No the planning took place in response to the Winter War The British government may have been half hearted as Nick D says but certainly not the French nor the British public and press From the Doerr paper Paul cites The reaction of the British public and press to the Soviet invasion of Finland was overwhelmingly hostile Sympathy for Finland was strong The Finns were seen as a small embattled liberal state defying a totalitarian power As the Finns battled against increasingly long odds pressure grew on the British government to do something Military supplies were sent to Finland along with some British volunteers By March 1940 public pressure and pressure from the French forced the British government to agree to a wild plan to send British troops to Finland Do not forget that the French were considered a major military power in 1939 so while the British may have been reluctant I don t see why we should ignore the French pressure for intervention