Battle of Tolvajärvi

Date: December 12, 1939 • Location: Yanis’yarvi, Russian Federation

This milestone marked the outbreak and beginning of this historic period, which spanned 1939.

Winter War: The Battle of Tolvajärvi, also known as the first major Finnish victory in the Winter War, begins.

The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peace Treaty on 13 March 1940. Despite superior military strength, especially in tanks and aircraft, the Soviet Union suffered severe losses and initially made little headway. The League of Nations deemed the attack illegal and expelled the Soviet Union from its organization.