Channels, Spring 2018

Channels • 2018 • Volume 2 • Number 2 Page 55 The Winter War: Its Causes and Effects Ethan Beck History and Government—Cedarville University Introduction he Russo-Finnish War of 1939-1940, also known as the Winter War, forms a curious portion of World War II history that bears further study. Occurring during the “Phony War”—the period of calm following Hitler’s invasion of Poland—the Winter War offers a glimpse into the attitudes of the major powers as the growing necessity of the coming war becomes increasingly clear during 1939 and 1940. Specifically, the Winter War provides insight into Soviet imperialism and its concerns over German aggression and forms a crucial portion of the German decision to invade Russia in the summer of 1941. Without consideration of the Winter War and the conclusions drawn from it by the major world powers, it is difficult to form a satisfactory explanation of each power’s behavior in the Second World War. Therefore, though it was a relatively brief conflict, the Winter War is crucial to a proper understanding of the events of World War II as a whole. The first pieces of the puzzle that must be reconstructed and analyzed are found in the details leading into the origin of the Russo-Finnish War. This origin is composed of three elements of prime significance: the history of Finland’s relationship with Russia, Russia’s perception of its vulnerabilities in 1939-1940 to a German invasion, and Russia’s desire to project strength as a means of deterrence. The origin of the Russo-Finnish War of 1939-1940 begins with the Russian Revolution of 1917. The upheaval of the First World War and the resulting revolution ousted the Tsar’s government, ushering in massive changes in the Russian political system. These changes offered favorable opportunities for some portions of the former Tsar’s empire, such as Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Finland to seek independence from the new communist government. 1 Finland, though it had been a part of Russia since it was conquered by Alexander I of Russia in the Finnish War of 1809, 2 had maintained a high level of national autonomy as a semi- self-ruling Grand Duchy in the Tsar’s Russia. In addition, Finland’s nationalism had been awakened to the dangers inherent in being the subjects of Russian power after Tsar Nicholas II’s attempts at the “Russification” of Finnish politics in 1899. 3 After the Bolshevik 1 John Keegan, The First World War (New York: Vintage Books, 1998), 378. 2 John Keegan, The Second World War (New York: Penguin Books, 1989), 47. 3 Jyrkil Loima, “A Case Study of Education and Nationalism: the Multicultural Fight for ‘Souls and Minds’ in Finland, 1891-1921,” The Historian , Vol. 76, No. 4 (2014): 752. T