Russia at war 1941-1945

There were no birthday greetings from any Western leaders, who were busy at the time expelling the Soviet Union from the League of Nations.

Kuusinen wired: "In the name of the toiling people of Finland, fighting hand-in-hand with the heroic Red Army for the liberation of their country from the yoke of the White Guards, hirelings of foreign imperialists, the People's Government of Finland sends its warmest good wishes to you, Comrade Stalin, the great (veliki) friend of the Finnish People."

A few days later Stalin replied: "To the Head of the People's Government of Finland, Otto Kuusinen, Terijoki. Thank you for your good wishes... I wish the Finnish people and the People's Government of Finland a speedy and complete victory over the oppressors of the Finnish people, the Mannerheim-Tanner gang."

Shortly before the Finnish war had begun, there was, at Munich, an abortive attempt on Hitler's life. He had already left when the explosion occurred, in which six persons were killed and sixty wounded. Promptly Ambassador Shkvartsev called on Ribbentrop to

present him the condolences of the Soviet Government "in connection with the terrorist act in Munich, which had caused serious loss of life". Pravda also reported that, according to Himmler, the plot had originated abroad and that a reward of 800,000 marks would be paid in any currency to anyone whose information would lead to the discovery of the criminals. Hitler's Munich speech, delivered before the explosion, was reported in Pravda under a three-column heading.

During the Finnish war Soviet relations with Germany continued— at least on the face of it—to be friendly, while the hostility to Britain and France became much more strident than before. True, there were, from time to time, some seemingly inexplicable deviations from this obvious line; thus, at the end of November, Pravda surprisingly reproduced an article from the Nineteenth Century (London) deeply sympathetic to Poland and describing the ruthless bombing by the Germans of trains crowded with refugees. It was like a confirmation of the numerous stories of German brutality in Poland which Russian soldiers had brought back from there, and which were widely current in Russia. Pravda's inconsistency is but one of the minor mysteries in that very strange period in Russian history. Yet, on the surface, Soviet-German relations could not be better.

As the Finnish war progressed, the official Russian attitude to Britain and France became more and more hostile. Typical was Pravda's New Year editorial on January 1, 1940:

"Our country is the land of the greatest historical optimism. On the other hand, the capitalist world, as it enters 1940, is torn by agonising contradictions. Covering up their imperialist aims with hypocritical slogans about their 'battle for democracy', the British and French financial oligarchies, helped on by their faithful flunkeys from the Second International—Blum, Jouhaux, Citrine and Bevin—are kindling the flames of the new

war."

The class war in Britain, France and the USA, said Pravda, was stronger than ever between the "overwhelming majority of the people" who did not want war, and a handful of capitalists who cared nothing for the people's blood and were only interested in their own profits: "All the honest sons and daughters of the British, French and American peoples have branded with contempt that gang—ranging from the Pope to the London

stockbrokers—who have started all this screaming and yelling over the noble help given by the Red Army to the Finnish people struggling against their oppressors."

A few days later there were angry articles on "the shameful comedy of the 'expulsion' of the Soviet Union" from the League of Nations—a comedy staged by Britain and France.

These were, moreover, now sending arms to Finland.

In themselves, the Anglo-French arms shipments to Finland did not matter very much;

but it is quite obvious that the indignation the Russian attack on Finland had caused in Britain, France, America and Scandinavia, gave the Russian leaders food for anxious

thought. They dreaded the possibility that Finland might become common ground for a

reconciliation between Germany and the Western Powers, a reconciliation from which

Russia would be made to suffer. This largely explains the eagerness with which they

hastened to wind up the Finnish war and to make peace with the "Mannerheim gang"

without waiting for the "Terijoki government" to make its triumphal entry into Helsinki.

The idea of turning a "hostile" Finland into a "friendly" Finland with the help of this absurd device had miscarried completely and had merely silenced those Finnish elements

—including men like Paasikivi—which had criticised their government for rejecting the original Russian proposals.

What then had been the progress of the actual military operations?

Neither at the time, nor later, did the Russians do much flag-waving over the Finnish war.