Winter War - weird fact

The Red Army troops were warned against destroying any buildings during invasion of Finland.

From " Parade march to Finland " by Stepakov-Orehov

"Leutenant Nikitin´s 2. battery destroyed a house from where machine gun fire was observed coming from. After that NKVD took him, and we never heard of the man again."

 

Hmm. Now that is an odd SOP. Perhaps the Communist elite wanted better built Finnish homes for their Dacha's.

 

Oops. I notice I forgot to mention the important fact here which is that this order was to be followed during the first days of the invasion, once it was realized that Finland would not be conquered in a week this order was cancelled. However it still is a weird order to me...

 

Why the hell would there be an order not to destroy stuff???
I mean, it's fun! (as long as you are not killing anyone...)

but it is a wierd order.

 

Attempt to maintain potential shelters in such adverse weather?

 

well it could be that. but it's more likely than my reason-Stalin liked the Finish architecture!

 

I'd say it was simply because the RKKA didn't see the need to destroy usable buildings for the sake of a weeks campaigning. Foolish but that isn't at all surprising in pre war USSR.

 

Maybe they were going for their hearts and minds? Who knows. I believe that any such order is very foolish and men will be needlessly killed as a result.

 

Since when did that bother Soviet commanders???

Cheers

 

The Red Army thought that they were liberators. They assumed that the workers of Finland would throw down their arms and welcome them with open arms. However once Soviet bombers started bombing working class neighbourhoods, that illusion was quickly shattered.

It is also certain that the Finnish workers knew from before the war what waited for them should the Red army win. Some leading Finnish communists in Moscow were murdered during the purges and that knowledge further bolstered FInnish resolve to fight.
The Soviets still believed that they would be welcomed and didnt prepare for a long fight, even sending in brass bands with some divisions to celebrate their victory in Senaatintori!

Hyvää Suomi!

 

strange order indeed!