Why the World's Biggest Army Couldn't Crush Finland (Animated)

In 1939, the Soviet Union had 170 million people and more than 2,000 tanks. Finland had less than 4 million people and 32 tanks. Stalin's planners expected the war to last two weeks. It took more than three months and cost the Red Army at least 126,000 dead. So how did one of the biggest armies on earth fail against one of the smallest countries in Europe? It wasn't only the cold, the snipers or Stalin's purges. The real reason is hiding on every map of Finland. 0:00 The Raate Road 0:32 David vs Goliath 1:14 Stalin's polite request 2:48 Reason 1: the purges 3:21 Reason 2: the forest 5:29 Suomussalmi 6:08 Reason 3: the Molotov cocktail 6:45 Why Finland didn't win 7:59 The bill 8:38 The verdict 9:14 Hitler was watching Did Finland win the Winter War, or did Stalin? Tell us in the comments. Subscribe to Paper Soldiers for more wars, empires and turning points, animated. Sources: Winter War casualty figures (Krivosheev; Finnish National Archives), Battle of Raate Road and Suomussalmi, Moscow Peace Treaty (12 March 1940), Shelling of Mainila, Suite on Finnish Themes (Shostakovich, 1939). Disputed numbers (Soviet losses, Simo Häyhä's tally) are given as ranges or "at least". #WinterWar #History #WW2