Finland held off a Soviet invasion in the Winter War, then ceded territory in a 1940 peace

historyWikipedia1939–1940 · Finland

Finland held off a Soviet invasion in the Winter War, then ceded territory in a 1940 peace

the gist

On 30 November 1939 the Soviet Union invaded Finland, three months after World War II began. Moscow demanded border territory, citing the need to protect Leningrad, about 32 km from the frontier, and Finland refused. Despite Soviet advantages in tanks and aircraft, Finnish forces repelled attacks for more than two months in temperatures as low as minus 43 degrees Celsius. The Soviets later reorganised, renewed their offensive in February 1940 and broke Finnish defences on the Karelian Isthmus. Finland signed the Moscow Peace Treaty on 13 March 1940, ceding about 9 percent of its territory while keeping its sovereignty. The League of Nations deemed the attack illegal and expelled the Soviet Union.

so what

The poor Soviet performance encouraged Hitler to believe an attack on the Soviet Union would succeed, and Germany launched Operation Barbarossa in June 1941. The war also shows how a small nation can resist a much larger army at high cost.

fun fact

The term Molotov cocktail came into use during this war, as Finnish defenders used firebombs against Soviet tanks.

Hampi was once one of the world's largest cities, until its Vijayanagara capital was destroyed in 1565

the gist

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.

how it works

The city was built around a fortified core with temples, markets and water structures along the river, supplied by an extensive network of roads and waterworks. When the empire fell, the city was not rebuilt, so its stone monuments were left standing.

so what

Hampi shows how quickly a great city can vanish after a military defeat, and how a ruined capital can remain sacred. Its ruins give historians a view of medieval South Asia that few other sites can match.

fun fact

The name Hampi comes from Pampa, an old name for the Tungabhadra River.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · text CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: Wikimedia Commons

source: Wikipedia ↗

2 min

politicsshortCNA2:01

False allegations about Singapore’s hand in Indonesia’s markets and a made-up meeting

from CNA

CNA Verify has found close to 400 posts pushing falsehoods tying Singapore to Indonesia’s stock market rout and to a secret meeting that never took place. Together, they drew nearly 12 million views, and some were circulated by accounts that appeared to be working in concert, across multiple social media platforms.

Here’s how the disinformation campaign targeting Singapore was uncovered.

on YouTube: CNA ↗