Winter War in contemporary culture
Encyclopedia
The influence of the Winter War in popular culture has been deep and wide, not only in Finnish culture, but also worldwide. The Finnish
struggle against the Soviet Union
has been seen as a classic David versus Goliath situation. The Winter War
began three months after the World War II
started, and the war had full media attention as other European fronts had a calm period.
by American playwright Robert E. Sherwood
was inspired by a moving Christmas 1939 broadcast to America by war correspondent Bill White
of CBS
. The play was produced on Broadway in 1940, and won the 1941 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
.
The 1940 American film Ski Patrol features a Finnish reserve unit defending the border against Russians. The film took great historical liberties in its storyline and was photographed by the Hollywood master Milton Krasner.
In 1989, the Finnish movie Talvisota
was released. This film tells the story of a Finnish platoon of reservists from Kauhava
. The platoon belongs to the 23rd Infantry Regiment, which consists almost solely of men from Southern Ostrobothnia
.
The 2006 documentary Fire and Ice: The Winter War of Finland and Russia shows how the Winter War influenced World War II and how Finland mobilized against the world's largest military power.
In 2011 Philip Kaufman
began filming HBO's Hemingway & Gellhorn
, which features Martha Gellhorn
(played by Nicole Kidman
) reporting from Finland
during The Winter War
. Steven Wiig
portrays Simo Häyhä
, leading a group of Finnish soldiers to shelter.
and operations
, but they had a strong political in-line message. The overall campaign was disastrous, so the literature found its pride moments and heroes in details. For example the breakthrough of the Mannerheim Line
was represented as "legendary" performance by the Red Army.
The 1940 story Biggles
Sees It Through by W.E. Johns is set during the final stages of the war.
The 2007 novel The Burnt-out Town of Miracles by Roy Jacobsen (Author), Don Bartlett and Don Shaw (Translators) tells the story of the Winter War through the eyes of one man, Timo the woodcutter, and the small Finnish town of Suomussalmi
where he lives.
recorded the song "Talvisota", about the Winter War, on their 2008 album The Art of War
.
Swedish power metal band Insania made the song "The Land of the Wintersun", depicting the war from a Finnish point of view. The song was featured on their 2001 album Sunrise in Riverland.
Finnish black metal band Impaled Nazarene
has a song Total War - Winter War on its Suomi Finland Perkele
CD.
, "Wexteen" (Jyrki J. J. Kasvi) lamented the difficulty of modelling the war in interactive entertainment. According to Wexteen, if the game mechanics are based on troop strengths, troops will march through Helsinki; if on historical events, through Moscow. The Winter War was featured in a scenario of the grand strategy
game Hearts of Iron 2 and received dedicated games in the wargame
Squad Battles: Winter War and the educational real-time strategy
game Talvisota: Icy Hell
.
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
struggle against the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
has been seen as a classic David versus Goliath situation. The Winter War
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
began three months after the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
started, and the war had full media attention as other European fronts had a calm period.
Movies and television
The 1940 play There Shall Be No NightThere Shall Be No Night
There Shall Be No Night is a three-act play written by American playwright Robert E. Sherwood. The play was presented by the Theatre Guild from April 29 through November 2, 1940, at Broadway's Alvin Theatre...
by American playwright Robert E. Sherwood
Robert E. Sherwood
Robert Emmet Sherwood was an American playwright, editor, and screenwriter.-Biography:Born in New Rochelle, New York, he was a son of Arthur Murray Sherwood, a rich stockbroker, and his wife, the former Rosina Emmet, a well-known illustrator and portrait painter known as Rosina E. Sherwood...
was inspired by a moving Christmas 1939 broadcast to America by war correspondent Bill White
William Lindsay White
William Lindsay White , American journalist, was the son of newspaper editor William Allen White. White grew up in Emporia, Kansas, went to the nearby University of Kansas, and then transferred to and graduated from Harvard College. After completing his course of studies at Harvard, he succeeded...
of CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
. The play was produced on Broadway in 1940, and won the 1941 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Pulitzer Prize for Drama
The Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918.From 1918 to 2006, the Drama Prize was unlike the majority of the other Pulitzer Prizes: during these years, the eligibility period for the drama prize ran from March 2 to March 1, to reflect the Broadway 'season' rather than the calendar year...
.
The 1940 American film Ski Patrol features a Finnish reserve unit defending the border against Russians. The film took great historical liberties in its storyline and was photographed by the Hollywood master Milton Krasner.
In 1989, the Finnish movie Talvisota
Talvisota (film)
The Winter War is a 1989 Finnish war film directed by Pekka Parikka, based on The Winter War, a novel by Antti Tuuri. It tells the story of a Finnish infantry regiment "JR 23", which consists almost solely of men from Southern Ostrobothnia, focusing mainly on a platoon of reservists from Kauhava...
was released. This film tells the story of a Finnish platoon of reservists from Kauhava
Kauhava
Kauhava is a town and municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region, northwest of Helsinki and by the main railway from Helsinki to Oulu. The town has a population of and covers an area of of which is water...
. The platoon belongs to the 23rd Infantry Regiment, which consists almost solely of men from Southern Ostrobothnia
Southern Ostrobothnia
Southern Ostrobothnia is one of the 20 regions of Finland.Seinäjoki is the regional centre and by far the largest city in the area.- Historical provinces :For History, Geography and Culture see: Ostrobothnia- Municipalities :...
.
The 2006 documentary Fire and Ice: The Winter War of Finland and Russia shows how the Winter War influenced World War II and how Finland mobilized against the world's largest military power.
In 2011 Philip Kaufman
Philip Kaufman
Philip Kaufman is an American film director and screenwriter. His movies have adapted novels of widely different types – from Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being to Michael Crichton’s Rising Sun; from Tom Wolfe’s heroic epic The Right Stuff to the erotic writings of Anaïs Nin’s...
began filming HBO's Hemingway & Gellhorn
Hemingway & Gellhorn
Hemingway & Gellhorn is an upcoming HBO film about the lives of journalist Martha Gellhorn and her husband, writer Ernest Hemingway. It will be directed by Philip Kaufman. The film began shooting in San Francisco in March 2011...
, which features Martha Gellhorn
Martha Gellhorn
Martha Gellhorn was an American novelist, travel writer and journalist, considered by The London Daily Telegraph amongst others to be one of the greatest war correspondents of the 20th century. She reported on virtually every major world conflict that took place during her 60-year career...
(played by Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman
Nicole Mary Kidman, AC is an American-born Australian actress, singer, film producer, spokesmodel, and humanitarian. After starring in a number of small Australian films and TV shows, Kidman's breakthrough was in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm...
) reporting from Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
during The Winter War
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
. Steven Wiig
Steven Wiig
Steven Ray Wiig is an American film actor, director, producer and musician. He appears in the films Into the Wild under director Sean Penn, Some Kind of Monster, directed by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, and Gus Van Sant's San Francisco-based film Milk...
portrays Simo Häyhä
Simo Häyhä
Simo Häyhä , nicknamed "White Death" by the Red Army, was a Finnish sniper. Using a modified Mosin–Nagant in the Winter War, he has the highest recorded number of confirmed sniper kills - 505 - in any major war....
, leading a group of Finnish soldiers to shelter.
Literature
At the end and within a year after the Winter War – years 1940–1941 – lot of literature were published in the Soviet Union. The books were very narrow by their military historyMilitary history
Military history is a humanities discipline within the scope of general historical recording of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, their cultures, economies and changing intra and international relationships....
and operations
Military operation
Military operation is the coordinated military actions of a state in response to a developing situation. These actions are designed as a military plan to resolve the situation in the state's favor. Operations may be of combat or non-combat types, and are referred to by a code name for the purpose...
, but they had a strong political in-line message. The overall campaign was disastrous, so the literature found its pride moments and heroes in details. For example the breakthrough of the Mannerheim Line
Mannerheim Line
The Mannerheim Line was a defensive fortification line on the Karelian Isthmus built by Finland against the Soviet Union. During the Winter War it became known as the Mannerheim Line, after Field Marshal Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim. The line was constructed in two phases: 1920–1924 and...
was represented as "legendary" performance by the Red Army.
The 1940 story Biggles
Biggles
"Biggles" , a pilot and adventurer, is the title character and main hero of the Biggles series of youth-oriented adventure books written by W. E. Johns....
Sees It Through by W.E. Johns is set during the final stages of the war.
The 2007 novel The Burnt-out Town of Miracles by Roy Jacobsen (Author), Don Bartlett and Don Shaw (Translators) tells the story of the Winter War through the eyes of one man, Timo the woodcutter, and the small Finnish town of Suomussalmi
Suomussalmi
Suomussalmi is a municipality in Finland and is located in the Kainuu region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually Finnish...
where he lives.
Music
Swedish heavy metal band SabatonSabaton (band)
Sabaton is a Grammis-nominated power metal band from Falun, Sweden formed in 1999. The band's main lyrical themes are those of historical wars. This is heard in albums Primo Victoria, Attero Dominatus and Coat of Arms where all of the songs, except final tracks, take inspiration from historical...
recorded the song "Talvisota", about the Winter War, on their 2008 album The Art of War
The Art of War (Sabaton album)
The Art of War is the fifth album by Swedish power metal band Sabaton.The lyrics of the songs are about famous battles or war, mostly based on the battles of World War II or based on the The Art of War by Sun Tzu, for which the album is named....
.
Swedish power metal band Insania made the song "The Land of the Wintersun", depicting the war from a Finnish point of view. The song was featured on their 2001 album Sunrise in Riverland.
Finnish black metal band Impaled Nazarene
Impaled Nazarene
Impaled Nazarene is a Finnish black metal band that incorporates elements of grindcore in their sound and punk rock in their aesthetics. The band is currently signed to Osmose Productions of France....
has a song Total War - Winter War on its Suomi Finland Perkele
Suomi Finland Perkele
Suomi Finland Perkele is the third full-length album by Impaled Nazarene, the last to feature both Luttinen brothers. It is infamous due to its nationalistic themes; for example, in the lyrics to "Total War - Winter War"...
CD.
Games
In a 1992 column in PelitPelit
Pelit is a Finnish video games magazine published 11 times a year by Sanoma Magazines, a division of the Sanoma Group. Being by far the largest of its kind in Finland and covering both PCs and consoles, it has for a long time lacked serious competition and is thought by many to be the magazine of...
, "Wexteen" (Jyrki J. J. Kasvi) lamented the difficulty of modelling the war in interactive entertainment. According to Wexteen, if the game mechanics are based on troop strengths, troops will march through Helsinki; if on historical events, through Moscow. The Winter War was featured in a scenario of the grand strategy
Grand strategy
Grand strategy comprises the "purposeful employment of all instruments of power available to a security community". Military historian B. H. Liddell Hart says about grand strategy:...
game Hearts of Iron 2 and received dedicated games in the wargame
Wargame (video games)
Wargames are a subgenre of strategy video games that emphasize strategic or tactical warfare on a map, as well as historical accuracy.-History:The genre of wargame video games is derived from earlier forms of wargames...
Squad Battles: Winter War and the educational real-time strategy
Real-time strategy
Real-time strategy is a sub-genre of strategy video game which does not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry is credited with coining the term to market Dune II....
game Talvisota: Icy Hell
Talvisota: Icy Hell
Talvisota: Icy Hell is a real-time tactics and educational computer game, developed by the international developer group Blitzfront Game Studio and is based on the events of Winter War conflict of 1939-1940 between Finland and Soviet Union.Finnish Board of Film Classification determined that the...
.