По-русски .
ORDER Nr. 42
to the troops of the North-Western Front

Leningrad, 14 March 1940.

Comrades, Red Army soldiers, commanders, commissars and political workers! On March 12, 1940 a peace treaty was signed between the USSR and Finland, and from 12.00 on March 13 hostilities on all fronts ceased.
The mighty force of the Red Army has again secured a lasting peace and safety at one sector of the sacred boundaries of our Motherland.
Anglo-French warmongers, seeking to create a hotbed of war on our northwestern borders threw Finland into a criminal adventure against the USSR.
Doing the will of the Party and the Government, units of the Red Army responded with a powerful blow to the blow of warmongers.
Since the first days of the war Red Army units crossed the enemy border with a firm offensive and transferred fighting into its territory.
Not a single settlement, not a single Soviet citizen experienced the calamities of war in their territories.
The enemy tried to resist the mighty onslaught of Red Army regiments with the use of strong fortifications of the "Mannerheim Line", built under the guidance of Anglo-French specialists. The enemy tried to halt the advance of the Red Army with barrages of all sorts, with entrapments and insidious attacks.
Natural conditions in the battle-ground, frost and deep snow, lack of roads, forests and wetlands were the top reasons in obstructing the advance of our troops.
But there is no force that would stop the blow of an army created and nurtured by the party of Lenin and Stalin. There are no fortresses that could not be taken by the Bolsheviks. Under the blows from troops of the North-Western Front the first class armoured concrete strongholds of the "Mannerheim Line" were pulverized.
By breaking through the permanent fortification lines of the enemy the valiant troops of the North-Western Front have done a deed, unprecedented in history. No other army in the world have broken through more modern fortified areas. The so-called first-class European armies stand facing the fortified lines of the Franco-German border, unable to storm against them.
Troops of the North-Western Front, continuing the glorious traditions of the Civil War, have added another excellent page of heroism in the history of the Red Army.
The entire Soviet people is proud of the deeds of its sons, of the courage and heroism that ensured the victory over the enemy and security and inviolability of the borders of our country and a lasting peace on the shores of the Baltic Sea and the Arctic Ocean.
Military Council of the North-Western Front expresses greatfulness to all soldiers, commanders, commissars, officers and political workers for the valor, courage and faithful performance of the military duty to the Motherland.
We dip the battle standards before the shining memory of the glorious sons of the Soviet people who gave their lives in battles for the honour, dignity and security of our homeland.
Military Council sends greetings and wishes for a speedy recovery to soldiers, commanders and political workers, who were wounded in heroic battles.
Long live the victorious Red Army!
Long live our Great leader, in whose name our troops in the fronts went into battle and won, beloved Comrade Stalin!
The order is to be read in all units, their subunits, squads, staffs and front formations.
Commander of the North-Western Front
Army Commander of the 1st rank
S. TIMOSHENKO
Member of the Military Council
of the North-Western Front
A. ZHDANOV
Chief of Staff
of the North-Western Front
Army Commander of the 2nd rank
I. SMORODINOV

RGVA. F. 34980, Op. 14. d. 44. l. 85—87. Copy
Source: Soviet-Finnish war (Sovetsko-finlyandskaya voyna) 1939-1940. In 2 volumes. Ed. P.V. Petrov, V.N. Stepakov. "Poligon", St.Petersburg, 2003. Machine assisted translation 2010 by Pauli Kruhse.

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