MANNERHEIM - Commander-in-Chief - World War II The Second World War was fought 1939-1945 between the Axis Powers led by Germany, Italy and Japan, and the Allied Powers led by Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union and the United States. The Axis Powers suffered a total defeat in the war, which resulted in the so-called Cold War, as the relations between the ideologically divided winner states tightened. It was to be Finlands fate to have to fight two wars with Russia, first the Winter War 1939-1940, in which England and France would have been willing to give their support to Finland, and later the Continuation War 1941-1944, in which Germany was fighting on the side of Finland. The cold relations between the great powers were mainly due to the intentions of Hitlers Germany to regain her lost power and to re-establish the countrys frontiers where they had been before the First World War. There were even more far-reaching plans of expansion: first in the areas of former Austria-Hungary. Italy, with whom Germany made a so-called "steel pact", and Japan had similar plans of expansion.

In 1940, these three states entered into the alliance of three powers. For quite a long time, the great western powers, Great Britain and France, did not very actively object to the gradual German expansion, and their attempts to form an allied blockade around it were lacking energy. In August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union managed to conclude a non-aggression pact (the Molotov-Ribbentropp Pact after the names of the Foreign Ministers). These states were totalitarian, even if they were ideologically worlds apart and each others worst enemies, Germany being national-socialistic, Russia communist. The secret additional minutes connected with the agreement, enabled the parties, within the frame of their spheres of interest, to spread into the territories of the states located between them without obstruction. Through this pact, the dictator of the Soviet Union, Stalin, hoped to gain more time to make preparations, in case a great war of "the capitalistic states" should break out, and their weakening give him an opportunity for spreading the ideas of the Soviet system into larger areas. For Germany the pact gave an opportunity to crush Poland.

The attack on Poland began on September 9, 1939, which also marked the beginning of the Second World War, as Great Britain and France had guaranteed the independence of Poland. In Europe, Germany defeated Poland in a few weeks time, and the Soviet Union hastened to secure its interests and occupy the Polish territories east of the border of the interest sphere agreed in the pact. Germany and the Soviet Union had to, eventually, make certain adjustments to the pact, and Lithuania, for example, went over to the Soviet sphere of interest. The German attack was rapid. Differing from the strategies of the First World War, tanks and motorized troops penetrated deep into the enemy front, while attacks from air prevented the adversaries to transfer their troops and to organize their maintenance and supply. This strategy was called "Blitzkrieg", "lightning campaign". After the Polish War, the Soviet Union continued to strengthen her sphere of influence. She made security agreements with the Baltic countries in autumn 1939 (29 September  10 October), which gave her the right to position armed troops in bases within their territories.

Negotiations with Finland in Moscow failed, as the Finns who were suspicious of Soviet intentions, did not consent to changes of the frontiers, and to the cession of the Hanko Peninsula to be used as a Russian naval base. This failure led to the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union 1939-1940. The war between the western powers and Germany long remained a kind of shadow war. No big operations were undertaken on the western front. The strategic importance of northern Europe became more marked during the Finnish Winter War, and in April 1940 Hitlers troops successfully occupied Denmark and by July 1940, also Norway. In May 1940 Germany began the lightning campaign (Blitzkrieg) in the west. The Netherlands surrendered on the 15th of May, Belgium on the 28th of May and France on the 22nd of June. England managed to evacuate most of her troops from France through the Dunkerque bridge-head. Marshal P�tain became the head of France, most of which was now under German occupation.

A resistance movement, similar to that in the other occupied countries, was organized in France, and "Free France" began operations under the protection of England. Colonel (later General) Charles de Gaulle became the leader of this movement. While Germany was advancing, the Red Army of the Soviet Union occupied the entire Baltic area in the middle of June, 1940  Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were annexed to the Soviet Union as socialistic republics during the summer 1940  and, on 28 June, 1940, took possession of Bessarabia, formerly belonging to Rumania. At the end of 1940, Italy attacked Greece, and the Balkans became the central war scene. Hitler decided to take the area under his control, and in March and April the German army occupied Yugoslavia and Greece. Taking the island of Crete was not as easy. There were bloody battles, and the parachute troops never recovered from the defeats suffered on the island. After the war expedition to France, Hitler gave an order to prepare for an offensive against the Soviet Union.

Hitler did not attempt to invade England on account of the strength of the British navy, and England could not be put down by air attacks. England won "the battle for England" in the air. After this, the battles between England and Germany moved mainly to the sea. At the very beginning of the war, England had declared trade embargo on Germany, and in 1940 Germany did the same on the seas surrounding Great Britain. During the war, Germany built altogether approximately 1,200 submarines to be used in trade warfare. In 1943, the adversaries, however, got the upper hand of the submarines, and from 1944 onwards the allied forces had the upper hand on all the seas. During the war, submarines and other means of trade warfare destroyed a number of trading vessels equalling half of the worlds trade tonnage in 1939. The building capacity of U.S. docks was, however, sufficient to compensate for these losses, and at the end of the war in 1945, the total British and American tonnage was bigger than it had been in 1939.

The German offensive against the Soviet Union, which had been prepared in great secret (operation Barbarossa), started on the 22nd of June, 1941. Rumania, Hungary and Finland, later also Italy, had been persuaded to join in the operation. The purpose was to take the European territories of the Soviet Union as far as the Astrakan-Arkangel line, and the first stage of the attack went smoothly and rapidly. Large sections of the red army were blockaded and numerous prisoners captured. Nevertheless, Hitlers attempts to take Leningrad and Moscow by the end of 1941 were unsuccessful, and during the winter the red army managed to reorganize their troops for counter-offensives. However, due to the blockade, the people in Leningrad had to suffer from starvation from September 1941 till January 1944. The enormous manpower resources of the Soviet Union and her ability to set the war industry in motion again in the Ural area, began to produce results in the course of the years. The material aid of the Western Powers, the so-called lend-and-lease system, helped the red army to cope with the periods of the worst material shortage.

The convoys transporting this aid were the targets of the German navy and airforce on the Arctic Ocean. The next great German offensive penetrated far into Caucasia (the River Terek) and into the city of Stalingrad on the Volga. German troops were now blockaded near Stalingrad, and they were forced to surrender on February 2, 1943. This battle marked the turning point on the eastern front. By the end of 1943, the Soviet troops advanced as far as Smolensk and Kiev. In the following year Stalin wanted the German troops expelled out of the Soviet territory, which operation the red army carried through to near completion. The Second World War had spread to Africa in 1940. In December the troops of the British Empire prevented Italy from landing in Egypt. From time to time, the troops of the Axis States, commanded by Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, fought successful battles in the desert, until the Brits defeated the German troops in the battle of El Alamein in October and November 1942. The resistance of the Axis States in Tunisia ended in May 1943.

Despite the ideological differences, the German attack against the Soviet Union had led into cooperation between England and the Soviet Union. England had already been financially supported by the United States, which then joined the war at the end of 1941. Stalin demanded the Western Allies to open a second front in Europe, but advancing began in easier territories, first as an invasion to north Africa on the 8th of November 1942. After this operation, the Germans who were suspicious of the French, took possession of the unoccupied areas of France as well. After the Germans had been chased out of Africa, there followed an invasion to Europe, to Sicily on 7 July, 1943. Dissatisfaction which had long been smouldering in Italy, now resulted in the withdrawal of Italy from the war. Mussolini was compelled to resign on the 25th of July. After the allies had crossed the strait of Messina, Italy concluded Armistice on the 3rd of September, 1943.

Nevertheless, in September the Republic of Italy was established under the leadership of Mussolini, which partly enabled the Germans to take control over most of Italy, and the fight for Italy lasted a long time. The Allies reached Rome on the 4th of June, 1944, but northern Italy remained under German control till May 1945. The establishment of the second front in France was successful, after the Allies managed to take the German defence by surprise in Normandy on the 6th of June, 1944. The rolling-up back of the invasion (led by general Dwight Eisenhower) was not successful. In August 1944, there followed the invasion of the Allies on the French Riviera. On 25 August, 1944 the allies marched into Paris, and at the end of the same year there were battles also in the Netherlands and Alsace-Lorraine (Elsass-Lothringen). As a result of the drawbacks in the east and west, an opposition movement arose among the Germans, with the intention to murder Hitler on the 20th of July, 1944.

The opposition was crushed, and towards the end of the year Germany managed to reorganize her troops in the west for a counter-offensive in the Ardennes. After initial successes the attack died down, and there was no more energy to stage a new large-scale offensive. As the defeat of the Germans began to seem evident, the spirits were kept high by references to new secret weapons. Attempts to develop two new rocket weapons, missiles, revenge weapons V1 and V2 had been successful. These weapons had some frightening effect in England, but their explosive capacity was not sufficient to be strategically effective. The defence of the German territory broke down during the first four months of 1945. The Allies had agreed to draw the border of the areas of occupation on the River Elbe, where the troops approaching from the east and west met on the 25th of April, 1945. Hitler committed suicide in Berlin on 30 April, 1945, and the partisans killed Mussolini on the 28 April, 1945. Mannerheim Line | Finnish defense system | Britannica.com Finnish defense system THIS IS A DIRECTORY PAGE. Britannica does not currently have an article on this topic.

Learn about this topic in these articles: in Carl Gustaf Mannerheim Reentering public life in 1931, Mannerheim became chairman of the national defense council. During his eight-year tenure, Finland constructed the so-called Mannerheim Line of fortifications across the Karelian Isthmus facing Leningrad; this system of defenses was intended to block any potential aggressive moves by the Soviet Union. When Soviet forces attacked Finland in December 1939, he served... in fortification: Other fort series ...and modernized existing World War I defenses along the country’s mountainous northern and northeastern frontiers; the Finns maintained a World War I defense facing the Soviet Union, the Mannerheim Line (named after a Finnish marshal and statesman); the Soviets built the Stalin Line facing Poland; the Czechoslovaks constructed what became known as the Little Maginot Line to oppose... in Karelian Isthmus ...ceded to Russia in 1721 with the Treaty of Nystad, but it was further negotiated as part of independent Finland in 1918.

In about 1929, Finland began to construct the fortifications of the so-called Mannerheim Line across the isthmus. The purpose of this demarcation was to guard against the threat posed by the Soviet Union, which sought a section of the isthmus in order to protect Leningrad... in Russo-Finnish War ...outnumbered Finns put up a skillful and effective defense that winter, and the Red Army made little progress. 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). Unable... in World War II: The Baltic states and the Russo-Finnish War, 1939–40 ...port of Petsamo in the far north but were ignominiously repulsed on all of the fronts chosen for their advance. On the Karelian Isthmus, the massive reinforced-concrete fortifications of Finland’s Mannerheim Line blocked the Soviet forces’ direct land route from Leningrad into Finland.

The Soviet planners had grossly underestimated the Finns’ national will to resist and the natural obstacles... Learn and talk about Mannerheim Line, History of the Karelian Isthmus, Winter War, World War II defensive lines Background[ edit ] C.G.E. Mannerheim in 1937 After the October Revolution in Russia , the Finns declared independence in 1917. Although Soviet Russia recognized Finland's independence, the Finns did not trust their sincerity. The relationship between the two countries deteriorated, with Soviet Russia supporting the Red Guard during the Finnish Civil War in 1918. After the victory of the White Guard , a group of Finnish communists fled to Soviet Russia and established the Communist Party of Finland . [2] Generally, communism was seen as a threat to a democratic system. The situation was dangerous for a new nation like Finland, especially as the capital of the new communist revolution was nearby Petrograd , (now Saint Petersburg ). Furthermore, before the Treaty of Tartu in 1920, the border area was restless. The former general of Imperial Russia, C.G.E. Mannerheim, strongly opposed the bolsheviks .

During the Russian Civil War , in 1919, the Finns even considered supporting an assault of the White Guards on Petrograd, but this plan was abandoned as the military situation in the Russian Civil War changed (the Finns also did not believe that the Whites would uphold Finland's independence). Construction work on the Karelian Isthmus had already begun when the Bolsheviks won the Russian Civil War in 1922. [2] The line was constructed in two phases: 1920–1924 and 1932–1939. Planning in 1918[ edit ] During the civil war in 1918, the Finnish government and high command started to develop defence plans to protect possible attack routes to Finland from Soviet Russia. The main such route was the Karelian Isthmus . The most endangered part of that isthmus was to the west, near the Gulf of Finland, the eastern part was better protected by the natural water-ways of Vuoksi , Suvanto and Taipaleenjoki . The first plans for a defensive line were commissioned by Mannerheim from the Swedish volunteer Lieutenant Colonel A.

Rappe at the beginning of May 1918. Rappe's line was placed close to the border and designed to protect two rail lines that crossed the border, which could be used in a counterattack toward Petrograd. When Mannerheim resigned at the end of May, Rappe's plans were abandoned. [3] The young nation possessed no guard troops and the border area was insecure. Security of the border on the isthmus was the responsibility of the 2nd division and local White Guard units in June 1918. [4] In that form they were also entrusted with the security of the fortification construction. First efforts were weak depots without any concrete. [5] The Germans had ordered Colonel O. von Brandenstein to investigate defensive positions on the Karelian Isthmus; he delivered his plan on 16 July. He was the first to suggest using the lake isthmuses, where smaller lakes like Lake Kuolemajärvi, Lake Muolaa, Lake Suvanto and the Taipaleenjoki river divided the Karelian Isthmus to the shorter land sections, as defensive positions, his plan was initially approved by the Finnish high command in August 1918.

In October 1918 the Finnish government allocated 300,000 marks for the work, which was to be carried out by German and Finnish sappers as well as Russian prisoners of war. However, the money allocated was insufficient and a lack of building materials and a qualified workforce hampered the building of proper fortifications. With Germany's defeat in World War I, von Brandenstein's plan was scrapped. [6] Unreinforced concrete bunkers in 1919–1924[ edit ] During October 1919 Finnish Chief of Staff Major General Oscar Enckell sited the line, mostly following the original course that von Brandenstein had presented. [7] Major J. Gros-Coissy, a member of the French military commission, designed the fortifications together with Finnish Lt Col Johan Fabritius . [8] During the first building period, Fabritius suggested moving the defensive line further to the south-east. The general staff discussed the issue, but Enckell's earlier plans were followed. Furthermore, insufficient funds resulted in a disagreement between the officers and Enckell resigned in 1924. Construction work was interrupted for a long period.

[5] The prime contactor of the fortifications was the Finnish construction company Ab Granit Oy. The first hundred small bunkers were built in 1920–1924. [5] For reasons of cost, the first phase hard fortifications were of unreinforced concrete, which provided only partial protection. The compression density of the concrete was too low to offer resistance to anything larger than medium artillery. [1] First large bunkers 1932–1937[ edit ] Troop beds in a destroyed bunker in the line. The bunker is probably Sk 10, built in 1937. The second construction phase started on 1 April 1934, with Fabritius in command of the construction work. He designed two new kinds of bunker, Ink 1 and Ink 2. The bunkers were mainly designed for troop accommodation, but loopholes were crafted into armour plate in 1938 and 1939. A bunker was 15–20 meters in length and 5–6 meters wide. A pioneer battalion constructed six bunkers in the Inkilä sector.

[5] Between 1932 and 1938 the defence budget was such that the Finns could only construct two or three bunkers per year. In 1936 and 1937 they constructed two large strong-points, Sk 10 and Sj 4 in the Summankylä and Summajärvi areas. Two smaller bunkers, Le 6 and 7, in the Leipäsuo sector, and Ink 6, in the Inkilä sector, were also built. New bunkers differed from earlier designs in that their troop accommodation was located between the gun chambers, thus saving the cost of expensive reinforced concrete ; the roof was protected by two to three metres of soil and one to three metres of stone rubble. [9] The 1938 and 1939 period[ edit ] The Karelian defensive fortifications received considerably more funds and resources from May 1938, as the European situation worsened. The Finns built new strongholds and modernized the old ones.

In Summakylä and Summajärvi they built two large Sk 11 bunkers, a "Peltola", a Sj 5, a "Miljoonalinnake", and an incomplete third Sk 17. These bunkers had better fireshelters, ventilation and an observation cloche . [10] In Suurniemi near Muolaanjärvi , the Finns started the construction of seven new bunkers, Su 1–7. Two others, Su 3 and Su 4, were for accommodation, the rest were for machine guns . They also modernised those structures built in the 1920s. The older bunkers were given added flank-fire capability and enlarged. Some bunkers' loopholes were simply closed-up as part of a plan to make them more suitable for accommodation or command posts. [11] The line was still incomplete in November 1939. [1] Soviet intelligence[ edit ] Infantry in a trench in the Mannerheim Line Soviet intelligence worked in Finland on multiple levels. The Finnish communist party, run from the Soviet Union, had its own military reporting line to the Central Committee.

Its intelligence concentrated on the Finnish army, taking notes on the locations of Finnish artillery and defensive positions. The most important Soviet intelligence organisations in Finland were the NKVD and the Fourth Department of the Army General Staff . Leningrad Military District , the Baltic Fleet and border troops under the NKVD conducted espionage operations. [12] The Finns exposed two espionage cases during the 1930s. Vilho Pentikäinen, a photographer serving on the Finnish general Staff, escaped to the Soviet Union in 1933. The second case was of Simo Haukka; he took photographs and measured roads and terrain for Soviet intelligence in 1935. [12] Soviet intelligence published a top-secret and very detailed photobook of the Finnish terrain and fortifications in 1938. The book included a seven-page report and 22 pages of maps and photographs. Every issue was numbered, running probably only into dozens. [12] Soviet intelligence activity increased in 1938 and expanded still further in 1939. Before the start of the Winter War, Soviet intelligence published a book for Red Army officers. It was called "Finland. Written Description of March Routes".

It was later translated and republished as the "Red Army March Guide to Finland". The guide included over 200 pages of maps and photographs. [13] Along with the intelligence, the Soviet Union received a detailed map of the defences on the Isthmus. A German military attaché in Helsinki , General Arniké, handed it over in Moscow in September 1939. [1] Structure of the Line[ edit ] Stone barriers and barbed wire in the line. In the background the Finnish bunker Sj 5, the so-called "Million fortress". The line ran from the coast of the Gulf of Finland in the west, through Summa to the Vuoksi River and ended at Taipale in the east. It consisted of 157 machine gun positions and eight artillery positions built of concrete. The area around Summa was the most heavily fortified because it was thought to be the most vulnerable position. The Gulf of Finland coast was guarded by Fort Saarenpää, the side of Lake Ladoga (Laatokka) by Fort Järisevä. These coastal artillery positions had 5", 6" and 10" guns.

Unlike the French Maginot Line and other similar forts made with huge bunkers and lines of dragon's teeth , the Mannerheim Line was mostly built by utilizing the natural terrain. Many items such as fallen trees and boulders were incorporated into defensive positions. The Finns also mastered camouflage techniques, which they put to good use. The Mannerheim line was not constructed at great expense. Its purpose was to delay more than repel an invasion. It used predominantly local materials. [1] The name Mannerheim Line was supposedly coined by Jorma Gallen-Kallela and spread by foreign journalists. The Winter War[ edit ] The Red Army repelled[ edit ] A bunker on high ground 65 (2009) Bunker Sk16 (2009) Bunker Ink5 (2011) In the Winter War the Line halted the Soviet advance for two months.

Fort Saarenpää was attacked by the Soviet battleships Marat and Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya several times during December 1939 and January 1940, but the Finns repelled the attacks, driving off the Revolutsiya by near misses on 18 December 1939. [14] During the war, both Finnish and Soviet propaganda considerably exaggerated the extent of the line's fortifications: the former to improve national morale, the latter to explain their troops' slow progress against the Finnish defences. Subsequently, the myth of the "heavily fortified" Mannerheim Line entered official Soviet war history and some western sources. The vast majority of the Mannerheim Line was merely composed of trenches and other field fortifications.[ citation needed ] Bunkers along the line were mostly small and thinly spread out; the Line had hardly any artillery .[ citation needed ] Aftermath[ edit ] Following the Winter War, Soviet combat engineers destroyed the remaining installations.

In the Continuation War the line was not re-fortified although both Soviets and Finns used its natural benefits in defence during the Finnish advance in 1941 and the Soviet offensive in 1944 (see VT-line and VKT-line ). Myth of the line[ edit ] The first month of the Finnish campaign was humiliating for the Red Army. By the third week of the war, Soviet propaganda was working hard to explain the failure of the Red Army to the populace, and claimed that the Mannerheim Line was stronger than the Maginot Line . [15] The Finns aimed to make its defence line impregnable, but in comparison with the Maginot Line, it was thin. The Finns had funds and resources for only 101 concrete bunkers; the equivalent length of the Maginot Line had 5,800 of these structures, with railway connections between them.

[16] The weakness of the line is illustrated by the fact that the amount of concrete used in the whole Mannerheim Line—14,520 cubic meters or 513,000 cubic feet (14,500 m3)—is slightly less than the amount used in the Helsinki Opera House (15,500 cubic meters or 547,000 cubic feet). The much shorter VT-line used almost 400,000 cubic meters (14,000,000 cubic feet) of concrete . Mannerheim Line | Military Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Edit C.G.E. Mannerheim in 1937 After the October Revolution in Russia , the Finns declared independence in 1917. Although Soviet Russia recognized Finland's independence, the Finns did not trust their sincerity. The relationship between the two countries deteriorated, with the Soviet Russia supporting the Red Guard during the Finnish Civil War in 1918. After the victory of the White Guard , a group of Finnish communists fled to Soviet Russia and established the Communist Party of Finland .

[2] Generally, communism was seen as a threat to a democratic system. The situation was dangerous for a new nation like Finland, especially as the capital of the new communist revolution was nearby Petrograd, (now Saint Petersburg). Furthermore, before the Treaty of Tartu in 1921, the border area was restless. The former general of Imperial Russia, C.G.E. Mannerheim, strongly opposed the bolsheviks. During Russian Civil War , in 1919, the Finns even considered supporting an assault of the White Guards on Petrograd, but this plan was abandoned as the military situation in the Russian Civil War changed (the Finns also did not believe that the Whites would uphold Finland's independence). Construction work on the Karelian Isthmus had already begun when the Bolsheviks won the Russian Civil War in 1922. [2] The line was constructed in two phases: 1920–1924 and 1932–1939. Planning in 1918 Edit During the civil war in 1918, the Finnish government and high command started to develop defence plans to protect possible attack routes to Finland from Soviet Russia.

The main such route was the Karelian Isthmus. The most endangered part of that isthmus was to the west, near the Gulf of Finland, the eastern part was better protected by the natural water-ways of Vuoksi , Suvanto and Taipaleenjoki . The first plans for a defensive line were commissioned by Mannerheim from the Swedish volunteer Lieutenant Colonel A. Rappe at the beginning of May 1918. Rappe's line was placed close to the border and designed to protect two rail lines that crossed the border, which could be used in a counterattack toward Petrograd. When Mannerheim resigned at the end of May, Rappe's plans were abandoned. [3] The young nation possessed no guard troops and the border area was restless. Security of the border on the isthmus was the responsibility of the 2nd division and local White Guard units in June 1918. [4] In that form they were also entrusted with the security of the fortification construction. First efforts were weak depots without any concrete. [5] The Germans had ordered Colonel O.

von Brandenstein to investigate defensive positions on the Karelian Isthmus, he delivered his plan on 16 July. He was the first to suggest using the lake isthmuses, where smaller lakes like Lake Kuolemajärvi, Lake Muolaa, Lake Suvanto and the Taipaleenjoki river divided the Karelian Isthmus to the shorter land sections, as defensive positions, his plan was initially approved by the Finnish high command in August 1918. In October 1918 the Finnish government allocated 300,000 marks for the work, which was to be carried out by German and Finnish sappers as well as Russian prisoners of war. However, the money allocated was insufficient and a lack of building materials and a qualified workforce hampered the building of proper fortifications. With Germany's defeat in World War I, von Brandenstein's plan was scrapped. [6] Unreinforced concrete bunkers in 1919–1924 Edit During October 1919 Finnish Chief of Staff Major General Oscar Enckell sited the line, mostly following the original course that von Brandenstein had presented. [7] Major J.

Gros-Coissy, a member of the French military commission, designed the fortifications together with Finnish Lt Col Johan Fabritius . [8] During the first building period, Fabritius suggested moving the defensive line further to the south-east. The general staff discussed the issue, but Enckell's earlier plans were followed. Furthermore, insufficient funds resulted in a disagreement between the officers and Enckell resigned in 1924. Construction work was interrupted for a long period. [5] The prime contactor of the fortifications was the Finnish construction company Ab Granit Oy. The first hundred small bunkers were built between 1920–1924. [5] For reasons of cost, the first phase hard fortifications were of unreinforced concrete, which provided only partial protection. The compression density of the concrete was too low to offer resistance to anything larger than medium artillery. [1] First large bunkers 1932–1937 Edit Troop beds in a destroyed bunker in the line. The bunker is probably Sk 10, built in 1937.

The second construction phase started on 1 April 1934, with Fabritius in command of the construction work. He designed two new kinds of bunker, Ink 1 and Ink 2. The bunkers were mainly designed for troop accommodation, but loopholes were crafted into armour plate in 1938 and 1939. A bunker was 15–20 meters in length and 5–6 meters wide. A pioneer battalion constructed six bunkers in the Inkilä sector. [5] Between 1932 and 1938 the defence budget was such that the Finns could only construct two or three bunkers per year. In 1936 and 1937 they constructered two large strong-points, Sk 10 and Sj 4 in the Summankylä and Summajärvi areas. Two smaller bunkers, Le 6 and 7, in the Leipäsuo sector and Ink 6, in the Inkilä sector, were also built.

New bunkers differed from earlier designs in that their troop accommodation was located between the gun chambers, thus saving the cost of expensive reinforced concrete, the roof was protected by two to three metres of soil and one to three metres of stone rubble. [9] The 1938 and 1939 period Edit The Karelian defensive fortifications received considerably more funds and resources from May 1938, as the European situation worsened. The Finns built new strongholds and modernized the old ones. In Summakylä and Summajärvi they built two large Sk 11 bunkers, a "Peltola", a Sj 5, a "Miljoonalinnake", and an incomplete third Sk 17. These bunkers had better fireshelters, ventilation and an observation cloche . [10] In Suurniemi near Muolaanjärvi , the Finns started the construction of seven new bunkers, Su 1–7. Two others, Su 3 and Su 4, were for accommodation, the rest were for machine guns . They also modernised those structures built in the 1920s.

The older bunkers were given added flank-fire capability and enlarged. Some bunkers' loopholes were simply closed-up as part of a plan to make them more suitable for accommodation or command posts. [11] The line was still incomplete in November 1939. [1] Soviet intelligence Edit Infantry in a trench in the Mannerheim Line Soviet intelligence worked in Finland on multiple levels. The Finnish communist party, running in the Soviet Union, had its own military line to the Central Committee. Its intelligence concentrated on the Finnish army, taking notes on the locations of Finnish artillery and defensive positions. The most important Soviet intelligence organisations in Finland were the NKVD and the Fourth Department of the Army General Staff . Leningrad Military District , the Baltic Fleet and border troops under the NKVD, conducted espionage operations. [12] The Finns exposed two espionage cases during the 1930s. Vilho Pentikäinen, a photographer serving on the Finnish general Staff, escaped to the Soviet Union in 1933. The second case was of Simo Haukka; he took photographs and measured roads and terrain for Soviet intelligence in 1935.

[12] Soviet intelligence published a top-secret and very detailed photobook of the Finnish terrain and fortifications in 1938. The book included a seven page report and 22 pages of maps and photographs. Every issue was numbered, running probably only into dozens. [12] Soviet intelligence activity increased in 1938 and expanded still further in 1939. Before the start of the Winter War, Soviet intelligence published a book for Red Army officers. It was called "Finland. Written Description of March Routes". It was later translated and republished as the "Red Army March Guide to Finland". The guide included over 200 pages of maps and photographs. [13] Along with the intelligence, the Soviet Union received a detailed map of the defences on the Isthmus. A German military attaché in Helsinki, General Arniké, handed it over in Moscow in September 1939. [1] Structure of the Line Edit Stone barriers and barbed wire in the line. In the background the Finnish bunker Sj 5, the so-called "Million fortress".

The line ran from the coast of the Gulf of Finland in the west, through Summa to the Vuoksi River and ended at Taipale in the east. It consisted of 157 machine gun positions and eight artillery positions built of concrete. The area around Summa was the most heavily fortified because it was thought to be the most vulnerable position. The Gulf of Finland coast was guarded by Fort Saarenpää, the side of Lake Ladoga (Laatokka) by Fort Järisevä. These coastal artillery positions had 5", 6" and 10" guns. Unlike the French Maginot Line and other similar forts made with huge bunkers and lines of dragon's teeth , the Mannerheim Line was mostly built by utilizing the natural terrain. Many items such as fallen trees and boulders were incorporated into defensive positions. The Finns also mastered camouflage techniques, which they put to good use. The Mannerheim line was not constructed at great expense. Its purpose was to delay more than repel an invasion. It used predominantly local materials. [1] The name Mannerheim Line was supposedly coined by Jorma Gallen-Kallela and spread by foreign journalists.

The Winter War A bunker on high ground 65 (2009) Bunker Sk16 (2009) Bunker Ink5 (2011) In the Winter War the Line halted the Soviet advance for two months. Fort Saarenpää was attacked by the Soviet battleships Marat and Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya several times during December 1939 and January 1940, but the Finns repelled the attacks, driving off the Revolutsiya by near misses on 18 December 1939. [14] During the war, both Finnish and Soviet propaganda considerably exaggerated the extent of the line's fortifications: the former to improve national morale, the latter to explain their troops' slow progress against the Finnish defences. Subsequently, the myth of the "heavily fortified" Mannerheim Line entered official Soviet war history and some western sources.

The vast majority of the Mannerheim Line was merely composed of trenches and other field fortifications.[ citation needed ] Bunkers along the line were mostly small and thinly spread out; the Line had hardly any artillery .[ citation needed ] Aftermath Edit Following the Winter War, Soviet combat engineers destroyed the remaining installations. In the Continuation War the line was not re-fortified although both Soviets and Finns used its natural benefits in defence during the Finnish advance in 1941 and the Soviet offensive in 1944 (see VT-line and VKT-line ). Myth of the line Edit The first month of the Finnish campaign was humiliating for the Red Army. By the third week of the war, Soviet propaganda was working hard to explain the failure of the Red Army to the populace, and claimed that the Mannerheim Line was stronger than the Maginot Line . [15] The Finns aimed to make its defence line impregnable, but in comparison with the Maginot Line, it was thin. The Finns had funds and resources for only 101 concrete bunkers; the equivalent length of the Maginot Line had 5,800 of these structures, with railway connections between them.

[16] The weakness of the line is illustrated by the fact, that the amount of concrete used in the whole Mannerheim Line—14,520 cubic meters or 513,000 cubic feet (14,500 m3)—is slightly less than the amount used in the Helsinki Opera House (15,500 cubic meters or 547,000 cubic feet). The much shorter VT-line used almost 400,000 cubic meters (14,000,000 cubic feet) of concrete. See also Mannerheim Line | Article about Mannerheim Line by The Free Dictionary Mannerheim Line | Article about Mannerheim Line by The Free Dictionary Mannerheim Line a system of former Finnish border fortifications on the Karelian Isthmus. It was named after Finnish marshal C. von Mannerheim. The line was constructed in 1927-39; its construction was completed under the direction of Belgian General Badout, who took part in construction of the Maginot line.

The Mannerheim line covered the Keksgol’m and Vyborg axes, touching Lake Ladoga and the Gulf of Finland on the flanks. It was 135 km wide on the front and up to 95 km deep and consisted of the forward defense zone (15-60 km deep); the main zone (7-10 km deep); the second zone, which was 2-15 km from the main zone; and the rear (Vyborg) zone of defense. More than 2,000 permanent pillboxes and earth-and-timber works were built and joined into strongpoints, which had two or three pillboxes and three to five earth-and-timber works apiece; the strongpoints were then joined into centers of resistance, which had three to four strongpoints each. The main zone of defense consisted of 25 centers of resistance, which had 280 pillboxes and 800 earth-and-timber works. The strongpoints were defended by permanent garrisons (from a company to a battalion in each). In the intervals between the strongpoints and centers of resistance there were positions for field troops.

The strongpoints and field troop positions were covered by antitank and anti-personnel obstacles. The forward defense zone alone had 220 km of wire entanglements in 15 to 45 rows, 200 km of abatis, 80 km of granite dragon’s teeth in up to 12 rows, antitank ditches and scarps, and many minefields. During the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939-40, Soviet troops broke through the Mannerheim line. After the war most of the remaining structures were destroyed. During World War II (1939-45), Finnish troops partially restored the structures of the Mannerheim line. In 1944, Soviet troops again broke through the Mannerheim line along the Vyborg axis, and all its fortifications were subsequently completely destroyed. REFERENCE Carl Gustaf Mannerheim | president of Finland | Britannica.com Carl Gustaf Mannerheim Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg Carl Gustaf Mannerheim, in full Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (born June 4, 1867, Villnäs, Fin.—died Jan.

27, 1951, Lausanne , Switz.), Finnish military leader and conservative statesman who successfully defended Finland against greatly superior Soviet forces during World War II and served as the country’s president (1944–46). Mannerheim UPI/Bettmann Archive Mannerheim was of Swedish ancestry. He entered the Russian army in 1889 as a lieutenant in the cavalry. Finland was then a part of the Russian Empire, and Mannerheim distinguished himself during the Russo-Japanese War (1904–05) and World War I , rising to the rank of lieutenant general and corps commander in the Russian army. After the outbreak of the October (November) Russian Revolution in 1917 he returned to Finland, which had declared its independence from Russia. A conservative aristocrat and monarchist, Mannerheim assumed command of the “White” (anti-Bolshevik) forces in January 1918 during the Finnish Civil War and, with German assistance, defeated the Finnish Bolsheviks and expelled Russian forces in a bloody four-month campaign.

He became regent of Finland in December 1918, holding this post for seven months until a republic was declared in 1919. From 1919 to 1931 he lived in semiretirement, concerning himself with volunteer health and social welfare causes in Finland. Reentering public life in 1931, Mannerheim became chairman of the national defense council. During his eight-year tenure , Finland constructed the so-called Mannerheim Line of fortifications across the Karelian Isthmus facing Leningrad; this system of defenses was intended to block any potential aggressive moves by the Soviet Union . When Soviet forces attacked Finland in December 1939, he served as commander in chief, and his brilliant leadership won considerable successes against vast numerical superiority, but the end result was defeat, resulting in a relatively harsh peace settlement in 1940. Hoping to win back some territory regarded by some as historically Finnish, Finland successfully joined Nazi Germany in its invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. Mannerheim was named the only marshal of Finland in June 1942.

But as Russian strength grew and Germany weakened, Mannerheim’s troops were forced to retreat. He was named president of the Finnish republic in August 1944 in the hope that he would be able to negotiate a separate peace with the Soviets, which he did, signing an armistice with them in September. The armistice ultimately led to a peace treaty by which Finland was forced to make concessions more extensive than those made after the winter war . Mannerheim remained president until ill health forced his retirement in 1946. He wrote Erinnerungen (1952; Memoirs). Learn More in these related articles: in Finland Finland and the Second World War Finland and the Second World War ▼ Primary Sources ▼ Finland and the Second World War Finland was united with Sweden from the early Middle Ages and by the 12th century was largely an autonomous state until 1809 when it became a self-governing Grand Duchy of Russia . At first the Romanov Dynasty respected Finland's autonomy but Alexander III pursued a policy of Russification of national minorities. This included imposing the Russian language and Russian schools on the German, Polish and Finnish peoples living in the Russian Empire.

After the 1905 Revolution in Russia Nicholas II gave permission for the Finns to elect a parliament chosen by universal suffrage of both sexes. A further period of repression after 1910 stimulated growth in Finnish nationalism and taking advantage of the breakdown of authority during the February Revolution , Finland's national assembly proclaimed its independence 29th July 1917. The Provisional Government responded by devolving the national assembly. New elections resulted in a pro-German, right-wing assembly, and on 6th December it once again declared its independence from Russia. The new Bolshevik government accepted the move but gave its support to the Red Guards that staged a coup in Helsinki on 28th January 1918. Led by General Carl Mannerheim , Finnish forces defeated left-wing forces at the Battle of Viborg on 29th April 1918. Russia lost all control over Finland after the new Bolshevik Government signed the Brest-Litovsk Treaty . In July 1919 Finland adopted a democratic and republican constitution. Over the next few years Finland was involved in border disputes with Russia . A dispute with Sweden over the Alandia Islands, was peacefully resolved by the League of Nations.

General Carl Mannerheim retired from the army but in 1931 was recalled as head of the defence council. Afraid of being invaded by the Red Army , he organised the construction of the Mannerheim Line across the Karelian Isthmus. Lapua, a fascist group, attempted an armed uprising in Finland on 29th March 1932. Although the rebellion was put down after a couple of days, the government agreed to pass anti-communist laws. In the late 1930s Joseph Stalin became concerned about the Soviet Union being invaded from the West. Stalin argued that Leningrad was only thirty-two kilometres from the Finnish border and its 3.5 million population, were vulnerable to artillery fire from Nazi Germany . After attempts to negotiate the stationing of Soviet troops in Finland failed, Joseph Stalin ordered the Red Army to invade on 30th November 1939. Adolf Hitler , who also had designs on Finland, had under the terms of the Nazi-Soviet Pact , was forced to standby and watch the Soviet Union build up its Baltic defences. Carl Mannerheim, Adolf Hitler and Risto Ryti on 6th June 1942.

Although the advance of Soviet troops was halted at the Mannheim Line the Finns lost more that 20 per cent of their 200,000 soldiers in three months. In March 1940 the Finnish government signed a peace treaty in Moscow that surrendered 16,000 square miles of territory to the Soviet Union . In an attempt to recover the lands lost in 1940 Finland agreed to join the German Army in its attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941. This resulted in Britain declaring war on Finland later that year. When Adolf Hitler ordered the German Army to invade the Soviet Union on 22nd June 1941, Mannerheim led the Finnish Army that retook the Karelian Isthmus. The following year Carl Mannerheim , now aged 75, became a marshal of Finland. The Red Army launched a counter-offensive and penetrated the Mannerheim Line taking Viipuri on 20th June 1944. Finnish defences were gradually overwhelmed and on 4th September 1944, Mannerheim, now president of Finland, was forced to sign a peace treaty with Joseph Stalin .

(1) Manchester Guardian (30th November, 1939) Though according to foreign reports the Red forces this morning launched their promised "help for the Finnish people" against their democratic Government - led by Socialists, the Kremlin's particular detestation - the Russian people remained ignorant until late tonight of the fact that their Government had involved them in actual warfare with their tiny neighbour. Speculation on the soviet objectives in foreign quarters here turns on the question whether the campaign will be pursued after the seizure of the Karelian Ishmus, the islands in the Gulf of Finland, Hanko, and the northern most peninsulas, which were demanded in the negotiations, or then propose a peace, to be concluded with a new and more compliant Finnish Government. Certain foreign quarters believe that the hostilities may serve as a justification for the seizure of the Finnish copper and nickel mines, both of which metals are solely needed in the Soviet Union. The production of Finnish copper is largely exported to Germany, which took 12,000 tons in 1938, but the nickel is controlled by a Canadian concession, and is exported only from Petsamo.

(2) Manchester Guardian (1st December, 1939) Russia invaded Finland early yesterday morning, and at once began to try to enforce submission by air attacks. The Finnish Government resigned early this morning. It is reported from Copenhagen that Dr. Tanner, the Finnish Finance Minister, who was one of the Finnish delegates to Moscow, will form a new Government to open negotiations with Russia. News of the resignation came after the Russian threat, broadcast from Moscow, that unless Finland surrendered by three o'clock this morning Helsinki would be completely destroyed. A representative of the United States Legation in Helsinki sent the information of the Government's resignation to the American Embassy in Moscow, which is expected to communicate with the Kremlin. M. Erkko, the Finnish Foreign Minster, in a broadcast to the United States last night, said "We remain ready to work for a solution of the dispute by conciliation." The Soviet Government yesterday rejected the United States' offer of its good offices in settling the dispute; the Soviet Government did not think they were needed. Finland accepted the offer. The invasion of Finland without any declaration of war has cause the greatest indignation throughout the world, especially in other Scandinavian countries and in the United States, Italy, and Spain.

In the House of Commons yesterday Mr. Chamberlain made a statement on the invasion. (3) Anthony Eden , speech in Liverpool (29th February, 1940) Not Russia only but Germany also, bears a terrible responsibility for what is happening in Finland at this hour. Hitler and Ribbentrop, these men and their policies alone made Stalin's aggression possible. Stalin is the aggressor in Finland, Hitler the abettor. It seems strange to think now how many hours I used to spend listening to the present German Foreign Secretary when he was Ambassador in London, when he used to expound to me, as indeed he did also in public many times, the dangers and horrors of Bolshevism. He was never tired of expatiating on this theme. Soviet Russia, this untouchable with whom Nazi Germany could not sit down at a conference table, this leprous thing, this cancer. Many a time the British people were taken to task because we, it was alleged, did not understand the extent of our peril. We did not appreciate, we were told, the realities of the European situation. Only Hitler could do that.

He, alone, we were assured, stood as a bulwark between Britain and Red Russia. But for the Hitlerian St. George the Red Dragon would have swallowed us long since. So ran the German fable with its many variations. And what has happened now ? The Red Dragon has taken the Hitlerian St. George for a ride. It may be that one day in the not so distant future the German Foreign Minister may have need to recall his own warnings. (4) Dr. Tomas Ries, Lessons of the Winter War, National Defence College, Finland (2001) The Winter War erupted on 30 November 1939, when Stalin unleashed his Red Army in an all-out assault against Finland. In August that year Stalin and Hitler had divided eastern Europe between them in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, leaving Finland isolated in the Soviet sphere of influence. During the fall Stalin demanded that Finland cede key parts of the country to the USSR. When Finland refused to meet all his demands Stalin unleashed his armies.

In the winter dawn of 30 November four Soviet Armies with 23 divisions - some 460,000 men with over 2,000 tanks - began advancing across the length of Finland's 1,200 km long eastern border. Their objective was to occupy the entire territory of Finland by the end of the year, installing Moscow's puppet 'Terijoki Government' in Helsinki, and establishing a new 'Democratic Republic of Finland'. Their troops were issued with detailed written warnings not to cross into Sweden once they had reached Finland's western border, and the 7th Army included a military band for the victory parade in Helsinki. Few at the time expected the tiny Finnish nation of 3.6 million to survive. But despite the odds Finland reacted with desperate determination. On the one hand the country was determined to fight, and the full field army of some 160,000 men had been mobilized and sent eastwards into position along the front during the fall. On the other hand Finland also was grimly prepared for the worst, and began sending her national treasure - her children - to safety in Sweden, to cover the possibility of a Soviet victory and Stalin's national extermination programmes.

Leaving at night from blacked out harbours along Finland's western coast, in the gaps between wailing sirens warning of Soviet bombers, none of the thousands of departing children or their parents remaining behind knew whether they would see each other again. (5) Oleg Rzheshevsky, Europe 1939: Was War Inevitable? (1989) Finland's war preparations and its anti-Soviet policy at home and abroad were a threat to both the Soviet Union and Finland itself. Britain and France took advantage of Finland's anti-Soviet policy to frustrate Soviet efforts toward establishing a collective security system. During the Anglo-Franco-Soviet talks Britain and France first refused to give guarantees to the Baltic states and Finland and then came out against extending such guarantees to the eventually of indirect aggression against them. This played its role in the Finnish government's decision to seek closer relations with Germany. Therefore, on June 20, 1939, that government declared that it refused all cooperation with the Soviet Union in case of German aggression against Finland and would regard any Soviet assistance as aggression. The Soviet Union's efforts toward providing Finland with a collectiove guarantee against fascist Germany ended in failure.

The blame for this lay with the Finnish reactionaries but also with the British and French leaders making common cause with them against the Soviet proposals. (6) Konstantin Tarnovsky, Illustrated History of the USSR (1982) Faced with the threat of war, the Soviet government proposed that the USSR and Finland sign a mutual assistance pact and the border between the two countries on the Karelian isthmus be moved westwards as a compensation for which the USSR would cede to Finland a far larger territory of South Karelia. But prompted by Germany on the one hand and by Britain and France on the other and relying on the strong defence belt on the Karelian isthmus - the Mannerheim line, the Finnish government rejected the Soviet offer. On November 26, 1939, Finnish troops attacked. Soviet territory with artillery fire. Red Army troops crossed the border and broke through the Mannerheim line. In March 1940 the Soviet border was moved 150 km from Leningrad to Vyborg under an agreement signed at the Finnish government's request.

(7) Christian Waselius, student, department of History, University of Helsinki, Finland (14th January, 2002) In the article written by Mr. Tarnovsky it is said that "Finnish troops attacked Soviet territory with artillery fire" on November 26th 1939. This incident that happened in the small village Mainila, was made by Soviet troops and put up as a reason for the Red Army to attack Finland. Finnish frontier guards also recognized the explosions on the Soviet side of the border. For that time being, the closest Finnish artillery guns were placed so far away from Mainila that it would have been impossible to reach the place with artillery gun fire. Finland´s government wanted to negotiate and asked for a withdrawal of the troops on both sides of the border. The soviet Foreign Minister Mr. Molotov cut off all diplomatic connections with Finland and the Red Army attacked Finland on November 30th 1939. The Soviet Union officially apologized for the provocative artillery act in 1990. (8) Colonel Maltitsky of the Red Army took part in the fighting in Finland in 1941.

It is significant that even in the wooded terrain, where close fighting predominates, the Germans avoid hand-to-hand encounters and strive to dislodge the Soviet sub-divisions from their positions solely with the aid of fire. They have never been known to accept a bayonet charge of the Soviet infantry. When launching an offensive the Fascist units usually sustain heavy losses in manpower. Whenever successful, they completely refrain from pursuit. The Finns practise different methods of warfare. They rarely attack the well-organized defence and prefer cautiously to advance where resistance is weaker. The Finnish offensive on an organized defence is easily routed with heavy losses to them. In defence, however, the Finnish forces are superior to the Germans. In general, the methods of offensive operations of the Finns consist in advancing slowly but securing their positions. Usually, after occupying a district, the Finns immediately try to fortify it. A scouting party then seeks a new terrain and the units try to occupy the next district. (9) Manchester Guardian (2nd August, 1944) It is officially announced from Helsinki that President Ryti has resigned and that he has been succeeded by Marshal Mannerheim. Mannerheim was appointed by decree and not elected, as is customary.

Linkomies, the Premier, moved in Parliament that Marshal Mannerheim should be decreed as Finnish President. This decree also provided that what was called "a great burden of functions on the shoulder of the President" (Mannerheim is 77) should be transferred to the Premier. A delegation from the "peace opposition" asked Mannerheim to assume leadership of the peace movement, according to a usually reliable Swedish source. They said that a move towards peace would faithfully represent the views of the majority of the country. The delegation reminded him that the recent pact with Germany was made on the personal initiative of Ryti, and that if he resigned it would not be incompatible with Finland's honour to denounce the pact. Mannerheim held no office in the administration and thus had no responsibility for the treaty keeping Finland in the war which Ribbentrop negotiated with Ryti two months ago. The treaty was never submitted to Parliament. (10) Joseph Goebbels , diary entry (20th March, 1945) The result of the Finnish elections looks as if it had given the Social-democrats 52 seats and the communists 51. This means that the communists are almost holding the balance.

A left-wing government of Social-democrats and Communists is now in the realm of possibility, giving the Soviets a stepping-stone to the assumption of total power inside Finland. They will certainly not hesitate to exert pressure to bring this left-wing cabinet into existence as soon as possible. Paasiviki is already offering himself as head of this left-wing government. His speech on the day before the election had such a depressing effect on bourgeois circles that - extraordinarily typical of them once more - they largely abstained. This explains the great left-wing victory. Paasiviki will not long enjoy his reputation as the Finnish Kerensky, however. A shot in the nape of the neck awaits him in the background. 11/29/2011 • Fire for Effect Last time out we were discussing the Winter War, the conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland during the winter of 1939–40. As we saw, a combination of Soviet bullying and Finland’s refusal to be bullied had typical consequences for this era.

Soviet demands gave way to threats, and when the talks faltered, Soviet foreign minister Molotov had the last word: “Since we civilians don’t seem to be making any progress, maybe it’s the soldier’s turn to speak.” Just days later, on November 30th, a massive Soviet force invaded Finland while bombers of the Red Air Force ranged deep inside the country. Expectations are the key here. Just a few months earlier, German Panzer columns had invaded Poland, slicing through the defenders in multiple sectors, linking up far behind the lines, and encircling virtually all of the million-man of the Polish army. The Poles had fought bravely, even heroically in most cases, but they were simply outclassed. It was a typical result, of course, when a great power takes on a weaker neighbor, and probably what Stalin, Molotov, and the commanders on the Finnish front expected. What they got, however, was something very different.

Despite massive Soviet numerical and material superiority, absolute control of the air, and around-the-clock bombing of Helsinki and other targets that inflicted heavy civilian casualties, the first month of this conflict defined the term “military disaster.” For the Soviets, it was a perfect storm of bad. Disaster: the Sovietoffensive into Finland, November–December 1939 Some of it was their own fault. The Red Army had greatly increased in size in the past two years, a reaction to the dark international situation; indeed, the army was in the process of growing from 1,500,000 men in 1937 to somewhere around 5,000,000 in 1941. At the same time, however, Stalin had been engaged in a bloody purge of his own officer corps, with 80% of the corps and divisional commanders accused of disloyalty and shot. The combination was disastrous: masses of poorly trained soldiers under officers who were either political hacks or who were scared to death of exercising initiative for fear of falling afoul of Stalin and the NKVD. They also had not counted on the fighting quality of their enemy.

Commanding the Finns was wily Marshal Carl Mannerheim. In this opening phase of the fighting, he successfully waged two wars at once. Most of his regular army (five of nine small divisions) was deployed in the south, along the 90 mile front of the Karelian isthmus. Here he built a strong fortified position, usually known as the Mannerheim Line—tank traps, trenches, machine gun nests, bunkers—and dared the Soviets to attack. They obliged, in clumsy frontal assaults that the Finns shot to pieces. Nothing unusual there. Frontal assaults against fortified lines have a way of failing. In the north, however, along the 700-mile-long border, Mannerheim waged a much more diffuse guerrilla war. The Home Guard was the backbone of the defense in this sector, hardy citizen soldiers who knew every inch of the land, who were dead shots, and who could handle the cold. They were ski troops, coming up silently out of the forests, nearly invisible in their white parkas, raking the ponderous Soviet columns with machine gun fire and then vanishing back into the forest. Their weaponry was often crude, home-made gasoline bombs they called Molotov cocktails, for example.

They made up for their crude weapons with the oldest soldierly quality of all, however: intestinal fortitude, guts, courage. The Finns call it “sisu.” As bad as the stalled drive against the Mannerheim Line had been what happened in this sector was much worse. At Suomussalmi, two entire Soviet divisions (the 44th and 163rd) were ambushed, trapped, and destroyed in the forests. At Tolvajärvi, two more (139th and 75th), suffered the same fate. By Christmas, Finnish counterattacks had bro-ken up the invading Soviet columns into isolated, immobile fragments. They were starving, freezing, and surrounded. “Motti,” the Finns called them—sticks bundled up for firewood and left to be picked up later. The Soviets had fought bravely in all these battles, driving gamely into the Mannerheim Line or digging in grimly in their motti positions, but their losses on all fronts were soon rising into the hundreds of thousands. Indeed, 505 of them fell to one Finnish sniper alone: Simo Häyhä.

He earned the nickname “White Death” from his Russian adversaries, but frankly we could apply the nickname to the entire Finnish army in this war. Why study the Winter War? Perhaps the most important reason is that it reminds us that war is a gamble. You can count the cannon both sides, assess the probabilities, haul out the actuarial tables, but you can never predict the outcome. By most standards of military accounting, the Winter War should be been a quick pushover for the Soviets. But that is precisely what separates war in the field from war in theory.

Question: In World War 2, in which country was the Mannerheim Line built?
Answer: Finland