We'll run through the main events in Finnish history. Swedish, Russian and independent eras in a nutshell.

For most of Finland’s history, the country had lived on the periphery of world events, but for a few weeks during the winter of 1939-40, Finland stood at the center…

Finnish machine gunners in the winter war, 1940.

Finish Soldiers Bringing To Their Camp Russian Prisoners Of War In Soviet Finnish War On January 1940

In honor of WWII and the courageous vets of that time period, this is my reporting and take of the news, 75 years ago today… February 20-23, 1940 While Russia and Germany fan the flames of wa…

Finnish soldiers in a captured Russian T-28 multi-turreted tank (The Winter War - Finland c. late 1939 - early 1940)

[Photo] Finnish officers and men with a captured Soviet T-37A amphibious tank, Finland, 1939-1940

[Photo] Finnish Army Colonel Hjalmar Siilasvuo receiving a briefing during the Battle of Suomussalmi, Finland, Dec 1939-Jan 1940

The Soviets eventually won the Winter War of 1939-40. But not before a heroic and unexpected Finnish stand created a legend and allowed the country to retain its independence and democracy.

While the Nazi war machine swept over mainland Europe, the Soviet Union launched a frigid attack on its vastly outnumbered neighbor: Finland.

[Photo] Wrecked Soviet T-26 tank and T-20 Komsomolets tractor, Finland, 1939-1940

While the Nazi war machine swept over mainland Europe, the Soviet Union launched a frigid attack on its vastly outnumbered neighbor: Finland.

Soviet tankers on tanks T-34-85 evacuating the wounded of the red army near Budapest.

Between a post-World War II habit of exaggerating the military prowess of the Third Reich, the amazing performance of Finnish soldiers during the 1939-1940 Winter War, and the fact the Soviet Union eventually collapsed, there’s a tendency to believe that the Russian military was a badly run and worse-equipped rabble. They were given inferior weapons to Western powers at all times, and it was only sheer numerical advantage and a suicidal devotion to country that they were able to defeat the Nazis and keep control of numerous satellite countries. We happen to know better, though. Through much of its history

The Jääkärit (Finnish Jaegers) were volunteers from Finland trained in Germany who fought for an independent Finland free from Russian oppression.

Советский штурмовик И-15бис выруливает на взлет перед боевым вылетом во время советско-финской войны.

This FR-76, was the first Fokker D.21 in the FAF. When the war started, this was the only plane which had the 20 mm cannons installed in the wings (as a test). With this plane, Lt Tatu Huhanantti downed a Soviet SB-2 bomber on December 20th 1939. The plane flew in the LLv.24.

British Tanks of the Inter-war Decades

Neuvostoliiton suurhyökkäys vihdoin pysähtyy Ihantalassa.

A thorough history of the Winter War, the uneven Russo-Finnish conflict that began shortly after the start of World War II. On November 30, 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 neighbor, but the moral victory was theirs. The courage and skill their army displayed in the face of the Soviet onslaught—and the chaotic, reckless performance of their opponents—had an important influence on the massive struggle soon to break out between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. For this highly illustrated and original portrayal of this conflict, Bair Irincheev brings 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 analyzes 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.

The Winter aesthetic in photos puts me into a cozy mood. Fall is over, but there is so much to look forward to with Winter! Here are some...