Editing Red Army (section)

===Winter War with Finland===
{{Details|Winter War}}
[[File:Red Army Finnish flag Winter War.png|thumb|Red Army soldiers display a captured Finnish banner, March 1940]]

The Winter War ({{langx|fi|talvisota}}, {{langx|sv| finska vinterkriget}}, {{langx|ru|link=no|Зи́мняя война́|italic=yes}}){{Efn |The names "Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940" ({{langx|ru|link=no|Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940}}) and "Soviet–Finland War 1939–1940" ({{langx |ru| link =no|Сове́тско-финляндская война́ 1939–1940}}) are often used in Russian historiography.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://militera.lib.ru/h/sb_crusade_in_rossia/02.html | script-title = ru:Вовлечение Финляндии во Вторую Мировую войну: Крестовый поход на Россию | first1 = ВН | last1 = Барышников | first2 = Э | last2 = Саломаа | year = 2005 | publisher = Военная Литература | access-date = 3 November 2009 | language = ru | archive-date = 6 November 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081106001029/http://militera.lib.ru/h/sb_crusade_in_rossia/02.html | url-status = dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://militera.lib.ru/h/kovalev_ea2/07.html | script-title = ru:Зимняя война балтийских подводных лодок (1939–1940 гг.): Короли подплава в море червонных валетов | first = Эрик | last = Ковалев | year = 2006 | publisher = Военная Литература | access-date = 3 November 2009 | language = ru | archive-date = 1 November 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20221101075218/http://militera.lib.ru/h/kovalev_ea2/07.html | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.otvaga2004.narod.ru/photo/winterwar/wwar1.htm|script-title=ru:Танки в Зимней войне 1939–1940|author=М. Коломиец|year=2001|trans-title=Фронтовая иллюстрация|access-date=3 November 2009|language=ru|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120720090022/http://otvaga2004.narod.ru/photo/winterwar/wwar1.htm|archive-date=20 July 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://militera.lib.ru/h/shirokorad1/9_01.html |script-title=ru:Зимняя война 1939–1940 гг. |author=Александр Широкорад |year=2001 |publisher=Военная Литература |trans-title=Предыстория Зимней войны |access-date=3 November 2009 |language=ru |archive-date=7 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191207011754/http://militera.lib.ru/h/shirokorad1/9_01.html |url-status=live }}</ref>}} was a war between the [[Soviet Union]] and [[Finland]]. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939{{snd}}three months after the start of World War II and the [[Soviet invasion of Poland]]. The [[League of Nations]] deemed the attack illegal and expelled the Soviet Union on 14 December 1939.<ref>{{cite web |title= Expulsion of the U.S.S.R. |url= http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/policy/1939/391214a.html |date= 14 December 1939 |publisher= League of Nations |access-date= 24 July 2009 |archive-date= 24 June 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150624231802/http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/policy/1939/391214a.html |url-status= live }}</ref>

The Soviet forces led by [[Semyon Timoshenko]] had three times as many soldiers as the Finns, thirty times as many aircraft, and a hundred times as many [[tank]]s. The Red Army, however, had been hindered by Soviet leader [[Joseph Stalin]]'s [[Great Purge]] of 1937, reducing the army's morale and efficiency shortly before the outbreak of the fighting.<ref>[[#CITEREFBullock1993|Bullock (1993)]]. p. 489.</ref> With over 30,000 of its army officers executed or imprisoned, most of whom were from the highest ranks, the Red Army in 1939 had many inexperienced senior officers.<ref>[[#Glanz1998|Glanz (1998)]]. p. 58.</ref><ref name="Ries1988">[[#Ries1988|Ries (1988)]]</ref>{{rp|56}} Because of these factors, and high commitment and morale in the Finnish forces, Finland was able to resist the Soviet invasion for much longer than the Soviets expected. Finnish forces inflicted stunning losses on the Red Army for the first three months of the war while suffering very few losses themselves.<ref name="Ries1988" />{{rp |79–80}}

Hostilities ceased in March 1940 with the signing of the [[Moscow Peace Treaty]]. Finland ceded 9% of its pre-war territory and 30% of its economic assets to the Soviet Union.{{sfn |Edwards |2006 |p=18}} Soviet losses on the front were heavy, and the country's international reputation suffered.{{sfn |Edwards |2006 |pp=272–273}} The Soviet forces did not accomplish their objective of the total conquest of Finland but did receive territory in [[Karelia]], [[Pechengsky District|Petsamo]], and [[Salla]]. The Finns retained their [[sovereignty]] and improved their international reputation, which bolstered their morale in the [[Continuation War]] (also known as the "Second Soviet-Finnish War") which was a conflict fought by Finland and Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944.