Monday, March 12, 2007
This Day in History
On this day in 1940, the Winter War ends badly for the Commies as Finland and the Soviet Union concluded an armistice. It was a small part of the inspiration for Hitler's plans to invade the USSR in Spring of 1941, that the Soviets had been unable to defeat a little country like Finland.
# posted by Roger Fraley @ 1:20 AM 
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"... the Soviets had been unable to defeat a little country like Finland."
Prior to the war, the Soviets had demanded that the Finns give a strip of land 25 km wide to the Soviets. The peace treaty that ended the war gave the Soviets all of Karelia plus a strip of land farther north. (The border was moved over 100 km.) The treaty was signed after the Finns sued for peace.
While the war was (and was seen as) a disgraceful performance by the Soviet military, it is a bit of a stretch to say that the Finns weren't defeated.
ps. The Russians still have the land they extorted from the Finns.
Prior to the war, the Soviets had demanded that the Finns give a strip of land 25 km wide to the Soviets. The peace treaty that ended the war gave the Soviets all of Karelia plus a strip of land farther north. (The border was moved over 100 km.) The treaty was signed after the Finns sued for peace.
While the war was (and was seen as) a disgraceful performance by the Soviet military, it is a bit of a stretch to say that the Finns weren't defeated.
ps. The Russians still have the land they extorted from the Finns.
That the Red Army didn't roll over the Finns in a month makes this a loss for the USSR. I have my own criteria for winning or losing a war some of which is how you should have done given the size of your population and the strength of your economy. But thanks for the info. Besides the Finns are doing pretty well, the Soviets, not as good.
I have my own criterion, too. If your situation relative to your opponent at the end of the war is worse than it was at the beginning of the war, you lost. There are no style points on the battlefield.
The only thing worse than a Learning Experience is a Moral Victory. At least with a learning experience, you might have learned something.
The only thing worse than a Learning Experience is a Moral Victory. At least with a learning experience, you might have learned something.
They are valid criteria. How about Russia lost at least 25 million to the Nazis who would not have died had Russia stomped Finland and Hitler listened to Admiral Raeder instead of going all Barbarossa on them?
By your criteria, I can make a cogent case that the Germans and Japanese won WWII, since each did better than expected by experts before the war (by a huge margin). That's rather more idiosyncratic a definition than I am willing to support.
Now, if you wish to call a draw pulled out by the underdog a victory, I could see that, but that wasn't the case in Finland and it wasn't the case later in Germany or Japan.
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Now, if you wish to call a draw pulled out by the underdog a victory, I could see that, but that wasn't the case in Finland and it wasn't the case later in Germany or Japan.
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