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Winter War & Phony War
Kenny Ly, Devin Kang, Nathan Shih, Kona Bertolino, Kendrick Lu
Thesis
The Winter War was caused by the Soviet Union looking to establish a buffer
zone between the western capitalist countries and Russia. Under the
illusion that Finland would be easily defeated, Russia was jolted to reality
when they ended up in a humiliating stalemate. Hitler, seeing Russia held
up by puny Finland, then believed he could quickly crush Stalin’s forces
easily. Russia’s inability to conquer Finland led to Hitler not viewing Russia
as a threat, directly expediting Hitler’s conquest of Europe.
Causes of the Winter War
➢ The Winter War was a direct result of the Nazi-Soviet Non-aggression Pact of August 1939.
○
Between Germany and the Soviet Union (As Doran taught the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact)
○
The pact divided the whole of eastern Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence.
■
Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland were under the Soviet sphere of influence
■
Finland refused this pact
■
November 26, 1939 - Soviet’s fake shelling of Mainila
■
Russia wanted to exploit Finland’s land for military bases.
The Russian’s ultimate goal was to create a buffer zone around Leningrad.
During the War
●
Finland expected to get crushed immediately
○ Finland’s outdated military vs Soviet’s new tanks and artillery.
○ Continuously humiliated the Soviets by putting up a fight
●
Cold Weather
○ -40 to -45 degrees Celsius
○ Too cold for even the Russians
○ Eyelids frozen off -Doran
●
Unorganized/Poorly Equipped Soviet Troops
○
Due to Stalin’s purges of the army, many amateur, ineffective
officers were in power
●
Mannerheim Lane
○ Defensive fortification built by Finland
Carl Gustaf Mannerheim
Semyon Timoshenko
Timeline of Winter War
November
26,1939
Soviet
bombing of
Mainila
November
28, 1939
Soviets
withdraw
from non
aggression
pact
November 1939
Helenski
bombed, soviets
cross Finnish
border
December 14
1939 Soviet
Union
expelled from
League of
Nations
January 7,
1940 Finns
win the
battle of
Raate Road
January 8
1940
Finns win
the battle of
Suomussalm
i
Timeline continued
January 14
1940 Battle
of Killer Hill
Febuary 11,
1940 Soviets
break
through
Mannerheim
Line
Febuary 1,
1940 Soviets
start all-out
offensive on
Karelian
Isthmus
Febuary 12 1940
Finns seek peace March 12 1940
Moscow peace
terms
treaty signed in
Moscow
Battle of Suomussalmi (Dec. 7 to Jan 8)
➢ The Soviet Union tried to cut straight through
Finland to the city of Oulu
➢ Finland resorted to their own version of the
‘scorched earth’ policy
➢ Russia tried to cross through the frozen lakes to the
west
○ Failed to capture Oulu
○ Results in a major victory for the Finns
○ Soviets were humiliated by the defeat.
Battle of Raate Road (Dec. 7)
➢ Soviet Troops were trapped deep inside Finnish Territory after the Battle of Suomussalmi
○ Tried to escape north over Lake Kiantajarvi
➢ Soviets attempted to overrun Finnish roadblocks with armor but was unsuccessful
➢ Many Soviet Soldiers froze to death because they lacked proper clothing or supply.
➢ Finns captured over 5,000 rifles and the Soviets lost at least 7,000-9,000 men.
➢ Soviets were, again, humiliated by the defeat.
➢ Greatly boosted the morale of the Finns
Battle of Killer Hill
➢ Soviets fighting for Kollaa
➢ 32 Finns faced an onslaught of 4000 Soviets
➢ Both sides gained and lost ground over several days
➢ Soviets eventually gave up and targeted somewhere else, after losing 400 men
➢ 4 Finns survived victoriously, Soviets humiliated once again
White Death
➢ Simo Häyhä pretty much carried the Finns through the war
➢ 500 confirmed kills, over 700 possible kills, all without a scope
➢ Had a mouthful of snow so his breath wouldn’t show
➢ Killed all of the Soviet countersnipers that were after him
➢ Survived multiple targeted artillery strikes from the Soviets
Winter War Results
➢ Russia is expelled from the League of Nations
➢ The war ended with the Treaty of Moscow.
○
Finland had to give up Kakisalmi
○
Finland leased the Hanko Peninsula to the Soviet union for 30 years
➢ Finland lost land and its economy was weakened (11% and 30%)
○
Finland surrendered large area of southeastern Finland.
■
Viipuri
■
Peninsula of Hanko to the Soviet Union
➢ The Soviet’s poor performance in the Winter War led Hitler to believe that Stalin's military could
be quickly defeated if attacked.
○
Led to Operation Barbarossa
Phoney War - Thesis
After Germany occupied Poland, Britain officially declared war on
Germany. This resulted in a “phoney” war in which neither side’s
land army committed offensively. The sea conflict, on the other
hand, was alive and kicking, as Hitler seeked to undermine Britain’s
monopolistic aquatic dominance.The aptly-named “Sitzkrieg”
allowed Germany to replenish its strength after invading Poland,
prolonging the war.
Map
Phoney War Continued
●
Not a lot happened
●
Prepared to fight, but only a couple minor offensives made
●
Germans were severely outnumbered
●
Theories say that the Allies didn’t want to create another world war, and were hoping for a
peaceful settlement
●
Called the “confetti war”
●
The sitting ended when Germany invaded Belgium, Luxembourg, and Holland
Timeline of the Phoney War
Sept. 3,
1939- Allies
declare war
on Germany
Sept.7France
begins the
Saar
offensive to
assist
Poland
Sept 12France bails
out, doesn’t
tell Poland.
Gains
minimal land
Sept. 17British ship
Courageous
is sunk by
German
submarines
Oct. 14British ship
Royal Oak is
sunk by
German
submarines
May 10,
1940Sitzkrieg
ends when
Germany
invades
Luxembourg,
Belgium, and
Holland
Works Cited
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Bellows, Jason. "White Death." • Damn Interesting. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.
Hickman, Kennedy. "The Winter War During World War II." Military History. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.
"The End of the Winter War." The End of the Winter War. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2015.
"Phony War | European History." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 18 Mar.
2015.
"The Phoney War". HistoryLearningSite.co.uk. 2014. Web.
"The Winter War 1939". HistoryLearningSite.co.uk. 2014. Web.
"WWII 1939 - 1944: Finland's Winter War with Soviet Union, the Third Aggressor of WWII." WWII 1939 - 1944:
Finland's Winter War with Soviet Union, the Third Aggressor of WWII. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2015.