As the Winter War broke out in November 1939, Anttila was the commander of the Finnish People's Army and was nominated the Minister of Defense of the Finnish Democratic Republic. In June 1940 he was promoted to major general. 1941–1942 he served in the Western Front and the until 1944 in the Karelian Front. September 1944 Anttila returned the Western Front and took part of the Battle of Berlin under the command of the field marshal Georgy Zhukov. Anttila resigned in November 1945 due to health problems. He died in Moscow in 1953.