Mannerheim Line. Breakthrough Mannerheim Line

An object that attracts genuine and constant interest from many generations of people is Mannerheim's complex of protective barriers. The line of Finnish defense is located on the Karelian Isthmus. It is a multitude of bunkers, blown up and strewn with traces of shells, rows of stone hollows, dug trenches and anti-tank ditches - all this is well preserved, despite the fact that more than 70 years have passed.

The causes of the war

The reason for the military conflict between the USSR and Finland was the need to ensure the security of the city of Leningrad, as it was near the Finnish border. On the eve of World War II, the Finnish leadership was ready to provide its territory as a springboard for the numerous enemies of the Soviet Union, and mainly for Hitler's Germany.

The fact is that in 1931 Leningrad was transferred to the status of a city of republican significance, and part of the territories subordinated to the Leningrad Soviet was at the same time a border with Finland. That is why the Soviet leadership began negotiations with this country, inviting it to exchange lands. The Soviets offered the territory twice as much as they wanted in return. The stumbling block in the agreements was a clause with the USSR's request for the deployment of its military bases on the Finnish land. But the parties did not agree, which led to the beginning of the Soviet-Finnish, or the so-called Winter War. Without it, Leningrad would have been captured by Hitler's forces at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War for only a few days.

Prehistory

The term "Mannerheim Line" refers to a whole complex of historical defensive structures that played a major role in the Soviet-Finnish war. It lasted from November 30, 1939 to March 13, 1940.

As soon as Finland gained independence, it immediately began to reflect on the strengthening of its borders, and at the beginning of 1918 the construction of barbed wire fences was begun at the site of the future grandiose military shield of Mannerheim. The line was finally approved in 1920 and was first named "Enkel Line" in honor of Major General O. L. Enkel, who was then head of the General Staff, who directed it. The developer of the fortifications was the French officer J. J. Gross-Kaussi, sent to Finland to assist in strengthening the borders of this country. But, following the traditions that had already been established, complexes of defensive structures were most often called in honor of "big bosses", for example, Stalin's Line or Maginot. Therefore, in order to avoid confusion, these barriers were renamed and named in honor of the Commander-in-Chief of the troops of the Republic of Finland Carl Gustav Mannerheim, a former officer of the Russian army.

Fortification shield of Finland

Mannerheim Line is a defensive line with a length of 135 km, which completely crossed the entire Karelian Isthmus - from the Gulf of Finland and to the Ladoga Lake. From the west, defense communications passed partly along the plain and partly along the hilly terrain, covering the passages between numerous swamps and small lakes. In the east the line rested on the Vuoksinskaya water system, which in itself was a serious obstacle. Thus, in the period from 1920 to 1924 the Finns built more than one and a half hundred long-term military installations.

By the end of 1927, it became clear that the engineering fences of Enkel on the quality of buildings and armaments were substantially inferior to Soviet defensive fortifications, so their construction was temporarily suspended. In the 1930s, the construction of long-term facilities resumed. They were built a little, but they became much more powerful and more complex arranged.

In the early 30's, Mannerheim was appointed to the post of chairman of the State Defense Council. The line has since been built under his leadership.

Defensive installations - DOTs

The most important deterrent was the defense units, which consisted of several concrete bunkers (long-term firing points), as well as bunkers (wooden and ground firing points), machine-gun nests, dugouts and rifle trenches. In the line of defense, strong points were placed extremely unevenly, and the distance between them sometimes reached even 6-8 km.

As is known, military construction lasted more than one year, therefore, for the time of construction of the bunkers are divided into two generations. The first includes the firing points, built in the period from 1920 to 1937, and to the second - 1938-39. DOTs belonging to the first generation are small fortifications designed to install only 1-2 machine guns. They were not adequately equipped and did not have shelters for soldiers. The thickness of concrete walls and ceilings did not exceed 2 m. Later most of them were modernized.

The second generation includes so-called millionaires, as their cost cost the Finnish people 1 million Finnish marks each. Only 7 such powerful fire points had the Mannerheim Line. DOT-millionaires were the most modern at the time reinforced concrete structures, equipped with 4-6 embrasures, of which 1-2 were guns. The most formidable and most fortified were the Sj-4 "Poppius" and Sj-5 "Millionaire" bunkers.

All long-term firing points were carefully camouflaged with stones and snow, so it was very difficult to detect them, and it was almost impossible to break through their casemates.

Flooding Zones

In addition to a number of long-term and field fortifications, several artificial flooding zones were envisaged. Suddenly the hostilities began to stop completely from completing them, but several dams were still built. They were made of wood and earth on the rivers Tueppelyanyoki (now Alexandrovka) and Roccalanjoki (now Gorokhovka). The dam of concrete stood on the river Peronjoki (the river Perovka), as well as a small dam on Mayayoki and a dam at Sayanjoki (now the Volchya River).

Antitank obstacles

Since there were enough tanks in the arsenal of the USSR, the question of methods of fighting them arose. Wire fences, previously installed on the Karelian Isthmus, could not be considered a good obstacle to armored vehicles, so it was decided to cut out of the granite holes and dig anti-tank ditches 1 m deep and 2.5 m wide. But, as it turned out in the course of military operations, The holes were ineffective. They were moved from the spot or fired from artillery guns. After repeated shelling, the granite collapsed, resulting in the formation of wide passages.

Behind the foreheads, Finnish sappers installed over 10 rows of antipersonnel and anti-tank mines, arranged in checkerboard pattern.

Storm

It is common to divide the winter war into two stages. The first lasted from November 30, 1939 to February 10, 1940. The storming of the Mannerheim Line became the most difficult and bloody for the Red Army during that period.

A powerful barrier turned out, despite all its shortcomings, an almost insurmountable obstacle for Soviet soldiers. In addition to the fierce resistance of the Finnish army, a huge problem was the strongest forty-degree frosts, which, according to most historians, were the main cause of the failures of the Councils.

On February 11, the second stage of the winter military campaign begins - the general offensive of the Red Army troops. By this time, the maximum amount of military equipment and manpower was pulled to the Karelian Isthmus. For several days there was artillery preparation, shells fell on the positions of the Finns, who fought under the leadership of Mannerheim. The line and the entire adjacent area was subjected to the strongest bombardment. Together with the land units of the North-Western Front, the ships of the Baltic Fleet and the newly formed Ladoga Flotilla participated in the battles.

Breakthrough

The assault on the first defense line lasted for three days, and on February 17, the troops of the 7th Army finally broke through it, and the Finns were forced to completely leave their first line and go to the second, and during February 21-28 also lost it. The breakthrough of the Mannerheim Line was led by Marshal SK Timoshenko, who, on the orders of IV Stalin, headed the North-Western Front. Now the 7th and 13th armies, with the support of the Baltic Fleet's coastal detachments, launched a joint offensive in the strip from the Vyborg Gulf to the Vuoksa Lake. Seeing such an onslaught of the enemy, the Finnish troops left their positions.

As a result, the second breakthrough of the Mannerheim Line ended with the fact that, despite the desperate resistance of the Finns, on March 13 the Red Army entered Vyborg. Thus ended the Soviet-Finnish war.

Results of the war

As a result of the Winter War, the USSR achieved all that it wanted: the country had completely taken possession of the Lake of Lake Ladoga, and part of the Finnish territory of 40,000 sq. Km.

Now many people ask themselves: was this war necessary? If it were not for the victory in the Finnish campaign, Leningrad could be the first in the list of cities that were subjected to the offensive of Hitlerite Germany.

Excursions to the places of battles

To date, most of the structures are destroyed, but despite this, excursions to the battlefields of the Winter War are still held, and interest in them is not quenched. The surviving strongholds still represent a huge historical interest - both as military engineering structures and as places of the most difficult battle battles of this half-forgotten war.

There are historical and cultural centers that develop special programs for following the places where the Mannerheim Line passes. The tour usually includes a story about the stages of its construction, as well as the course of battles.

In order to feel a little and feel the life of the Finnish and Soviet armies, a field dinner is organized for tourists. Here you can also take a picture against the backdrop of grandiose structures with equipment items, see and hold in hand the mock-ups of weapons.

In the history of any military conflicts, there are many white spots, hidden events and facts. The war of the Soviet Union with Finland in 1939-40 was not an exception. She laid a heavy test on the shoulders of both sides. In just 105 days, when military operations were conducted, about 150 thousand people were killed, about 20 thousand were missing. Here are the results of this half-forgotten and, according to some historians, "unnecessary" war. As a monument to the dead soldiers, the Mannerheim Line, unusual on its scale, remained on the battlefields. The photo of those times and the stones on the mass graves still remind us of the heroism of Soviet and Finnish soldiers.