December 22, 1939

[Globalization41]

12/22/1939, Weekly Review, Finns Absorb Soviet Offensives, German Army Massing in West, British Navy Engages Graf Spee

12/22/1939, Map, Large-Scale Soviet Offensive Launched Against Finland on Karelian Isthmus

12/22/1939, Formations of Soviet Planes Bomb Helsinki; Intense Cold Disables 200 Russian Tanks & Vehicles

12/22/1939, French Declare Allies Averaging Three German Subs Sunk Per Week

12/22/1939, Five-Sixths of Moscow's Newspaper Space Devoted to Stalin on His Birthday; Russo-Finnish War Not Mentioned

12/22/1939, Berlin Reports Four British Light Naval Vessels Sunk in North Sea by German Air Force During Recon Missions

12/22/1939, British Fishing Trawler Trinity Blown Up in Norwegian Waters by German Warplane Dropping Bombs

12/22/1939, Hitler Sends "Best Wishes" on Stalin's Birthday & "Happy Future" for Peoples of Soviet Union

12/22/1939, War—Chronicle of Disaster; Nazis Incorporate Czechs, Germans Invade Poland, Soviets March on Finland, Part 1

12/22/1939, War—Chronicle of Disaster; Nazis Incorporate Czechs, Germans Invade Poland, Soviets March on Finland, Part 2

12/22/1939, War—Chronicle of Disaster; Nazis Incorporate Czechs, Germans Invade Poland, Soviets March on Finland, Part 3

12/22/1939, Berlin Train Collision Kills 70; High-Speed Express at Full Speed Plows into Parked Passenger Train

12/22/1939, Big Crowd Sings Swedish & Finnish National Anthems as 200 Volunteers from Sweden Leave for Finland by Train

12/22/1939, Finnish Army Celebrates Stalin's Birthday by Pushing Red Invaders Back on Two Fronts

12/22/1939, Soviet Authorities in Poland Close Churches; Deportations & Summary Executions Taking Place

12/22/1939, Germans on Western Front Adopt Hit-&-Run Strategy by Units of 30 to 160 Men

12/22/1939, Soviet Reinforcements from Moscow Military District Arriving to Augment Frontal Assault on Karelian Isthmus

12/22/1939, Finnish Lady Remembers Grandma's House on Island in Middle of Lake; Sturdy Timber Gleaming with Whitewash

12/22/1939, U.S. "Moral Embargo" Has Little Effect Against Countries that Bomb Open Towns & Civilians

12/22/1939, Clapper Paces Bruins Over Canadians, Leafs Lose to Hawks, Boston Undisputed N.H.L. Leader

12/22/1939, Hockey Standings, Bruins 10-4-3; Leafs 9-5-3; Rangers 6-3-7; Canadians 7-7-2; Hawks 7-7-1; Wings 4-10-3

Final N.H.L. Standings, 3/20/1939, Bruins 36-10-2; N.Y. Rangers 26-16-6; Toronto 19-20-9; N.Y. Americans 17-21-10

12/22/1939, Gordie Drillon & Syl Apps of Toronto Maple Leafs Top National Hockey League Leaders in Points

12/22/1939, Strange Parallels in History—Finland's Stand; New Czar of Communism—Stalin, Part 1

12/22/1939, Strange Parallels in History—Finland's Stand; New Czar of Communism—Stalin, Part 2

12/22/1939, Maritime War Casualties; 221 Commercial Ships Sunk (Including 118 British Vessels) Since Outbreak of War

12/22/1939, Harry Fleming on British Armed Liner Sunk by German Battleship Describes Survival Ordeal at Sea

12/22/1939, Settled Refugee in Sydney Explains Jews in Germany Forbidden to Use Radios

12/22/1939, German Liner Columbus Scuttled on High Seas After Sighting British Warship

12/22/1939, Swedish Scientist Concludes After Expedition that Greenland's Glaciers Show Signs from Warming Climate

12/22/1939, Tokyo Mass Meeting Calls for End to War in China & to Guard Against Anglo-American Fear Campaigns

12/22/1939, Newly Signed German-Rumanian Trade Pact Doubles Oil Exports from Rumania to Germany

Globalization41.

[Lotvonen]

Thank you for your input.

I wish to quote a Finnish historian, Dr. Phil. Marko Tikka who states in his book "Terrorin aika" (Jyväskylä 2008, ISBN978-951-20-7802-8)

"History is a present moment situated in the past, where the people acting in it knew equally little about the start and end of wars, the number of casualties and the reasons and causality of the incidents, just as we know about our present moment and what is changing in it.
When we realise this it is easier for us to understand the people of the past. It is also easier for us to understand their actions when moralising them..."

[Globalization41]

Stalin's overconfident decision to invade Finland must have been influenced, in part, by summer military successes against overextended Japanese expeditions in the east. ... The Finns and world opinion caused Stalin to retreat from his original objective of regime change. He remained confident enough, however, to authorize mass executions of Polish officers when Hitler's forces invaded Norway. Later, the Soviet Union absorbed the Baltic States while Hitler was busy in France. ... In November 1940, Stalin confidently told Hitler through Molotov that Finland and the Turkish Straits were in Russia's sphere of influence. It wasn't until early 1941 that Stalin finally realized his strategic danger as Hitler continued to set up conditions necessary for the invasion of the U.S.S.R.

Globalization41.