Chronicle of the Second World War (December 1939)

On December 1, 150,000 Poles moved from the Reichsgau Posen to the Governor General. ^[one]

December 1, in Stockholm begins the registration of volunteers in the Finnish army.

Soviet-Finnish War . Terijoki government

Map of Finland at the end of 1939, compiled by the Airbrushing Division of the Red Army Air Force. The border between the USSR and the Finnish Democratic Republic is lilac in accordance with the Treaty of Mutual Assistance and Friendship of December 2, 1939.

V. M. Molotov signs an agreement between the USSR and the Terijoki government. Cost: A. A. Zhdanov , K. E. Voroshilov , I. V. Stalin , O. V. Kuusinen

On December 1, 1939, a report was published in the newspaper Pravda, which stated that the so-called “People’s Government” had been formed in Finland, headed by Otto Kuusinen . In historical literature, the Kuusinen government is usually referred to as the “Terijoki government,” since it was, after the outbreak of war, in the village of Terijoki (now the city of Zelenogorsk ). This government was officially recognized by the USSR.

Moscow Radio notified ^[2] of the founding of the republic on December 1, 1939 in Terijoki (now Zelenogorsk , Russia). Finnish troops just left the city on the same day, so some researchers have expressed doubts that Terijoki is the real place of foundation of the FDR] ^[3] . The new republic was officially recognized by three countries of the world ( USSR , Mongolia , Tuva ) ^[4] .

The government of the republic consisted of citizens of the USSR, leaders of the Communist Party of Finland and is known as the Terijoki government ( Fin. Terijoen hallitus ), since Terijoki was the first Finnish city occupied by the Red Army . The Finnish communist Otto Kuusinen was the head of government and foreign minister.

The main provisions of this agreement met the requirements that the USSR had previously presented to Finnish representatives (transfer of territories on the Karelian Isthmus, sale of a number of islands in the Gulf of Finland, lease of Hanko). In exchange, the transfer of Finland to significant territories in Soviet Karelia and monetary compensation was provided. The USSR also pledged to support the Finnish People’s Army with weapons, assistance in training specialists, etc. The contract was concluded for a period of 25 years, and if one of the parties did not declare its termination a year before the contract expired, it was automatically extended for another 25 years. The agreement entered into force from the moment it was signed by the parties, and the ratification was planned "as soon as possible in the capital of Finland - the city of Helsinki ."

Alakurtti . On the morning of December 1, the territory of the burnt village of Alakurtti was occupied by Soviet troops ^[5] .

England and France: plans of military operations against the USSR . Great Britain from the very beginning provided assistance to Finland. On the one hand, the British government tried to avoid turning the USSR into an enemy, on the other, it was widely believed that because of the conflict in the Balkans, the Soviet Union would "have to fight one way or another." The Finnish representative in London, Georg Gripenberg ( fi: Georg Achates Gripenberg ), asked Halifax on December 1, 1939, to allow supplies of military materials to Finland, provided that they would not be re-exported to Nazi Germany (with which Britain was at war) ^{[ 6]} . The head of the Department of the North ( en: Northern Department ) Lawrence Collier ( en: Laurence Collier ) at the same time believed that the British and German goals in Finland could be compatible and wanted Germany and Italy to be involved in the war against the USSR, while speaking, however, opposed the proposed Finland used the Polish fleet (then under British control) to destroy Soviet ships. Thomas Snow, British representative in Helsinki, continued to support the idea of ​​an anti-Soviet alliance (with Italy and Japan), which he had expressed before the war.

Sino-Japanese war . Winter offensive . 1st military district . On December 1, troops of the 3rd group of the army and partisan formations cut the Longhai railway east and west of Lankao , as well as the roads in Tongxu , Huaiyang and Louis counties.

Soviet-Finnish War . Terijoki government . December 2, 1939 between the USSR and the FDR was signed an agreement on mutual assistance and friendship . The main provisions of this agreement met the requirements that the USSR had previously presented to Finnish representatives (transfer of territories on the Karelian Isthmus, sale of a number of islands in the Gulf of Finland, lease of Hanko). In exchange, the transfer of Finland to significant territories in Soviet Karelia and monetary compensation were envisaged. Article 8 of the treaty promised ratification "as soon as possible in the capital of Finland - the city of Helsinki ."

Fights near Petsamo . The 104th division, along with the border guards, moved west without encountering resistance. The main forces of the Finns in the Petsamo area as part of the reinforced battalion until December 2 kept two Soviet regiments on the isthmus that separated the Sredny Peninsula from the mainland. By the evening of December 2, the 58th and 95th infantry regiments occupied Petsamo, and the transfer of the 52nd infantry division from Murmansk began there.

Soviet-Finnish War . During the first days of the war, the Finnish army retreated, avoiding major clashes, using the tactics of exhausting the enemy with a series of counterattacks by forces of small units.

Fights near Petsamo . December 3, Soviet troops took Luostari.

Exclusion of the USSR from the League of Nations . On December 3, the Permanent Representative of Finland to the League of Nations, Eino Rudolf Holsti, informed League Secretary General Jose Avenol about the start of Soviet military aggression against his country and the denunciation by the Soviet Union of previous bilateral treaties. In this regard, the Permanent Representative asked to urgently convene the Council and Assembly of this organization to prevent war ^[7] .

Soviet-Finnish War . Terijoki government .

Exclusion of the USSR from the League of Nations .

On December 4, in response to a request from the Secretary General of the League of Nations, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR, Vyacheslav Molotov, said that the Soviet Union was not at war with Finland and did not threaten the Finnish people, since it concluded the Treaty of Mutual Assistance and Friendship with the Government on December 2, 1939, established the day before of this Finland Democratic Republic (FDR). From the point of view of the USSR, he is making joint efforts with the FDR to eliminate the hotbed of war created in Finland by its former rulers ^[7] .

Molotov announced that the previous Finnish government had lost its authority and was no longer in charge of the country. The Soviet Union announced in the League of Nations that from now on it would only negotiate with the FDR. The head of the USSR NKID also said that if the Council and the Assembly were convened to consider the appeal of the Canvas, the Soviet representatives would not participate in them ^[7] .

Fights near Petsamo . To avoid the environment, the Finns retreated. The 95th rifle regiment returned to the Rybachy Peninsula, and the 58th rifle regiment, artillery and machine guns of which were still on its way to Petsamo, took up defense. In this situation, the command of the 104th Mountain Division ordered the preparation of a raid on enemy positions on the night of December 5th.

7th Army (USSR) . Arrived at the front as a representative of GAU. However, on December 4, 1939, Grendal , who never commanded infantry, was unexpectedly appointed commander of a task force of three rifle divisions ( 49th , 142nd and 150th ), advancing on the Kexholm direction and being part of the 7th army .

On December 4, 1939, the 100th Rifle Division was transferred to the Leningrad Military District , after which parts of the division were sent by rail to Leningrad .

Soviet-Finnish War . In November 1939, the 138th SD was transferred to the Karelian Isthmus and on December 5 crossed the border river Sestra .

Terijoki government .

Exclusion of the USSR from the League of Nations .

Fights near Petsamo . During a raid, a company of the 273rd regiment managed to capture five cars and three guns, but the Finnish sentry managed to give an alarm before his death. In a night battle, the commander lost control of the company, which, with the enemy’s counterattack, withdrew, conducting random fire. The Finns returned their guns and captured four easel and four light machine guns. Losses in the company amounted to almost half of its staff. After the battle, the company commander was put on trial and shot.

7th Army (USSR) . This group (called the “Grendal Group”) was the first of the 7th Army troops on December 5 to reach the left flank of the “ Mannerheim Line ”.

Soviet-Finnish War .

7th Army (USSR) . On December 6, the Grendal Group crossed the Taipalen-yoki River, which was still not frozen, and created a bridgehead on its northern shore. According to the memoirs of the future Chief Marshal of Artillery N. N. Voronov ,

in the process of this very difficult and difficult battle (attack on the go of the UR, with the forcing of a large river) V. D. Grendal, relying on a hastily improvised headquarters, proved himself to be an excellent organizer of the battle and a strong-willed, firm commander. At the same time, he showed in this battle his exceptional courage, appearing in critical moments of the battle in the most dangerous places, giving necessary orders and inspiring personal commanders and fighters.

Sino-Japanese war . Winter offensive . 1st military district . On December 6, the new 5th Corps attacked the positions of the Japanese 1st Separate Mixed Brigade south and north of Anyang , destroying railway bridges.

Soviet-Finnish War . Battle of Suomussalmi . The battle on the Raat road .

On December 7, the 163rd division reached Suomussalmi, the Finnish military themselves completely burned the village before the retreat. On December 7, 1939, the 163rd Infantry Division of the 9th Army during the offensive occupied the village of Suomussalmi , which was given the responsible task of striking at Oulu , reaching the Gulf of Bothnia and cutting Finland in half as a result. But at the same time the division lost contact with other parts of the Red Army .

A strange war . Danish-Norwegian operation . On December 7–13, British vessels or chartered by the British, Thomas Walton, Deptford, and Herodfelia, were sunk in Norwegian waters by a German submarine ^[8] .

Soviet-Finnish War .

The battle on the Raat road .

On December 8, Chinese forces, with the assistance of the Soviet major S. Zhunjin air group, stopped the Japanese attack from the Nanying area at the Kunlunguan line, after which (December 16, 1939) the Chinese launched an offensive with the 86th and 10th armies in order to encircle the Wuhan group of Japanese troops. From the flanks the operation was provided by the 21st and 50th armies. On the first day of the operation, the Japanese defense was broken, but the further course of events led to a halt in the offensive, a retreat to its original positions and the transition to defensive actions. Wuhan operation failed due to shortcomings in the command system of the Chinese army

Soviet-Finnish War .

The battle on the Raat road .

Soviet-Finnish War .

The battle on the Raat road .

Soviet-Finnish War . On December 11, the 138th SD became part of the 50th SK and proceeded to change parts of the 123rd SD at the boundary of the lakes Summayarvi, Sepyanmyaki. The division was to break through the Mannerheim line . One of the most powerful nodes of which was Khatinensky (Sumy). He then had to overcome the 138th SD.

The battle on the Raat road . Transferring reinforcements from other sectors of the front, the Finns blocked the Raat road on December 11, connecting the 163rd division with the rear ^[9] . The division was surrounded by smaller Finnish forces and cut off from supplies.

Soviet-Finnish War . By December 12, units of the 7th Army were able to overcome only the line support line and reach the front edge of the main defense line, but the planned breakthrough of the line on the move failed due to clearly insufficient forces and poor organization of the offensive.

Battle of Petsamo. Continuation of the Soviet offensive . On December 12, after the approach of all divisions of the 52nd Infantry Division , the offensive resumed. The Finns began to retreat along the highway to Rovaniemi , mining it and setting up blockages.

Battle of Tolvajärvi . On December 12, the Finnish army carried out one of its most successful operations near Lake Tolvajärvi .

Soviet-Finnish War .

The battle on the Raat road . On the 13th, the Finns also blocked the northern route for the delivery of reinforcements to the Soviet troops (later supply was carried out along Lake Kiantayarvi ) ^[10] .

A strange war . Battle of La Plata . The battle

On the morning of December 13, 1939, at about 6 a.m., “Admiral Count Spee” encountered a squadron of British cruisers; on the “Spee” found the tops of the masts at 5:52, at 6:16 from the cruiser “Exeter”, a report came: “I believe that this is a“ pocket battleship. ”At first, the British light cruisers were mistaken for destroyers, that is, the commander of“ Admiral Spee "Captain tsur zee Hans Langsdorf considered that he was dealing with a cruiser and two destroyers. Langsdof, who was ordered not to engage in battle with the English warships, and fearing that the British, who had gone so far with an economical 15 nodal move, would start the chase, gave the command to leave at full speed.

The English squadron was commanded by Commodore Henry Harwood , who was on the flagship Ajax. He adopted the battle plan, which, taking into account his superiority in speed, was to take the enemy in ticks, forcing him to fire on both sides. Exeter was commanded by Captain Frederick Bell , who had thirty years of experience in the Navy and participated in many military operations.

At 618 a.m. the first salvo of the German raider lay between the British cruisers, and four minutes later the Exeter guns spoke up. Having taken the light cruisers as destroyers, the commander of Admiral Count Spee, 1st-rank captain G. Langsdorf ordered the main caliber artillery fire to be concentrated only on the most powerful enemy.

At 6 hours and 23 minutes, Langsdorf managed to hit the starboard side of the Exeter, which destroyed almost the entire torpedo team. As a result of the following six volleys, the Exeter receives several hits, after which the second bow tower was broken, the commander’s bridge was destroyed, communication was lost and steering control mechanisms were disabled. However, the cars remained unharmed. Passing into the aft conning tower, the commander of the English ship began to transmit the command along the chain of sailors to the emergency manual control command. In many departments of the ship there were fires, and he himself had a roll on the starboard side.

Of the surviving guns managed to hit Count Spee in the starboard side. After that, Langsdorf gave a radiogram that the ship was damaged, there were 36 dead, 6 seriously and 53 slightly wounded. There is no certainty that in such a situation he will succeed in breaking through. And therefore, despite the danger of being blocked, he goes to the mouth of La Plata. After which he changed course, but managed to destroy the remaining nose guns of the Exeter, which burned in many places, but the fire died down after the German shells that flooded the ship with a shortage of water. By the next hit, around 7.40 all the artillery of the Exeter main caliber was finally destroyed. Bell was shot in the eye by a shrapnel.

When asked by the senior officer about further actions, Bell replied that he intended to ram the German ship. However, Langsdorf, who had no order to engage in battle with warships and was convinced that the weak English squadron was only the vanguard of a large English compound, gave the command to leave under the cover of a smokescreen in neutral waters.

The pilots of the plane taking off from the Achilles to adjust the fire and inspect the burning Exeter were amazed that the ship in this state could be kept afloat. By evening, the ship's doctor took the fragments from Bell's eyes, after which he returned to control the ship and brought him to the Falklands , where the ship was docked.

Meanwhile, light cruisers, fired upon only by battleship auxiliary artillery, slipped through the danger zone and, according to Langsdorf, behaved with "incomprehensible impudence." When at 7.16 the raider turned south, intending to finish off the Exeter, the light cruisers Ajax and Achilles fired so accurately and efficiently that with two shells they disabled the artillery fire control system at Admiral Count Spee. And, although these actions did not go unanswered (one 280-mm German shell disabled the aft towers on the Ajax , and the other demolished its mast), both Englishmen continued to pursue until night, losing sight of them for a while. "Count Spee" fired back, saving ammunition. Having lost about 22 hours of the British from sight completely, Langsdorf made a fatal mistake, not turning south, which would give him the opportunity to go into the open spaces of the Atlantic.

At midnight, when the “Admiral Count Spee” anchored in the Montevideo raid, the “Ajax” and “Achilles” , divided, hastened to block both exits from the mouth of La Plata . The next night they were joined by the heavy cruiser Cumberland (8-203 mm guns) - that was all that Harwood was able to counter the German raider.

Upon returning to England, the Exeter team was received in Plymouth by Churchill and in London by King George VI , Bell was promoted to companion, and Henry Harwood - to the Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath .

Sino-Japanese war . Winter offensive . 1st military district . North of the Yellow River, the 36th Army Group attacked. By December 13, the 47th Corps completed the removal of the Taihanshan Mountains from Japanese troops.

A strange war . Danish-Norwegian operation . Development of the operation “Teachings on the Weser” For the Germans, Norway was both the key to the North Sea and the transit of Swedish ore; The commander-in-chief of the Kriegsmarine, Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, especially insisted on its capture ^[11] . On December 14, 1939, the Wehrmacht command received a task from Hitler to investigate the possibility of capturing Norway ^[12] .

Soviet-Finnish War .

Soviet-Finnish War .

Sino-Japanese war . Winter offensive . 1st military district . On December 15, the 81st division took the Lovan railway station, and the next day entered Kaifeng .

Meanwhile, in the southeast, the 2nd Cavalry Corps surrounded Shantsyu and attacked it from the east, destroying the airfield. The forces of the outer ring of the environment destroyed the Japanese releasing forces moving from the east by the Longkhai railway .

Soviet-Finnish War .

Soviet-Finnish War . 7th Army (USSR) .

70th Infantry Division - 7th Army 12/17/1939 at 23:20 KP 70th SD in Mellola (now - Kamyshevka)

- ^[13]

A strange war . Battle of La Plata . Subsequent events

The state commission of Uruguay, which visited the battleship, established that it would take at least two weeks to repair the ship.

Although the damage to Admiral Count Spee was not very large, he needed repairs that could not be done in three days provided by the Uruguayan government under international law. The British and French diplomatic missions did everything possible to delay the battleship in Montevideo for longer, since the nearest heavy English ships were, according to Churchill, at a distance of at least 2,000 nautical miles.

Understanding Langsdorf’s predicament, British agents in Montevideo broadcast false classified information on the radio and intensely spread rumors that Admiral Count Spee was waiting at the exit from La Plata for a strong English squadron, which included the battle cruiser Rinaun and the aircraft carrier Arc Royal . ” The presence of two English cruisers was a convincing confirmation of the rumors. In addition, the silhouette of the Cumberland was mistaken by the Germans for the Rinaun. The commander of the naval forces of England in South America informed the city authorities and the police that two large English ships would arrive in the near future to rest their crews.

Believing in the inevitable death of his ship, Langsdorf sent a request to Berlin, saying that as a result of the blockade, the breakthrough was hopeless. On December 17, he received a telegram from Admiral Röder instructing him to prolong his stay in neutral waters as much as possible and try to break into Buenos Aires , but in no case prevent the ship from being interned in Uruguay. If a decision is made on flooding, ensure that the ship becomes unusable.

On the afternoon of December 17, 700 crew members, collecting their belongings, switched to a German merchant ship in the harbor. At the same time, 27 crew members from the sunken English ships were released. They immediately informed the British embassy that the other 300 prisoners had been transferred to the German ship Altmark .

December 17 at 18.20, escorted by the gazes of 750,000 spectators hoping to become witnesses of the sea battle, the ship went into neutral waters from the harbor of Montevideo. Then the remnants of the team and the captain in the amount of 40 people went into tow, previously placing six torpedo fighting squads in the ship’s compartments.

At 19.56 several explosions followed, after which the ship sank at a depth of 8 meters.

Soviet-Finnish War .

Soviet-Finnish War .

Soviet-Finnish War . On December 20, Zelentsov requested permission from the headquarters to retreat to the Soviet border, but was refused. The 44th Kiev Red Banner Rifle Division , which arrived the day before from Ukraine, was sent to help her ^[14] .

On December 20, 1939, the advance detachments of the 44th division, reinforced by an armored brigade, entered the Raat Road from the territory of the USSR and began to advance towards Suomussalmi , where the 163rd division was surrounded.

A strange war . Battle of La Plata . Subsequent events

Langsdorf, remaining at the Buenos Aires hotel on December 20, following the rules of the Kaiser fleet that the captain shares the fate of his ship, wrapped himself in a ship's flag and shot himself. The crew of Admiral Count Spee was evacuated to Buenos Aires.

Soviet-Finnish War . Foreign military assistance to Finland in the Winter War .   Germany On December 21, 1939, Germany entered into an agreement with Sweden, in which it promised to supply as many weapons to Sweden as it would transfer to Finland from its own stockpiles. After that, Sweden began to supply even more weapons to Finland ^[15] .

Soviet-Finnish War . After seven days of fighting in the Summa-Khotinen area, an attempt to break through the Mannerheim Line in the forehead ends with great losses. The phlegmatic and unflappable Finns in their bunkers fainted at the sight of a mountain of corpses that they created with their fire.

In mid-December 1939, the 44th Infantry Division was sent to help the 163rd Infantry Division , which fell into the semicircle under Suomussalmi .

The division, advancing without the organization of combat guards, along the forested Raat Road, the division stretched for 30 kilometers and on December 22, 1939 was stopped by an enemy barrier 12 kilometers from Suomussalmi.

Soviet-Finnish War . Soviet troops invaded Finland, intending to cut it and go to the Gulf of Bothnia. But here the Finns adopted the tactics of guerrilla warfare. In small batches of skiers who knew the terrain well, they fired from ambushes at columns of troops stretching along narrow forest roads. At the same time, their main goal was commanders and camp kitchens. The encircled troops, in accordance with the charters, occupied a circular defense, forming sedentary centers of resistance, called the Finns "motti", the elimination of which was only a matter of time ^[16]

Soviet-Finnish War .

Soviet-Finnish War . Until December 25, after artillery bombardment, the 138th Infantry Division advanced into the attack, but when it was met by machine guns, mortars and artillery, it retreated to its original positions. On December 25th, the change of command took place in the 138th SD. Colonel A. A. Khadeev , chief of staff P. N. Tupikov, and chief of the political department battalion commissar G. P. Romanov was appointed commander.

Soviet-Finnish War .

Until the end of December, the 7th Army continued its attempts to break through the Mannerheim line , which did not bring success.

On December 26, 1939, parts of the 100th SD fought in the Khotinen area.

On the Karelian Isthmus, the front stabilized by December 26. Soviet troops began thorough preparations for breaking through the main fortifications of the Mannerheim Line, and reconnoitered the defense strip.

Soviet-Finnish War . On December 27, the 138th Infantry Division surrendered the offensive zone of the 100th SD and was withdrawn to the reserve of the 7th Army .

The course of hostilities revealed serious gaps in the organization of command and supply of the Red Army troops, poor preparedness of the command personnel, and the lack of specific skills for the troops to conduct war in winter in Finland. By the end of December, it became clear that fruitless attempts to continue the offensive would lead to nothing. There was a relative calm on the front.

Soviet-Finnish War . The 100th Infantry Division of the ball was transferred to the Karelian Isthmus , where the trains arrived from December 28, 1939 to January 13, 1940. From December 16, 1939 to March 13, 1940, the 100th Infantry Division was part of the army, participating in the Winter War . At this time, the Finns unsuccessfully tried to counterattack the preparation of a new offensive. So, on December 28, the Finns attacked the central parts of the 7th Army, but were repelled with heavy losses.

Sino-Japanese war . Winter offensive . On December 28, the Chinese regrouped: while the main forces held their positions, special columns advanced to the Yangtze to suppress the movement of ships along the river using mines and artillery.

Soviet-Finnish War .

The 44th Infantry Division was blocked on the road to Suomussalmi, in a defile between two lakes near the village of Raate by two companies of the 27th Finnish Regiment (350 people). Without waiting for her approach, the 163rd Division at the end of December, under constant attacks by the Finns, was forced to break out of the encirclement, while losing 30% of its personnel and most of its equipment and heavy weapons.

Sino-Japanese war . Winter offensive .

Soviet-Finnish War .

Sino-Japanese war . Winter offensive .

Germany Hitler hears the report of the German High Command (OKW), which substantiates the idea that, as it turned out, for the modern army, the Red Army is not at all a serious opponent. For Germany, it became possible, with deteriorating relations with the Soviet Union, to take the risk of a war on two fronts. ^[one]

A strange war . Battle of the Atlantic . From September to December 1939, Great Britain lost 114 ships from German submarine attacks, while the Germans lost only 9 submarines in 1939.

Soviet-Finnish War . US President Roosevelt joined the protests ^[17] . US President Roosevelt declared a “moral embargo ” to the Soviet Union in December ^[18] .

Sino-Japanese war . Winter offensive .