When people look to the challenge the Ukrainians are facing with the mass of the Russian Army to their east, a few people like Elisabeth Braw over at Foreign Policy are looking at what the Finns were able to do in the Winter War in 1939;
Just over 82 years ago, Finnish soldiers defending their country against the vastly superior Soviet Red Army achieved a spectacular breakthrough: They defeated the Soviet invaders in the battle for the town of Tolvajarvi in then-Ladoga Karelia. The Finnish Army’s stunning victory signaled to the Finnish population and the rest of the world that all was not lost—and for 10 more weeks, the Finns miraculously managed to keep the Soviets at bay. Today, another small country faces a similar winter war. Ukraine would do well to learn from Finland.
…
Tolvajarvi was a Christmas miracle and a turning point in Finland’s so-called Winter War. Even though the country had to agree to a cease-fire some three months later, it never capitulated. The Soviets lost five times more soldiers than the Finns, and the Finns inflicted on the Soviet Union a humiliation so great that to this day, the Winter War is barely mentioned in Russian schools.
That does give hope … but this is 2022, not 1939. Ukrainians are not Finns, and the terrain is vastly different.
There are things to learn tactically – but the greatest example it gives is what the Finns had in abundance and the Ukrainians need most – civic capital;
Of course, the Finns believed in their government because they knew it to be principled and incorruptible. Creating similar national unity would certainly be difficult for Ukraine, given that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was recently implicated in the Pandora Papers. The self-declared man of the people was found to own offshore companies, which his business partners had used to buy luxury properties in London.
Achieving national unity also won’t be aided by the fact that Ukrainian civil servants have somehow managed to accumulate $2.6 billion in Bitcoin, according to figures released earlier this year. Even so, Ukraine could draw inspiration from the Finns’ commitment to unity when it matters most, and Ukraine’s recent efforts to finally get a grip on corruption are bound to create at least a bit more national unity.
Only the Russians really know what they are trying to achieve with their military buildup in Ukraine, but in time we will find out.
Until then, yes, the US and our European allies should help the Ukrainian military so to adjust the risk calculation by the Russians – but just as important, Ukrainians should work even harder to create a civil society they can be proud of to the point that her people will make extraordinary sacrifices to keep it.
As the Finns showed 82 years ago, a strong civil society is a force multiplier. While we are at it, American should remember the too.
