For nearly a month, direct negotiations had persisted. Back-and-forth communications?…more than 18 months. The Soviet Union had, since April of 1938, been interested in territory that belonged to Finland, its neighbor to the west. And Finland had (more or less) politely refused.
The Nazi-Soviet Pact came and went. The combined German-Soviet removal of Poland from the map [...]
Archive for the ‘Scandanavia’ Category
Finland Calls Soviet Bluff
Posted in Scandanavia, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1939, Carl Gustav Mannerheim, Finland, Joseph Stalin, Karelian Isthmus, Lake Ladoga, Mannerheim Line, Nazi-Soviet Pact, Soviet Union on November 9 | Leave a Comment »
Norwegian Armies Back in Their Sleevies
Posted in Scandanavia, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1940, Iron Ore, Narvik, Norway, Oslo on June 10 | Leave a Comment »
More than a year ago, we got to wax “Scandanavian” when we talked about the German invasion of Denmark and Norway. Having achieved almost complete surprise, the German army and navy forced Denmark to surrender just hours after hostilities had commenced. Norway, however, would be a tougher nut to crack.
Adolf Hitler had long had his [...]
British Rescue Mission Right on the Altmark
Posted in Scandanavia, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1940, Admiral Graf Spee, Altmark, Altmark Incident, HMS Cossack, Norway on February 16 | Leave a Comment »
Today’s History Lesson, a discussion of the Altmark (shown to the left), actually bridges a couple of topics we’ve looked at in the past. Back in December, we learned about Captain Hans Langsdorff and the Admiral Graf Spee. Langsdorff’s pocket battleship earned quite a reputation as a merchant raider in the southern Atlantic Ocean.
In that piece, I mentioned [...]
Uff da!!
Posted in Scandanavia, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1940, Adolf Hitler, Altmark, Denmark, Germany, Norway on April 9 | Leave a Comment »
After Germany’s invasion of Poland in September 1939, the War entered something of a quiet phase. The French and British, having often endured Adolf Hitler’s bluster and threats, expected their opponent’s territorial ambitions to continue unabated. When the Winter of 1939/40 passed without any major action, the Allies started to get a little cocky, referring to this time as the [...]
“Only a boy named David…”
Posted in Scandanavia, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1940, Finland, Josef Stalin, Mannerheim Line, Soviet Union, Winter War on March 13 | 1 Comment »
If you haven’t heard the story of David (the little teenager) and Goliath (the nine-foot giant warrior), it’s pretty simple. Goliath mocks Israel, David challenges Goliath with rocks, Goliath mocks David, David “rocks” Goliath.
Fast-forward about 3,000 years to the fall of 1939. The Soviet Union had been bullying Finland for several months, requesting land as a buffer [...]
