History Highlight: The Winter War

In case you forgot that Finland is that piece of land squished
between two major historical world powers. 

I have long had a odd obsession with the country of Finland. It started in middle school and their great heavy metal scene and just grew. The more I learned about the country, the more I wanted to visit it for myself. I finally got the opportunity three years ago and to this day it remains one of my most memorable trips. Finland is a country that I will definitely be visiting again in the future.

One of the most important parts of Finnish history, and key to understanding the Finnish mentality and identity, is the Winter War. This little talked about part of World War II is swept under the historical rug in almost all textbooks. However, it is tantamount to the history and course of this tiny nation of barely 6 million. The Winter War took place in less than a year between 1939 and 1940 between the Soviet Union and the just newly independent Finland. The Finns had gained independence from the Soviet Union shortly after the Russian Revolution for practical reasons. The Soviets just did not have the strength or energy to keep Finland under their power since they were dealing with their own revolution and extreme political upheaval. The Finns were clearly happy to have independence, however a high ranking member of the Finnish military and future Finnish president, Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, warned Finland that within time the Soviet Union would be back to reclaim Finland.

Unfortunately, Mannerheim's predication came true. With war raging in Europe between the Allies and the Axis, the Soviets used the war as a distraction from their encroachment on the Finnish border. Mannerheim, in anticipation of this, had established what is now referred to as the "Mannerheim Line". These strategic lines of defense were guarded by the Finnish military and intended to keep the fighting away from population centers and the capital, Helsinki. It is interesting to note that these "Mannerheim Lines" now lie in what is now Russia. The first day of the war was on November 30, 1939 and pitted the nearly million man strong Soviet army against the Finnish army which contained barely a quarter of a million men. In addition to being severely outnumbered, the Soviets had access to weapons, tanks, and aircrafts. The Finns relied upon smuggled and stolen weapons. The statistics of the war state that were as the Soviets used to 6,000 tanks in the Winter War, the Finns would have a grand total of 32. These statistics are made even more shocking when you compare the casualties. The Soviets reported a loss about 300,000 and the Finns reported around 70,000. Almost all outside observers were stunned by the results of this conflict. It made little to no sense. Finland during the early twentieth century had been considered a poor and uneducated area. However, their lack of resources did not outweigh the Finnish fighting spirit, their love of independence, and their creativity. Despite the numbers being against them, the Finns found inventive ways of dealing with the Soviets numbers and weapons strength.

Finnish Ski Troops, you cannot make this up.

One such invention is that of the Molotov Cocktail. The name was a joke among Finns who called the Soviet bombs unleashed upon Helsinki the Molotov Breadbaskets after the Soviet politician who ordered the bombing after promising to send food to the starving citizens of Helsinki. The Finns had developed a cheap and inexpensive anti-tank technology by pouring flammable liquids into a liquor bottle, stuffing in a rag that was then set on fire and then thrown into the openings of a tank. It disabled the tank quickly and the Finns considered them the cocktail to go after the breadbaskets. In addition, the Finns utilized their great skill for skiing and had men ski between tanks and use the Molotov Cocktails before quickly escaping in time. In response to this, the Soviets attempted to use their own skiers, but found that Soviet skiers, who were accustomed to open fields, did poorly in the Finnish forest country side with its rocky terrain.

Funny but true. You gotta love statistics. 

The war continued on for close to 5 months. The Soviets had not been prepared for a drawn out war against the Finns, thinking that the invasion would end shortly after the bombing of the capital. However, the Finns were not interested in handing back their independence after such a short time. Their resilience proved an unexpected challenge to the Soviets and drove the Finns to extreme measures, including signing an alliance treaty with Nazi Germany. This decision would result in Finland being forced to pay war reparations to the Soviet Union until the mid 1980's. However, this burden placed on a fledgling nation proved to be the catalyst to Finland's industrialization and modernization. The years following the Winter War saw the transformation of Finland into a sophisticated, technologically driven, innovative country that would revolutionize phone and video game technology. The Winter War remains a tangible part of Finnish history and is critical to understand if you even want to try to make sense of the Finnish identity.

A Historian at the Cinema: When The Moors Ruled Europe

For most of us, world history classes are really just a bad code word for European history. Most people are aware of the basic of European history (Roman Empire, then Dark Ages, then Renaissance, the fast forward to World Wars and that's the gist of it). A part of European history that is often overlooked due to an agenda or pure ignorance is the period of 700 years in which the Moors, North African Muslims, controlled and ruled Spain and Portugal between 711 to 1492 CE. What resulted from this conquest of the Iberian peninsula was a thriving, modern, and sophisticated society during a time when the rest of Europe was living through the Dark Ages.

The documentary film, When the Moors Ruled Europe, produced by the British Acorn Media company and presented by historian Bettany Hughes, guides viewers through this history that although forgotten by many but that is still visually and physically present throughout the Spanish and Portuguese countryside. Sites such as Andalucia, Granada, and Cordoba contain the physically remains of this high period in European history. Hughes takes the audience through a history that began in conquest and the creation of the kingdom of Al-Andalus (modern day Spain, Portugal, and southern France). Tariq ibn Ziyad lead the Moorish army against the Visigoths, who would eventually surrender. However, life under the new Moorish empire in southern Europe was complex. Moorish rulers allowed Christians to be governed by Visigoth law and the many willing Muslim converts, who converted despite little immigration from north Africa, to live under Moorish law. In addition, Arabic became the language of the land. These two factors help explains the large influence Islam had on Iberian (and as a result South American) culture and customs and the large amount of Arabic origins in the Spanish language. These long lasting influences of the Moors demonstrate how deep an impact the 700 years of Moorish rule had upon the people of southern Europe. More interestingly, the documentary is quick to point out that Moorish Europe experienced a Renaissance many hundreds of years before the rest of Europe. During this period, the Moors developed renowned learning centers and libraries, advanced medicine that would not be seen in Europe until the discovery of germs, and practical technology such as sewer and water systems. However, the Moorish Empire of Al-Andalus would eventually come to an end during the Reconquista which would end with Ferdinand and Isabella as king and queen of the newly re-Christian Spain in 1492. With Christian rulers in control of the region, Spain would quickly move to forget and cover up their Moorish history. This effort to forget the Muslim empire in Europe would prove successful up until current day when the majority of text books gloss over or omit any references to Moorish Europe. This documentary aims to bring back this history to the general population and to the popular record.

Alhambra: masterpiece of Moorish art and
architecture located in Granada, Spain. 

The high light of this film, aside from the clearly explained and rich history narrative, is that it draws upon the architectural heritage of Moorish Spain. Hughes explores and narrates this complex history while strolling through the regal and geometrically designed palaces such as Alhambra. Audiences are presented with the beautifully preserved remains of Moorish Spain as they learn about the civilization that built them. Instead of the typical Ken Burns style of slowing panning past antique photos of people and places, the producers of this documentary chose to film on site of each of the Moorish palaces or cities and used reconstructions or images during certain moments. This decision enriches the experience because it reveals to audiences the physical impact of this civilization. More importantly, the documentary does excellent work at explaining a complex 700 year history in only two hours. It serves as a primer, a well detailed one, for those interested in learning about this missing chapter in European and Arab history.

I found this documentary through a recommendation from my Arabic professor. My background as South American made this documentary all the more interesting. Learning about how Latin American traditions came from Arab and Muslim culture was enlightening and something that is rarely talked about. It revealed an aspect of the history of the Spanish language that I had never heard before and helped answer many of the questions I had about our deep seeded traditions. For this reason, I most definitely recommend this documentary to people of South and Central American decent. It provides an understanding of another layer in our extremely multicultural history. For others, it will also provide an enlightening re-examination of that European history you learned in high school social science class. The beauty of history is that it is constantly in a process of discovery and rediscovery, and it is this process that makes us richer as a society and as people.