The Hull Daily Mail was wise enough to predict two days before the battle that, given “German warships have already been seen off Helsingfors, the occupation of which will probably take place in the very near future” – the very near future, it turned out. looking for articles from the very first years of twentieth century, I wanted The ‘Winter War’ of 1939-1940 or the Russo-Finnish War was fought between the Soviet Union and Finland. interesting peephole into Finnish War History before the Second World War. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peace Treaty on 13 March 1940. Interested in reading more about Finnish history, explored with primary sources? Vuorio, Gale Ambassador at the University of Helsinki│. The landing at Omaha Beach, as brave and loyal as the Americans were there, was chump change compared to the Eastern Front war. However, that effort was squelched when the Finnish parliament chose not to ratify the agreement. The Russo-Finnish War, or Winter War, began on 30 November 1939 when the Soviet Union invaded Finland. The Air Force was part of the Army but commanded by the Chief of Flying Troops. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Corrections? When I browsed through the digital material during the war years, I found a particularly large amount of material from the so-called “Hango massacre”. Thursday 31st May saw the Finnish Prime Minister’s Officer announced the opening of an independent probe into those Finnish citizens who served in the Waffen-SS during the Second World War. So, let’s see the The Soviet forces had three times as many soldiers as … In Gale Primary Sources, 2,323 newspaper and periodical articles can be found by searching for “General Bobrikoff”, of which 22 were published on June 17, 1904. Moving on to the twentieth century, I was curious whether the unrest at the beginning of the century appears in Gale’s archives. The setting is Finland during the 1940 Winter War. newspapers. Blog post cover image citation: “Helsingfors Occupied.” Times, 16 Apr. In 1939, tiny Finland waged war-the kind of war that spawns legends-against the mighty Soviet Union, and yet their epic struggle has been largely ignored. Lieutenant Melin's soldiers mission is to penetrate the heart of … The Russian military had a number of early designs stationed in the country, which until the Russian Revolution of 1917 had been part of the Russian Empire. Finnish troops were conscripted to fight in the wars the Swedish Empire engaged in. When Finland rejected the demand,…, …for border rectifications and bases, Stalin ordered the Red Army to attack on November 30. During the quarantine (and any other time!) Looking for Help Tackling Tough Academic Works? Sisu is what allowed Finnish soldiers to creep close to Soviet tanks to throw grenades, plant charges, … focusing on Great Britain or America, since the collections seem mostly focused Omissions? Russo-Finnish War, also called Winter War, (November 30, 1939–March 12, 1940), war waged by the Soviet Union against Finland at the beginning of World War II, following the conclusion of the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact (August 23, 1939). By merely searching for “Helsingfors” the search results offered 250 monographs, 8 manuscripts and 28,159 newspaper and periodical articles! Even though the Finnish territory was spared of most of the fighting, it witnessed a series of military operations for three and a half months during the … (For further information about this, check out “100 years since Finland declared independence”). The Times broke the news of the occupation on Wednesday 17th April in an apologetic way: “The German occupation of Helsingfors took place on Friday, but was only known here, even to the Finnish Legation, to-day.” It seems that the British press had by then established a norm with regards to the time it took to break news, and needed to apologise for late reporting! Social Democratic Party, agrarian and industrial workers) and Whites (the Having approached Germany without reaching a formal alliance, Finland allowed German troops transit through the country after the outbreak of war between Germany and the Soviet Union in June 1941. It is surprisingly easy to follow the main events of the Crimean War from the Finnish point of view by using Gale Primary Sources. The murders were part of the resistance to the Russian oppression against the autonomy of the Grand Duchy of Finland that had started at the end of the nineteenth century. The same accelerated speed of information transfer via the new telegram network that we saw impacting primary sources from 1904 was present in 1918 as well. (Whilst drawing too much comparison between historical events and current situations has its dangers, I could not help but ponder whether the reporting of the Crimean War that can be found in British Library Newspapers was one of the first steps towards the reality we live in today, where news of COVID-19 is available instantly, day in, day out, from hour to hour, from moment to moment, and whether this development in technology is changing society’s approaches and understanding of news as it did to those exposed to the new telegraph technology in the nineteenth century.). The first steps in the history of Finnish aviation were taken with Russian aircraft. Our Ambassadors study a variety of different disciplines, and all are open to receiving thoughts or questions from other students at their university about Gale Primary Sources. The Red Army wanted to split Finnish forces above Lake Ladoga, north of the Mannerheim Line, as well as seize the coastal city of Petsamo along the Arctic Ocean to the north, to prevent oceanic intervention from Norway. – Finland in American News in the Late Nineteenth Century or Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld – A Great Arctic Explorer of the Nineteenth Century. Soviet troops totaling about one million men attacked Finland on several fronts. Unable to secure help from Britain and France, the exhausted Finns made peace (the Treaty of Moscow) on Soviet terms on March 12, 1940, agreeing to the cession of western Karelia and to the construction of a Soviet naval base on the Hanko Peninsula. The rest of the article was dedicated to praising the international (or rather Nordic) winter sports that were held in Helsinki in February 1919. The Finnish Civil War was fought between Reds (a section of the Social Democratic Party, agrarian and industrial workers) and Whites (the conservative based Senate with the help of the German Imperial Army, middle-class and upper-class people). “Whoever Expected Prophets to Agree?” – Predicting the Future One Hundred Years Ago, Cengage EMEA, Cheriton House, North Way, Andover, SP10 5BE. Finland's White Guard, the Whites, manag… Norway received 100 children. In the eyes of the British press, Finland’s reputation as a winter- and sports-loving nation was already under construction – although the winter sports did not quite unite Finnish people because athletes belonging to the Sports Federation of Working People (Työväen Urheiluliitto in Finnish) were not allowed to take part.5. The Soviet proposals for those acquisitions included an offer to exchange Soviet land. During the 1920s the Finnish government, wary of the threat posed by the Soviet Union, pursued a defense alliance with Estonia, Latvia, and Poland. The most famous murder is that of the Governor-General of Finland, Nikolay Bobrikov, a Russian General who was the victim of an organised group of Finnish nationalists. Unlike the Winter War, which was a Soviet war of aggression against Finland, the Continuation War was a war of aggression initiated by the Finns, which attempted to rectify the territorial losses of the Winter War and pre-empt Soviet aggression. Gibril Ealoghima Massaquoi is accused of killing civilians and soldiers who had just been disarmed … Russo-Finnish War, also called Winter War, (November 30, 1939–March 12, 1940), war waged by the Soviet Union against Finland at the beginning of World War II, following the conclusion of the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact (August 23, 1939). The largest recipient country was Sweden, but Denmark and Norway also took in children. The investigation will look to see if any Finns participated in “in the homicide of Jews and civilians during 1941-1943.” Telegraphs were used by the military for sharing strategies, but also for forwarding war reports to the press.2 Consequently it was the first war where the media were reporting in “real-time”. Following the invasion, defeat, and partitioning of Poland by Germany and the Soviets in 1939, the Soviet Union sought to push its border with Finland on the Karelian Isthmus westward in an attempt to buttress the security of Leningrad (St. Petersburg) from potential German attack. Disclaimer: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this blog belong solely to the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Gale, A Cengage Company. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... World War II: The Baltic states and the Russo-Finnish War, 1939–40. Check out Suomi mainittu! The main characters are Marko and Karl. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. The shadow to this story was that “the working classes have no love for the Germans”. The murder took place in the very centre of Helsinki on June 16, 1904, and was committed by a Finnish activist, Eugen Schauman. For example, the Sheffield Independent published a report on the “Destruction of Lovisa” on July 21, 1855 from a dispatch that was written on July 8, 1855 in “Hogland”. Finland was involved because at that time it was part of the Russian Empire, in which, between 1809–1917, Finland was called “the Grand Duchy of Finland” or Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta in Finnish. The League of Nations deemed the attack illegal and expelled the Soviet Union from the organisation. She is fascinated by physical education and gendered sport exercises in nineteenth-century Britain and is working hard on her own sport goals as an international football referee. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Profiting quickly from its understanding with Germany, the U.S.S.R. on October 10, 1939, constrained Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania to admit... Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Finish Army in the Winter War Guerrillas on skis, heroic single-handed attacks on tanks, unfathomable endurance, and the charismatic leadership of one of this century's true military geniuses-these are the elements of both the Finnish victory and a gripping tale of war. Anti-aircraft artillery which in 1939 had been about 192 anti-aircraft guns of various calibres, had increased to nearly 700 by June 1941.During the Continuation War the Finns split their units into smaller flights of about ten aircraft which could be deployed nearer the front and in the vicinity of the sector where they were required. Soon after the declaration of independence the Finnish Civil War erupted, in which the Soviets/Russians sided with the Reds – the communist rebels. Skis and reindeers make the Finnish soldiers movable. He expected a lightning victory of his own that would impress Hitler and increase Soviet security in the Baltic. In February 1940, however, the Soviets used massive artillery bombardments to breach the Mannerheim Line (the Finns’ southern defensive barrier stretching across the Karelian Isthmus), after which they streamed northward across the isthmus to the Finnish city of Viipuri (Vyborg). For most of Finland’s history, the country had lived on the periphery of world events, but for a few weeks during the winter of 1939-40, Finland stood at the center of the world stage. Updates? Based on that search, Gale Profiting quickly from its understanding with Germany, the U.S.S.R. on October 10, 1939, constrained Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania to admit Soviet garrisons onto their territories. However, there exists a consensus that one of the Finnish main objectives was an atte… It was certainly the heart of their resistance during the Winter War. The Times Digital Archive, https://link-gale-com.libproxy.helsinki.fi/apps/doc/CS100993680/GDCS?u=uhelsink&sid=GDCS&xid=f62ed578, combined with headlines from sources included in this post. Finland's White Guard, the Whites, managed to seize a few aircraft from the Russians, but were forced to rely on foreign pilots an… Soon after the declaration of independence the Finnish Civil War erupted, in which the Soviets/Russians sided with the Reds – the communist rebels. make the search easier. The heavily outnumbered Finns put up a skillful and effective defense that winter, and the Red Army made little progress. As expected, the news spread without delay to Britain as well. What was special about contemporary coverage of the Crimean War was that it was one of the first “modern wars” due to the use of new technology such as the telegraph (invented in 1837). on those areas. Despite their much smaller size and strength, the Finns were able to hold off the Soviets for more than two months before the larger force redoubled its efforts and finally overran them. 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