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Into History.

com. It's November 26, 19.

It's November 26th, 1939 at an observation post in Caralia province, Finland, close to the border with the USSR.

A soldier in the Finnish army trudges through the snow, trying to keep his legs and feet warm in the bitter cold.

Although much of Europe is embroiled in World War II, Finland has maintained a neutral stance,

warily watching the happenings on the continent.

But that's what this soldier has to do, too.

Every day he must endure hours of tedious isolation to guard the border, while every sensible

Soviet and Finn shelters indoors and stays warm. the artillery. The soldier snaps to high alert, his adrenaline surging. He raises

his binoculars and counts seven shells exploding in the nearby Soviet village of

Mynilla. The Finnish soldier lifts his field telephone and reports the unusual incident to his superiors.

But as he speaks, he notices plumes of smoke rising where the shells were fired from.

The soldier's brow furrows as he realizes the firing site is on the other side of the border too,

meaning the shots came from within the USSR.

The soldier doesn't know why the Soviets are shelling their own territory, but he worries it spells trouble for Finland.

Over the next few hours, the Soviets will blame the Finnish army for the attack on the village of Meinala and the U.S.S.R. will break off diplomatic relations.

Despite evidence from three Finnish observation posts that the shells were fired from within the

U.S.S.R. the Soviet leadership will only accept their version of events and tensions mount.

Four days later, Soviet troops will roll across the border in a full-scale invasion

...