Great David vs Goliath story. Parallels to Ukraine for sure. If only Trump and his Republican minions would pass the aid package in the Congress for the brave Ukrainians, Putin’s dream of another Russian empire would turn into a nightmare.
Discussing ‘1984’ with my late mother once. She’d have been nearly ten on 30 Nov 1939. She recalled how the Finns were a friendly nation if not our allies; then disappeared out of the newsreels; then reappeared a year or two later as horrid allies
I think an element that is missing is that when the Reds vs Whites civil war kicked off in Russia, a parallel civil war kicked off in independent Finland. It was ugly, the Finns don’t talk about it, the Whites won, and scars and social divisions persisted in Finland for 20 years … what unified this divided Finland was fighting back against the Soviets.
Oh, and no mention of the Kaleva incident. Well, it was only a short article!
When I was a boy my best friend’s father told us stories of the heroic Finns (I have no idea why he knew so much about the Winter War). So during the harsh winters of the early 1960s, our West London estate became the villages of Karelia.
Great David vs Goliath story. Parallels to Ukraine for sure. If only Trump and his Republican minions would pass the aid package in the Congress for the brave Ukrainians, Putin’s dream of another Russian empire would turn into a nightmare.
excellent post Alex, many thanks for sharing it. Always look forward to reading them when they come out.
I own a 50mm Soviet RM-38 mortar made in 1939 and captured during the Winter War, along with a Winter War era Mosin Nagant rifle.
Discussing ‘1984’ with my late mother once. She’d have been nearly ten on 30 Nov 1939. She recalled how the Finns were a friendly nation if not our allies; then disappeared out of the newsreels; then reappeared a year or two later as horrid allies
of the horrid Nazis
I think an element that is missing is that when the Reds vs Whites civil war kicked off in Russia, a parallel civil war kicked off in independent Finland. It was ugly, the Finns don’t talk about it, the Whites won, and scars and social divisions persisted in Finland for 20 years … what unified this divided Finland was fighting back against the Soviets.
Oh, and no mention of the Kaleva incident. Well, it was only a short article!
When I was a boy my best friend’s father told us stories of the heroic Finns (I have no idea why he knew so much about the Winter War). So during the harsh winters of the early 1960s, our West London estate became the villages of Karelia.
Thanks for this, very interesting. I know of but not about the Russo/Finnish war now I know a little more.