For a long time I did not understand: why the "White Finns"? Due to heavy snowfall? However, there was still a point in the propaganda cliché. In 1917, taking advantage of the general turmoil, the Suomi Senate led the "parade of sovereignties" and thus lit the fuse for the civil war in the Land of a Thousand Lakes. Despite such an abundance of water, it was not possible to extinguish the fratricidal fire until 1920.
The "Red" - socialists, supported by the RSFSR, were opposed by the "white" - separatists, who relied on Germany and Sweden. The plans of the latter included Russian territories in Eastern Karelia and the Arctic, where, having defeated their socialists, the Finnish army rushed. That was the prologue of future battles, or, if you like, the first Soviet-Finnish war that we lost. The treaty between Russia and Finland signed in October 1920 in Tartu, in addition to absolute "independence", even provided for territorial concessions in favor of the "whites" - the Pechenga region (Petsamo), the western part of the Rybachy peninsula and most of the Sredny peninsula. Nevertheless, the “whites”, together with Mannerheim, were unhappy: they wanted more.
For the Bolsheviks, the loss was, among other things, a painful blow to ideology. Stalin did not forgive humiliation. In 1939, announcing a campaign against the BELO-Finns, he wanted to emphasize that the old enemy was not killed. He probably had something personal. At least, they tell how the leader ordered not to punish anyone for a typo in the heading of the "Red Star", although such a "blunder" in wartime could cost the guilty very dearly. But the mistake turned out to be significant. "The Red Army knocked out the White Finns," the newspaper was going to report about the breakthrough of the Mannerheim Line. When the print run was printed, "i" and "b" were reversed, resulting in a savory, but absolutely obscene verb.
"Victory over the enemy must be achieved with little blood," read the appeal of the political administration of the Leningrad Military District on November 23, 1939. And the "Mainil incident", which became a formal pretext for the last battle in history between "whites" and "reds", happened on November 26. A cannon suddenly hit from the other side, destroying three Soviet soldiers, 9 more soldiers were wounded. Many years later, the former head of the Leningrad TASS bureau, Ancelovich, said: he received a package with the text of the message about the "mining incident" and the inscription "Open by special order" two weeks before the incident.
Well, we needed a reason - we provided it. And yet, despite all of the above, the war was not obvious. As a pragmatist for the marrow, Stalin would never have given the order to cross the border just because of old grievances. Let's try to figure it out together with the historian Nikolai Starodymov.
The official date for the start of World War II is September 1, 1939. And this event could have been timed to coincide with the Spanish "civil", or the Munich agreement, or the occupation of Czechoslovakia … The point is not that, but that humanity was doomed to world slaughter.
Any country intending to fight is primarily concerned with the solution of three main tasks: training the army and mobilizing military potential, looking for allies and identifying opponents, as well as ensuring border security. This is where the country of Suomi comes up. Where will it swing when it smells of gunpowder?
Militarily, it was ridiculous to think of Finland as a strong state at first glance. Even after a general mobilization in November 1939, she was able to deploy only 15 infantry divisions and 7 special brigades. But what can I say: the entire population of Finland corresponded to the number of inhabitants of Leningrad. "Yes, we will shower them with hats!"
But there was another side to the problem. If Finland found itself in the camp of the enemies of the Soviet Union, its territory could well have been used as a convenient springboard. In fact, the border passed some 30 km from Leningrad - get it with a cannon! And then there is Vyborg - a powerful fortified city that threatened not only Leningrad, but also the main Soviet naval base in the Baltic - Kronstadt. And in the North, Murmansk was dangerously close … It is clear that such a neighbor must either be included in the allies, or "turned off" in advance.
At first they tried to come to an agreement in an amicable way. Back in April 1938, Stalin invited Rybkin, a resident of the NKVD, to the Kremlin and gave him an unexpected assignment. The intelligence officer was instructed to informally convey to the Finnish government a proposal to sign a Pact on Friendship, Economic and Military Cooperation. In addition, Rybkin was awarded $ 100,000 for the creation of the so-called. A "party of smallholders" that would support the idea of neutrality. Helsinki refused to shake Moscow's outstretched hand. But the mission cannot be considered completely failed either: the initiative of the USSR provoked a split in the ruling circles of Finland into "doves" and "hawks", which played a role when it was necessary to make peace.
The second attempt was made by Stalin on October 5, 1939, proposing to move the border to a safe distance from Leningrad and Kronstadt, for which to "wave" 2,761 square meters. km of Finnish territory for 5000 Soviet "squares". To no avail.
Patience ran out, the deadlines were running out. I had to start, paraphrasing Twardowski, the most "not famous" 104 days and 4 hours. True, the Soviet command was supposed to cope much faster: the entire campaign was given no more than 12 days. Alas, it only took two weeks to get to the Mannerheim line.
The superiority of the Red Army was overwhelming - in manpower, in artillery, in tanks … Excellent knowledge of the terrain, a harsh winter with abundant snows, the best logistical support, and - most importantly, “came out” on the side of the Finns! - famous defensive fortifications. At the first stage, everything seemed to go well: our units wedged themselves into the enemy's defenses in several directions, in particular, in the Far North, where they averted the threat from Murmansk. And then a nightmare ensued.
The 9th Army, commanded first by corps commander Mikhail Dukhanov, then corps commander Vasily Chuikov, intended to cut the country in half, along the Ukhta line - the Gulf of Bothnia. The Soviet troops were opposed by the group of Major General Viljo Tuompo. The 163rd Infantry Division was the first to go over to the offensive. Drowning in the snow, in severe frost, the compound was able to advance 60–70 km. The division stopped in the Suomussalmi area. She simply … lost her bearings at the edge of lakes and snow. The enemy took advantage of this and carried out the encirclement. The 44th motorized division sent to the rescue could not complete the task.
The Finnish army used the same tactics, thanks to which Russia defeated Napoleon: while the main forces were in a "constrained" state, the Shutskor fighters (fighter detachments from specially trained reservists) destroyed individual groups and columns, cut communications, dismembered units and subunits. The advantage in tanks under such conditions cannot be used. The defeat was complete: the remnants of the divisions were able to escape only thanks to the heroism of the soldiers of the 81st Mountain Rifle Regiment, who covered the withdrawal. At the same time, the enemy got almost all the equipment and heavy weapons.
A similar catastrophe befell the 18th Infantry Division and the 34th Tank Brigade of the 8th Army (commander - Divisional Commander Ivan Khabarov, then - 2nd Rank Army Commander Grigory Stern). Once surrounded, they cried out: “People are starving, we are eating the last horse without bread and salt. Scurvy has begun, the patients are dying. There are no cartridges and shells … . The Soviet garrison of Lemetti was almost completely destroyed, where only 30 out of 800 people survived.
They had to draw bitter conclusions and halt the fruitless "frontal" attacks. The first step was to change the army: instead of Budennovoks, greatcoats and boots, the soldiers received hats, short fur coats and felt boots. Rearmament began: the leadership of the army and Comrade Stalin appreciated the advantages of machine guns. 2,500 trailers were delivered to the front for heating personnel. In the immediate rear, the Red Army men were trained in the art of fighting in forest conditions and in the methods of storming defensive structures. Shapkozakidatelskie moods (by the way, this expression in relation to the Finnish war was first used by the chief marshal of artillery Nikolai Voronov) were replaced by the commanders for careful preparation for the upcoming battles.
After the "intermission", on February 11, 1940, the second theater of military operations opened. The main hope and support of the Finns, the Mannerheim line, was broken. Parts of the Red Army broke out into the operational space and rushed to the last fortress - Vyborg, which was considered impregnable. To delay the offensive, the Finnish command blew up the Seimen Canal dam, creating a strip of flooding for many kilometers. Did not help. On March 1, our units, taking into account the sad experience, abandoned a direct strike and bypassed the enemy's defensive positions. The days and nights of Vyborg were numbered, the country of Suomi urgently requested negotiations. By the way, the day before the Finnish representative met with Goering, who said literally the following: “Now you should make peace on any terms. I guarantee: when in a short time we go to Russia, you will get everything back with interest."
History, of course, does not know the subjunctive mood, but everything could have turned out differently if not for the relatively quick victory of the Red Army. The slogan “The West will help us” seemed quite real for Helsinki. From the very beginning of the conflict, Finland felt friendly support. For example, a combined Swedish-Norwegian-Danish unit of 10,500 men fought in her army. In addition, a 150,000-strong Anglo-French expeditionary force was hastily formed, and its appearance at the front did not take place only because the war was over.
But money and weapons went to Helsinki in a stream. During the war, Finland received 350 aircraft, 1,500 artillery pieces, 6,000 machine guns, 100,000 rifles, mainly thanks to the United States. A curious moment: then there was no question of any lend-lease at all. It was from the Soviet Union that the Yankees then demanded the return of supply debts during the Great Patriotic War.
In addition to passive support (moral and material), England and France were preparing for active intervention. London would not be itself if it did not try to use the outbreak of the war for another attempt to invade the Caucasus. Thus, plans were developed for RIP (France) and MA-6 (England), which provided for the bombing of oil fields. 15 days were allotted for the destruction of Baku, 12 days for Grozny, and a day and a half for Batumi.
However, that would be a completely different story.
