Dec. 1, 2014
Seventy-five years ago, on Nov. 30, 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Finland, thinking it could overwhelm a much smaller country by its size. But the Soviets were in for a surprise. What lessons does this short but brutal war have for us today? Included are:
- Molotov-Ribbentrop pact and secret protocol;
- How intelligence and motivation aided the Finns;
- Losses -26,000 Finnish dead or missing vs 127,000 Soviet Russian dead or missing;
- Can the Ukrainians hold off the Russians as well as the Finns did?
Plus, a closer look at Ukrainian nationalist leader Stepan Bandera and his arrest and incarceration at Sachsenhausen near Berlin. Included :
- Bandera's fanatical movement veered away from sharing the same objectives as N-S Germany;
- Bandera's death in 1959 ordered by the KGB head Alexander Shelepin and Nikita Khrushchev;
- Ukrainian nationalists have been the most persevering of all, and most hated by the Russians.
Image:Lieutenant Aarne Juutilainen became a national hero for his defence of Finland during the Battle of Kollaa.