The Winter War: The Soviet Attack on Finland 1939-1940

by Eloise Paananen, Lauri Paananen, Eloise Engle

Release Date: January, 1992

Edition: Paperback

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A heroic solitary stand.....

Clearly, this is history written mostly based on the Finnish experience defending their small country from the onslaught of a giant neighbor, a David and Goliath story. Although in this one, Goliath eventually won, it was at such cost that the Germans took careful notes, and is a contributing factor to their eventual decision to invade the Soviet Union in the summer of 1941.

Here is a good primer about the Winter War, the cause and effect, including a general introduction about Field Marshal Carl Gustav Mannerheim, the Finnish CIC, who strange as it may seem, was never a real nationalist and who barely spoke Finnish (he learned the language when he was well past fifty) but instead spoke the great cultural languages of Europe. The book goes on to relate his able leadership, correctly assessing the other side's weaknesses despite the great disparity of strength between the two nations. The centerpiece of the war was the great Finnish victories at Tolvajarvi and Suomussalmi, where in the latter battle, an understrength Finnish division went on to stop and almost completely annihilate one Soviet division in a pincer counter-offensive and dispatching another division sent out to help. Eventually, Soviet losses were staggering (Khrushchev later admitting one million of them lost their lives in this frozen hell) that in Russia, a general was said to have said that they "have won enough territory to bury their dead."

Although Finland eventually ceded 22,000 sq. miles of territory, it is a history of a plucky nation unwilling to submit to the realities of world politics at that time. However, this is still not a definitive work. For example, the actual amount of reparations to the Soviet Union for both the Winter War and the Continuation War was never mentioned, ("it was enormous") and mentioned only that the Finns paid it off eventually (by 1955, an amazing feat in itself which was never mentioned). The sector battles on other fronts was never as detailed as the principal battlefields. The appendices were very helpful nevertheless, and as mentioned before it is a good primer to the Winter War.

Finnish Sisu!

Being of Finnish ascent, I was very proud to read of the Finns and what they were able to accomplish against the Soviet aggressors. My father had talked often of the Winter War and this is the book that truly explains what sacrifices and hardships the Finns had to face during that fateful time in their history. Their "sisu" or pluck as some would call it, was quite evident in taking on a much larger enemy. Many young Finnish men were lost in the conflict, but it was their determination and "sisu" that have helped to keep Finland strong. The book was very nicely written and easy to read in an afternoon. There aren't that many books I could share with my father, but this was one of those rare gems that we both enjoyed reading. I highly recommend it to anyone to add to their history collection of WWII.