Posted on 02/28/2022 2:47:22 PM PST by SpeedyInTexas
Finland is absolutely not weak, not cowardly, and not afraid to defend itself. It went it pretty much alone toe to toe with the Soviet Union during WWII and survived. In the process they inflicted more than a million casualties on the Red Army. I doubt any country in the world has more fight in it than Finland. The Swedes on the other hand, well there is a reason there is so much yellow in their flag.
The Finns are tough-ass people, make fabulous firearms and knives, and know how to use them. I don’t think herr Putin will mess with them.
Swedish army active personnel....24,000.
Hardly intimidating.
“My friend in Finland says that was yesteryear. Today’s Finns are disarmed and soft”
Finns are number 10 in the world in terms of private gun ownership. Everyone hunts.
As compared to for instance, Ukraine....Standing military of approx. 200,000
Putin worshipers have no idea of what they are EVER talking about except when they are extolling the manliness of their manly man-crush.
“Today’s Finns are disarmed and soft.”
We have a whole generation of masking, global warming, safe spacers who couldn’t bait a fishhook much less load a firearm.
PS Finns have guns...lots of them and their knives are the sharpest!
“Nobody but NAZI Germany would send them any aid when Stalin invaded”
That came later. When Stalin invaded Mussolini tried to send Finland military aid, but Hitler stopped the delivery. Unknown to Mussolini Hitler and Stalin had agreed that Finland goes to the USSR.
Finland is one of the few countries that has a high frequency of what is called “the killer gene”. A gene that makes a person in rage not “red hot angry”, but “stone cold killer”. Bad at peacetime as it turns arguments into murders, but very useful when war.
Nobody but Germany was willing to supply Finland with weapons and planes. They asked the Swedes, British, French and others but the answer was no. On the otherhand the USA supplied Stalin’s armies so in effect the Finns fought Russia and the USA. All they wanted was to keep their country intact, but Stalin wanted it and half of Poland. In the end he got all of Poland Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Czechoslovakia, and half of Germany some of which he incorporated directly into the Soviet Union. All he got in Finland was the second largest city, a big hunk of tundra. If Putin wants historical borders the Germany and Poland and Finland and Romania have a lot of realestate they are owed. We will leave the Volga Germans out of the equation for now
Perhaps the influence of modern media.
They fought the Continuation War with Nazi help. The Germans didn't step in to help them in The Winter War. In the time between the wars the Finns were sticking their finger in the wind and decided it was better to be a friend to the Devil than to oppose him.
The Finns moved at the same time as the start of Operation Barbarossa in hopes of regaining what they had conceded in The Winter War.
They, along with their Nazi allies, inflicted heavy damage to the Soviets. In the end, they were forced to return to the lines established after the Winter War.
This isn’t joining Costco.
Just as Obama was given the “Salesman of the Year” award by the National Rifle Association while he was in office, Putin deserves the NATO equivalent.
I read some of your comments about Finland. I am wondering what is your field of expertise, especially with regard to military history?
Russia then bombed Helsinki to force the Finns to the negotiating table.
Yes. Quantity has a quality all it’s own.
What a story! Thx for posting it
Don’t sell the Finns short.
During the Winter War, 11/30/39-3/13/40, the Finns made the Soviet army bleed like a stuck hog. It was so bad that the Russians had to fall back, regroup and attack again with different tactics.
The Finnish snipers did a job on the Russian officers. Simo Häyhä, proclaimed the deadliest sniper in history had 505 confirmed kills over 100 days until he was badly wounded.
Simo Häyhä aka the White Death.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simo_H%C3%A4yh%C3%A4
Even though the Russians gained territory from Finland in the Treaty of Moscow, they didn’t want to fight the Finns again. Even after WW2 the Russians were leery of Finland and didn’t make any attempt to invade even though Finns fought for Germany in the Wermacht and SS.
“The Finns are tough-ass people, make fabulous firearms and knives, and know how to use them. I don’t think herr Putin will mess with them.”
—
They may have been at one time. And every country believes their own fighters to be the best and the bravest, none say “our boys in uniform really suck - bad”.
However the fact remains is that Finland is now for somebody else to protect them, so whatever ability it may have had looks to be long gone.
Or maybe they’re just cheap and not willing to spend their own money to defend themselves. Either way, these days they’re looking for someone who can stand and deliver for them.
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