November 30, 1939 · All Fronts Theater
November 30, 1939
At 9:00 AM on November 30, 1939, the Red Army crossed the Finnish border at multiple points while Soviet aircraft bombed Helsinki, Turku, and Tampere. Stalin simultaneously established a puppet Finnish government — the Finnish Democratic Republic — under Communist Otto Wille Kuusinen in the border town of Terijoki, planning a rapid conquest to install it within weeks. The Finns mobilized fully and retreated in good order to prepared defensive positions.
Commanders