November 7, 1917: The Bolshevik Revolution breaks out in the Russian Empire.
December 6, 1917: Finland declares its independence from Russia.
January-May 1918: A fierce Civil War is fought in Finland. It ends with an overwhelming victory by the White forces commanded by General Mannerheim.
July 17, 1919: Finland adopts a democratic constitution and principles.
October 14, 1920: Treaty of Tartu is signed with the Soviet Union. It recognizes the sovereignty of Finland. The border is established and the destruction of old fortifications is begun.
January 1923: Finland and the Soviet Union sign a nonaggression treaty.
August 24, 1939: The Hitler-Stalin nonaggression pact places Finland within the Soviet sphere of influence.
September 17, 1939: The Soviet Union overruns eastern Poland.
September 29, 1939: Under Soviet pressure, Estonia signs a Soviet-Estonian "mutual assistance pact".
October 5, 1939: The Soviet-Latvian "mutual assistance pact" is signed. The Soviets invite the Finns to discuss "territorial adjustments".
October 9, 1939: The Finns start mobilizing their army.
October 10, 1939: The Soviet-Lithuanian .mutual assistance pact" is signed.
October 11-31, 1939: The Soviets demand stunning concessions from Finland. Finns offer serious counterproposals.
November 13, 1939: Negotiations break off. Stalin orders plans for offensive against Finland.
November 29, 1939: The Soviet Union breaks diplomatic relations with Finland.
November 30, 1939: Helsinki bombed. Soviets cross the Finnish border en masse. Mannerheim commands the Finnish armed forces.
December 1, 1939: The puppet government of the "Democratic Republic of Finland" is declared in the captured village of Terijoki.
December 3, 1939: Finland makes a futile appeal for aid to the League of Nations.
December 7, 1939: The Soviets reach the main line of Finnish resistance.
December 14, 1939: The Soviet Union is ex pelled from the League of Nations. (This must have broken Stalin's heart.)
December 22, 1939: The Finns launch a cou nterattack sustaining heavy losses for marginal results.
January 8, 1940: The Finns encircle two Soviet divisions in and around Suomussalmi.
February 1, 1940: The Soviets start an all-out offensive.
February 5, 1940: Britain and France agree to intervene in Scandinavia.
February 11, 1940: The Soviets break through t Ize Mannerheim Line.
March 1, 1940: The Finns commit their last reserves in and around Viipuri.
March 12 1940: The arrival of mud slows combat. A peace agreement is signed by both parties in Moscow. The Soviet Union acquires 16,000 square miles of Finland. (This is enough land, say some Finns, to bury the Soviet dead.)
A Winter War Designer's Notes: Part One
Note: Map Aid for Winter War was in Europa # 26. --RL
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