Today is the 83rd anniversary of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Finland, which started the Winter War.

The Red Army suffered 160 000 killed over 3.5 months, while the Finns lost 25 000 soldiers.

The Moscow Peace Treaty was signed on March 12th. Finland lost 10% of its territory.

On November 30, 1939, nearly half a million Soviet troops stormed into Finland, beginning what would become known as the Winter War. The surprise attack came after the Kremlin, fearing a possible Nazi offensive through Finland, had insistently called for a land swap that would have pushed the Finnish border away from Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). Wary of Soviet intentions, Finland’s government refused.

Soviet planners assumed an easy victory in time for Josef Stalin's 60th birthday on December 21. It was not to be.

Although the Red Army would eventually win the war, the defeat of the country of just 3.7 million people came only months later - and at a terrible cost.

Amid an international outcry over the unannounced attack on Finland, Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov claimed on the radio that planes were dropping food supplies - rather than bombs -- to hungry Finns.

https://www.rferl.org/a/finlands-winter-war-with-the-soviet-union/30280490.html

Good info