Heroic Defense Isn’t a Free Pass for War
The myth of heroic defense helps us ignore the darkest stains of our history.
In November 1939, only three months after World War II had started with Hitler invading Poland, Stalin followed his example and attacked a small neighboring country at the edge of Europe.
Seven alleged gunshots in the Carelian village of Mainila, which the USSR claimed were a Finnish aggression, prompted the breaking of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The Mainila shelling incident was a false flag operation Stalin needed to further Soviet ambitions in Eastern Europe. It gave the Soviet Union a casus belli, an excuse to start Talvisota, the 105-day Winter War.
While the international community pretty much sat watching and prepared for a war against Hitler, Finland repelled the attack over the tough northern winter, despite the obvious disparity in force between the superpower and a minuscule Nordic nation. The country lost about a tenth of its territory in Carelia and Lapland to the Soviets, but the legend of heroic resistance lives on.
Soldiers on skis hiding in the snow in white camouflage, against the mighty Red Army. The world’s deadliest sniper, Simo “White Death” Häyhä, single-handedly taking down more than 500 soldiers. Molotov cocktails to combat…
