Neutral states in World War II

Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 116. Chapters: Independent Ireland in World War II, Portugal in World War II, Spain in World War II, Sweden in World War II, Switzerland in World War II, Winter War, Irish Mercantile Marine during World War II, The Emergency, Sweden during World War II, White Buses, Irish maritime events during World War II, Irish neutrality during World War II, SS Irish Oak, Rescue of the Danish Jews, Switzerland during the World Wars, Operation Green, Foreign support in the Winter War, Operation Tannenbaum, Irish Republican Army - Abwehr collaboration in World War II, MV Kerlogue, Bombing of Dublin in World War II, Zarah Leander, Glimmer Man, Vatican City during World War II, Transit of German troops through Finland and Sweden, Sweden and the Winter War, ST Leukos, Operation Felix, Operation Weserübung's effects on Sweden, Swedish Compulsory National Service Act, Franco-British plans for intervention in the Winter War, SS Irish Pine, Minister for the Co-ordination of Defensive Measures, Norwegian police troops in Sweden during World War II, Henri Guisan, Swedish iron mining during World War II, Nordische Gesellschaft, Donegal Corridor, Bombings of Switzerland in World War II, Neutral Powers, Emergency Powers Act 1939, Internment camps in Sweden during World War II, Swedish extradition of Baltic soldiers, Eduard Hempel, First Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland, Caught in a Free State, Skåne Line, Attentatet i Pålsjö skog, Samfundet Nordens Frihet, Operation Shamrock, Swedish humanitarian aid to Norway during World War II, Radio Königsberg, Minister for Supplies, Swedish overseas trade during World War II, Operation Isabella. Excerpt: The Winter War (Finnish: , Swedish: , Russian: (trans. Zimnyaya voyna) 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. The League of Nations deemed the attack illegal and expelled the Soviet Union from the League on 14 December 1939. The Soviet forces had three times as many soldiers as the Finns, 30 times as many aircraft, and a hundred times as many tanks. The Red Army, however, had been crippled by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin's Great Purge of 1937, reducing the army's morale and efficiency shortly before the outbreak of the fighting. With more than 30,000 of its army officers executed or imprisoned, including most of those of the highest ranks, the Red Army in 1939 had many inexperienced senior officers. Because of these factors, and high commitment and morale in the Finnish forces, Finland was able to resist the Soviet invasion for far longer than the Soviets expected. Hostilities ceased in March 1940 with the signing of the Moscow Peace Treaty. Finland ceded 11% of its pre-war territory and 30% of its economic assets to the Soviet Union. Soviet losses on the front were heavy, and the country's international reputation suffered. The Soviet forces did not accomplish their objective of the total conquest of Finland, but did gain sufficient territory along Lake Ladoga to provide a buffer for Leningrad. The Finns, however, retained their sovereignty and enhanced their international reputation. The peace treaty thwarted the Franco-British plan to send troops to Finland through northern Scandinavia. One of the Allied operation's major goals had been to take control of northern Sweden's iron...