Finland at War

[Globalization41]

11/27/1939, Soviets Determined to Obtain Bases in Finland; Friendly Germany Urges Finns to Reach Accord

Map, Gulf of Finland, Google … 11/27/1939, Democratic Sweden Establishes Depression-Era Economic Boom

11/28/1939, Moscow Accuses Finns of Firing Artillery Shells Across Border; Soviets Want New Finnish Gov't

11/28/1939, Soviet Note to Finns Charges Finnish Troop Concentrations Along Frontier Threaten Leningrad

11/29/1939; Finland Snowbound, Days Short; Paris Press Believes Hitler's Ally Stalin Will Not Launch Attack

11/29/1939, Soviet Union Renounces Pact with Finland; Soviet Border Units Get Authorization to Return Fire

11/29/1939, Russia Desires Keeping Baltic Gateway Open for Navy; Soviets Fear German Invasion from Baltic

11/30/1939, Outcome of Russia-Finland Dispute Causes Growing Anxiety; Hope for End of Crisis Ill-Founded

11/30/1939, Darkest Day Yet for Nervous Finland; Climax Approaching; General Calm Reigns, Finns Confident

12/1/1939; Russia Invades Finland by Land, Air, & Sea; Troops Cross Border at 9:20am; 5 Bombs Hit Helsinki

12/1/1939, Map, War Comes to Finland; Russian Troops Cross Karelian Border, Navy Shells S.E. Finnish Coast

12/1/1939, Finland Declares "State of War"; Russians Do Not Yet Acknowlege Invasion; Frontier Bombarded

12/1/1939, P.M. Chamberlain Declares British Gov't Regrets Soviet Unprovoked Attack on Independent Nation

12/1/1939, Hard-Bargaining Stalin Has Already Excluded Hitler from Baltic States & Large Part of Polish Spoils

12/1/1939, All Quiet on Western Front; Some Harassing Artillery Fire, Only Few Patrol Encounters Reported

12/1/1939, Air Raid Sirens Sound in Helsinki; Finnish Border Troops Withdraw 25 Miles to Main Defense Line

12/1/1939, R.A.F. Strafes German Base at Borkum; Seaplanes & Patrol Boats Riddled … Map, Borkum, Google

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12/1/1939, Several Soviet Planes Raid Helsinki; Hundreds Estimated Killed & Injured … Map, Helsinki, Google

12/1/1939, Facts About Finland, 99% Literacy, 3.8m Population, 80,000 Islands Near Baltic Coast, 60k Lakes

12/1/1939, That Powerful Russia Could Overwhelm Finland in a Comparatively Short Period Must Be Assumed

12/1/1939; Does Stalin Wish for Czarist Expansionism, World Revolution, or Strategic Position Against Hitler?

12/1/1939, World Has Become Used to Shocks of Totalitarian Aggression & Disregard of International Decency

12/1/1939, Soviet Planes Raid Helsinki 4 Times; Incendiary Bombs Start Fires; Sirens Shriek; Heavy A.A. Fire

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[Juha Tompuri]

Hi!

Thank you very much for posting the interesting war time news.
Please keep on posting more
Couple of things have puzzeld me for some time, the origing of some Winter War era words/expressions. Like Mannerheim line, Molotov cocktail and Molotov bread basket. The last one probably being of Finnish origin ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molotov_bread_basket ) but the other may have had a foreign origin.
So... what have been the first mentions of them that you have seen at the news, you have gone through?

Best regrds, Juha

[Globalization41]

Hello Juha.

Russians Attempting to Outflank Mannerheim Line; Finns Practice Scorched Earth, 12/8/1939

The above is the earliest mention I've seen so far for the Mannerheim Line. ... I haven't seen "Molotov Cocktail" yet, but I'll be on the lookout for any mention. Molotov did explain publicly the Soviet position at the start of the war, but I'm not exactly sure when the nickname started.

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[Globalization41]

12/1/1939, Red Troops (Some Dropped by Parachute from Bombing Planes) Occupy Finnish Artic Port Petsamo

Map, Petsamo, Wikipedia … Map, Linhammar, Google [Under Finnish Control in 1939; Ceded to Russia in '44]

12/1/1939; F.D.R. Shocked by Russian Invasion of Finland, Opposes Bombardment of Civilians; Part 1 … Part 2

12/1/1939, Berlin Reports 194 Ships Supplying Britain Have Been Sunk by U-Boats or Mines Since Start of War

12/1/1939, Britian Issues Call for 250,000 More Men in Arms; Males Between 20 & 23 Must Register by Dec. 9

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[Mangrove]

Like Mannerheim line, Molotov cocktail and Molotov bread basket. The last one probably being of Finnish origin ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molotov_bread_basket ) but the other may have had a foreign origin.

I believe term "Mannerheim Line" was coined by Selkirk Panton of Daily Express on his article on 31 October 1939.

[Globalization41]

12/1/1939, Field-Marshal Mannerheim Appointed C. in C. of Finnish Troops … Map, N. Europe 1939, Wikipedia

12/1/1939, The Workers Star Insists Swedish Landowners Financed German Invasion of Soviet Finland in 1918

12/1/1939, Mannerheim Line Consists of Pill Boxes & Tank Traps Defending Pathway from Leningrad to Finland

12/1/1939, Weekly News, U-Boats Sink Ships; German Seaplanes Drop Magnetic Mines; Liner Sussex Damaged

12/1/1939, Finnish Legation in London Declares Finns Will Not Surrender to Soviets; Russian Offensive Stalled

12/1/1939, Finns Form New Gov't; Anti-Soviet Ministers Out; New Socialist Finance Minister Friendly to Russia

12/1/1939, Stock Prices, Coca-Cola 119; US Steel 65; General Foods 45.5; Chrysler 83.125; Union Carbide 85+

12/1/1939, Sturdy Woodsmen with Axes & Saws Prepare 10m X-mas Trees (at 50¢ Each) for Santa Claus's Visit

12/1/1939, First Lady Attends Dies Committee Hearing Investigating Communist Influences in Youth Leagues

12/1/1939, New Type of German Magnetic-Detection Mine Blamed for Recent Heavy Shipping Losses in N. Sea

12/1/1939, British Blockade Aims to Squeeze German Trade in Baltic & N. Seas … Map, Baltic & N. Sea, Google

12/2/1939, Bitter Fighting at Terijoki; Finns Turn Back Successive Waves of Red Troops … Map, Terijoki, Google

12/2/1939, Finland "Absolutely United"; Defense Line Well Inside Frontier; Further Fighting Will Be in Forests

12/2/1939, Finnish Government Stays in Helsinki; Vast Pilgrimage on Foot in-Progress to Snow-Covered Woods

12/2/1939, Moscow Says Finnish Troops Attacked Soviet Outposts; Red Army Was Ordered to Advance 6 Miles

12/2/1939, Red Army Approaching Finnish Lines 20 Miles Inside Frontier … 12/2/1939, Map, Control of Baltic

12/2/1939, News of Soviet Invasion of Finland Whips Up Wave of Anger in Italy; Rome Worried About Balkans

12/2/1939, Finns Holding Lines on Karelian Isthmus; Russian Tanks Wrecked … Map, Karelian Isthmus, Google

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12/2/1939, Finns Retake Petsamo, Fierce Fighting; Red Reinforcements en Route … Map, Petsamo, Wikipedia

12/2/1939, Female Soviet-Russian Pilot Shot Down by Finns During Helsinki Air Raid … Map, Helsinki, Google

12/2/1939, Soviets Form New "People's" Gov't for Finland; State Will Expropriate Land from Big Landowners

12/2/1939, Portland Will Purchase 20,000 Kilowatts of Power from Bonneville … Map, Bonneville Or., Google

12/2/1939, La Guardia Airport Officially Opens; First Plane Landed After Midnight … Map, La Guardia, Google

12/2/1939, Maryland District Court Decides Against Teacher Pay-Rates Based on Race … Map, Maryland, Google

12/2/1939, Irish Playwright George Bernard Shaw Believes Finland Should Have Accepted Soviet Border Offer

Soviet-Estonia Pact Increases Trade & Grants Rights to Station 25,000 Russian Troops in Estonia, 9/30/1939

President Paets' Broadcast Says Estonia's Submission to Soviet Demands Assures Independence, 10/2/1939

Soviets Demand Base & Port Rights from Latvia as 20 Red Army Divisions Concentrate on Border, 10/3/1939

Estonian Gov't Officially Thankful for Russia's Wise Guidance & Desire for Neighbourly Collaboration,10/4/1939

Russia & Latvia Sign Mutual Assistance Pact; Latvia Agrees to Lease Land & Naval Bases to Russia, 10/6/1939

Just-Signed Russo-Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty Authorizes Russian Bases in Lithuania, 10/12/1939

Soviet Demands Threaten Finnish Sovereignty; Who Are the Industrious Finns? History of Finland, 11/2/1939

Baltic States Hope Soviet System Will Deviate from Private Property Restrictions & Collectivization, 11/3/1939

12/2/1939, Grammar of Aggression, Illuminating History of Hitler's Broken Promises & Nationalist Declarations

Hitler (in Danzig Victory Speech) Blames Warmongers for Inciting Poland, 9/21/1939 … Map, Danzig, Google

12/2/1939, Antarctic Whaling Fleets Head South with Hopes of Record Catches … Map, Antarctica, Wikipedia

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[Globalization41]

12/3/1939, Finns Retreat to Mannerheim Line for Firm Stand, Part 1 … Part 2 … … Map, Winter War, Wikipedia

12/3/1939, War by Allies Against Russia Held Unlikely; Turks Cling to Belief that Russia Does Not Want Real War

12/3/1939, Russia's Push into Finland Menaces Sweden & Threatens Germany in Baltic … Map, Baltic, Google

12/3/1939, U.S. Sub Cruising Off China Coast Damaged Slightly by Hydrogen Explosion … Map, Far East, E. Kent

12/3/1939, Rumania Could Be Next; Stalin Puts Best Czarist Land-Grabbers to Shame … Map, Rumania, Google

12/3/1939, Liner Rotterdam Arrives in N.J. with 900 Jewish Refugees from Germany … Map, Hoboken, Google

12/3/1939, German Press Blames Sweds & League Ideologues for Advising Finland Not to Accept Russia's Offer

12/3/1939, Poles in London Allege Nazi Secret Police Arrested 160 Krakow Intellectuals … Map, Krakow, Google

12/3/1939, S.S. & Gestapo Chief Himmler Supervising Resettlement of Eventually 2,000,000 Jews to E. Poland

12/3/1939, Nazis Execute 12,442 Civilians in Germany in 13 Weeks Says Paris Press (Gestapo Cited as Source)

12/3/1939, World Turns Eyes Toward N. Europe; Relative Strength of Scandinavian & Baltic Countries Collated

12/3/1939, Nazi Troop Concentrations Near Belgium & Holland Make Neutrals Nervous … Map, Belgium, Google

12/3/1939, Crucible Steel Workers Take Strike Vote … Crucible Industries, Wikipedia … Iron Works, 5/31/1899

12/3/1939, Physics Prof. Seeks to Develop Atomic Cyclotron for Releasing Vast Latent Energy Bound by Matter

12/3/1939, Photo, D.A. Thomas E. Dewey Grins Happily After Announcing His Entry into Presidential Campaign

12/3/1939, Arctic Coast of Finland Sees Intense Fighting Between Finns & Soviets … Map, Petsamo, Wikipedia

12/3/1939, Outnumbered Finns Block Red Army Offensive on Karelian Bottleneck; Snow Hampers Operations

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[Globalization41]

12/3/1939, Stalin Signs Pact with New Soviet-Sponsored Finnish Gov't; Formalization to Follow Fall of Helsinki

Map, Helsinki, Google … 12/3/1939, Finnish Leader Mannerheim Says this War Is "Continuation" of "Liberation"

Proclamation Declares Finnish Republic—Can No Longer Depend on Russia Due to Famine & Chaos, 12/11/1917

12/3/1939, Finland's Foreign Minister Broadcasts to U.S.; World Sympathy Confirms Justice of Finland's Cause

12/3/1939, Uniformed Fascists in Rome Protest Before Soviet Embassy; Finland Cheered … Map, Rome, Google

12/3/1939, Ex-President Herbert Hoover Wants Recall of U.S. Ambassador to Russia Due to Invasion of Finland

12/3/1939, French Army to Release Fathers; Allied Strategy Against Germany Calls for Sea Power & Economics

12/3/1939, Dies Committee Told Hitler-Stalin Block & U.S. Communists Advocate Policy of American Neutrality

12/3/1939, British 8,010-Ton Tanker San Calisto Sunk by Mine; Britain's Shipping Losses at 4% of Total Tonnage

12/3/1939, Supreme Court of Mexico Backs Seizure of Foreign Oil Co.'s, Part 1 … Part 2 … Map, Mexico, Google

12/3/1939, F.D.R. Declares Moral Embargo on Sale of Warplanes to Countries that Bomb Cities, Part 1 … Part 2

12/4/1939, Soviets Drop Leaflets Threatening to Raze Helsinki with 800-Plane Raid Unless Finland Capitulates

12/4/1939, Fourfold Soviet Invasion; Finns Hit Back; Refugees Stream from Helsinki … Map, Finland, Wikipedia

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[Globalization41]

12/4/1939, Finland Gets Moral Support; Premier M. Ryti Fears Finland's Geo-Isolation from Allied Military Help

12/4/1939, British Press Attributes Soviet Invasion of Finland to Hitler's Allowing Stalin a Free Hand in Baltics

Map, Baltic States, Google … 12/4/1939; Scandinavian Money, Supplies, & Men Pouring into War-Torn Finland

12/4/1939, Demonstrators in Scandinavia Sympathetic to Finns & Indignant at Russia … Map, Denmark, Google

12/4/1939, Finland's Social Democrat Party & Trade Unions Issue Proclamation Supporting Rights of Ryti Gov't

12/4/1939, Hitler Allows Newsmen from Neutral Countries to Tour Western Front … Map, Frontline, Wikipedia

12/4/1939, Reporter Describes Red Army Occupation of Poland [Sept.] … Map, Nazi-Soviet Europe, Wikipedia

12/4/1939, Soviet Press Accuses Finns of Using Poison Gas; Helsinki Denies Allegation & Wants Neutral Inquiry

12/4/1939, New Finnish Cabinet Meets in Helsinki; Terioki Gov't Controls Limited Area … Map, Terioki, Google

12/4/1939, Russians Continue Hitting Finnish Lines; Soviets MG Own Troops to Deter Retreats, Part 1 … Part 2

12/4/1939, U.S. & Canadian Finns Mobilize to Assist Their Own Countrymen; 1st Contingent Set to Sail Dec. 9

12/4/1939, German Radio Reveals Outbreak of Finnish-Soviet War to Public for 1st Time; England Gets Blame

12/4/1939, Transparent Fiction; Red-Sponsored People's Gov't of Finland Located in Seaside Village of Terioka

12/4/1939, Terioka Puppet Gov't of M. Kussinen with Red Army Help Would Set Up Moscow Friendly Sovereign

12/4/1939, F.D.R. Secretary Mr. Early Differentiates Between Aggressor & Defense on Warplane Moral Embargo

12/4/1939, Advice to Break with Russia Nixed by F.D.R. Cabinet Due to Desirability of Avoiding War Psychosis

12/4/1939, Fifty-Three Jewish Inhabitants of a House in Warsaw Executed for Resisting Surrendering to Nazis

12/4/1939, R.A.F. Bombers Hit German Warships Near Heligoland; A.A. Fire Heavy … Map, Heligoland, Google

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[Globalization41]

12/5/1939, Red Army Advance Is Slowed in Finland; Snowstorms Limit Air Activity … 12/5/1939, Map, Finland

12/5/1939, Russians Land 3,000 Men from Ships at Petsamo Fiord; Finns Utilize Tank Traps N. of Lake Ladoga

12/5/1939, Molotov Rejects Finnish Calls for Negotiations; Sweden Begins Partial Mobilization, Part 1 … Part 2

12/5/1939, Millions in Poland Face Death by Execution or Starvation, Part 1 … Part 2 … … Map, Poland, Google

12/5/1939, Jewish Telegraph Agency Discloses Mass Executions Totaling 359 in Poland; Synagogues Torched

12/5/1939, Finland Appeals to League of Nations; Russian Invaders Suffer Heavy Losses North of Lake Ladoga

12/5/1939, Soviet Troops in Finland Well-Supplied with Ammo Only & Urged to Attack by Political Commissars

12/5/1939, Text of F.D.R.'s Moral Embargo Limiting Plane Sales & Condemning Bombing & Strafing of Civilians

12/5/1939, Violent Snowstorms Raging Throughout Finland; Finnish Ski Soldiers Preparing to Engage Russians

12/5/1939, Many Germans from Colony in Helsinki Decline to Board German Refugee Ship Departing Finland

12/5/1939, F.D.R. & Hull Discuss Trend of Public Sentiment; Americans Not Happy with Steps Against Soviets

12/5/1939, Czechs Warned Against Defying Nazis; Swastika Flag Flies Forever; Czechs Must Abandon Dreams

12/5/1939, German Baron Arrives in Istanbul Hoping to Promote German-Turkish Social & Economic Relations

12/5/1939, Finnish P.M. Ryti Broadcasts to America; Neutrals Must Help Neutrals Resisting Superior Invaders

12/5/1939, British Coastal Recon Plane (After Hiding in Clouds) Sinks U-Boat with Bomb Hit to Conning Tower

12/5/1939, Two British Destroyers Land Captured U-Boat Crew at Scottish Port; Happy Crew Smiles & Waves

12/5/1939, Fishing Boat Off British Coast Spots U-Boat in Moonlight & Notifies Navy; Fast Warships Swoop In

12/5/1939, German Bombers Gathering on Western Front; German Army Capable of Blitz on Two-Day Notice

12/5/1939, Germans Harass French Entrenching Work with MG Fire S. of Mandern … Map, Mandern, Google

12/5/1939, Japan Looking at Rebuilding East Asia & Seizing Strategic Raw Materials … Map, Far East, E. Kent

12/5/1939, Unarmed British Soldiers Clash with Local Police in Shanghai & Arrested; Cause of Strife Obscure

12/5/1939, Brits Have Put 33 German Cargo Ships (171k Tons) Out of Action; 144 U-Boat POWs Now in Britian

12/5/1939, British (Timber) Ship Eskdene (3,829 Tons) Hits Mine & Sinks; Crew of 29 Landed at Scottish Port

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[Globalization41]

12/5/1939, Moscow Says No Designs on Scandinavia; Soviet Fliers Too Humanitarian to Bomb Unarmed People

Map, Scandinavia, Google … 12/5/1939, Prominent Psychiatrist Called to See Notorious Gang Chief Al Capone

12/6/1939, Finns Celebrate 22nd Anniversary of Independence While Now Fighting Against Soviet Aggression

12/6/1939, Swedes Report British Warplanes for S. Africa Diverted for Duty in Finland … Map, S. Africa, Google

12/6/1939, Nature of Karelian Frontier No Easy Problem for Invading Armies … Map, Karelian Isthmus, Google

12/6/1939, Molotov Argues Finland's Appeal to League Is Illegal Because Gov't Does Not Represent Its People

12/6/1939, Steamer Doric Star Believed Sunk by German Raider in S. Atlantic Off South Africa; No Further Info

12/6/1939, Japs See U.S. as New Foe Replacing Russia; Six U.S. Subs Augment Fleet at Manila, Part 1 … Part 2

Map, Manila, Google … Japan & Russia Halt Hostilities Near E. Mongolia, 9/22/1939 … Khalkhin Gol, Wikipedia

12/6/1939, Finnish MGs Stall Russians; Finn Fliers Raid Murmansk, Part 1 … Part 2 … Map, Murmansk, Google

12/6/1939, British Announce Plans to Recruit Women to Fly Royal Air Force Planes from Factories to Airports

12/6/1939, Communist Magazine Agitator's Companion Attacks F.D.R. & U.S. for Inciting War Against U.S.S.R.

12/6/1939, Rumania Seeks to Avoid Aggression & Allied Sea Blockade with Oil to Germany Sent by Rail & Barge

12/6/1939, Germany & Rumania Agree to Ship Goods Via Russian-Occupied Poland … Map, Europe, Wikipedia

12/6/1939, First Lord of Admiralty Churchill Gives Weekly Update on War at Sea; Five U-Boats Sunk Last Week

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[Globalization41]

Who won the Winter War? It's been said that Stalin won because he got more than he originally asked for, but on the other hand, it would seem Finland won because it kept its freedom.

Globalization41.

[Seppo Koivisto]

Stalin didn't get what he asked from his army. Here is a Chrome translation from a Russian site.

War plan against Finland

The final version of the "Plan of Operation against Finland" was developed by the military council of the LVO on October 29, 1939, even before the termination of negotiations between the delegations of the two states in Moscow.

The idea of ​​​​the operation, which was mainly supposed to be completed within about a month, by the birthday of I.V. Stalin (December 21), was to simultaneously invade the territory of Finland in all directions “in order to separate the grouping of enemy forces and, in cooperation with aviation, inflict decisive defeat of the Finnish army”.

In the future, it was planned to occupy the entire territory of Finland with access to the Swedish and Norwegian borders.

The political plan of the war provided for the creation of a formally independent puppet state of "people's democracy" - the Democratic Republic of Finland with the transfer to it of the territory of the KASSR inhabited by Karelians (approximately 70 thousand square kilometers). In return, the FDR transferred the territory of the Karelian Isthmus to the USSR.

On the Karelian Isthmus, the forces of the 7th Army should “break parts of the cover, seize the fortified Finnish area on the Karperesheyka and, developing the offensive in the north-western direction in cooperation with the troops of the Vidlitsky direction, defeat the main grouping of enemy troops in the area of ​​Sortavala, Viipuri, Kyakisalmi (Kexholm ) and capture the area of ​​Hiitola, Imatra, Viipuri. Upon completion of this task, be ready for further actions inland.”

In the instruction given on November 29, 1939, the command staff of the LVO was tasked with capturing Vyborg within four days, and entering Helsinki by the end of two weeks.

© Yuri Mikhailovich Kilin
Petrozavodsk State University

https://www.winterwar.karelia.ru/site/battle/plan/

The Soviet border demands would have cut the main defense line (aka Mannerheim line). Any treaty would have to win a large majority in the parliament.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File ... innish.png

A Russian song from August 1939.
https://youtu.be/Wfs35AEypFw
http://heninen.net/kaunotar/english.htm