Figure 1.--The Winter War began with relatively small numbers of evacutions near the front line. The small, poorly equipped Finnish Army managed to stop the massive, well equipped Red Army for 4 months, but eventually had to accet a Soviet imposed peace. Virtually the entire population of Karelia and other areas seized by the Soviets chose to give up their farms and homes and flee to what was left of Finland. They were aware of what Stalin and the NKVD had done to ethnic Finns in the 1930s.

Stalin's next victim after invading Poland was Finland. He demanded major territorial concessions and the right to to station Red Army units in Finnish territory. This was the way the Soviets would seized total control of the Baltic republics. The Finns rejected the Soviet demands. The Red Army invaded Finland with 21 divisions, totalling 450,000 men, and bombed Helsinki (November 30, 1939). There was no declaration of war, just an unanounced invasion. The Finns chose to fight despite having only a small, poorly equipped Army. There were not even uniforms for the reserves mobiklized to fight he WAr. The result was the Winter War. Finland carried out a series of evacuations during World War II beginning with the Soviet invsion launching the Winter War. Here there was little time to prepare. The Finns rapidly evacuated the population away from the front lines at the onset of the War. But as the small Finnish Army put up a stiff resistance, holding the Mannerheim Line. talin and Rd Army commanders did not effect major resistance given the Soviet superority in men and equipment. The Finns did not immediately evacuate all of Karelia behind the Mannerheim Line. Karelia was Finland's breadbasket, and ghe Finns were hoping they could resist the Soviet invasion.

Created: 3:41 PM 3/26/2017
Last updated: 9:02 AM 11/25/2018