The Winter War and the Invasion of Ukraine

History Is Repeating:

They say that history repeats itself, would it repeat itself if no lesson was taken? Russian leader Putin receives Russian military historians at his official residence in Nova-Ogaryova, Moscow, in 2013.

In Putin's conversation with historians, the subject comes to the Winter War, which started with the Soviet Union's invasion of Finland on November 30, 1939 and ended with the Moscow agreement signed on March 13, 1940. Vladimir Putin states that the borders of Finland, which gained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1917, were drawn incorrectly and this border mistake had to be corrected for the security of the Soviet Union.

Finland in History Now Ukraine:

In this sentence, when we substitute Russia for the Soviet Union, Ukraine for Finland, and 1991 for 1917, the meaning of the sentence is not broken. Putin, the Finnish border is now called St. Petersburg, he said, began at that time only twenty kilometers from the city of Petrograd, and this proximity endangered the security of this city of millions of people. Stating that the heavy losses suffered by the Soviet Red Army, which occupied the Finnish lands, were due to the mistakes made, Putin stated that the reason why Stalin sent the red army to invade Finland with all his might was to make Finland feel the power of the Soviet state.

In October 1939, with the ultimatum given by the Soviet Union to the Finnish government, the border between Finland and the Soviet Union was to be moved 30 kilometers east of the city of Viipuri, away from the city of Petrograd, the Finnish islands in the Gulf of Finland were given to the Soviets, and the Hanko peninsula of Finland, which dominates the gulf, was transferred. demanded that it be leased to the Soviet Union for thirty years for the establishment of a military base. Finland rejected the offer.

Soviet invasion of Finland:

This war, which the Soviet Union started in the coldest days of winter at the end of November and hopes to win a victory in a very short time, will last three and a half months. The human and weapon power of the armies of the two warring countries is not proportional. The Finnish army has 300,000 soldiers, 32 tanks and 114 aircraft. The occupation army of the Soviet Union has 600,000 soldiers, 3500 tanks and 3880 aircraft.

At the end of the war, Finland lost 25,904 soldiers, 25 tanks and 62 aircraft. The Soviet Union lost 70,000 soldiers, 2000 tanks and 350 aircraft in this war. Winter conditions and the defensive war of the Finnish army in accordance with the winter conditions inflicted heavy losses on the Soviet Union army.

With the arrival of Soviet Reinforcements, the Finnish army retreats and the Moscow treaty is signed. With the deal, the Soviet Union gets the territory it wanted before the war and more. Finland loses eleven percent of its entire territory.

Continuation War:

Finland does not give up. In 1941, during Germany's operation against the Soviet Union, he made an agreement with Germany to fight together against the Soviet Union. In this war, called the Continuation War, the Finnish army takes back the lands lost and more from the Soviet Union with the Moscow agreement. In 1944, the Red Army counterattacked the German army and forced Finland to sign an armistice. With the armistice agreement, Finland will withdraw to the borders of the Moscow agreement, pay war reparations and capture the German soldiers in the country's territory and hand them over to the Allied forces. With this agreement, Finland hands over its beaches in the Arctic Ocean to the Soviet Union and has no access to the sea in the north. Although it cooperated with Germany, Finland, which was not invaded by the Soviet Union, is not a NATO member even today.

Finland Ukraine Similarity:

Finland's independence is very similar to Ukraine's independence. The Soviet Russian administration, which came to power with the Bolshevik revolution, announced on November 2, 1917 that it would recognize the decisions of the peoples of Russia to determine their own destiny.

Finland declared its independence from Russia on the same day. The Soviet Russian administration also recognized the independence of Finland. In the same month, the Baltic states Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania declared their independence from Russia. These three countries were under Soviet occupation between 1940-1941 and German occupation between 1941-1944. The Soviet Union, which occupied the Baltic countries again in 1944, annexed all three countries and ended their independence.

Ukraine, like Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, gained its independence in 1991 as a result of Gorbachev's Perestroika policy.

Note: Russian President Putin's statement is taken from the news of Finland's official agency "YLE".