An archive of thousands of images of the Soviet Union’s 1939 invasion of Finland have been scanned and digitized, revealing the harrowing human details of the David vs. Goliath struggle.
RFE/RL: The 1939 Soviet invasion of Finland (PHOTOS)
Soviet artillery men prepare to fire on Finnish position at Hanko peninsula during the Finnish-Russian war 1939-1940. The Finnish-Russian war called also Winter War (Nov. 30, 1939 - March 12, 1940), was a war waged by the Soviet Union against Finland at the beginning of World War II, following the conclusion of the German-Soviet Non Aggression Pact (August 23, 1939). After Finland had refused to grant the Soviets a naval base and other concessions in the fall of 1939, Soviet troops totaling about one million men attacked Finland on several fronts. In the peace treaty signed March 12, 1940, Finland ceded part of the Karelian Isthmus, Vyborg (Viipuri), and several border territories to the USSR. In June, 1941, warfare was resumed between Finland and Russia and became part of the general world conflagration.
