The Soviet Union makes territorial demands to Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland. The first three accept and are annexed. Finland refuses and is invaded militarily. Despite having a population 50 times smaller than the Soviet Union and a vastly superior Red Army, the Finns offer fierce resistance, which allows them to avoid subjugation to the USSR. However, they must cede 10% of their territory and their coastal city of Viipuri. The Finns will lose 100,000 men, or 5% of their male population: a huge percentage; it’s as if the United States had 9 million young male casualties.
