A crucial prelude to Operation Barbarossa and the war on the Eastern Front of World War II: the Winter War between the USSR and Finland.  Spoiler alert: The Soviet Union gets its ass kicked by a force less than half the size. This episode is the first part in a three-part series on the Winter War; parts 2 and 3 will be for supporters and members only.  Map 1: The Mannerheim Line of Finnish defences across the Karelian Isthmus. Map 2: The USSR's four main attacks on Finland, 30 November 1939  Map 3: Soviet advances in the Karelian Isthmus, December 1939 Map 4: Ladogo Karelia, north of Lake Ladoga   Sources: Philip Jowett and Brent Snodgrass, Finland at War 1939–45. New York, NY: Osprey Publishing, 2006. Wikipedia: Timeline of World War II (1939) —: The Winter War The Winter War. Captivating History, 2020. Vesa Nenye, Peter Munter, Toni Wirtanen and Chris Birks, Finland at War: The Winter War, 1939–40. New York, NY: Osprey Publishing, 2018. Sound effects obtained from Zapsplat.