War of the White Death: Finland Against the Soviet Union, 1939-40Stackpole Books, 2012 - 222 Seiten On 30 November 1939 Stalin's Red Army attacked Finland, expecting to crush the outnumbered, ill-equipped Finnish forces in a matter of days. But, in one of the most astonishing upsets in modern military history, the Finnish defenders broke the Red Army's advance, inflicting devastating casualties and destroying some of the divisions that had been thrown against them. Eventually, in March 1940, the overhauled Red Army prevailed through the deployment of massive force. The Finns were compelled to cede territory and cities to their overbearing neighbour, but the moral victory was theirs. The courage and skill their army displayed in the face of the Soviet onslaught - and the chaotic and reckless performance of their opponents - had an important influence on the massive struggle that was about to break out between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. For this highly illustrated and original portrayal of this famously unequal struggle, Bair Irincheev has brought together a compelling selection of eyewitness accounts, war diaries, battle reports, and other records from the Finnish and Russian archives to reconstruct the frontline fighting, and he analyses the reasons for the Red Army's poor performance. Never before has the harsh reality of the combat in the depths of the northern winter been conveyed in such authentic detail. The arduous daily experience of the troops on both sides, the brutality of combat and the constant struggle against the elements are recalled in the words of the men who were there. AUTHOR: Bair Irincheev is an expert on the troubled twentieth-century history of Finland and Russia and has made a particular study of the Finnish army during the Winter War and the Continuation War that followed. He is based in Helsinki and recently compiled a highly illustrated survey of the Mannerheim Line which was Finland's principal defence against the Soviet Union. Among his previous publications is On the Roads of War: A Soviet Cavalryman on the Eastern Front. SELLING POINTS: * Compelling new account of the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union * Based on eyewitness testimony, was diaries, battle reports, and other records from the Finnish and Russian archives * Authentic portrayal of frontline fighting in the harshest of conditions ILLUSTRATIONS: 90 illustrations * |
Inhalt
1 Plans and Preparations 1 | 1 |
Soviet Failure on the Karelian Isthmus 10 | 10 |
3 North of Ladoga 77 | 77 |
4 Northern Finland Lapland and the Arctic Front 104 | 104 |
5 Breakthrough on the Mannerheim Line 124 | 124 |
Last Standoff on the Karelian Isthmus 192 | 192 |
Aftermath and Closing Remarks 205 | 205 |
Appendices 206 | 206 |
Archive Sources 212 | 212 |
Bibliography 215 | 215 |
217 | |
Other Titles in the Series | 224 |
Back Cover | 239 |
Andere Ausgaben - Alle anzeigen
War of the White Death: Finland against the Soviet Union, 1939-40 Bair Irincheev Eingeschränkte Leseprobe - 2012 |
War of the White Death: Finland Against the Soviet Union, 1939–40 Bair Irincheev Eingeschränkte Leseprobe - 2011 |
War of the White Death: Finland Against the Soviet Union, 1939-40 Bair Irincheev Keine Leseprobe verfügbar - 2023 |
Häufige Begriffe und Wortgruppen
11 February 139th Rifle Division 15th Infantry Regiment 17 December 1st Battalion 2nd Battalion 44th Rifle Division 4th Company 90th Rifle anti-tank guns armoured artillery barrage artillery fire artillery observers assault party attack Battery battle battlefield Breakthrough bridgehead bunker Captain captured Colonel Commissar counter-attack crews crossing December destroyed Detached Battalion Diary division’s dugout enemy February Finland Finnish Army Finnish artillery Finnish defences Finnish lines Finnish main defence Finnish positions flame-thrower tanks flank front line Infantry Regiment SPK Karelian Isthmus killed kilometres Kiviniemi Kombrig Ladoga Lake Light Tank Brigade machine-gun main defence line managed Mannerheim Line March metres mortar Mountain Rifle Muolaa night northern bank open sights opened fire platoon Political Worker Red Army repelled Rifle Corps Rifle Regiment river road sappers scout Second Lieutenant sector Soviet artillery Soviet Failure Soviet offensive Soviet tanks strongpoint Summa village Suomussalmi Taipale troops White Death Winter War wounded