by Travis Koch, Commentary Writer
The late 1930s and the early 1940s were a volatile time. Between Italy’s annexation of Albania, Germany persecuting the Jewish people, Germany’s whole Anschluss, Germany invading Czechoslovakia, Germany invading Poland; Man, Germany really took the spotlight for ‘Most Despicable Nation’ during these times, huh? However, a conflict occurred around this time that went mostly unnoticed in the grand scheme of world events at the time. Let’s talk about the Winter War.
So, Stalin is a piece of crap; I know, only the most groundbreaking ideas here today, folks. He, like a particular other Russian politician you may have heard of nowadays, wanted to reclaim all the lands that formerly belonged to the late Russian Empire, as they had internally imploded during and even after WW1. The country in question that Stalin wanted back was Finland. At this point in history, Finland was a relatively new nation, having gained independence only in 1917. As such, Stalin thought it would be relatively easy to invade. Little did he know that it would be an incredibly bloody war on their part.
Now, before I get into the war itself, let me yap a bit about Stalin’s whole justifications for this war because, even though he just wanted more land under his command, he needed to convince the people that this was the right thing to do. A little historical context, Finland was not the most stable nation in the 30’s. They had bickering political sides that couldn’t agree on much (Like the US, lol), and they banned their communist party in 1931 immediately; followed by that same party trying to coup the government in 1932. With all this instability, Stalin could have easily just said that this war was for the greater good of Finnish unity, but there was one small problem. They still have to abide by the Treaty of Tartu, A treaty which clearly defined the Finno-Russian borders and promised them independence. Lenin also supported and reaffirmed it when Russia transformed into the Soviet Union. Heck, even their Minister of Affairs, Vyacheslav Molotov (yes, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact guy), was confirming that they still honored this treaty. Then, Stalin got an idea; Since the Finns had banned their communist party, he could call them corrupt and fascist, and thus, justify this war as freeing the people from tyranny.
As you can imagine, the news that the Soviet Union was no longer honoring the Treaty of Tartu and was invading Finland did not go over well with the Finnish people. They especially despised Molotov for this, too, as they basically ruined his reputation throughout all of Finland. Between coining the term ‘Molotov’ to refer to a flaming cocktail, as an analogy for his diplomacy skills, but also just straight up writing a diss track against the guy named ‘Njet Molotoff’, which is actually a pretty good song, I highly recommend giving it a listen when you can.
However, the main point that people focus on in this was the White Death himself, Simo Häyhä. Born in 1905, he began his life as a local farmer with his family, tending to the farm and going hunting, among other activities. When he came of age, he joined the volunteer army of Finland and later became part of the Bicycle Battalion 2 (Yes, the pedaling type; it’s a story for another article), as well as becoming the head officer of the Bicycle Battalion 1. During the Winter War proper, however, he served as a simple sniper for the 6th Company of Infantry Regiments 34 (Man, these battalion names are bizarre to write out).
Now, what he would do is wear entirely white camo for his military gear and put snow in his mouth to chill his breath, lest the enemy see it in this -40 degree Celsius weather. With this expert strategy, he killed 259 with just his rifle between November 30th, 1939, and March 7th, 1940. Heck, on December 21st, he successfully sniped 25 people in a single day. Sadly, on March 6th, he got critically injured by an explosive round fired by a soviet soldier and was rushed to the infirmary on March 7th; it didn’t stop him from sniping even more enemies before he got taken away, though. The funniest part is that when he regained consciousness on March 13th, the Soviets immediately negotiated a peace treaty with Finland that day. It may be a coincidence, but it is still funny to imagine they got word that the White Death was back and got terrified. To avoid the perception that the mighty Soviet Union had been defeated by Finland, a small portion of land was ceded in exchange for peace, which the Finnish people agreed to, as they had not wanted the war in the first place.
The Winter War was not the only war the Finns and the Soviets fought together; that is a story for another time. This has been Tucker Koch, and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this.
