As a Finn I do appreciate this kind of videos and most of the content is very exact. But peronally I think that for future conflicts where NATo can be apart of, you do need a high alert quick response forces too. The fact taht Russia probably won't attack on us anymore, doesn't ofc mean that we don't have to have this quite large reserve and compared to our population a strong army as we do have the longest border with russia in Europe and that is just maths and geopolitics. But we have to remind ourselves, that the recent wars where western counries have been involded haven't been fought on their borders at all. Doesn't mean it cannot happen, but wars that can inflict everyone can be fought in the other side of the world so we do need also a rapid forces, enough extra, that in joint operations we can pull up a formidable force everywhere where ever it is needed and this includes so called rapid and mobile units which can be delivered very fast. What you said on this video about the rundown on Western Europes military is unfortunately true and I don't understand what kinda 'woke ideology' made this possible, but after this Ukrainan War and Russian offensive started and it had this 'mass war' elements, many European countryis faced the fact, that they would not be ready any more to conter ANYTHING LIKE IT. And the worst part is that when many of the countries almost shut down their military industry and ammuniotion producing, now it would probably take a 10 years to get it back without enormous efforts. And the whole Western World including for an example Japan, cannot just lay all the responsibility and trust on USA. They cannot fight all over the world even though they have done something like it in the past and helped Europe not to fall to Soviets, but we cannot expect that one country is the one who tries to resolve everything. Every western country should keep their military not just up to date but also reasonably big in men power and continous training that it has this preventing power for any hostility. But I do hope that the realization of certain things doesn't need the fact that war has come to your doors already. This has happened so numerous times in the past that there is no reason to believe it can't happen again. And what everyone should understand, the phases in war nowdays are way faster than in during World War II and also the missiles and even the artillery and airstrikes can hit in the depth and way beoynd the fronlines... Tell me if I am wrong?
Putin already bought some right parties in Finland and a lot of oligarch has finish citizenship and affect on finish opinion, such as brothers rothenbergs, kovalchuk and etc. Finish government says that they are support Ukraine, but at the same time the turnover of goods is growing with Putin's regime. They will use a hybrid tactics. I am as ukranian since 2022 don't have any access to educational system, any local documents, bank account or job, in another hand locals help so called rossians here, they say : we have Jew family here from Venäjä and we must help them. Sound's for a little bit strange...
@@MarkoMakela-kk7qf Putin already bought some right parties in Finland and a lot of oligarch has finish citizenship and affect on finish opinion, such as brothers rothenbergs, kovalchuk and etc. Finish government says that they are support Ukraine, but at the same time the turnover of goods is growing with Putin's regime. They will use a hybrid tactics. I am as ukranian since 2022 don't have any access to educational system, any local documents, bank account or job, in another hand locals help so called rossians here, they say : we have Jew family here from Venäjä and we must help them. Sound's for me a little bit strange... I am really tired from discrimination of my ethnic group.
Nothing you said was impressive, it doesn’t have enough ground based anti air, fighter jets, ifvs, probably don’t have anywhere near enough cruise missile, long range hypersonic, no space force, navy is minimal, et cetera et cetera et cetera…….russia is way more equipped and now has minimal 2 years of intense war experience fighting against the cream of the crop in terms of equipment from around the world…..Finland needs way more fighter jets……I’d think you’d want about 5,000 cruise missiles, 400 hypersonic missiles, and much much more anti air…..if Russia invaded and USA doesn’t come to the rescue or choose not to…..you are fucked
PREPARED is a good place to be. The US now has to be prepared to backup NATO in Europe AND meet Chinese belligerence in the Pacific. As an American I feel our slow pace of becoming prepared is dangerous. Yes we are powerful but maybe not powerful enough DETER a war with Russia in 6 years or with China in 3 years. Thankfully nations like Finland and Poland take preparedness a bit more seriously than some other NATO nations and a LOT more seriously than a few NATO nations.
Just got back Helsinki where I was able to talk to Finnish citizens. Finns are pragmatic, calm and prepared. They understand the odds, yet have faith in their neighbors and government. One thing that was quite obvious that conscription and training was not seen as a burden, but that of responsibility. Needless to say I was very impressed by both Finland and the Finnish. Just a not I believe that conscription for a short time for initial trading and ongoing participation is a socially binding event that we are lacking here in the US
It also prepares the young people to adulthood as many who come to do the service might be the first time they ever are living away from home. They teach basic of how to live not just how to use a gun or how to wage war. Like I can say to me I see those basic things more important than how to disassemble RK-62, how to put a gas mask on fast and correctly etc.
@@Wezqu Speaking from experience, I could have done with a bit of time and a reality check before entering University or the working world. Just another benefit to peace time conscription.
A Swede here. Yes, Finland is the most capable. Now Sweden is looking to Finland on how they are doing things. "You don't go to war with the army you want but the army you have". Sweden have much to learn and not much time.
If Sweden and Norway would help Finland with their navies, air forces and some professional soldiers, it would be a huge help. Swedish navy with their submarines is way superior when compared to Finnish navy. Norway has way better air force until Finland gets their F-35s. Navy and air force in Finland are the weakest links. I'm also happy to see Finland, Sweden and Norway buying military stuff from each others. You Swedes most importantly need to be able to defend Gotland.
Finland never did the same mistake as the rest of Europe: we never started believing that suddenly Russia is a kind and democratic country which respects their neighbours.
Actually Finland's covernment(s) did big bad political decisions after USSR collapsed. When some russian people got rich they started to invest in Finland's businesses also they bought and rented a lot of land and properties in Finland. As we can see now most of those properties are located right next to critical infrastructure and near strategic military bases. I'm not sure how many other european countries did that too but Finland acted like a naive moron letting it happen.
Well it could have been very good for both. It was a fairytale where you believe that light wins and darkness lose, but it sas just a dream. Unfortunately.
My great grandpa was talking about how ryssät (russians) would try to cross the border again one day even basically on his deathbed while not even being able to remember who I was. The mistrust of russians is deeper in many of our minds than our own family
@@realdlps Yet nowadays there's some Finns who call themselves nationalistic or patriotic and have totally fallen in love with Russia, who speak of nothing else than how wonderful and best ever that country is, how everything Russia does is the best thing ever and how Russia has never ever done one bad thing. If someone says anything else that's all lies and propaganda and they're a brainwashed sheep... Makes me so sick. I agree that we should be cautious with the USA and NATO and that country isn't good either but the one worst destructive force of Finnish peoples has always been our eastern neighbour, not only now or recently or even for our grandparents.
Oh but a large part of the finnish government in the late 90s and 2000s tried so hard. And almost succeeded at that. The former president Tarja Halonen was And still is essentially a shill for Putin. So glad we got the voice of reason Niinistö fo so long.
Finland: Everyone who knows how to fight knows exactly where to go and what to do. Everyone who doesn't know how to fight also knows exactly where to go and what to do. And every single Finn can do all of that while half drunk and telling extremely bad dad-jokes to each other. Russia has exactly zero chance against them.
A whole different question, the real question is, why would Finns want to fight and die for Neocon NATO? Or for a president whose CIA handler was Valerie Plame, until she got outed by some domestic drama in among the ruling circles of a collapsing empire?
It's not rocket science how Finns managed to get this fire power. During the early 90's when soviet union collapsed, when the rest of Europe was singing Scorpions Wind of change, we bought all the artillery and other weapons that Germany was basically giving away, naively thinking that russians wouldn't be a threat anymore.
Remember couple years ago when we had "HAMMER 22" excersise, british general was surprised how fast and well organized finnish reservists were. From arriving to base in less than 24h we were already in combat eventhough we had to travel across the country from east to west. Also the difficult flanking manouvers with large amount of people (company size movement while rest of battalion sticks to delay the enemy) during the combat were successful.
When I was in Suomi in the 80s all the men my age (I was in my 20s) told me how proud they were of their fathers and grandfathers. The men all served in the Army and there didn't seem to be much avoiding service. Suomi/Finland was the only part of the old Russian empire that stayed free.
Going to the army with the boys gives you a feeling of truly belonging in the society and even a new meaning in your life. It itself makes the society a lot more unified and resilient. Low corruption, clean nature and trust with eachother makes a country I’d be proud to defend. Suomi perkele.
In the 1970 the BBC interviewer asked Finnish foreign minister what he thought about the Finnish border with Russia. "I think it is a very good idea." The minister replied.
Most countrys have army, in Finland an army has a country. My conscript time was one of best times of my life, sure it sucked to barely get food or sleep for 30 hours in -30c, but would i had never ever experienced it whitout it? no, it gave me many unpleasant moment but many good moments also.
It is almost always unknown how well trained Finnish soldiers are. The Swedish General said that the Finnish conscripts he trains together with the Swedish professional soldiers are as good as the Swedes, but the Finns are tougher and the Finns are more multitasking soldiers.
There is and old saying here in Finland that goes like this: "Swedes has always been ready to fight to the last Finnish man." Okay it's only a joke but just like many other joke, this one also has a little bit truth and history behind it. Finland was under the Swedish rule for 600 years and they used to make us Finns do all the dirty and shitty work for them including going to war for them. 🤠
Welll..Tanks is Fueled By Diesel..Not Eletric..An will Never Bee...They Run on Shitty Diesel. That day day, we invent 15 ton float other Platform..Inform me.:)
Flawed democracy. Regardless of who you vote, nothing ever changes, other than the volume of debt and austerity, and the systematically decreasing sovereignty. They couldn't even hold one promise that was the NATO referendum. I guess giving the people an actual voice was too much to ask in a democracy, after all, they could vote wrong.
@@JoeKerr2k12 Tuolle vihalle on syynsä. Venäläiset ovat itse aiheuttaneet sen omalla käytöksellään ja toiminnallaan. He ovat ylimielisesti yrittäneet nöyryyttä ja alistaa Suomea kautta historian :-(
Finland also has one of the highest number of guns per capita in the EU, primarily due to hunters. So, even if Russia managed to wipe out our military (which is impossible without the use of nukes), it would lead to intense guerrilla warfare, with numerous small rivers, ponds, lakes, swamps, and dense pine forests everywhere, not to mention the cold, snowy winters. basically a combination of Afghanistan and Vietnam + snow. And Finland is not alone. Even without NATO. Sweden, Norway, and the sweet little Estonia would undoubtedly come to our aid if the need ever arose, as would Finland if the same happened to any of these countries.
No one who hasn't been to the east border actually knows how insanely defensive the terrain actually is. Trying to attack there is the most miserable uphill battle there is. If the guns don't kill you, the cold will
Don't forget, that Russia actually doesn't even have the option of using Nukes against the Finns. Because the wind in Finland almost always blows east. Meaning that a nuclear attack would bath Russia in its own fallout.
That is somewhat optimistically said but quite true. But do not forget the WWII chronicles; these tell us that the Bear wakes up on the Finnish border after having slept at Ural. The manufacturing potential of the "Hell on Earth" nation is many times that of Finland, even valid for the mobilizational reserve of people. The potential for an attritional war is on the Russian side. Finland managed quite well alone during WWII, but, when tiring out, had to let the Germans in; this saved the beacon for a while but created problems we see even in today's politics. One must realize that the old WW-style war is gone and that new styles and doctrines have been formed after studying the Ukrainian War. The incredible thing is that the murderous swine Stalin's policy of sending the boys from the peripheral "Nations" meant that the Finns killed hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians. In contrast, Finland today is a giant supporter of per capita support of Ukraine at war.
@@akeronnqvist668 Finland was also pretty much alone during the world wars era and was mostly rural, some minor German support. Today, Finland is a part of the largest military alliance, has one of Europe's most powerful militaries, and is one of the most industrialy developed nations on earth. Making Finland far better equipped to handle an attritional war than they used to be. Meanwhile Russia has now exhausted a huge number of men which it can't replace due to its low birthrates. And has far fewer slave nations than the Soviet union did.
Most weapons of war are so easy that a child could and (sadly)do use them after minimal training. More impressive is that if you see a finnish male over 20 years old they most likely know atleast basic level infantry squad fighting tactics. And on top of that they are likely specialized in something much more impressive.
@@mottipaaJos olet intin käynyt, on sinutkin koulutettu käyttämään jokamiehen panssarintorjunta-asetta eli kevyttä kertasinkoa! Englannin puhekielessä sitä voitais sanoa bazookaksi.
As a Finn, I really don't understand your rhetoric of war. Please stop suggesting topics like 'Finland is ready for war' because that paints an image that we want war, which couldn't be further from the truth. Finland has always been a peace-loving country, and the main reason we joined NATO is as a deterrent against Russia to prevent an invasion of our country.
"main reason we joined NATO is as a deterrent against Russia to prevent an invasion of our country." The main reason you joined Nato is because you are militarily very weak. I know Finns don´t like this for them ugly fact, nevertheless it´s the truth.
In the US military service is voluntary. For Americans the idea that nearly every man would be trained in the military is astounding. You have bomb shelters in every large building. You have weapons depots. The readiness to defend finland if it comes to it is high above the average american.
i cant speak for the rest of the finnish army, but our training up north was based on hit and run, hunt down the enemy while avoiding long exposure to the enemy, front line being a never ending forest allows for passing any front at some point and detection ranges or sub 50 metres.
@@halkopop ah of course, i took hunting as a natural weekend thing to do, but forgot that it is not in most of the world. if say, regarding to hunting, the most valuable skills for a soldier from hunting will be natural movement in the forest, patience waiting, camping skills and general survival skills...even tackling the mosquitos is a valuable skill to have
@@petrihaikio7002 here in the south where the likelihood of air assaults is greater than not, our philosophy is to always maintain contact with the enemy so that they can't move freely.
Just looking military budgets does not give you full picture. For example, I think, continuous training of recervists hasn't calculated into budget. Anyway what is counted in, varies in different countries.
Turns out that the time of the reservists and conscripts is very cheap compared to professional soldiers so it doesn't inflate the defence budget. Everyone that served has given a lot of time and effort for the greater good. If we ran the numbers with comparable salaries for everyone Finland would probably come out on top
@@jonikinisjarvi1951 Or rather, the things Finland excels at are just not taken into account at all or undervalue it. Good old classic spreadsheet math without taking into account how the real world works.
Despite the collapse of the USSR, Finland was one of the few nations that didn't downsize and downgrade their military, instead they worked to upgrade it significantly by developing new technologies and strategies, they took upon the opportunity and bought millions in cheap military surplus from both the west and former USSR. The Fins are a terrifying people if messed with, they have some of the largest civilian bunker complexes in the world, even nuclear war wouldn't bring the Finnish people down.
Did my 1 year military service in 2009-2010 and been following online discourses about military stuff ever since and it's just absolutely hilarious to me that Finnish Defense Forces were mostly considered an outdated soviet style joke until Russia invaded Ukraine and Finland joined Nato, making the military/war commenters online decided to take a better look into FDF. Suddenly Finland went from "meh, who cares, they got a bunch of outdated crap rusting away in a warehouse somewhere" to "Finland has one of the most capable militaries in the world and the country is practically impossible to invade" 😅 My personal opinion as a Finnish reservist is that the truth is somewhere in between, but definitely closer to the uninvadable end.
Tbf Finland is nearly impossible to invade. Any use of heavy hardware is denied, airspace is denied, naval forces are denied, so that leaves only infantry, but successful invasion would require several million troops. I say nobody wants that smoke.
Best thing about conscription: You get to know people you otherwise wouldn't. When a lawyer's son shares a bunk bed with a construction helper they have to get along and both learn each others perspective. Wich in the end helps democracy!
Quite often people forget how near the Finnish border St. Petersburg really is. It could easily be targeted by the Finnish military with its modern missiles. In war time, most of the Finnish air force's jets would operate from Northern Swedish airbases, and especially now when both countries are in in NATO.
...if there is really important military targets. Not our doctrine to waste on civilian masses. It's their way. Our ways are more measured. Actually they have measured so well that they count every possible scene and amount of supplies that has to be ready to counter it. They spare missiles for extreme emergencies and more likely have a tactical crew waiting where ever the target of the missile would have been. They told me that one missile is 200k€ and one artillery grenade with equal explosive is 200€ so our artillery is trained to pop up anywhere and fire so that 12 cannons no matter where they are hit the area same time, leaving nothing but desert and red pudding.
The maintenance & repairs would be done in Swedish bases but also in Finland, we have many hundreds of roads made for re-fueling so there isn't any concentration of jets in a single spot for ballistic missile strikes. I don't think there would be too many jets in Northern Sweden if there was an invasion, they'd do sorties mostly on the Baltic sea and around the South Eastern borderline, so the maintenance that would be partially done in Sweden would likely be in Gotland, and around military airfields around Southern Sweden.
As a Finn I am worried if we have the most capable army. Like no disrespect to my fellow Finnish soldier buddies but the big boys of Europe really need to step up their game! We have a capable army but given our resources it really shouldn't be in the top 3 even.
30.11.2019: In the opinion of Major General Engelbrektson, Commander of the Swedish Land Forces, it is just as important to train reservists as conscripts. Finland's way of inviting reservists to train even a couple of times a year is impressive. - Being a reservist is a part of Finnish society and culture, Major General Engelbrektson summarizes in the end.
Neat little fact I read on the news recently for us reservists. MPK, the national defence academy, has been getting increasingly more popular. Compared to last year the amount of training days has increased over 20%. Most people attend the shooting and handling courses, and more people are attending additional MPK courses afterwards too.
@@turkoositerapsidi I slutändan kan jag väl bara tala för mig själv, men de enda jag träffat på som inte känner någon solidaritet med Finland och hellre gullar med ryssen är typ nynazister och liknande typer. För tillfället bor jag i norraste Norrland inte långt från finska gränsen och här är ju många tvåspråkiga så solidariteten med Finland är ännu mer uttalat här. Jag gissar att normalsvensken fortfarande anser att Finlands sak är vår och kriget i Ukraina har gjort att det blivit än mer tydligare. Alliansfrfiheten var en självklarhet under hela min uppväxt, men så fort Finland ansökte till NATO så vände hela svenska befolkningen på en femöring och följde efter. Anledningen till att Sverige inte gick med i NATO från början var till stor del att vi inte ville lämna Finland i sticket.
What ms Ålander said last is important: because of conscription, all families have contact with national defense. It is our cause. Among other things, it makes easier to budget for defense.
My country Finland did not join NATO to start saber rattling with Russia. Other members should seriously understand and better their defence capabilities. To aid if Russia ever again attacks our peaceful country.
As an American it sometimes seems like NATO members use it just to hide behind America so they don't have to invest in defense, so it felt great when Finland joined. Its also good that most other members are finally meeting their obligations now (looking accusingly at you Canada).
@@eanerickson8915 people get real pedantic -- probably Swedes and Norwegians -- about the Scandinavian distinction which is a language-based one. Finno-Ugric etc. They probably don't like just how similar the Finns are to them -- and in certain ways, the most pure expression of the Nordic countries' culture of autism.
@JimBobMcGillicuddy Scandinavian is pretty often used meaning the Nordic countries. I guess it's always the Finns who want to separate these terms. Having said that Scandinavian is more vague.
@@ex1tium Conscription only binds people together and gives shared experience to all who go through it to talk about. I however think of welfare our nation has and our common attempt to take care of everyone via healthcare etc is what ultimately makes the country worthy of defense to the eyes of its citizens. Our country takes care of us so we in turn should do the same essentially.
The biggest difference is having to fight in your own backyard, for the existence of your own home and family. At that point it doesn't matter if one is a conscript, professional soldier or assistant in local library. The patriotism here is "will to live" that humans and animals share. It comes from knowing Russia wants to erase you and your whole country and people, both from this physical world and from history books.
conscription works many ways, you want to stay at good terms with everyone as you know that when war start everyone has to participate even the politicians. it makes you think twice about all decisions how to make things overall to work on in every scenario. i think whole west has gone to this be ready to war in x time as they know they are not the guys in front lines. somehow it is always women and civilian service politicians who are ready to start war !
When I was in the army back in -90-91, the war time strength was 700 000, but a large portion of the equipments and technology we had was old and cheap, the oldest being from the 1950s and -60s.
@@porsimoI was in 1991-1992. Our unit had the newest stuff like sleepingbags (not those blankets), Trangias shared with combat pair, real raincoats and trousers (we also had that those old cloaks), newest versions of assault rifles etc etc. But we also got some training for example with old rpg7:s, kp-31:s and even Maxim mg. And that old stuff still filled their purpose in some cases. Like fortified Maxim is very good gun when you don't have to carry it around. And rpg7 is a very good against lightly covered enemy positions like house ruins. They use both even today in Ukraine.
@@perkele2802 Yeah, old weapons kill as well as new ones. We had those blankets, rain cloaks, M62 BDUs and those horrible fabric combat belts from the 50s, but I'm not sure I'd change that blanket to a sleeping bag. It was quite comfortable and warm and I never had any issues with it.
@@porsimo Reserve was 700,000 I can assure with great confidence that kind of war strength would not be feasible to realistically logistically maintain, also it would be unreasonably big for its defence purpose. Also would make even less sense to have that strength right after the Soviet Union collapsed.
@@unknownentity8256 No, the wartime strength was 700 000, the same that now is 280 000. During the nineties, it was halved and lowered to the all-time low of 235 000 in the early 2000s. I would think that the reserve was also bigger than today, because more conscripts started their service per year than today.
@@Magnifico145 that is the war cry of the Hakkapeliitta's, A cavalry unit in the Swedish army formed from the finnish land owners (and their subjects) who specialiced on horse breeding and mounted warfare. They got bunch of tax reliefs in the exchange of the cavalry units dedicated for the King.
@@Magnifico145 Oh no, I looked it up and can't believe how wrong it is, when you write it with the capital H, it translates "Get over it, son of a bitch" and when you write all the letters small it translates "knock on the bottom boy" . 😆
@@DerMackoRatsujokkojen nimitys "Hakkapeliitta" ja "Hakkapeliitat" on itseasiassa johdannainen juurikin tuosta ns sotahuudosta "Hakkaa päälle", joka Ruotsalaisten korvissa ja vihollisen korvissa kuulosti "Hakkapael" ja muokkaantui muotoonsa, josta tuli to Ratsujoukon virallinen nimitys. Sotahuuto tuli vihollisten keskuudessa tunnetuksi erityisesti pelkoa herättävänä, koska suomalainen Ratsjoukko oli jo laajalti tunnettu herättästään kauhusta hurjuudellaan ja julmuudellaan taisteluissa, jopa niin että jo sotahuudon kajahtaessa osa vihollsten riveistä lähtivät karkuun ennenkuin Hakkapeliittojen ratsujoukko oli ehtinyt edes liikahtaakaan.
To simplify. Our culture is from childhood for boys that you go to military. That is a proud thing and everyone is prepared to fight. This is taught from childhood
@@kristofferhellstrom We value practicality. I think conscription binds the nation together well and total defense strategy is good deterrence. Besides you always have something to talk about with each other no matter where you're from while sitting in Sauna with strangers.
The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting. Sun Tzu, The Art of War Igitur quī dēsīderat pācem, præparet bellum Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus On most corners of Earth there is an army. Typically your own is the preferred one.
The sticker price of conscription is very low. The real cost is in delaying the productive civilian career of half of the population by up to a year. In the end I think it's a fair balance, win some, lose some.
18 year old guys are very unproductive, immature but full of testosterone anyways so it doesn’t matter. 😅 I went through my service as everyone else and even tho I was there for only 9 months, it did change me for better, at least a little bit.
@@Redfizh In my time 30+ years ago the real value of the daily allowance was far lower. Back then some of it went to the cheapest, shittiest cigarettes money can buy.
it is one year more of school, and conscription in Finland is best school you can have ever, you learn how to survive in Finnish harsh nature in every time of year, you learn how to handle weapons safely, you can have free activity park type of thing for free. It is school year which prepares you for life more than any other school year you spent.
We also have state funded training for reservist in many cities and municipalities. In these reservist groups we train shooting and other skills to keep up our fighting capabilities. Everyone can join these groups even if you dont have any military experience.
At one point, the Netherlands was downgrading it's military in order to get rid of high cost and high maintenance tanks, the Leopards,😂 thinking they would concentrate on overseas anti-terrorism operations as part of the Nato. Finland saw its chances, and bought literally the entire Dutch main battle tank capability wholesale half free..
Every european country should do the same as us finns do. If we want to make sure that democracy stays in the future as well. And there is no harm about it. You learn new skills and get new values in army. Maybe even get more friends.
I have at least 10 bomb shelters a couple of hundred meters from where I live in Sweden. But NO shelters at the new buildings not long from here. Like no new shelters were build after 2000.
I've said this for years, the biggest mistake we ever made here in Sweden was to remove obligatory conscription. I'm hoping we bring it back, and fast!
It's not in many countries that probably 75% of the male population knows how to operate an assault rifle or a bolt-action rifle. Now that's just my own percentage estimate not based on anything solid, but most of my friends and colleagues that I know + me, have gone through the basic conscription military training, so everyone knows how to operate and maintain their military rifles (bolt-action rifles as a normal issue weapons were phased out a looong time ago, but didn't want to exclude the old timers), so we have a LOT of base skill level reserve to go around.
Yeah, i think we talk about the same philosophical basis. We wanna make it clear that the attacker should think twice before they make their moves. We Finns just wanna make sure that if needed, we have the capability and firepower to defend, but we prefer the peace.
As a Nordic 9cross country) Ski Patroller we had a Norwegian patroller Hans. Hans knew all the useful knot that we needed as patrollers. I asked Hans how he knew those knots and other winter survival things. He said he learned them when he did his mandatory years of service. From this I realized that the Nordic nations have excellent military training. I expect that Finnish professional troops are as well trained as US Army paratroopers, and that is a respectable mark to meet. Plus I would bet the reserves are nearly as well trained in their respective areas.
Love it how Finland bought 100 Leopard 2A6's with a gargantuan amount of spare parts from the Neatherlands for 200 million euros. This is how Finland has managed to build up gear for decades. Cheap pick-offs here and there while everyone else is busy doing whatever.
There's a misunderstanding of the cost of conscription; it's not "cheap", it's just that the cost is not reflected in the budget. Basically you have to add 1-2 percent point of GDP into the "official" military spending of Finland due to the conscription. It's damn expensive, but then that's the reality of living next to Russia.
Yeah, about that older equipment. The FInns haven't adopted a military piece of equipment yet that they haven't found wanting and in need of improvement. The initial cost is lower, but after improvements, it's probably closer to the price when new. Obviously, it's also a lot better.
I used to play sports, but I found it more enjoyable to train with our Reserve forces. Everyone’s in a great mood, and the experiences and lessons are invaluable. Plus, earning a higher military rank is a nice bonus.
Military spending is not actually spending. It is investment for a worst of times. Like insurance payment. Who would end the insurance for your most valuable, your freedom, just because it does not seem likely that some accident would happen? There is a name for that kind of a man that we all surely know. And it is not opportunist.
Total defence policy is often overlooked when talking just military power. In a way it is important to make sure that a society will continue to operate in a war time and what ever it takes as a nation everybody knows that your home and close ones are protected and kept safe. That is what Finns must do. Assure and show that we are capable of protecting our own country and population.
like others pointed out army is seen finland as a somewhat of a coming in age ritual Congratulations you are an adult now go the the army and get trained and in civilian life you know almost every man has been trained so if you meet someone you can both talk about random stuff about army in the evening at the bar and share experiences the training is something that unites every finn
Indeed. I'm physically incapable fighting myself, but I would happily do anything it took to defend my country. I come from a military family background as in my grandfather was active military until he retired. My father was officer class but me being a female army was not available at the time but I studied international relations, including Russian Studies. I have lived my life, like every person in Finland, by hearing air raid testing every week and air defence practice on top of a major city. I sit on a bunker at home, my male friends and my godmother are in the reserves. Most of the men in Finland know how to use a machine gun etc. The government knows exactly what civilian cars will be confiscated, who will be called to perform what task starting from cooks designated to cater to the military. The roads have been built to cater to war. The civil society has been consistently prepared for martial law including strategic private sector companies. I have lived the 50 years of my life knowing that war is possible. I welcome NATO, but do not for one minute think that NATO is going to save Finland. I think Finland being a part of NATO will make a Russian attack even less likely. Knowing geopolitics tells me so.
I hope it won't come to that but glad you're ready. Question: "the government knows exactly what civilian cars will be confiscated." Why would the government confiscate cars in the event of war?
@@EvanHumphris We're not a highly mechanized army because vehicles are expensive. If the entire army was mobilized, there would be nowhere near enough vehicles to move the troops or their equipment around or handle the logistics.
@@EvanHumphris For example: You own a 4x4 offroad capable car, toyota hilux etc. In case of war the defence force probably has better use for it defending our freedom than the normal civilian daily driving it.
Fellow Finnish female here, I am hoping that our eastern neighbour would not come here like they did in Ukraine, but should they dare to come, I would not hesitate to do what I can, even though I could never join FDF.
4:49 Finland doesn't have 600 tanks. We have 200 MBT's along with 200 IFV's. Sure if you count APC's it would be more but the number would be way higher
Finland does have a very good military pn paper. But as a Finn i will say this. Over the passed few years, reformists have pushed for and succeeded in enacting a heavy relaxation of training standards. Both physical, and in terms of discipline. This is a fixable problem, but the last 5-10 years of recruits have been trained to a much lower standard than prior.
As a member of Finnish army (not a conscript anymore) I've gone through RUK (Runkkaan untuvapeiton kanssa), I can honestly say, Finland is probably one of the hardest countries for Russians to invade in EU and now as we are puppets of NATO, we have even bigger def capability. -Lt. Iron battlemace.
The finnish sinko for all solders is a small recoilles gun fired over the shoulder. A bazooka is rocket launcher. Their look and purpose are similar, but the technology totally different
Moscow horde´s war record :- 1856 defeated by Britain and France 1905 defeated by Japan 1917 defeated by Germany 1920 defeated by Poland, Finland, Estonia and all Baltic states 1939 defeated by Finland 1969 defeated by China 1989 defeated by Afghanistan 1989 defeated in the Cold War. 1996 defeated by Chechnya 2022 defeated by Ukraine WW2 won USA/Britain , meanwhile Stalin's officers were shot or sent to the Gulags. Millions went to the Gulags, including Solzhenitsyn Moscow's only victories come from invading smaller countries :- a) Hungary 1956 b) Czechoslovakia 1968 c) Moldova 1992 d) Georgia 2008
You can't compare the Imperial Russian army to the Soviet army or the Russian Federation army but anyway: 1856, defeated by three countries combined, not two (actually a forth country joined the allies), The Imperial army was poorly equipped, it's weaponry very outdated 1914-1917 was a defeat bear in mind, the Imperial army was poorly led, poorly equipped with outdated weaponry. there was a revolution going on at the time, they did rejoin the war in time for the end though. This was followed by the civil war. Sino-Russian conflict 1929, the Soviet Union achieved it's goals. Winter war 1939-1940 Neither side could claim to have won, as both sides suffered heavy losses and Finland had to cede territory. On the other hand, Russia didn't completely take the whole of Finland. In fact the executions of officers had a bigger effect on the Winter War than on WW2. 1941-1944 the Continuation war, Russia won that one. People forget that the fact that Finland is still an independent country is just as much due to it's diplomats, as it's soldiers. WW2, I don't understand what you mean by 'won USA/Britain' The Soviet Union did indeed defeat the European AXIS in the east, it was the major part of defeating Germany. Britain didn't fight alone in the second world war, it had the entire British Empire and the British Commonwealth. There were also many other countries either directly fighting or providing material support. That is generally how world wars work Soviet-Japanese war 1945 1969 Sino-Soviet border conflict wasn't really a war and there wasn't really a victory by either side. 1979 Afghanistan Well I don't think anyone since the Timurid Empire can claim to have won in Afghanistan. The Sikh Empire held it briefly, The British Empire invaded three times, but the intention was never to hold Afghanistan, just to prevent the Russians from doing so. More recently, even the United States has 1996 Chechnya. Yes that was a great victory for Chechnya. You didn't include the other thirteen wars with Chechnya though, all of which were won by Russia, the latest being in 2009 It's true that Imperial Russia, the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation has only defeated countries smaller than itself. That is because there are no countries even remotely close in size. The purges. It is true that a lot of officers were removed from their commands and many were executed, or sent to the labour camps. A lot of these officers were considered ill equipped for modern warfare ( US Chief of Staff George Marshall removed hundreds of officers including 500 Colonels in 1940, admittedly, he didn't have them executed). Some were considered to be of dubious loyalty. Most though just happened to be connected to someone in the first two groups. Stalin couldn't have disgruntled ex military leaders, many of whom had been heroes of the revolution. From his point of view, he had to liquidate them or risk some of them staging a coup. Well Stalin did have a reputation for paranoia. The Gulags were not invented by the Soviets, they just vastly increased the scale of them. There have been prison work camps in Siberia known then as Katorga since the 17th century many participants in national uprisings were sent to them, particularly Poles. Now I am not an apologist for Imperial Russia or the Soviet Union, they were both brutal dictatorships and the Russian people deserved better. Similarly, the Russian Federation, whilst not in the same league as the Soviets or the Tsars, is still brutal and the people deserve better. But the you could say that of any major country in the porld today and many of the minor ones.
@@skasteve6528 soviets were poorly equipped with outdated weaponery.... modern day russians are poorly equipped with outdated weaponery... What is your point???
Soviet union defeated Finland in 1939. They just didn't gain total victory. Afghanistan didn't defeat the soviet union, the soviet union disbanded that ended the war, it would have done so regardless of what was going on in afghanistan. Russia won against Ukraine in 2014 by taking Crimea. They also won in 2022 by expanding further into Ukrainian territories. And now in 2024 they're still winning against Ukraine, the russians do not care for the Kursk region because they know they can retake it at their leisure whenever they set it as their target and Ukraine is losing more and more territory every day.
Finland's pretty much forced to be ready, our longest border is shared with Russia, knowing them not being the most trustworthy neighbors and been in war against Russia multiple times we've had to build delicate balance between diplomatic friendliness and trying to look scary enough we wouldn't be the first to take a hit if a boss decides to hit the big red button.
I personally don't understand why conscription couldn't work in other countries as well, in the defense forces you learned useful things that you could use for a long time in civilian life as well, besides that in Finland there is also civil service as an alternative for those who have religious or moral obstacles to military service, and at least before the defense forces themselves had places where you could complete unarmed service, although I'm not sure if those exist anymore.. That's why, secondly, national defense activities can be an interesting hobby that keeps you in shape, etc., first aid skills, etc., I don't see terribly good sides in either, rather everything that can also be used in completely normal unexpected events... At least for many for a country with a small population, conscription is a significantly more cost-effective option, although it requires that a system has been created where people trust the system and the administration trusts the people, as in Finland and other Nordic countries..
It's not that it can't, it's just not worth the effort, nor is it necessary. You mentioned some of the reasons in the end of your own post but more specifically... Countries that don't already have a tradition of conscription lack the staff to train conscripts, lack the facilities to house them, lack the gear to equip them and unlike in Finland where every man, woman and child has always lived knowing that war is a real threat and as part of a total defense policy, in these more "sheltered" countries, people are much more disconnected from their military and will have much lower motivation to even serve in the first place, leading to much worse results. Additionally you'd have to pull all the men and potentially the women out of their civilian lives for a year or more, which is a big loss both to those individuals and to society and the economy. Their systems are not set up to handle the consequences or making that a smooth experience either. The TL;DR is that the reason conscription works for us is because our entire society and culture is built around it from the ground up and it always has been. For countries that have none of it in place, starting conscription from nothing is at the very least insanely costly, insanely difficult and will only produce results in the long-term. Likely decades at the very least. This is not worth it, especially to larger countries that can field larger professional armies. To us it's normal, but the reality is that our system is a MASSIVE sacrifice that nobody would make unless it was a matter of existential threats and survival.
Its always nice to hear when someone regonizes our efforts. I have not doubt in my mind that if russia attacked, every man capable of fighting would fight without thinking twice and some of the women too, and most of the women would help the war effort in any way they can on the home front, you can't say that about most of the countries.
Those are good adjectives to describe Sisu but it really doesn't capture the essence of this word for me at least, best way to describe it in my opinion is: "Never giving up, even if the odds are stacked against you." Also the ruZkies have what they've always had, it's "URAAAAAAAAA" meaning suicidal determination to push forward, which I would not be proud of if I was ruZzian, (thank god I'm not)
By purchasing the best of the European weapon systems Finland has preserved much of the European investment. But how active is Finland in development of missile and drones
Finland is undeniably well equipped militarily. The most interesting thing here is that the armament started already in the 1970s, when the Soviet Union wanted us to equip ourselves in case of a possible NATO attack from the north, Finland would be a buffer before the actual Soviet soil. The result was a truly militarily prepared small nation on a large land before the Soviet Union. When the Soviet Union became Russia and dictator Putin became the ruler, Finland's preparation did not disappear anywhere. Surprisingly, the large army of a small country encouraged by Russia became a highly technologically advanced NATO army! Thanks to Putin, Russia made Finland join NATO and develop the army to the highest possible level.
Findland's cities have underground bomb shelters with the same underground stores as above. Many of them could survive WWIII for a whole. And they are considered the happiest people in the world.
I don't even know where the closest bomb shelter is here in my town. I'm 70's kid and back then every apartment building had it's own bomb shelter here in Finland. And back then in primary school kids were even taught where the shelters are and how to act if something bad happens. I guess in modern time I'd just take my backbag with my survival equipment and tools and make my way to some laavu either in some island by a row boat or get to a remote forested area. Plenty of them in here.
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this woke nation is ready to bend only...
As a Finn I do appreciate this kind of videos and most of the content is very exact. But peronally I think that for future conflicts where NATo can be apart of, you do need a high alert quick response forces too. The fact taht Russia probably won't attack on us anymore, doesn't ofc mean that we don't have to have this quite large reserve and compared to our population a strong army as we do have the longest border with russia in Europe and that is just maths and geopolitics. But we have to remind ourselves, that the recent wars where western counries have been involded haven't been fought on their borders at all. Doesn't mean it cannot happen, but wars that can inflict everyone can be fought in the other side of the world so we do need also a rapid forces, enough extra, that in joint operations we can pull up a formidable force everywhere where ever it is needed and this includes so called rapid and mobile units which can be delivered very fast. What you said on this video about the rundown on Western Europes military is unfortunately true and I don't understand what kinda 'woke ideology' made this possible, but after this Ukrainan War and Russian offensive started and it had this 'mass war' elements, many European countryis faced the fact, that they would not be ready any more to conter ANYTHING LIKE IT. And the worst part is that when many of the countries almost shut down their military industry and ammuniotion producing, now it would probably take a 10 years to get it back without enormous efforts. And the whole Western World including for an example Japan, cannot just lay all the responsibility and trust on USA. They cannot fight all over the world even though they have done something like it in the past and helped Europe not to fall to Soviets, but we cannot expect that one country is the one who tries to resolve everything. Every western country should keep their military not just up to date but also reasonably big in men power and continous training that it has this preventing power for any hostility. But I do hope that the realization of certain things doesn't need the fact that war has come to your doors already. This has happened so numerous times in the past that there is no reason to believe it can't happen again. And what everyone should understand, the phases in war nowdays are way faster than in during World War II and also the missiles and even the artillery and airstrikes can hit in the depth and way beoynd the fronlines... Tell me if I am wrong?
Putin already bought some right parties in Finland and a lot of oligarch has finish citizenship and affect on finish opinion, such as brothers rothenbergs, kovalchuk and etc. Finish government says that they are support Ukraine, but at the same time the turnover of goods is growing with Putin's regime. They will use a hybrid tactics. I am as ukranian since 2022 don't have any access to educational system, any local documents, bank account or job, in another hand locals help so called rossians here, they say : we have Jew family here from Venäjä and we must help them. Sound's for a little bit strange...
@@MarkoMakela-kk7qf Putin already bought some right parties in Finland and a lot of oligarch has finish citizenship and affect on finish opinion, such as brothers rothenbergs, kovalchuk and etc. Finish government says that they are support Ukraine, but at the same time the turnover of goods is growing with Putin's regime. They will use a hybrid tactics. I am as ukranian since 2022 don't have any access to educational system, any local documents, bank account or job, in another hand locals help so called rossians here, they say : we have Jew family here from Venäjä and we must help them. Sound's for me a little bit strange... I am really tired from discrimination of my ethnic group.
Nothing you said was impressive, it doesn’t have enough ground based anti air, fighter jets, ifvs, probably don’t have anywhere near enough cruise missile, long range hypersonic, no space force, navy is minimal, et cetera et cetera et cetera…….russia is way more equipped and now has minimal 2 years of intense war experience fighting against the cream of the crop in terms of equipment from around the world…..Finland needs way more fighter jets……I’d think you’d want about 5,000 cruise missiles, 400 hypersonic missiles, and much much more anti air…..if Russia invaded and USA doesn’t come to the rescue or choose not to…..you are fucked
No one in Finland is worried, nor scared. We are simply prepared.
Greets from Swe I'm ready for anything.
LOL you just surrendered your entire country and wealth to USA, what are u prepared for? US defence contracts prices? No u are not.
@@kawsr2669 Watch whats happening to Germany, you are next.
@@CZOV So what is happening to Germany, into which a military response would be expected?
PREPARED is a good place to be. The US now has to be prepared to backup NATO in Europe AND meet Chinese belligerence in the Pacific. As an American I feel our slow pace of becoming prepared is dangerous. Yes we are powerful but maybe not powerful enough DETER a war with Russia in 6 years or with China in 3 years.
Thankfully nations like Finland and Poland take preparedness a bit more seriously than some other NATO nations and a LOT more seriously than a few NATO nations.
We're not worried, we're ready.
Based Finn
The Fins been known to fight
BS
No we’re not.
Oh, seems the butthurt vatniks have found the video and are acting like Finns.
Please ignore them.
Just got back Helsinki where I was able to talk to Finnish citizens. Finns are pragmatic, calm and prepared. They understand the odds, yet have faith in their neighbors and government. One thing that was quite obvious that conscription and training was not seen as a burden, but that of responsibility. Needless to say I was very impressed by both Finland and the Finnish.
Just a not I believe that conscription for a short time for initial trading and ongoing participation is a socially binding event that we are lacking here in the US
It also prepares the young people to adulthood as many who come to do the service might be the first time they ever are living away from home. They teach basic of how to live not just how to use a gun or how to wage war. Like I can say to me I see those basic things more important than how to disassemble RK-62, how to put a gas mask on fast and correctly etc.
@@Wezqu Speaking from experience, I could have done with a bit of time and a reality check before entering University or the working world. Just another benefit to peace time conscription.
And for some of us the conscription and training is not a burden or a responsibility but a privilege.
A Swede here. Yes, Finland is the most capable. Now Sweden is looking to Finland on how they are doing things. "You don't go to war with the army you want but the army you have". Sweden have much to learn and not much time.
Don't worry, best defense of Sweden has always been Finland
dont worry about russia invading sweden the finnish macho men will keep you safe just like they did when finland was apart of sweden
If Sweden and Norway would help Finland with their navies, air forces and some professional soldiers, it would be a huge help. Swedish navy with their submarines is way superior when compared to Finnish navy. Norway has way better air force until Finland gets their F-35s. Navy and air force in Finland are the weakest links. I'm also happy to see Finland, Sweden and Norway buying military stuff from each others. You Swedes most importantly need to be able to defend Gotland.
@@ketskaesor9467 The air forces are being combined into one Nordic Air Force as I understand it.
@@sipulihemuli-s3s sweden solos in the nordic when it comes to airforce navy and more wdym XD
Finland never did the same mistake as the rest of Europe: we never started believing that suddenly Russia is a kind and democratic country which respects their neighbours.
Actually Finland's covernment(s) did big bad political decisions after USSR collapsed. When some russian people got rich they started to invest in Finland's businesses also they bought and rented a lot of land and properties in Finland. As we can see now most of those properties are located right next to critical infrastructure and near strategic military bases. I'm not sure how many other european countries did that too but Finland acted like a naive moron letting it happen.
Well it could have been very good for both. It was a fairytale where you believe that light wins and darkness lose, but it sas just a dream. Unfortunately.
My great grandpa was talking about how ryssät (russians) would try to cross the border again one day even basically on his deathbed while not even being able to remember who I was. The mistrust of russians is deeper in many of our minds than our own family
@@realdlps Yet nowadays there's some Finns who call themselves nationalistic or patriotic and have totally fallen in love with Russia, who speak of nothing else than how wonderful and best ever that country is, how everything Russia does is the best thing ever and how Russia has never ever done one bad thing. If someone says anything else that's all lies and propaganda and they're a brainwashed sheep... Makes me so sick. I agree that we should be cautious with the USA and NATO and that country isn't good either but the one worst destructive force of Finnish peoples has always been our eastern neighbour, not only now or recently or even for our grandparents.
Oh but a large part of the finnish government in the late 90s and 2000s tried so hard. And almost succeeded at that. The former president Tarja Halonen was And still is essentially a shill for Putin. So glad we got the voice of reason Niinistö fo so long.
Finland:
Everyone who knows how to fight knows exactly where to go and what to do.
Everyone who doesn't know how to fight also knows exactly where to go and what to do.
And every single Finn can do all of that while half drunk and telling extremely bad dad-jokes to each other.
Russia has exactly zero chance against them.
Hahah i can confirm :D
lol
Perkele.
A whole different question, the real question is, why would Finns want to fight and die for Neocon NATO? Or for a president whose CIA handler was Valerie Plame, until she got outed by some domestic drama in among the ruling circles of a collapsing empire?
😂😂😂
It's not rocket science how Finns managed to get this fire power. During the early 90's when soviet union collapsed, when the rest of Europe was singing Scorpions Wind of change, we bought all the artillery and other weapons that Germany was basically giving away, naively thinking that russians wouldn't be a threat anymore.
Wings of change! Oh shit! 🤣🤣🤣
@@michaelhall7546 😅
Well Finland is more into "heavy metal" anyways, especially in a shape of towed and self-propelled artillery pieces
@@pyrk2523 Just add water ... eh ... mortars and rocket launchers and a hell-of-a motivated, well trained personnel of nearly a 900 000 strong.
@@mikakarki7989 "Just add fire" written on the etiquette of a molotov cocktail
Remember couple years ago when we had "HAMMER 22" excersise, british general was surprised how fast and well organized finnish reservists were. From arriving to base in less than 24h we were already in combat eventhough we had to travel across the country from east to west. Also the difficult flanking manouvers with large amount of people (company size movement while rest of battalion sticks to delay the enemy) during the combat were successful.
When I was in Suomi in the 80s all the men my age (I was in my 20s) told me how proud they were of their fathers and grandfathers. The men all served in the Army and there didn't seem to be much avoiding service. Suomi/Finland was the only part of the old Russian empire that stayed free.
Going to the army with the boys gives you a feeling of truly belonging in the society and even a new meaning in your life. It itself makes the society a lot more unified and resilient. Low corruption, clean nature and trust with eachother makes a country I’d be proud to defend. Suomi perkele.
In the 1970 the BBC interviewer asked Finnish foreign minister what he thought about the Finnish border with Russia. "I think it is a very good idea." The minister replied.
Most countrys have army, in Finland an army has a country. My conscript time was one of best times of my life, sure it sucked to barely get food or sleep for 30 hours in -30c, but would i had never ever experienced it whitout it? no, it gave me many unpleasant moment but many good moments also.
Same here
It is almost always unknown how well trained Finnish soldiers are. The Swedish General said that the Finnish conscripts he trains together with the Swedish professional soldiers are as good as the Swedes, but the Finns are tougher and the Finns are more multitasking soldiers.
Suomi Perkele 🇫🇮🇫🇮🇫🇮
There is and old saying here in Finland that goes like this:
"Swedes has always been ready to fight to the last Finnish man."
Okay it's only a joke but just like many other joke, this one also has a little bit truth and history behind it.
Finland was under the Swedish rule for 600 years and they used to make us Finns do all the dirty and shitty work for them including going to war for them. 🤠
Who swedish general?
@@MRtapio5 Carl Gustav Mannerheim? ..sorry he was finnish.
@@kalma999 joker here
Patriotism based on green values , high social security , human rights and SOLID DEMOCRACY is worth of fighting for.
Welll..Tanks is Fueled By Diesel..Not Eletric..An will Never Bee...They Run on Shitty Diesel. That day day, we invent 15 ton float other Platform..Inform me.:)
Last was for Cannons..Tanks are 55 tons..If in Battle..
Flawed democracy. Regardless of who you vote, nothing ever changes, other than the volume of debt and austerity, and the systematically decreasing sovereignty. They couldn't even hold one promise that was the NATO referendum. I guess giving the people an actual voice was too much to ask in a democracy, after all, they could vote wrong.
Best. I am socialist, but active reserve officer. Tuntematon sotilas is something that is common to all Finns.
If the whistle is ever blown i would fight but not for any of those things.
My grandparents and parents allways said: Never trust the Russians.
This is common knowledge in Finland. 🤣
Typical russofobic attitude in one of the most racist countries on earth
Isoviha elää ja voi hyvin
Ryssä on ryssä vaikka voissa paistaisi.
@@JoeKerr2k12 Tuolle vihalle on syynsä. Venäläiset ovat itse aiheuttaneet sen omalla käytöksellään ja toiminnallaan. He ovat ylimielisesti yrittäneet nöyryyttä ja alistaa Suomea kautta historian :-(
In Finland, windows that face east are called firing points.
Hahaa! That was good. Here's another one: "the enemy comes from the east. If it comes from the west, it has made a diversion maneuver".
😂😂😂😂
Finland also has one of the highest number of guns per capita in the EU, primarily due to hunters. So, even if Russia managed to wipe out our military (which is impossible without the use of nukes), it would lead to intense guerrilla warfare, with numerous small rivers, ponds, lakes, swamps, and dense pine forests everywhere, not to mention the cold, snowy winters. basically a combination of Afghanistan and Vietnam + snow.
And Finland is not alone. Even without NATO. Sweden, Norway, and the sweet little Estonia would undoubtedly come to our aid if the need ever arose, as would Finland if the same happened to any of these countries.
No one who hasn't been to the east border actually knows how insanely defensive the terrain actually is. Trying to attack there is the most miserable uphill battle there is. If the guns don't kill you, the cold will
Don't forget, that Russia actually doesn't even have the option of using Nukes against the Finns. Because the wind in Finland almost always blows east. Meaning that a nuclear attack would bath Russia in its own fallout.
That is somewhat optimistically said but quite true. But do not forget the WWII chronicles; these tell us that the Bear wakes up on the Finnish border after having slept at Ural. The manufacturing potential of the "Hell on Earth" nation is many times that of Finland, even valid for the mobilizational reserve of people. The potential for an attritional war is on the Russian side. Finland managed quite well alone during WWII, but, when tiring out, had to let the Germans in; this saved the beacon for a while but created problems we see even in today's politics. One must realize that the old WW-style war is gone and that new styles and doctrines have been formed after studying the Ukrainian War. The incredible thing is that the murderous swine Stalin's policy of sending the boys from the peripheral "Nations" meant that the Finns killed hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians. In contrast, Finland today is a giant supporter of per capita support of Ukraine at war.
@@akeronnqvist668 Finland was also pretty much alone during the world wars era and was mostly rural, some minor German support. Today, Finland is a part of the largest military alliance, has one of Europe's most powerful militaries, and is one of the most industrialy developed nations on earth. Making Finland far better equipped to handle an attritional war than they used to be. Meanwhile Russia has now exhausted a huge number of men which it can't replace due to its low birthrates. And has far fewer slave nations than the Soviet union did.
Finland and the US made a DCA treaty 18.12. 2023 and a treaty with Great Britain in 11.5.2022 also.
In Finland if you see a Finnish male over 20, he most likely knows how to shoot a bazooka.
Almost every male finn and a large portion of the female population knows how to use and ak. That is strength.
Most weapons of war are so easy that a child could and (sadly)do use them after minimal training.
More impressive is that if you see a finnish male over 20 years old they most likely know atleast basic level infantry squad fighting tactics. And on top of that they are likely specialized in something much more impressive.
en oo ikinä ampunu bazuukaa enkä saatana ammu perkeles
@@mottipaaJos olet intin käynyt, on sinutkin koulutettu käyttämään jokamiehen panssarintorjunta-asetta eli kevyttä kertasinkoa! Englannin puhekielessä sitä voitais sanoa bazookaksi.
It is not a bazooka, a rocket launcher. The finnish sinko is a recoilles gun. The size and purpose are similar, but they work in a different way.
As a Finn, I really don't understand your rhetoric of war. Please stop suggesting topics like 'Finland is ready for war' because that paints an image that we want war, which couldn't be further from the truth. Finland has always been a peace-loving country, and the main reason we joined NATO is as a deterrent against Russia to prevent an invasion of our country.
You know what they say? Si vis pacem, para bellum. That's exactly what Finland has been doing.
"main reason we joined NATO is as a deterrent against Russia to prevent an invasion of our country."
The main reason you joined Nato is because you are militarily very weak. I know Finns don´t like this for them ugly fact, nevertheless it´s the truth.
@@kodor1146 :D
In the US military service is voluntary. For Americans the idea that nearly every man would be trained in the military is astounding. You have bomb shelters in every large building. You have weapons depots. The readiness to defend finland if it comes to it is high above the average american.
Karjala takaisin perkele!
Finland doesn't fight.
Finland hunts.
i cant speak for the rest of the finnish army, but our training up north was based on hit and run, hunt down the enemy while avoiding long exposure to the enemy, front line being a never ending forest allows for passing any front at some point and detection ranges or sub 50 metres.
@@halkopop ah of course, i took hunting as a natural weekend thing to do, but forgot that it is not in most of the world.
if say, regarding to hunting, the most valuable skills for a soldier from hunting will be natural movement in the forest, patience waiting, camping skills and general survival skills...even tackling the mosquitos is a valuable skill to have
@@petrihaikio7002 As far as I know, the average training focuses on defense and our unit that was trained more for offense isn't common.
@@petrihaikio7002 here in the south where the likelihood of air assaults is greater than not, our philosophy is to always maintain contact with the enemy so that they can't move freely.
@@petrihaikio7002 Yes high mobility Guerilla warfare, but with modern military capability.
It's generally accepted that mil spending goes frrom SE > NO > DK > FI. Yet FI beats us as all in preparedneness.
Just looking military budgets does not give you full picture. For example, I think, continuous training of recervists hasn't calculated into budget. Anyway what is counted in, varies in different countries.
That is actually one of the things why I think Military Firepower-index fails. They are not calculating Finlands rank right..
Turns out that the time of the reservists and conscripts is very cheap compared to professional soldiers so it doesn't inflate the defence budget. Everyone that served has given a lot of time and effort for the greater good.
If we ran the numbers with comparable salaries for everyone Finland would probably come out on top
@@jonikinisjarvi1951 Or rather, the things Finland excels at are just not taken into account at all or undervalue it. Good old classic spreadsheet math without taking into account how the real world works.
Despite the collapse of the USSR, Finland was one of the few nations that didn't downsize and downgrade their military, instead they worked to upgrade it significantly by developing new technologies and strategies, they took upon the opportunity and bought millions in cheap military surplus from both the west and former USSR. The Fins are a terrifying people if messed with, they have some of the largest civilian bunker complexes in the world, even nuclear war wouldn't bring the Finnish people down.
Did my 1 year military service in 2009-2010 and been following online discourses about military stuff ever since and it's just absolutely hilarious to me that Finnish Defense Forces were mostly considered an outdated soviet style joke until Russia invaded Ukraine and Finland joined Nato, making the military/war commenters online decided to take a better look into FDF. Suddenly Finland went from "meh, who cares, they got a bunch of outdated crap rusting away in a warehouse somewhere" to "Finland has one of the most capable militaries in the world and the country is practically impossible to invade" 😅 My personal opinion as a Finnish reservist is that the truth is somewhere in between, but definitely closer to the uninvadable end.
Tbf Finland is nearly impossible to invade. Any use of heavy hardware is denied, airspace is denied, naval forces are denied, so that leaves only infantry, but successful invasion would require several million troops. I say nobody wants that smoke.
Watching this from military training in finland🎉
Best thing about conscription: You get to know people you otherwise wouldn't. When a lawyer's son shares a bunk bed with a construction helper they have to get along and both learn each others perspective. Wich in the end helps democracy!
Quite often people forget how near the Finnish border St. Petersburg really is. It could easily be targeted by the Finnish military with its modern missiles. In war time, most of the Finnish air force's jets would operate from Northern Swedish airbases, and especially now when both countries are in in NATO.
...if there is really important military targets. Not our doctrine to waste on civilian masses. It's their way. Our ways are more measured.
Actually they have measured so well that they count every possible scene and amount of supplies that has to be ready to counter it.
They spare missiles for extreme emergencies and more likely have a tactical crew waiting where ever the target of the missile would have been.
They told me that one missile is 200k€ and one artillery grenade with equal explosive is 200€ so our artillery is trained to pop up anywhere and fire so that 12 cannons no matter where they are hit the area same time, leaving nothing but desert and red pudding.
The maintenance & repairs would be done in Swedish bases but also in Finland, we have many hundreds of roads made for re-fueling so there isn't any concentration of jets in a single spot for ballistic missile strikes.
I don't think there would be too many jets in Northern Sweden if there was an invasion, they'd do sorties mostly on the Baltic sea and around the South Eastern borderline, so the maintenance that would be partially done in Sweden would likely be in Gotland, and around military airfields around Southern Sweden.
@@unknownentity8256 Yet the most impotant Russian assets are in the far North-East.
Finlands soldiers are basically a really good trained guerrila. stick and move boys, stick and move
Hundreds of years of history has been a tough teacher for us.
As a Finn I am worried if we have the most capable army. Like no disrespect to my fellow Finnish soldier buddies but the big boys of Europe really need to step up their game! We have a capable army but given our resources it really shouldn't be in the top 3 even.
30.11.2019: In the opinion of Major General Engelbrektson, Commander of the Swedish Land Forces, it is just as important to train reservists as conscripts. Finland's way of inviting reservists to train even a couple of times a year is impressive.
- Being a reservist is a part of Finnish society and culture, Major General Engelbrektson summarizes in the end.
Neat little fact I read on the news recently for us reservists. MPK, the national defence academy, has been getting increasingly more popular. Compared to last year the amount of training days has increased over 20%. Most people attend the shooting and handling courses, and more people are attending additional MPK courses afterwards too.
Finland has the manpower and Sweden has the military and industrial capability. We would never abandon our Finnish brothers in the east.
Thx bro😊😊
Tho you have but aight
Är det sant? Tycker ni verkligen så i Sverige?
@@turkoositerapsidi I slutändan kan jag väl bara tala för mig själv, men de enda jag träffat på som inte känner någon solidaritet med Finland och hellre gullar med ryssen är typ nynazister och liknande typer. För tillfället bor jag i norraste Norrland inte långt från finska gränsen och här är ju många tvåspråkiga så solidariteten med Finland är ännu mer uttalat här. Jag gissar att normalsvensken fortfarande anser att Finlands sak är vår och kriget i Ukraina har gjort att det blivit än mer tydligare. Alliansfrfiheten var en självklarhet under hela min uppväxt, men så fort Finland ansökte till NATO så vände hela svenska befolkningen på en femöring och följde efter. Anledningen till att Sverige inte gick med i NATO från början var till stor del att vi inte ville lämna Finland i sticket.
C'mon its only been around 80 years when Sweden abandoned Finland. I'm 27yo and my grandparents we alive during that time.
Excellent analysis.
What ms Ålander said last is important: because of conscription, all families have contact with national defense. It is our cause. Among other things, it makes easier to budget for defense.
My country Finland did not join NATO to start saber rattling with Russia. Other members should seriously understand and better their defence capabilities. To aid if Russia ever again attacks our peaceful country.
As an American it sometimes seems like NATO members use it just to hide behind America so they don't have to invest in defense, so it felt great when Finland joined. Its also good that most other members are finally meeting their obligations now (looking accusingly at you Canada).
Learning never ends
"They border Russia and are a rich Scandinavian country with a history of conflict with their shitty neighbor to the east"
finland isnt scandinavian
Have you heard Finnish? Their language is not even close.
@@Joel-cl8vy fine, Nordic.
@@eanerickson8915 people get real pedantic -- probably Swedes and Norwegians -- about the Scandinavian distinction which is a language-based one. Finno-Ugric etc. They probably don't like just how similar the Finns are to them -- and in certain ways, the most pure expression of the Nordic countries' culture of autism.
@JimBobMcGillicuddy Scandinavian is pretty often used meaning the Nordic countries. I guess it's always the Finns who want to separate these terms. Having said that Scandinavian is more vague.
I think a conscript army is more patriotic. Large professional armies can be alienating..
Having conscription really binds the nation together and I'm glad for it. Military/Warrior/Hunting culture has always been an aspect in our people.
@@ex1tium Conscription only binds people together and gives shared experience to all who go through it to talk about. I however think of welfare our nation has and our common attempt to take care of everyone via healthcare etc is what ultimately makes the country worthy of defense to the eyes of its citizens. Our country takes care of us so we in turn should do the same essentially.
The biggest difference is having to fight in your own backyard, for the existence of your own home and family. At that point it doesn't matter if one is a conscript, professional soldier or assistant in local library. The patriotism here is "will to live" that humans and animals share. It comes from knowing Russia wants to erase you and your whole country and people, both from this physical world and from history books.
conscription works many ways, you want to stay at good terms with everyone as you know that when war start everyone has to participate even the politicians.
it makes you think twice about all decisions how to make things overall to work on in every scenario.
i think whole west has gone to this be ready to war in x time as they know they are not the guys in front lines.
somehow it is always women and civilian service politicians who are ready to start war !
WW2 had the same numbers. Actually Finland was even crazier back then. Less than 4 million people and over 500k active soldiers.
When I was in the army back in -90-91, the war time strength was 700 000, but a large portion of the equipments and technology we had was old and cheap, the oldest being from the 1950s and -60s.
@@porsimoI was in 1991-1992. Our unit had the newest stuff like sleepingbags (not those blankets), Trangias shared with combat pair, real raincoats and trousers (we also had that those old cloaks), newest versions of assault rifles etc etc. But we also got some training for example with old rpg7:s, kp-31:s and even Maxim mg. And that old stuff still filled their purpose in some cases. Like fortified Maxim is very good gun when you don't have to carry it around. And rpg7 is a very good against lightly covered enemy positions like house ruins. They use both even today in Ukraine.
@@perkele2802 Yeah, old weapons kill as well as new ones. We had those blankets, rain cloaks, M62 BDUs and those horrible fabric combat belts from the 50s, but I'm not sure I'd change that blanket to a sleeping bag. It was quite comfortable and warm and I never had any issues with it.
@@porsimo Reserve was 700,000 I can assure with great confidence that kind of war strength would not be feasible to realistically logistically maintain, also it would be unreasonably big for its defence purpose. Also would make even less sense to have that strength right after the Soviet Union collapsed.
@@unknownentity8256 No, the wartime strength was 700 000, the same that now is 280 000. During the nineties, it was halved and lowered to the all-time low of 235 000 in the early 2000s. I would think that the reserve was also bigger than today, because more conscripts started their service per year than today.
There’s still room in the forest. Bring your own shovel.
Hakkaa päälle pohjan poika
lol, that translation given by google is so wrong
@@Magnifico145 It basically means "Cut them down son of north!"
@@Magnifico145 that is the war cry of the Hakkapeliitta's, A cavalry unit in the Swedish army formed from the finnish land owners (and their subjects) who specialiced on horse breeding and mounted warfare. They got bunch of tax reliefs in the exchange of the cavalry units dedicated for the King.
@@Magnifico145 Oh no, I looked it up and can't believe how wrong it is, when you write it with the capital H, it translates "Get over it, son of a bitch" and when you write all the letters small it translates "knock on the bottom boy" . 😆
@@DerMackoRatsujokkojen nimitys "Hakkapeliitta" ja "Hakkapeliitat" on itseasiassa johdannainen juurikin tuosta ns sotahuudosta "Hakkaa päälle", joka Ruotsalaisten korvissa ja vihollisen korvissa kuulosti "Hakkapael" ja muokkaantui muotoonsa, josta tuli to Ratsujoukon virallinen nimitys. Sotahuuto tuli vihollisten keskuudessa tunnetuksi erityisesti pelkoa herättävänä, koska suomalainen Ratsjoukko oli jo laajalti tunnettu herättästään kauhusta hurjuudellaan ja julmuudellaan taisteluissa, jopa niin että jo sotahuudon kajahtaessa osa vihollsten riveistä lähtivät karkuun ennenkuin Hakkapeliittojen ratsujoukko oli ehtinyt edes liikahtaakaan.
To simplify. Our culture is from childhood for boys that you go to military. That is a proud thing and everyone is prepared to fight. This is taught from childhood
A peaceful but yet militarized country.
@@kristofferhellstrom We value practicality. I think conscription binds the nation together well and total defense strategy is good deterrence. Besides you always have something to talk about with each other no matter where you're from while sitting in Sauna with strangers.
@@ex1tium Mmm.. I get it.
The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.
Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Igitur quī dēsīderat pācem, præparet bellum
Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus
On most corners of Earth there is an army. Typically your own is the preferred one.
@@kristofferhellstrom peaceful but pragmatic, pacifism is a pipe dream, and a costly one when you live next to a country like russia.
When you have the slobber robbers as neighbour, you want to secure the fence😂
i was in finnish artillery 155 howizer unit 2009. trained and ready.
Ready for sure, but we'll take the support with open hands.
The sticker price of conscription is very low. The real cost is in delaying the productive civilian career of half of the population by up to a year. In the end I think it's a fair balance, win some, lose some.
18 year old guys are very unproductive, immature but full of testosterone anyways so it doesn’t matter. 😅
I went through my service as everyone else and even tho I was there for only 9 months, it did change me for better, at least a little bit.
4.20€/day. This is for shampoo, coffee and buns.
Women get +0.30€ for hygiene.
@@Redfizhthe taxman misses daily 50 €, the employer hourly 50 €. Tanstaafl.
@@Redfizh In my time 30+ years ago the real value of the daily allowance was far lower. Back then some of it went to the cheapest, shittiest cigarettes money can buy.
it is one year more of school, and conscription in Finland is best school you can have ever, you learn how to survive in Finnish harsh nature in every time of year, you learn how to handle weapons safely, you can have free activity park type of thing for free.
It is school year which prepares you for life more than any other school year you spent.
Lucky to be born in finland❤🇫🇮🇫🇮
"None here is surprised" - Sweden
and we have good relationship with nordic brothers and sisters...
Yepp. Now Sweden is looking up to Finland.
Neither is Texas or the US Marine Corps - give us a call if something kicks off - we'll be there as quick as we can.
@@EskayDuro much approiciated br from Finland
@@EskayDuro Thank's ... HUA. 🙂
Nothing good has ever come from east except the sun - old Finnish wisdom
And at the end of the day even the sun goes west.
Actually nearly all Men over 21 years old are trained soldiers. Some female, too.
Good video, perkele!
We also have state funded training for reservist in many cities and municipalities. In these reservist groups we train shooting and other skills to keep up our fighting capabilities. Everyone can join these groups even if you dont have any military experience.
At one point, the Netherlands was downgrading it's military in order to get rid of high cost and high maintenance tanks, the Leopards,😂 thinking they would concentrate on overseas anti-terrorism operations as part of the Nato. Finland saw its chances, and bought literally the entire Dutch main battle tank capability wholesale half free..
Every european country should do the same as us finns do. If we want to make sure that democracy stays in the future as well. And there is no harm about it. You learn new skills and get new values in army. Maybe even get more friends.
I have at least 10 bomb shelters a couple of hundred meters from where I live in Sweden. But NO shelters at the new buildings not long from here. Like no new shelters were build after 2000.
I've said this for years, the biggest mistake we ever made here in Sweden was to remove obligatory conscription. I'm hoping we bring it back, and fast!
We would also get rid of the reliance on a warmongering superpower other side of the world.
So glad to see my favorite country has joined NATO ❤ hope to visit Finland once again in future
It's not in many countries that probably 75% of the male population knows how to operate an assault rifle or a bolt-action rifle. Now that's just my own percentage estimate not based on anything solid, but most of my friends and colleagues that I know + me, have gone through the basic conscription military training, so everyone knows how to operate and maintain their military rifles (bolt-action rifles as a normal issue weapons were phased out a looong time ago, but didn't want to exclude the old timers), so we have a LOT of base skill level reserve to go around.
There's a saying here - the enemy always comes from the East. Not naming any particular country though.
Stupid thumbnail. Finland is ready because we don't prepapare for war, we prepare for peace.
"Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum" though.
More accurately prepared for defense.
Yeah, i think we talk about the same philosophical basis. We wanna make it clear that the attacker should think twice before they make their moves. We Finns just wanna make sure that if needed, we have the capability and firepower to defend, but we prefer the peace.
True.:)
As a Nordic 9cross country) Ski Patroller we had a Norwegian patroller Hans. Hans knew all the useful knot that we needed as patrollers. I asked Hans how he knew those knots and other winter survival things. He said he learned them when he did his mandatory years of service.
From this I realized that the Nordic nations have excellent military training. I expect that Finnish professional troops are as well trained as US Army paratroopers, and that is a respectable mark to meet. Plus I would bet the reserves are nearly as well trained in their respective areas.
Love it how Finland bought 100 Leopard 2A6's with a gargantuan amount of spare parts from the Neatherlands for 200 million euros. This is how Finland has managed to build up gear for decades. Cheap pick-offs here and there while everyone else is busy doing whatever.
We also have gum caches almost everywhere. Giverment buildings, schools, hospitals. They are inside the walls, but they are there.
Suomi Finland, Perkele!
There's a misunderstanding of the cost of conscription; it's not "cheap", it's just that the cost is not reflected in the budget. Basically you have to add 1-2 percent point of GDP into the "official" military spending of Finland due to the conscription.
It's damn expensive, but then that's the reality of living next to Russia.
Finland welcomes Russians - just bring your own shovel 😉
Yeah, about that older equipment. The FInns haven't adopted a military piece of equipment yet that they haven't found wanting and in need of improvement. The initial cost is lower, but after improvements, it's probably closer to the price when new. Obviously, it's also a lot better.
I really liked my conscript time and cant wait to be called for more training hope for drone stuff coz i am in engineer troops.
I used to play sports, but I found it more enjoyable to train with our Reserve forces. Everyone’s in a great mood, and the experiences and lessons are invaluable. Plus, earning a higher military rank is a nice bonus.
@@croci81 I have now applied to local defence but that calendar is fully booked all courses what i see.
Military spending is not actually spending. It is investment for a worst of times. Like insurance payment. Who would end the insurance for your most valuable, your freedom, just because it does not seem likely that some accident would happen? There is a name for that kind of a man that we all surely know. And it is not opportunist.
Total defence policy is often overlooked when talking just military power. In a way it is important to make sure that a society will continue to operate in a war time and what ever it takes as a nation everybody knows that your home and close ones are protected and kept safe. That is what Finns must do. Assure and show that we are capable of protecting our own country and population.
I love Finland so fucking much bros 😩😩😩 🇭🇷 🤝 🇫🇮
like others pointed out
army is seen finland as a somewhat of a coming in age ritual
Congratulations you are an adult now go the the army and get trained
and in civilian life you know almost every man has been trained so if you meet someone you can both talk about random stuff about army in the evening at the bar and share experiences
the training is something that unites every finn
Indeed. I'm physically incapable fighting myself, but I would happily do anything it took to defend my country.
I come from a military family background as in my grandfather was active military until he retired. My father was officer class but me being a female army was not available at the time but I studied international relations, including Russian Studies. I have lived my life, like every person in Finland, by hearing air raid testing every week and air defence practice on top of a major city. I sit on a bunker at home, my male friends and my godmother are in the reserves. Most of the men in Finland know how to use a machine gun etc. The government knows exactly what civilian cars will be confiscated, who will be called to perform what task starting from cooks designated to cater to the military. The roads have been built to cater to war. The civil society has been consistently prepared for martial law including strategic private sector companies. I have lived the 50 years of my life knowing that war is possible. I welcome NATO, but do not for one minute think that NATO is going to save Finland. I think Finland being a part of NATO will make a Russian attack even less likely. Knowing geopolitics tells me so.
I hope it won't come to that but glad you're ready. Question: "the government knows exactly what civilian cars will be confiscated." Why would the government confiscate cars in the event of war?
@@EvanHumphris We're not a highly mechanized army because vehicles are expensive. If the entire army was mobilized, there would be nowhere near enough vehicles to move the troops or their equipment around or handle the logistics.
@@EvanHumphris For example: You own a 4x4 offroad capable car, toyota hilux etc. In case of war the defence force probably has better use for it defending our freedom than the normal civilian daily driving it.
@@jm-holm Understood. Thanks.
Fellow Finnish female here, I am hoping that our eastern neighbour would not come here like they did in Ukraine, but should they dare to come, I would not hesitate to do what I can, even though I could never join FDF.
4:49 Finland doesn't have 600 tanks. We have 200 MBT's along with 200 IFV's. Sure if you count APC's it would be more but the number would be way higher
When russia hears "Perkele" they know that the judgment day is near...
No one can be ready for war. Finland is ready to defend. Has always been. We have that country beside
Finland does have a very good military pn paper. But as a Finn i will say this. Over the passed few years, reformists have pushed for and succeeded in enacting a heavy relaxation of training standards. Both physical, and in terms of discipline. This is a fixable problem, but the last 5-10 years of recruits have been trained to a much lower standard than prior.
It has been said that any Finn can identify a Russian at 1,000 meters over open sights. I believe it.
Estonian def minister 3 yrs. ago: Finnland is called northen sparta by Baltic countrie's
She is fantastic! Full episode when?
As a member of Finnish army (not a conscript anymore) I've gone through RUK (Runkkaan untuvapeiton kanssa), I can honestly say, Finland is probably one of the hardest countries for Russians to invade in EU and now as we are puppets of NATO, we have even bigger def capability.
-Lt. Iron battlemace.
The finnish sinko for all solders is a small recoilles gun fired over the shoulder. A bazooka is rocket launcher. Their look and purpose are similar, but the technology totally different
Moscow horde´s war record :-
1856 defeated by Britain and France
1905 defeated by Japan
1917 defeated by Germany
1920 defeated by Poland, Finland, Estonia and all Baltic states
1939 defeated by Finland
1969 defeated by China
1989 defeated by Afghanistan
1989 defeated in the Cold War.
1996 defeated by Chechnya
2022 defeated by Ukraine
WW2 won USA/Britain , meanwhile Stalin's officers were shot or sent to the Gulags. Millions went to the Gulags, including Solzhenitsyn
Moscow's only victories come from invading smaller countries :-
a) Hungary 1956
b) Czechoslovakia 1968
c) Moldova 1992
d) Georgia 2008
You can't compare the Imperial Russian army to the Soviet army or the Russian Federation army but anyway:
1856, defeated by three countries combined, not two (actually a forth country joined the allies), The Imperial army was poorly equipped, it's weaponry very outdated
1914-1917 was a defeat bear in mind, the Imperial army was poorly led, poorly equipped with outdated weaponry. there was a revolution going on at the time, they did rejoin the war in time for the end though. This was followed by the civil war.
Sino-Russian conflict 1929, the Soviet Union achieved it's goals.
Winter war 1939-1940 Neither side could claim to have won, as both sides suffered heavy losses and Finland had to cede territory. On the other hand, Russia didn't completely take the whole of Finland. In fact the executions of officers had a bigger effect on the Winter War than on WW2.
1941-1944 the Continuation war, Russia won that one. People forget that the fact that Finland is still an independent country is just as much due to it's diplomats, as it's soldiers.
WW2, I don't understand what you mean by 'won USA/Britain' The Soviet Union did indeed defeat the European AXIS in the east, it was the major part of defeating Germany. Britain didn't fight alone in the second world war, it had the entire British Empire and the British Commonwealth. There were also many other countries either directly fighting or providing material support. That is generally how world wars work
Soviet-Japanese war 1945
1969 Sino-Soviet border conflict wasn't really a war and there wasn't really a victory by either side.
1979 Afghanistan Well I don't think anyone since the Timurid Empire can claim to have won in Afghanistan. The Sikh Empire held it briefly, The British Empire invaded three times, but the intention was never to hold Afghanistan, just to prevent the Russians from doing so. More recently, even the United States has
1996 Chechnya. Yes that was a great victory for Chechnya. You didn't include the other thirteen wars with Chechnya though, all of which were won by Russia, the latest being in 2009
It's true that Imperial Russia, the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation has only defeated countries smaller than itself. That is because there are no countries even remotely close in size.
The purges. It is true that a lot of officers were removed from their commands and many were executed, or sent to the labour camps. A lot of these officers were considered ill equipped for modern warfare ( US Chief of Staff George Marshall removed hundreds of officers including 500 Colonels in 1940, admittedly, he didn't have them executed). Some were considered to be of dubious loyalty. Most though just happened to be connected to someone in the first two groups. Stalin couldn't have disgruntled ex military leaders, many of whom had been heroes of the revolution. From his point of view, he had to liquidate them or risk some of them staging a coup. Well Stalin did have a reputation for paranoia. The Gulags were not invented by the Soviets, they just vastly increased the scale of them. There have been prison work camps in Siberia known then as Katorga since the 17th century many participants in national uprisings were sent to them, particularly Poles.
Now I am not an apologist for Imperial Russia or the Soviet Union, they were both brutal dictatorships and the Russian people deserved better. Similarly, the Russian Federation, whilst not in the same league as the Soviets or the Tsars, is still brutal and the people deserve better. But the you could say that of any major country in the porld today and many of the minor ones.
@@skasteve6528 soviets were poorly equipped with outdated weaponery.... modern day russians are poorly equipped with outdated weaponery... What is your point???
Soviet union defeated Finland in 1939. They just didn't gain total victory.
Afghanistan didn't defeat the soviet union, the soviet union disbanded that ended the war, it would have done so regardless of what was going on in afghanistan.
Russia won against Ukraine in 2014 by taking Crimea. They also won in 2022 by expanding further into Ukrainian territories. And now in 2024 they're still winning against Ukraine, the russians do not care for the Kursk region because they know they can retake it at their leisure whenever they set it as their target and Ukraine is losing more and more territory every day.
Then why it's still is biggest country on earth after losing 50% of controlled territory little swampy warmonger
If you want peace, prepare for war. - Flavius Vegetius Renatus
If you want war, you must also prepare for war. The lesson is: always prepare for war. - Axe
Si vis pacem, para bellum.
Finland's pretty much forced to be ready, our longest border is shared with Russia, knowing them not being the most trustworthy neighbors and been in war against Russia multiple times we've had to build delicate balance between diplomatic friendliness and trying to look scary enough we wouldn't be the first to take a hit if a boss decides to hit the big red button.
I personally don't understand why conscription couldn't work in other countries as well, in the defense forces you learned useful things that you could use for a long time in civilian life as well, besides that in Finland there is also civil service as an alternative for those who have religious or moral obstacles to military service, and at least before the defense forces themselves had places where you could complete unarmed service, although I'm not sure if those exist anymore.. That's why, secondly, national defense activities can be an interesting hobby that keeps you in shape, etc., first aid skills, etc., I don't see terribly good sides in either, rather everything that can also be used in completely normal unexpected events... At least for many for a country with a small population, conscription is a significantly more cost-effective option, although it requires that a system has been created where people trust the system and the administration trusts the people, as in Finland and other Nordic countries..
It's not that it can't, it's just not worth the effort, nor is it necessary. You mentioned some of the reasons in the end of your own post but more specifically...
Countries that don't already have a tradition of conscription lack the staff to train conscripts, lack the facilities to house them, lack the gear to equip them and unlike in Finland where every man, woman and child has always lived knowing that war is a real threat and as part of a total defense policy, in these more "sheltered" countries, people are much more disconnected from their military and will have much lower motivation to even serve in the first place, leading to much worse results.
Additionally you'd have to pull all the men and potentially the women out of their civilian lives for a year or more, which is a big loss both to those individuals and to society and the economy. Their systems are not set up to handle the consequences or making that a smooth experience either.
The TL;DR is that the reason conscription works for us is because our entire society and culture is built around it from the ground up and it always has been. For countries that have none of it in place, starting conscription from nothing is at the very least insanely costly, insanely difficult and will only produce results in the long-term. Likely decades at the very least.
This is not worth it, especially to larger countries that can field larger professional armies.
To us it's normal, but the reality is that our system is a MASSIVE sacrifice that nobody would make unless it was a matter of existential threats and survival.
It's rather simple: we just never forgot that we live right next to Russia.
General physical capability is the only clear sector of improvement Finns should look into. Excluding some individual units like SOF and recon.
All fun and games until snow starts speaking finnish...
Its always nice to hear when someone regonizes our efforts. I have not doubt in my mind that if russia attacked, every man capable of fighting would fight without thinking twice and some of the women too, and most of the women would help the war effort in any way they can on the home front, you can't say that about most of the countries.
Finland has sisu.
Lower your background audio…. Maybe 6 db.
It's not that bad, but background audio should always just support the voice. Not overpower it.
Also, Finns have “sisu” (persistence, stalwartness, stamina) whilst Russians mostly have “doo-doo” (incompetence, ignorance, ineffectiveness).
Those are good adjectives to describe Sisu but it really doesn't capture the essence of this word for me at least, best way to describe it in my opinion is:
"Never giving up, even if the odds are stacked against you."
Also the ruZkies have what they've always had, it's "URAAAAAAAAA" meaning suicidal determination to push forward, which I would not be proud of if I was ruZzian, (thank god I'm not)
Also Finns are 5 mil people dying out on a swamp. What are you even proud of?
By purchasing the best of the European weapon systems Finland has preserved much of the European investment. But how active is Finland in development of missile and drones
Not very active on that front but we do make the best mobile artillery like AMOS and NEMO.
I am ready.
Finland is undeniably well equipped militarily. The most interesting thing here is that the armament started already in the 1970s, when the Soviet Union wanted us to equip ourselves in case of a possible NATO attack from the north, Finland would be a buffer before the actual Soviet soil. The result was a truly militarily prepared small nation on a large land before the Soviet Union.
When the Soviet Union became Russia and dictator Putin became the ruler, Finland's preparation did not disappear anywhere. Surprisingly, the large army of a small country encouraged by Russia became a highly technologically advanced NATO army!
Thanks to Putin, Russia made Finland join NATO and develop the army to the highest possible level.
As my DAD said.. Ohh My Boy..You will go thru it ..( Love My DAD )
Findland's cities have underground bomb shelters with the same underground stores as above. Many of them could survive WWIII for a whole.
And they are considered the happiest people in the world.
2:23 Weeks 😂 Finland gets all those 280.000 first line troops to ranks in 48-72 hours.
I don't even know where the closest bomb shelter is here in my town. I'm 70's kid and back then every apartment building had it's own bomb shelter here in Finland. And back then in primary school kids were even taught where the shelters are and how to act if something bad happens.
I guess in modern time I'd just take my backbag with my survival equipment and tools and make my way to some laavu either in some island by a row boat or get to a remote forested area. Plenty of them in here.
Learned something in Winter War and Continuation War - Do not trust east (wiki - Mainilan laukaukset)