The Soviet Propaganda at the Beginning of the USSR War against Finalnd in the Winter of 1939-1940

Abstract

In the autumn of 1939, after the Soviet-German split of Poland, the Soviet Union imperatively requested Finland to surrender an important part of the Karel Isthmus and the Hanko Peninsula. The Finnish government refused to comply with the Soviet demands. On November the 26th, the Soviets have staged an incident during which the Soviet artillery bombed a region of the border village of Mainila, for which they blamed Finland. The Finland government declined any responsibility for the incident and refused to retreat the armed forces it had in the area. The refusal was used by the Soviet Union as a reason to break the non-aggression pact. On November the 30th, the Red Army attacked Finland. On December 1st 1939, a puppet government was created in Moscow and the Democrat Finnish Republic was proclaimed, led by Otto Kuusinen. The creation of this republic had both propagandistic and diplomatic reasons. The Kuusinen government became the only Finnish government the USSR would accept. The Soviet governing forces sought at “reuniting” the Karelians with Finland in one socialist state and thus to integrate it in the Soviet Union.