Saturday, April 9, 2016

Winter War

To anyone who reads this, I’m willing to bet that you most likely have not heard of a conflict called the “Winter War”. The Winter War was a separate war between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War II. Since it happened during WWII, many people, if not most, don’t even know about it. It also only lasted about 3 months (November 1939 to March 1940) which is probably another reason not many people know about it. It is noted as being a massive and humiliating “successful failure” for the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union decided that they want to annex Finland to take their territory and supplies, since, at this time, they were still part of the Axis Powers. They had completed outnumber the Fins. Some numbers include 500,000 men to 250,000, 2500 tanks compared to 32, and 4000 aircraft to 115. Not to mention the Soviet Union is absolutely massive compared to Finland. But the Soviets and Stalin had not expected the Fins to fight back so hardly. When it comes to sheer statistics, the Soviets got slaughtered by the Fins: 100,000 missing or dead compared to 26,000, 200,000 wounded to 40,000, 5000 captured to 1000, 300 tanks destroyed to 30, and 1000 aircraft destroyed to 60. Now, while the Soviet Union did eventually win the war, it was considered a “pyrrhic victory” meaning that the toll was so much that it wasn’t even worth winning. By the end, they compromised with the Moscow Peace Treaty, which resulted in Finland handing over about 10 % of their land to the USSR, but they still kept their freedom. 
Now, there was actually a Finnish soldier on this battlefield by the name of Simo Hayha, and this man actually holds the record for most confirmed sniper kills in any war or conflict in history. His confirmed kill count was 505, and it is highly believed that he killed way more. His earned the nickname “White Death” by the Soviet soldiers, as he used to cloak himself with white and a mask that both hid himself and protected his eyes from the reflection of the sun. He did not use a scope on his rifle because the glare would give away his position, and also because it would frost up. He would put snow in his mouth to prevent his breathe from showing, to further hide himself from enemy fire. He was eventually shot by a Soviet solider, a bullet to the jaw that disfigured but did not kill him. He amazingly lived to be 96. 

3 comments:

  1. That was actually a really cool thing to read. I love that kind of stuff.

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  2. This was an interesting thing to read. Personally I really enjoy history and its crazy to think how the Soviet Union lost so badly.

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  3. This was an interesting thing to read. Personally I really enjoy history and its crazy to think how the Soviet Union lost so badly.

    ReplyDelete