One of the "millionaires". Mannerheim line. Breakthrough of the Mannerheim Line Mannerheim Line pillbox of death

February 15, 1940 Soviet troops finally broke through the "Mannerheim line" - a powerful complex of Finnish defensive structures, which was considered impregnable. This marked a turning point in the Winter War of 1939-1940 and in military history as such. Today we will remind you what this legendary Finnish defensive line was and tell you about six most interesting factsassociated with the "Mannerheim Line" - the history of its construction and operation.

Mannerheim Line or Enckel Line?

The name of Mannerheim, the Finnish commander-in-chief, and then the President of Finland, the line of fortifications on the Karelian isthmus received only at the end of 1939, when a group of foreign journalists visited its construction. The journalists returned home and wrote a series of reports about what they saw, in which they mentioned the term that later became official.

In Finland itself, this defense complex has long been called the "Enkel Line" in honor of the chief of the General Staff of the young republic, who in the early 1920s paid great attention to the construction of defensive structures on the southern borders of his homeland. Construction of the line began in 1920 and was suspended in 1924 when Enckel resigned from his post.

It resumed only in 1932, when the legendary military leader Karl Gustav Mannerheim, who had become the head of the State Defense Committee a year earlier, rode with an inspection along the Enkel Line and ordered it to be completed, strengthened and modernized.

What is the Mannerheim Line?

With this, in fact, it was necessary to start. The Mannerheim Line is a giant defensive line built by the Finns in 1920-1939 close to the border with Soviet Russia. It was created to stop the advance of the Red Army inland. And Helsinki had no doubts that this would one day begin.

The line was created taking into account the landscape of the Karelian Isthmus and in the west rested against the Gulf of Finland, and in the east - against Ladoga. The complex of structures consisted of six defense lines, of which the second, the main one, in fact, was the "Mannerheim line".

It consisted of 22 resistance nodes and separate strongholds. The features of the landscape made it possible to hold the defense on this line with small forces, while causing significant damage to the advancing enemy. And 136 kilometers of anti-tank obstacles, 330 kilometers of barbed wire, mines, bunkers, ditches, bunkers and bunkers did not contribute to the rapid breakthrough of this line.

The bunkers and bunkers themselves were skillfully hidden from the eyes of the attackers, the relief made it possible to hide them, disguising them as hills with trees and other natural elements. During the Winter War, there was a rumor among Soviet soldiers that the Finnish bunkers were covered with rubber, because of which the shells hitting them bounced off - otherwise they could not explain the "survivability" of the enemy's firing points.

Was the line really impregnable?

During the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939-1940, Russian propaganda claimed that the Mannerheim Line was one of the greatest defense systems built by Mankind, more inaccessible than the legendary French Maginot Line. Therefore, its breakthrough was presented as an unprecedented feat of Soviet soldiers. However, the Finnish field marshal himself, as well as most historians, were very skeptical about such statements.

The inaccessibility of the "Mannerheim Line" is a myth blown up by the Western press and Soviet propaganda. Our command had to justify the delays at the front (after all, a fast and victorious war was expected), the Finns raised the fighting spirit of the fighters with stories about the wonderful characteristics of the defense system, and the European media needed beautiful stories and hot facts.

In fact, the Mannerheim Line, despite its scale, had many significant shortcomings. Let's start with the fact that at the start of the war it was not completed, and there was still a lot of construction work. In addition, most of the equipment of this defensive complex in 1939 was noticeably outdated, and there were not so many modern firing points. And there was no talk of a great depth of defense.

Why did Soviet troops stormed the Mannerheim Line for more than two months?

The war with Finland was conceived by the Soviet leadership as a quick armed conflict on foreign territory, which in a short time would end with the victory of our army. The hostilities began on November 30, and on December 12 the Red Army reached the front edge of the main defense zone of the "Mannerheim Line". However, here they got stuck for two months.

The reason for this is the lack of accurate data on the structure of the "Mannerheim Line", as well as the lack of personal strength and appropriate weapons. The Soviet army did not have enough large-caliber artillery to destroy the enemy's concrete firing points and military experience in breaking through such obstacles. And the command did not always behave competently.

For these and many other reasons, the battles for the Mannerheim Line lasted more than two months. And it was possible to break through it only in February 1940. The general offensive began on 11 February. The first breakthrough of the defensive wall occurred on the 13th, and on the 15th the fall of the "Mannerheim Line" became irreversible - the 7th Army went into the rear of the Finnish troops, which forced them to retreat to a new line of defense. So the fate of the Winter War was decided.

The hostilities continued until March 12, after which the Moscow Peace Treaty was signed, which recorded the annexation of a number of Finnish border territories by the Soviet Union. In particular, the cities of Vyborg and Sortvalla, as well as the Khanka Peninsula in the depths of Finland, where a Soviet naval base was built, became Russians.

What is a "Karelian sculptor"?

The Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940 gave the world several new terms. For example, "Molotov cocktail" and "Karelian sculptor". The latter was called the Soviet high-power howitzer of the B-4 caliber, the shell of which, after hitting the bunkers and bunkers, turned these structures into a shapeless mishmash of concrete and reinforcement. These bizarre forms of construction were visible from afar, due to which they received the nickname "Karelian monuments". The Finns also called the B-4 howitzer "Stalin's sledgehammer."

What is now in place of the Mannerheim Line?

Immediately after the end of the Winter War, Soviet sappers made considerable efforts to destroy the remnants of the Mannerheim Line. Most of the firing points were blown up, only those engineering structures that could not be dismantled remained intact.

During the Soviet-Finnish war of 1941-1944, the Finns who occupied these territories again did not want to restore the "Mannerheim line", considering this matter unpromising.

Now, only scattered objects scattered throughout the Karelian Isthmus have remained of the once large-scale Finnish defense line. They are the object of pilgrimage for lovers of military history and a few tourists. No attempt has been made by the Russian or Finnish authorities to put this monument in order. However, powerful reinforced concrete fortifications can stand for centuries even in the open air in the harsh northern natural conditions.

This is one of the most famous fortifications of the Mannerheim Line and in fact the place of its breakthrough. This pillbox was a caponier with casemates of the La Bourget system of flanking and oblique fire. Construction of the Sj-5 bunker began in 1938 in several stages, the so-called "floating sections". The foundation pit was torn off to a depth of 8-10 m, the foundation was poured, a reinforcing cage, sectional formwork were placed and layer-by-layer concrete was poured. At the end of the work, they moved on to the construction of the next section. This bunker was officially named "Million" (popularly "Millionaire") due to the extremely high cost of construction.
Western casemate "A" (see diagram) shot through the entire swampy area to the lake and its northern shore. Eastern casemate "B" held at gunpoint the entire western slope of height 65.5, approaches to bunker SJ-4 (Fort Poppius) and the road to Kamyarya station (Gavrilovo). The casemates had 1 and 2 machine guns of the X system, respectively. Maxima arr. 1910, installed on special casemate machines. There were also melee embrasures for firing from a rifle, machine gun or light machine gun. In case of danger, the embrasures were closed with armored flaps designed to resist 37-mm shells. Both casemates were equipped with special searchlights, which gave a narrow beam of light. They were turned on after receiving an alarm signal from electrical sensors in barbed wire or at the request of units occupying positions adjacent to the height (field filling).
Armored caps were installed above each casemate, as well as at the observation post. The thickness of the walls of the cap was 18-20 cm. The viewing slits (2.5 x 20 cm) provided the observers with a circular view and, in case of danger, could be closed by a steel strip about 3 cm thick rotating inside on rollers practically without the slightest gap. The observer climbed a ladder attached to the wall and found himself standing inside the dome on a special platform. If necessary, 2 people could be there, having a telephone connection with the commander of the fortification. © www.aroundspb.ru
To a certain extent, the internal premises of the bunker have been preserved; you can get there through the Western casemate, which was most damaged. There was also a well near the bunker (now it is buried). On the way to the bunker, you can see anti-tank guns.
ATTENTION: before you go to watch, find out if there is any shooting at the tank range in Kamenka (in your best interests. Honestly, to drive a car straight through the shooting range, the adrenaline is still the same ... \u003d)) It is possible make on the website www.47news.ru, or from advertisements in the village of Kamenka or at the Kirillovskoye station.
Be sure to take flashlights with you, and take care of your heads - there are a lot of sticking out fittings. Look carefully at your feet, LO is just littered with ammunition, etc.

In 1939-1940s of the last century, the Finns were able to prove to the whole world that the idea of \u200b\u200bdefending their own borders using fortified areas (URs) did not completely outlived itself. The Finns were able to build on the Karelian Isthmus many protective structures for artillery and machine guns, various types of underground warehouses and shelters, erected a number of anti-personnel and anti-tank barriers, making bunkers the main trump card. It was the bunkers that formed the basis of a solid defense, and although there were not so many of them, they were located in the right quantity and in the right places.

Mannerheim Line

The Mannerheim Line, named after the Finnish Marshal, was a chain of fortifications 135 km long and up to 90 km deep on the Karelian Isthmus from the coast of the Gulf of Finland to Lake Ladoga. The coast of the bay was covered with large-caliber coastal batteries, and in the Taipale area on the shores of Lake Ladoga, the Finns erected a number of reinforced concrete forts, installing 8 120-mm and 152-mm coastal guns each. At the same time, the terrain itself served as the basis for the fortifications. The entire territory of the Karelian Isthmus was covered with forests, crossed by dozens of small and medium-sized rivers, many lakes. In the forests there were numerous boulders and rocky ridges everywhere. Belgian general Badu noted: "Nowhere in the world have I seen natural conditions more favorable for the construction of fortified lines than on the Karelian Isthmus."

The basis of the line were concrete structures tactically connected to each other - bunkers, shelters and command posts. The main position of the Mannerheim Line consisted of 22 strong points, occupying 3-4 km along the front and up to 1-2 km in depth. Each strong point consisted of several reinforced concrete bunkers and additional field fortifications (bunkers, dugouts, machine gun nests, rifle trenches). The strongholds were equipped with minefields, anti-tank obstacles and numerous rows of barbed wire.

The pillboxes of the "Mannerheim line" are divided by construction into the first generation (1920-1937) and the second generation (1938-1939). The pillboxes of the first generation were quite small, designed for the installation of 1-2 machine guns, did not have shelters for the garrison and any internal equipment. The thickness of their reinforced concrete walls reached 2 m, and the thickness of the ceilings was 1.75-2 m. Subsequently, most of these pillboxes were modernized: the walls were thickened, armor plates were placed on the embrasures.

Pillboxes of the second generation were called “millionaires” by the Finnish population, since their cost exceeded 1 million Finnish marks. In total, 7 such bunkers were erected. The initiator of their construction was Baron Mannerheim, who returned to politics in 1937, who was able to extort funds from the government for their construction. "Millionaires" were large modern reinforced concrete structures with 4-6 embrasures, mainly flanking action, of which 1-2 could be cannon. Some of the most advanced and heavily fortified bunkers were Sj4 "Poppius" (had embrasures for firing in the western casemate) and Sj5 "Millionaire" (had embrasures for firing in both casemates). The pillboxes of flanking fire were called Le Bourget casemates, after the French engineer who introduced them back in the First World War. Such pillboxes were perfectly camouflaged with snow and stones, which greatly impeded their detection on the ground, in addition to this, it was almost impossible to break through these casemates from the front.

According to the data contained in the book Secrets and Lessons of the Winter War, Mannerheim's line consisted of about 280 reinforced concrete machine-gun artillery pillboxes. Not too many - about 2 pillboxes per 1 km. front, if you stretch them all in one line, but they were located at a depth of 90 km. Thus, one bunker was accounted for almost 43 square kilometers. Of course, in addition to pillboxes, there were many other engineering fortifications, but it was pillboxes that were the basis, the core of each strongpoint.

Invisible bunkers

It would seem that it could be simpler - they found a bunker, rolled out the gun on direct fire and stuck a shell into its embrasure. However, this can only be found in movies or in pictures. In principle, the real Finnish bunkers could not see the attacking Red Army, they were hiding behind the embankment hills. It was not possible to reach them with artillery or tank fire.

The main difficulty in the fight against Finnish pillboxes was that they were all very skillfully tied to the terrain and located so that from a great distance they were simply not visible, hiding in the folds of the terrain or forest, and artillery and tanks could not come close to them due to numerous artificial and most importantly natural obstacles. In addition, many pillboxes were intended only for flanking fire and were not visible from the front at all. To fire at a pillbox, a tank or a gun had to be turned around, exposing its side to fire from the front.

The excellent location of firing points on the terrain led to numerous errors of artillery observers, who simply did not see the bursts of their shells or incorrectly determined the range to the target. As a result, the Soviet infantry found itself face to face with the bunker, the surrounding bunkers and the Finnish infantry trenches. And the Finnish infantrymen fired excellently.

As a result, a huge consumption of ammunition for each bunker, large losses in tanks and people, the troops are marking time in one place, despite the overwhelming superiority in all types of weapons.

Common features of Finnish bunkers

This information is taken from the report of April 1, 1940 by the commander of the 2nd rank N.N. Voronov, chief of artillery of the Red Army. Later he would become the famous Chief Marshal of Artillery, who, in 1943, together with Rokossovsky, would accept the surrender of the 6th German Army in the ruins of Stalingrad.

a) Almost most of the bunkers were on the surface, and only a number of them partially cut into the folds of the terrain or hillsides. In this case, there is no need to talk about underground structures (especially about multi-storey ones); at best, some bunkers can be classified as semi-underground. This is explained by the fact that in the conditions of the Karelian Isthmus it is very difficult to find places where the structures could be lowered into the ground. Here, either rocky ground, or very close to the surface there is groundwater, or generally a swamp.

b) Most of the pillboxes were intended to conduct flanking fire (shooting along the front) at the flank of the attacking troops and were not designed to repel frontal attacks. It can be noted that each bunker covered the approaches to the neighboring one. From the front, such pillboxes were protected by folds of the terrain (they were built on the opposite slopes of heights, or had artificial fill hills or a forest in front of them). Most of the pillboxes were inaccessible to the guns and tanks of the attackers. Flanking fire allowed the pillbox garrisons to cut off the attacking infantry from their tanks.

c) According to the projects, bunkers had to withstand direct hits of shells up to 203 mm, but in practice, some of them were made of low quality concrete (300-450 kg / sq. cm. with a minimum resistance for fortifications - more than 750 kg / sq. . cm.).

d) pillboxes were heated by stoves (although some pillboxes were equipped with central heating). The lighting is partly electric, partly using kerosene lamps of the "Bat" type. Water supply from wells dug in the barracks. There were no latrines in the bunkers. The connection between pillboxes is partly telephone, partly only visual.

People's Commissar Voroshilov would not like this report, but it reflected the true state of affairs on the Mannerheim line. This line of defense could not be compared with the French Maginot line, which had both multi-storey powerful defensive structures and solid artillery, including large-caliber guns. The same report also contains information that the Finnish army had a very small number of artillery pieces, mostly outdated systems.

In his memoirs, Voronov listed examples of Finnish artillery. There were 37-mm Bofors anti-tank guns (the Finns managed to cram these guns into a row of pillboxes already during the battles), 3-inch Russian guns of the 1902 model, 12 and 15-cm howitzers of the Schneider system during the First World War. Most of the shells for the Finnish heavy artillery were produced before 1917, which is why up to 1/3 of the shells simply did not explode.

For the most part, the Finns had nothing to install in bunkers, so most of them were machine-gunned. Only 8 bunkers were artillery. At the same time, a number of them did not even have special devices for attaching machine guns (casemate systems), the Finns used conventional easel and light machine guns in them.

Many bunkers did not have permanent garrisons trained to conduct combat in such a structure, they were occupied by ordinary rifle units, which brought with them weapons, ammunition and food, i.e. some of the pillboxes simply did not have reserves for long-term autonomous operation. The installation on pillboxes built later in 1936 of the armored caps used to protect the observers turned out to be erroneous - they only unmasked the structure. Periscopes, more suitable for observing the terrain and not masking the bunker, were not affordable for the rather poor Finnish army.

In the end, neither the extremely good location nor the resilience of the defenders brought the Finns victory. The Mannerheim line was broken, the huge numerical and technical superiority of the Red Army affected. All pillboxes that got in the way of the Soviet infantry were destroyed either by heavy howitzer artillery or by sappers.

Sources used:
www.army.armor.kiev.ua/fort/findot.shtml
www.popmech.ru/article/116-liniya-mannergeyma
materials of the free Internet encyclopedia "Wikipedia"

The object, which arouses a genuine and constant interest among many generations of people, is the Mannerheim complex of protective barriers. The Finnish defense line is located on the Karelian Isthmus. It is a multitude of bunkers, blown up and strewn with traces of shells, rows of stone gaps, dug trenches and anti-tank ditches - all this is well preserved, despite the fact that more than 70 years have passed.

Causes of the war

The reason for the military conflict between the USSR and Finland was the need to ensure the security of the city of Leningrad, since it was located near the Finnish border. On the eve of World War II, the Finnish leadership was ready to provide its territory as a springboard for numerous enemies of the Soviet Union, and mainly for Nazi Germany.

The fact is that in 1931 Leningrad was transferred to the status of a city of republican significance, and part of the territories subordinated to the Leningrad Soviet turned out to be at the same time the border with Finland. That is why the Soviet leadership began negotiations with this country, offering it to exchange lands. The Soviets offered twice as much territory as they wanted in return. the agreement included a clause asking the USSR to deploy its military bases on Finnish soil. But the parties did not agree, which led to the beginning of the Soviet-Finnish, or the so-called Winter War. Without it, Leningrad would have been captured by Hitler's troops within just a few days.

Background

The Mannerheim Line refers to a whole complex of historical defensive structures that played a major role in the Soviet-Finnish war. It lasted from November 30, 1939 to March 13, 1940.

As soon as Finland gained independence, she immediately began to think about strengthening her borders, and already at the beginning of 1918, the construction of barbed wire fences began on the site of the future grandiose military shield of Mannerheim. The line was finally approved in 1920 and was first named "Enkel Line" in honor of Major General O. L. Enkel, who was then Chief of the General Staff, who directed its construction. The developer of the fortifications was the French officer J. J. Gross-Kaussi, who was sent to Finland to provide assistance in strengthening the borders of this country. But, following the traditions already established by that time, the complexes of fortifications were most often named in honor of the "big bosses", for example, the Stalin Line or Maginot. Therefore, to avoid confusion, these barriers were renamed and named after the commander-in-chief of the troops, Carl Gustav Mannerheim, a former officer of the Russian army.

Finland fortification shield

The Mannerheim Line is a defensive line 135 km long, which completely crossed the entire Karelian Isthmus - from the Gulf of Finland to Lake Ladoga. From the west, the defense communications passed partly along the flat, and partly over the hills covered with terrain, covering the passages between the numerous swamps and small lakes. In the east, the line rested on the Vuoksa water system, which in itself was a serious obstacle. Thus, in the period from 1920 to 1924, the Finns built more than one and a half hundred long-term military structures.

By the end of 1927, it became clear that Enkel's engineering barriers were significantly inferior to Soviet defensive fortifications in terms of the quality of buildings and weapons, so their construction was temporarily suspended. In the 30s, the construction of permanent structures was resumed again. They were built a little, but they became much more powerful and more complex arranged.

At the beginning of the 30s, Mannerheim was appointed to the post of chairman of the State Defense Council. Since then, the line began to be built under his leadership.

- pillboxes

The most important restraining zone was the defense nodes, which consisted of several concrete bunkers (long-term firing points), as well as bunkers (wooden-earthen firing points), machine gun nests, dugouts and rifle trenches. On the defensive line, the strong points were placed extremely unevenly, and the distance between them sometimes even reached 6-8 km.

As you know, military construction lasted more than one year, therefore, according to the time of construction of bunkers, they are divided into two generations. The first includes firing points built in the period from 1920 to 1937, and the second - 1938-39. Pillboxes belonging to the first generation are small fortifications designed for the installation of only 1-2 machine guns. They were not adequately equipped and did not have shelters for soldiers. The thickness of the concrete walls and ceilings did not exceed 2 m. Later, most of them were modernized.

The so-called millionaires belong to the second generation, as their cost cost the Finnish people 1 million Finnish marks each. Only 7 such powerful firing points had the Mannerheim Line. The million-strong pillboxes were the most modern reinforced concrete structures at that time, equipped with 4-6 embrasures, of which 1-2 were cannon. The most formidable and most fortified were the bunkers Sj-4 "Poppius" and Sj-5 "Millionaire".

All long-term firing points were carefully camouflaged with stones and snow, so it was very difficult to find them, and it was almost impossible to break through their casemates.

Inundated zones

In addition to a number of permanent and field fortifications, several zones of artificial flooding were envisaged. The sudden outbreak of hostilities prevented their complete completion, but several dams were nevertheless erected. They were made of wood and earth on the rivers Tyeppelyanjoki (now Aleksandrovka) and Rokkalanjoki (now Gorokhovka). A concrete dam stood on the Peronjoki River (Perovka River), as well as a small dam on Mayajoki and a dam on Saiyanjoki (now the Volchya River).

Anti-tank obstacles

Since the USSR had enough tanks in its armament, the question of how to deal with them was obvious. The wire barriers, previously installed on the Karelian Isthmus, could not be considered a good obstacle for armored vehicles, so it was decided to cut out the gaps from granite and dig anti-tank ditches 1 m deep and 2.5 m wide. But, as it turned out during military operations, stone nadolby turned out to be ineffective. They were pushed around or fired upon from artillery pieces. After repeated shelling, the granite collapsed, resulting in wide passages.

The Finnish sappers have installed over 10 antipersonnel rows behind the pillars and staggered.

Storm

It is customary to divide the Winter War into two stages. The first lasted from November 30, 1939 to February 10, 1940. The assault on the Mannerheim Line was the most difficult and bloody for the Red Army during that period.

Despite all its shortcomings, the powerful barrier proved to be an almost insurmountable obstacle for Soviet soldiers. In addition to the fierce resistance of the Finnish army, the strongest forty-degree frosts turned out to be a huge problem, which, according to most historians, became the main reason for the failures of the Soviet camp.

On February 11, the second stage of the winter military campaign begins - the general offensive of the Red Army. By this time, the maximum amount of military equipment and manpower had been pulled to the Karelian Isthmus. Artillery preparation went on for several days, shells rained down on the positions of the Finns, who fought under the leadership of Mannerheim. The line and the entire adjacent territory were heavily bombarded. Together with the land units of the North-Western Front, ships of the Baltic Fleet and the recently formed Ladoga military flotilla took part in the battles.

Breakthrough

The assault on the first line of defense lasted three days, and on February 17, the troops of the 7th Army finally broke through it, and the Finns were forced to completely abandon their first line and go to the second, and during February 21-28 they lost it too. The breakthrough of the Mannerheim line was led by Marshal S.K. Timoshenko, who headed the North-Western Front on the orders of J.V. Stalin. Now the 7th and 13th armies, with the support of coastal detachments of the Baltic Fleet sailors, launched a joint offensive in the strip from Vyborg Bay to Seeing such an enemy onslaught, the Finnish troops abandoned their positions.

As a result, the second breakthrough of the Mannerheim Line ended with the fact that, despite the desperate resistance of the Finns, on March 13 the Red Army entered Vyborg. So the Soviet-Finnish war ended.

Results of the war

As a result of the Winter War, the USSR achieved everything it wanted: the country completely took over the water area of \u200b\u200bLake Ladoga, and also part of the Finnish territory of 40 thousand square meters was transferred to it. km.

Now many are asking the question: was this war necessary? If not for the victory in the Finnish campaign, Leningrad could have become the first in the list of cities that were attacked by Hitler's Germany.

Excursions to places of battles

To date, most of the structures have been destroyed, but despite this, excursions to the battle sites of the Winter War are still held, and interest in them does not fade away. The surviving strongholds are still of great historical interest - both as military engineering structures and as places where the most difficult combat battles of this half-forgotten war were held.

There are historical and cultural centers that develop special programs to follow the places where the Mannerheim Line passes. The tour usually includes a story about the stages of its construction, as well as the course of the battles.

In order to feel and feel at least a little the life of the Finnish and Soviet armies, a field lunch is organized for tourists. Here you can also take a picture against the backdrop of grandiose structures with elements of equipment, see and hold models of weapons in your hands.

There are many white spots, hidden events and facts in the history of any military conflicts. The war between the Soviet Union and Finland in 1939-40 was no exception. She laid an ordeal on the shoulders of both sides. In just 105 days, when hostilities were waged, about 150 thousand people were killed, about 20 thousand were missing. Here are the results of this half-forgotten and, according to some historians, "unnecessary" war. As a monument to the fallen soldiers, the Mannerheim Line, of an extraordinary scale, remained on the battlefield. Photos of those times and stones still remind us of the heroism of Soviet and Finnish soldiers.

77 years ago, Soviet troops of the 7th Army broke through the Mannerheim Line

Artillery point. Mannerheim Line

On November 30, 1939, a war broke out between the USSR and Finland, which lasted only threemonths, if we approach the assessment of these historical events from the objective point of view, and dragged on long three months, if we evaluate the actions of the Soviet Union or Soviet Russia, as our country was most often called abroad, from the standpoint of hatred and double standards.

But the very appearance of Finland on the world stage is entirely due to Russia.

The Russian Emperor Alexander I in 1809, after the end of the war with Sweden and the annexation of Finland to Russia, included the Vyborg province in its structure. The Grand Duchy of Finland was formed, which for the first time in its history received state self-government, and, in addition, the primordially Russian lands.

"Suomenmaan kartta" 1881. The section of the map highlighted in white is the project of Finland's exit to the Arctic Ocean

The Finns as part of Russia enjoyed unheard of privileges that the conquered peoples of the same British Empire could only dream about: the principality had its own army, in which only Finns served. Moreover, the Finnish officers had the freedom to choose whether to serve in their homeland or make a career in the Russian army, as in particular did Karl Gustav Mannerheim, the future Honorary Marshal of the Finnish state. The principality of Finland lived according to the laws issued by the Finnish Sejm, the main means of payment for the population was the Finnish mark.

Having received state independence from the hands of the Soviet government in 1917 within the borders of the Grand Duchy, Finland immediately lost interest in its former benefactor - Russia, trying to expand its territory at the expense of its neighbor tormented by world and civil wars.

However, the Finnish troops that invaded Soviet Karelia in 1922 were defeated by the Red Army and were forced to retreat.

Finland was not at all such a harmless lamb and "peace-loving" neighbor of the USSR, as modern Western historians want to present it.

From the very beginning of its existence, it embarked on the path of anti-Sovietism and Russophobia. And by virtue of its position, it was a much more dangerous neighbor for the USSR than modern Ukraine for Russia.

Of course, in itself it did not pose a threat to the USSR. But every small "independent" state that occupies a strategically important place on the world map will always find a "good" friend-master from among the great powers, whose services cannot be refused. And Finland actively used such patronage for its own purposes, changing owners depending on the situation.

Workers' protest demonstration in Turku on March 29, 1917, leading to the establishment of Soviet power in Finland. In 1918, Mannerheim with the troops of the German interventionists destroyed Soviet Finland, allied to Russia.

At first, the new Finnish government threw itself into the arms of the imperial Germany, suppressing revolutionary sentiments in the country with the help of German bayonets. When Germany was defeated in World War I, and it was engulfed in the flames of revolution, Finland abruptly changed course and offered itself to England and France.

And already British and French engineers, replacing the German, led the construction of fortifications in Finland, which later received the name of the Mannerheim Line.

Fortifications on the Mannerheim Line. View from the plane. 1944 year

But the Finnish whistle in search of a powerful master - an ally, with the help of which some ardent Finnish politicians hoped to increase the size of their state several times in order to be called nothing but a Great Country, did not end there.

1941 German map of Finland. The solid green line marks the border of Finland and the USSR as of March 1941

Having lost the "winter war" with the USSR and fulfilling all the victor's demands for territorial claims, terribly offended by the French and British, who did not start military operations against the USSR on the side of Finland, the ambitious northern country made a fatal step - it joined the Hitlerite coalition.

Finland, along with Germany, bears full responsibility for the attack on the USSR in 1941, for the blockade of Leningrad, in which more than a million residents of the long-suffering city died from hunger and disease.

And there is no need to justify her actions by the fact that her troops did not go further than the old Soviet-Finnish border, ostensibly limiting themselves to what belonged to her by right. They did not go because they could not overcome the Soviet defense line - the Karelian fortified area, an analogue of the famous Finnish Mannerheim line, the construction of which was completed almost simultaneously with the Finnish one.

But Finnish President Risto Heikki Ryti has already prepared a speech on the occasion of the capture of Leningrad, in particular the following was said:

“For the first time in history, the once so magnificent capital, located close to our borders, has fallen. This news, as expected, lifted the spirits of every Finn ... for us, Finns, Petersburg really brought evil. It was a monument to the Russian state and its ambitions of conquest. "

It is easy to see that in this hostile rhetoric, no distinction is made between the Soviet state and tsarist Russia; for the West, any Russia is a potential enemy, and its lands are an object of envy and lust.

In 1945, the Finnish president and members of his governments, with the exception of Mannerheim, who forbade his troops to fire at besieged Leningrad with long-range guns, were put on trial and convicted as war criminals.

The Soviet government in the thirties of the last century repeatedly appealed to the Finns with various options for resolving the territorial issue to ensure the security of Leningrad, since the state border was very close to the city limits.

But despite the extremely lucrative offers that promised Finland a huge increase in the territory east of Lake Ladoga, and considerable financial benefits, the government of this Scandinavian country, incited by Britain and France, invariably refused the Soviet Union. Sooner or later, this short-sighted position of Finland could lead to war, which the Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish Armed Forces KG Mannerheim repeatedly tried to bring to the attention of his government.

Undoubtedly, a patriot of his country, although a Swede by birth, a fierce opponent of foreign interference in the affairs of the state, he was not at all eager to fight the country of the Soviets, although he never changed his anti-Soviet position.

Mannerheim and the troops of the German interventionists are preparing to defeat Soviet Finland. 1917

But unlike other top Finnish politicians, he was not a Russophobe. Former officer of the Russian army, general of cavalry, Knight of St. George, hero of the Russian-Japanese war, participant in the famous Brusilov breakthrough, who gave over 30 years of military service to the Russian state, and never renounced the oath of allegiance to the emperor of the Russian Empire. The portrait of Nicolas II stood on his desk until the end of his days. Well, Mannerheim's only wife, the Russian noblewoman Anastasia Nikolaevna Arapova, who gave him two daughters, undoubtedly connected him with the Russian world, even though the couple divorced in 1919.

Adolf Hitler arrives in Finland to celebrate Mannerheim's 75th birthday

But they did not listen to the advice of an experienced military man.

The last negotiations, which could lead to a peaceful resolution of the conflict, took place in November 1939 in Moscow.

In the end, Finland once again categorically rejected the proposals of the USSR, the Finnish delegation broke off negotiations with the Soviet side and left Moscow on November 13. When she crossed the border, Finnish border guards fired at the Soviet checkpoint. Minefields appeared in the Gulf of Finland, skirmishes began on the demarcation line between Finnish and Soviet troops, and the Red Army crossed the Finnish border on November 30, 1939.

The Soviet government did not set the task of seizing Finland or changing the existing system - in the alarming conditions of the already outbreak of World War II, first of all, it was necessary to secure Leningrad, which was 32 km from the Soviet-Finnish border.

The Finnish leadership, overestimating its strength, believed that in case of war, Finland, relying on powerful fortifications - the Mannerheim Line, could successfully defend itself for at least six months, and during this time its allies would find a way to influence the situation in the direction necessary for the Finns.

The Soviet government, in turn, underestimating the enemy, believed that the USSR, in two or three weeks of hostilities, would be able to compel Finland to fulfill all its demands.

It was in such conditions that the war began, which in Finland is called "winter", and in our country "Finnish".

JV Stalin, accepting responsibility for this difficult decision, directly pointed out the inevitable necessity of war:

“It would be a great stupidity, political myopia to miss the moment and not try to quickly, while there is a war in the west, to resolve the issue of the security of Leningrad. That is why our government did the right thing by not dismissing this case and opening military action immediately after the break in negotiations with Finland. "

To carry out the operation, the Red Army concentrated 425,000 military grouping on the Finnish borders - the leaders of the USSR believed that this would be enough to achieve success, especially since the superiority in aircraft and tanks on the Soviet side was simply overwhelming.

But it was opposed by the Finnish armies, well prepared for war in winter conditions, numbering 265,000 people - in the conditions of the in-depth defense of these troops, the Finns were more than enough to hold back the first onslaught and achieve local successes in certain sectors of the front. The total number of the armed forces of Finland, taking into account the trained reservists, reached 600,000 people.

And the Finnish army had the most modern weapons. In addition to the supply of weapons from abroad, Finland launched the production of its own small arms, including new types - in particular the Suomi submachine guns, which turned out to be very effective melee weapons.

And the nine-round Finnish anti-tank rifles left almost no chance for light Soviet tanks even to approach the Finnish positions.

Nevertheless, by December 10, 1939, in pursuit of the retreating enemy, the Red Army men on the Karelian Isthmus reached the main structures of the Mannerheim line along the entire length of the front, from Lake Ladoga to the Gulf of Finland.

Two Soviet soldiers with a Maxim machine gun in the forest on the Mannerheim Line. 1940

But an incorrect assessment of the situation led to the fact that in the decisive direction of the strike there was an approximately equal balance of forces.

And, of course, the Soviet troops could not overcome the Mannerheim Line on the move, which, according to the commander-in-chief of the British armed forces, General Kers, “no army is able to break”. The artillery was unable to destroy the enemy's concrete pillboxes, and the tank formations suffered heavy losses, unable to overcome the first line of obstacles.

The international situation has also deteriorated sharply. A powerful anti-Soviet campaign was launched in the foreign press, spreading the topic of "the danger of the world communist revolution" in every way. The United States imposed an embargo on the supply of aviation equipment and technology to the USSR. The League of Nations, in which the main violin was played by the imperialist powers - the USA, Britain and France - made a decision to expel the USSR from this international organization.

Great Britain and France, taking advantage of the fact that Germany did not take any active actions on the Western Front, almost openly began to prepare for war against the USSR, at the same time persuading Sweden and Norway to open armed conflict with the USSR, of course, promising their help. Moreover, the interests of Finland were taken into account at the same time - the British and French were in no hurry to send their troops to the Scandinavian Peninsula, fearing to provoke a clash with Germany in this region.

An armored machine-gun point at a high-rise. The shelling sector covered all approaches to the hill

They developed a basic plan for the invasion of the USSR from the southern direction - from Iran. First of all, it was supposed to seize the Baku oil fields and sever the Transcaucasian republics from the USSR. Diplomatic and behind-the-scenes negotiations were conducted with the aim of involving the Balkan states, Romania, Greece and Turkey in the war against the USSR.

And Japan, which got in the teeth on Halkin Gol, was not afraid of any international sanctions and was tormenting huge but weak China with impunity at that time, was ready to stab the Soviet Union in the back at any moment.

Interestingly, one of the coordination headquarters of the Western allies preparing for a war against the USSR was deployed in the now widely known Syrian city of Aleppo, and the city itself belonged to Turkey.

The supply of British and French weapons for the Finnish army increased sharply, recruiting points were opened in many Western countries to send volunteers to help Finland. From Sweden alone, according to official figures, at least 10,000 troops have arrived. And the military and economic assistance of this country to Finland exceeded the amount of 490 million kroons.

Machine-gun and artillery point

In addition to the southern direction, in the second half of March 1940, England and France were preparing an operation to invade the USSR from the north. Initially, it was planned to land an expeditionary corps at Petsamo, and an offensive towards Kandalaksha and Murmansk. At almost the same time, the coalition forces were to occupy Sweden and Norway.

Interestingly, at about the same time, Germany planned its invasion of Denmark and Norway, leaving Sweden the fate of a cash cow for the supply of strategic raw materials.

There were only two ways to avoid very dangerous scenarios for the Soviet Union - either to admit defeat in the war, or, indeed, to victoriously end it in the shortest possible time.

But to solve this problem, it was first necessary to pass the Mannerheim Line.

This grand complex of defensive fortifications, consisting of six lines of defense, passed the last check on the eve of the Soviet-Finnish war, during exercises to repel the "Soviet threat", and received rave reviews from Western military experts who were convinced that the Finnish "miracle" was not in which is not inferior to the French Maginot line, and just as impregnable.

From the very beginning, Finnish fortifications were built at a considerable distance from the border, exactly where the terrain made it possible to use them with the greatest efficiency.

They were built not a year or two, but more than twenty years with some interruptions, and simply astronomical sums for Finland were spent on this, and the tight-fisted Finns were not going to throw money down the drain.

The main fortification belt of the Mannerheim Line stretches for 150 km from the Gulf of Finland to Lake Ladoga. To overcome the entire line of defense, the enemy had to overcome at least 90 km of defensive structures, where over 1000 bunkers and bunkers awaited him, of which 296 were modern powerful fortresses.

Exit into the trenches

In 1937, in the Finnish fortified area under the leadership of Mannerheim, they began to build the most ambitious and practically invulnerable to enemy artillery bunkers - “ millionaires ", nicknamed so because of their exorbitant cost, the construction of each of them cost the Finnish treasury more than 1 million crowns.

The combat casemates of the bunkers were connected by underground passages, underground shelters for people and ammunition were reliably covered with multi-meter layers of earth and concrete. The cross-country artillery and machine-gun fire of these monsters did not leave a single piece of "dead space" on the approaches to the Finnish positions. In total, by the beginning of the war, 7 pillbox-fortresses were erected.

Around these bunkers, simpler fortifications were erected: bunkers, dugouts, trenches. The front edge was defended by minefields, barbed wire, anti-tank ditches and nadolby. Zones were being prepared for artificial flooding of vast areas of the terrain.

To strengthen the anti-tank weapons of the Mannerheim line in Sweden, 125 40-mm Bofors automatic cannons were purchased, which were placed in positions just before the start of the war.

Exit into the trenches

By the end of December 1939, the front had stabilized, it became clear to the Soviet command that its initial plans did not correspond much to reality, and it was necessary to make drastic decisions, since time was working for the enemy.

And they followed - first of all, the military leadership was replaced: instead of the commander of the 2nd rank K.A. Meretskov, who had been in charge of military operations since the beginning of the war, was appointed commander of the 1st rank S.K. Tymoshenko, who proved himself well during the Polish campaign to liberate Western Ukraine and Western Belarus.

He became the commander of the North-Western Front formed to break through the Mannerheim Line, immediately beginning energetic preparations for a decisive offensive. K.A. Meretskov was not removed from the theater of military operations, on the contrary, he, having led the 7th Army in the west of the Karelian Isthmus, where the direction of the main attack was planned. This site was not chosen by chance - it was here, on vast flat fields, that the Soviet troops could massively use their main trump card - tank formations and heavy artillery.

To mislead the enemy, the Finnish fortifications were subjected to constant artillery fire along the entire line of contact, specially created units carried out reconnaissance in force in various sectors, probing the enemy's line of defense.

Pavel Rudov © IA REGNUM

Exit into the trenches

25 Soviet divisions were preparing to break through the front line. The total number of Soviet troops was increased to 600,000, which gave the necessary ratio of forces for a successful offensive of 3: 1.

But this is not the main thing - given the miscalculations of the initial period of the war, the troops were provided with everything necessary to conduct hostilities in the harsh conditions of a very cold snowy winter - winter uniforms, white camouflage coats, ski equipment, equipment and ammunition. The army received mobile heating points.

Combined assault groups were created and specially trained to capture and destroy pillboxes. Each group consisted of five or six tanks, half of which were flamethrowers, several guns, a platoon of sappers, up to an infantry company with light and heavy machine guns, and snipers. It was such units that opened the famous Finnish defense, destroying several impregnable bunkers with a population of over one million. The first to advance to the enemy positions were tanks-minesweepers, making passes in minefields.

The infantry in the offensive was covered with steel armor shields mounted on special skis, which immediately reduced losses from enemy machine-gun and rifle fire. And light T-26 tanks, with wide tracks, easily dragged armored vehicles with explosives through the snow - sappers blew up bunkers with it, blinded by artillery and tank fire. Up to 3 tons of explosives were spent on one firing point.

Trenches

Some of the defenses were destroyed by "Stalin's sledgehammers" - large-caliber 203 mm B-4 howitzers, whose 100-kg concrete-piercing shells saved many lives of Soviet soldiers.

It should be noted that the newest Soviet T-34 tanks did not participate in the Finnish war, and the KV-1 heavy tanks were used in small numbers for testing purposes.

In the period from 1 to 3 February 1940, the first attacks of the Soviet troops followed. With great difficulty the Finns repelled them. By February 5, a significant part of the defensive fortifications of the first line of defense of the Finns was swept away by the fire of the Soviet large-caliber artillery, and the assault groups of the Red Army moved forward, destroying the surviving enemy firing points.

Finnish soldiers fought desperately, realizing that the end was coming ...

Trenches

The general offensive of the Northwestern forces began on February 11 after a 3-hour artillery preparation and a bombardment strike in the Summa-Lyakhte sector.

Despite the unfavorable weather conditions, bomber aviation was actively operating, striking the Finnish fortifications, bridges, railway stations, communications.

And the Finnish defense could not stand it and was broken through in several places at once. During the first day, Soviet troops advanced in some areas up to one and a half kilometers, deeply wedged into the hitherto inaccessible Mannerheim Line. Three days later, when the depth of the breakthrough reached three kilometers, it became clear that nothing could stop our soldiers - even if the line of fortifications stretched all the way to the capital of Finland.

One of the entrances to the dungeon. The trampled trail brings to mind - suddenly the Finns are still walking into the trenches.

Chief Marshal of Artillery N.N. Voronov writes in his memoirs:

“On February 15, a hurricane of our bombs and shells hit the village of Summa. I was at the forward observation post. After the artillery moved the fire to the required depth, tanks and infantry simultaneously went on the attack. This time the enemy could not withstand the onslaught. He was threatened with outflanking, and he began to retreat.

The strong point fell before my eyes. "

The threat of encirclement hung over the Finnish army, which defended the first defensive line - the Soviet troops broke into its defenses to a depth of 10 km, and the breakthrough front was also expanding - it already exceeded 4 km.

By February 17, the central part of Mannerheim's fortifications had been broken through from Lake Vuoksi in the east to the Gulf of Finland in the west, and the Finnish Marshal ordered the troops to retreat. He still made convulsive attempts to restrain Soviet troops at new lines, changed the leadership of units and subunits, threw reserves into battle right from the march - but everything was in vain, the Red Army was inexorably moving forward, overcoming up to 10 kilometers per day.

A fortification built of granite boulders to impede the advance of armored vehicles

The second line of defense could not save the situation, the Finns could not hold out on these lines. On one of the sectors of the front, 15 Finnish tanks launched a desperate counterattack, surprising the Soviet soldiers a lot, to whose positions only three vehicles reached their positions ...

On March 3, the troops of the 7th Army reached Vyborg and began to cover it from both sides. Realizing that the Finnish troops were on the verge of complete annihilation, Mannerheim reported to the government on March 9 that the war was lost, although fierce battles were still continuing in all directions.

Finland's hope for a favorable outcome of the war collapsed along with the Mannerheim Line, after the inevitable fall of Vyborg, the way to the capital of Finland - Helsinki was opened for Soviet troops.

Views from the hill to Onega

A participant in the Finnish events, Soviet Major General Leonid Fyodorovich Minyuk, who became an adjutant to G.K. during the Great Patriotic War. Zhukova, describes this significant event that led Finland to defeat in the war:

“The breakthrough of the Mannerheim Line occupies one of the most prominent places in the history of war in terms of military valor, combat effectiveness and tactics of warfare. Difficult terrain conditions, forests, swamps, lakes, which added strength to this line of defense, made it more powerful than any other defensive structure in Europe. The valiant Red Army was the first in history to be able to break through such a defensive structure. This is an undoubted achievement of the Red Army. "

At the same time, no less fierce battles unfolded on the diplomatic front - Finland hysterically appealed to its allies, openly demanding immediate military assistance. But when it smelled fried and her neighbors and patrons acted according to the law of the jungle: "every man for himself."

Germany had almost completed preparations for the invasion of Norway, England was also striving there, being literally several days late in her plans, and the Finnish question in these plans faded into the background, unless it was a convenient reason for the appearance of British soldiers on the Scandinavian Peninsula.

View from the hill to Onega

Sweden, not wanting to become an arena of clashes between the three great powers - England, the USSR and Germany, cleverly got out of the situation, recalling its neutrality and refused to let foreign troops through its territory. For Germany, the Swedish government guaranteed supplies of iron ore and other types of strategic raw materials, half of the Swedish merchant fleet was leased to England until the end of the war, and the Soviet Union was satisfied with Sweden's official refusal to send its troops to Finland.

The position of Sweden was supported by Norway, fearing both Germany and England, whose fleet sharply intensified its presence in Norwegian territorial waters.

Finland finally realized that it was being simply led by the nose - England and France, although they promise military assistance, shrug their shoulders, referring to the position of Sweden. The Swedes nod at the threat from Germany and do not want to get involved in a war with the USSR on the side of Finland, which is already clearly suffering a military defeat.

The last straw was the refusal of France and England to mediate in peace negotiations between Finland and the USSR - the Western countries clearly wanted the war to continue. Offended and offended by such behavior of their patrons, the Finns, with the help of Sweden, turned to the USSR with a proposal to conclude a peace, preliminarily agreeing to all conditions, trying to save the remnants of their army from complete defeat.

Sopka

Negotiations began in Moscow on March 8, and on the 13th the peace treaty was signed. The Finns were forced to fulfill all the requirements of the Soviet side.

The border on the Karelian Isthmus moved 150 km away from Leningrad, Finland abandoned the city of Vyborg with the Vyborg Bay and islands in favor of the USSR, the western and northern shores of Lake Ladoga with the cities of Suoyarvi, Sortavala, and Kyakisalma. In addition, the Rybachy and Sredny peninsulas were withdrawn to the USSR, and the 30-year lease of the Hanko peninsula completely solved the problem of covering the entrance to the Gulf of Finland. And, of course, no one offered any exchange of territories to the Finns.

The Soviet-Finnish peace treaty, under which the parties, among other things, undertook obligations to refrain from attacking each other and not to participate in hostile coalitions, completely deprived the legitimacy of the actions of England, France and Germany on the Scandinavian Peninsula. And according to British military experts, it gave the "USSR the opportunity to dominate the Gulf of Finland and strengthen its strategic positions in the Gulf of Bothnia and the Baltic states against Germany."

Thus, for a certain historical period, the USSR solved the problem of strengthening its security in the northwestern direction, paying for this with the lives of 131,000 soldiers and officers who died in battles and are missing. Their lives saved the northern capital of Russia from plunder and complete destruction by a ruthless enemy who attacked the USSR on June 22, 1941 without declaring war.

For military exploits performed during the Finnish war, 412 Soviet servicemen of all branches of the armed forces were nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and the 1st rank commander S.K. Timoshenko, and on May 7, 1940 he was awarded the highest military rank - Marshal of the Soviet Union.

Oleg Tupikin