The Winter War (Finnish: talvisota, Swedish: vinterkriget, Russian: Зимняя война) was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939, three months after the German invasion of Poland and the start of World War II, and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty. The League of Nations deemed the attack illegal, and the Soviet Union was expelled from the League on 14 December.
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The Winter War (Finnish: talvisota, Swedish: vinterkriget, Russian: Зимняя война) was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939, three months after the German invasion of Poland and the start of World War II, and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty. The League of Nations deemed the attack illegal, and the Soviet Union was expelled from the League on 14 December.
The Soviet forces had four times as many soldiers as the Finns, 30 times as many aircraft and 218 times as many tanks. However, the Red Army had recently been crippled by a drastic purge in 1937, reducing its morale and efficiency shortly before the outbreak of hostilities. With up to 50 percent of army officers executed or imprisoned, including the vast majority of those of the highest rank, the Red Army in 1939 had many inexperienced senior officers. Due to a combination of these factors as well as extremely high commitment and morale in the...
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