless performance of their opponents - had an important
influence on the massive struggle that was about to break out between Nazi
Germany and the Soviet Union.
For this highly illustrated and original portrayal of this famously
unequal struggle, Bair Irincheev has brought together a compelling selection of
eyewitness accounts, war diaries, battle reports, and other records from the
Finnish and Russian archives to reconstruct the frontline fighting, and he
analyses the reasons for the Red Army’s poor performance. Never before has the
harsh reality of the combat in the depths of the northern winter been conveyed
in such authentic detail. The arduous daily experience of the troops on both
sides, the brutality of combat and the constant struggle against the elements
are recalled in the words of the men who were there.
