London, England • December 19, 1939 On the afternoon of August 23, 1939, Adolf Hitler’s foreign secretary Joachim von Ribbentrop appeared in Moscow’s Kremlin fortress to sign off on the Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact. The 10‑year pact, also known by the twin surnames of Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and German foreign minister Ribbentrop, was the necessary…
Moscow, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics • March 13, 1940 (Finnish Time) On this date in 1940, in the Soviet capital of Moscow, Finnish and Soviet delegates initialed the Treaty (or Peace) of Moscow. The terms of the agreement, dated March 12 (Moscow time), ended the so-called Winter War the Soviets had unleashed a little…
London, England · December 19, 1939 In the afternoon of August 23, 1939, Adolf Hitler’s foreign secretary Joachim von Ribbentrop appeared in Moscow’s Kremlin fortress to sign off on the Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact. The 10‑year pact, also known by the twin surnames of the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and the German foreign minister Ribbentrop, was…
London, England · December 19, 1939 The Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union broke out on November 30, 1939, 2‑1/2 months after Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin had partitioned Poland between themselves. The French and British governments strongly desired to aid the Finns with volunteers and war materiel. The only possible route for such aid…
“Edwards recounts events, both shameful and heroic, with insight, conviction and considerable wit.”—Publishers Weekly
On November 30, 1939, the Soviet Union’s Red Army invaded the young nation-state of Finland, in the full expectation of routing the small, ill-equipped Finnish army and annexing the former Russian territory by the end of the year. But Finland held out for 105 bitterly cold, fiercely combative days, until March 15, 1940, when a peace agreement ended the short, savage Winter War.
At the stirring center of the story lie the resourcefulness and resolve of the Finnish people, who against all military odds—in want of ammunition, food, sleep, and troops—fought a blundering, ineptly commanded Red Army to a standstill. On March 15, they ceded to the Soviet 11 percent of their territory and 30 percent of their economic assets, but none of their national pride.
The Russians meanwhile had markedly damaged their international standing and effectively ruined their military reputation-to such an extent, as this probing chapter in World War II history demonstrates, that Germany, with proud-blooded Finland as an ally, dared to launch its 1940 invasion of Russia. At the same time, though, the fiasco of the Winter War forced Stalin to acknowledge the shortcomings of the Red Army and to reform it: Germany would fall at Stalingrad in 1941.
With authority, this skillfully narrated military history unfolds its story of the four-month Soviet-Finnish war and explores its consequences from London to Moscow, from Helsinki to Paris, to Washington, DC. 20 black-and-white illustrations
“Edwards recounts events, both shameful and heroic, with insight, conviction and considerable wit.”—Publishers Weekly
On November 30, 1939, the Soviet Union’s Red Army invaded the young nation-state of Finland, in the full expectation of routing the small, ill-equipped Finnish army and annexing the former Russian territory by the end of the year. But Finland held out for 105 bitterly cold, fiercely combative days, until March 15, 1940, when a peace agreement ended the short, savage Winter War.
At the stirring center of the story lie the resourcefulness and resolve of the Finnish people, who against all military odds—in want of ammunition, food, sleep, and troops—fought a blundering, ineptly commanded Red Army to a standstill. On March 15, they ceded to the Soviet 11 percent of their territory and 30 percent of their economic assets, but none of their national pride.
The Russians meanwhile had markedly damaged their international standing and effectively ruined their military reputation-to such an extent, as this probing chapter in World War II history demonstrates, that Germany, with proud-blooded Finland as an ally, dared to launch its 1940 invasion of Russia. At the same time, though, the fiasco of the Winter War forced Stalin to acknowledge the shortcomings of the Red Army and to reform it: Germany would fall at Stalingrad in 1941.
With authority, this skillfully narrated military history unfolds its story of the four-month Soviet-Finnish war and explores its consequences from London to Moscow, from Helsinki to Paris, to Washington, DC. 20 black-and-white illustrations