1 00:00:01,439 --> 00:00:06,440 It's well into the northern European winter season. At the end of nineteen thirty 2 00:00:06,519 --> 00:00:12,880 nine, five hundred thousand Russian Soviet soldiers are making a collective push northwards, 3 00:00:12,919 --> 00:00:17,679 swarming the Finnish countryside as they go. They are armed to the hilt with 4 00:00:17,879 --> 00:00:23,719 tanks, explosives, machine guns, grenades, and a staggeringly overwhelming number of 5 00:00:23,839 --> 00:00:29,359 troops. But there's one thing they didn't count on, one thing that threatened 6 00:00:29,399 --> 00:00:42,200 to derail their entire military offensive altogether. That one thing was the humble sausage. 7 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:47,719 These are the bizarre but true stories from history that in some way involved 8 00:00:47,799 --> 00:01:00,799 food. I'm Nick Charlie Key, and this is the fantastic history of food. 9 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:07,120 I wanted to say, yet again a huge thank you to all of 10 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:11,640 my supporters on Patreon. You help me out immensely in getting this show made, 11 00:01:11,719 --> 00:01:15,239 and today I wanted to send a special shout out to two people who 12 00:01:15,239 --> 00:01:19,079 have started supporting me since the last episode. The first is Josh Lovertire and 13 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:23,719 the second is Zachary Headen. Josh and Zachary, thank you so much. 14 00:01:23,799 --> 00:01:29,200 I really do appreciate your support. If you would like to support the show 15 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:33,400 in the same way as these two amazing people have. It costs just two 16 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:37,680 dollars a month and when you sign up you'll have your name mentioned in an 17 00:01:37,719 --> 00:01:42,000 episode, just like you've heard today. And as always, this is absolutely 18 00:01:42,239 --> 00:01:45,840 pressure free. More than anything, I just love that you're listening to the 19 00:01:45,879 --> 00:01:49,640 show getting some enjoyment out of the podcast, and that is the reason why 20 00:01:49,640 --> 00:02:05,680 I keep doing what I'm doing. Now back to the episode. It was 21 00:02:05,719 --> 00:02:08,960 the first year of World War Two, but the Soviet Army wasn't heading towards 22 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:13,719 conflict with the military might of the Nazis. No. In fact, they 23 00:02:13,719 --> 00:02:17,879 were rushing headlong towards a target they believed they could crush with ease, their 24 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:23,439 tiny neighbor on the Baltic Sea Finland. The Finnish Army, with nowhere near 25 00:02:23,479 --> 00:02:27,919 the might or means of their Soviet counterparts, is not an army that has 26 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:32,159 ever been willing to go down quietly. It was an overwhelming set of circumstances 27 00:02:32,159 --> 00:02:37,360 for them, being outnumbered, out gunned, and worst of all, completely 28 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:42,639 taken by surprise, but they gathered to fight. Nonetheless, not Joseph Stalin 29 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:46,199 was using the distraction caused by Adolf Hitler's Third Reich in Europe to try and 30 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:52,759 sneakily assert control around his region, attempting to storm the surrounding countries to claim 31 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:57,280 them as his own. You see, Finland had in fact once been Russian 32 00:02:57,360 --> 00:03:01,719 territory that they had spent many years fighting against Russian rule and refusing to assimilate 33 00:03:01,759 --> 00:03:06,800 into the Russian culture. And while Russia was struggling with the chaos that was 34 00:03:06,879 --> 00:03:10,560 their transition to a socialist society, in nineteen seventeen, Finland took the gap 35 00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:16,360 to secede. Stalin had always resented Finland for this act of treachery, viewing 36 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:22,599 it as an unforgivable diminishment of the Great Russian Empire, and now he was 37 00:03:22,639 --> 00:03:28,280 determined to tip the scales back into the soviets favour. In some behind closed 38 00:03:28,319 --> 00:03:31,879 doors meetings, the Soviet Union in Nazi Germany had secretly agreed to leave each 39 00:03:31,879 --> 00:03:37,800 other alone and promised not to interfere with one another's ambitions to occupy and assimilate 40 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:42,000 their neighbours. It was an important truce to have, as both sides were 41 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:46,879 capable of formidable firepower, but not having to worry about the other one allowed 42 00:03:46,879 --> 00:03:51,919 them each to turn their attentions to their respective ambitions while not every truce or 43 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:54,960 treaty that was signed ended up being honored, however, as just seven years 44 00:03:55,000 --> 00:04:00,599 prior to this, Russia and Finland had themselves signed a non AGGRESSI packed. 45 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:04,879 Stalin didn't take long to renege on his promises, though, and soon afterwards 46 00:04:04,879 --> 00:04:11,120 began publicly demanding that Finland give the land back to Russia. Not long after, 47 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:15,319 September nineteen thirty nine rolled around, and Hitler would order his troops into 48 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:18,439 Poland in an invasion that would be the catalyst for World War II. The 49 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:23,839 eyes of the world swiveled towards Northern Europe and the Nazi war machine, and 50 00:04:23,879 --> 00:04:30,160 this diversion provided Stalin with the perfect opportunity. Just two months after Hitler's invasion 51 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:34,199 of Poland, Stalin ordered his Soviet forces to bomb Helsinki, the southern capital 52 00:04:34,279 --> 00:04:40,560 of Finland and by far its most populous city. Countries across the globe were 53 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:44,720 outraged, but as was the plan all along, they had bigger fish to 54 00:04:44,759 --> 00:04:47,600 fry. At this current moment, there also seemed to be no hope for 55 00:04:47,639 --> 00:04:51,519 the poor Finnish forces, as they were outnumbered three to one by the oncoming 56 00:04:51,519 --> 00:04:57,600 Soviet war machine. Analysts predicted this conflict would be over in a matter of 57 00:04:57,639 --> 00:05:00,360 weeks. What they didn't count on high, however, was the effect of 58 00:05:00,439 --> 00:05:03,480 Stalin's purge of the Red Army. In the two years leading up to this, 59 00:05:04,160 --> 00:05:09,600 the outwardly projected image of the Soviet forces was one of awesome and terrifying 60 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:14,720 power, but internally they were crumbling as their leadership structures had been decimated. 61 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:18,800 Between nineteen thirty seven and nineteen thirty nine, the Great Purge had taken its 62 00:05:18,839 --> 00:05:25,879 toll. Thirty thousand high ranking officers had been either discharged, arrested, or 63 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:30,720 killed as a way for Stalin to consolidate his power, replacing them all with 64 00:05:30,839 --> 00:05:34,800 people loyal to him. And while this was considered a good decision internally to 65 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:39,839 not have the military oppose his leadership, the very real effects on the ground 66 00:05:39,959 --> 00:05:44,480 meant that the army was now filled with inexperienced officers who deferred a lot of 67 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:48,839 their military decision making to government bureaucrats who had little to know military experience of 68 00:05:48,879 --> 00:05:53,519 their own. As I'm sure you can all imagine, this had a disastrous 69 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:57,600 effect on not only troop morale, but on any sort of tactical cohesion on 70 00:05:57,639 --> 00:06:02,319 the battlefield, and this back for royally in the Soviet's faces. Many of 71 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:06,680 the units that were sent to Finland to fight had come from Russia's warmer regions 72 00:06:06,759 --> 00:06:12,759 and had never received any sort of winter combat training. Compounding this issue was 73 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:17,279 the frankly ludicrous decision to then also ration these soldiers food allocations, meaning they 74 00:06:17,319 --> 00:06:23,240 were trying to fight a winter war with troops who were tactically unprepared, woefully 75 00:06:23,319 --> 00:06:27,959 under resource with weapons, and who were constantly cold, tired, and hungry. 76 00:06:28,879 --> 00:06:31,560 In contrast, however, the Finnish troops who had been forged in this 77 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:38,800 icy climate made sure they stayed warmly dressed and well fed. Nevertheless, the 78 00:06:38,839 --> 00:06:44,079 Red Army pushed on despite their rumbling stomachs. The Finnish military command had been 79 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:48,600 sending out small raiding parties on cross country skis at night to surround encamped Soviet 80 00:06:48,639 --> 00:06:53,959 positions, open fire upon them briefly, and then ski away into the night. 81 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:57,800 They hoped that by doing this the Soviets would never be able to fully 82 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:01,279 settle down and would constantly live in fear of another raid. One night, 83 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:06,399 this particular tactic worked even better than Finnish command could have imagined. On this 84 00:07:06,519 --> 00:07:11,959 night, the raiding ski patrol fired upon one of the Soviet positions before retreating 85 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:16,319 and then attacking another nearby Soviet camp. In their confusion, the two Soviet 86 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:20,360 camps both ran towards each other's gun fire and began attacking each other in the 87 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:26,920 dark, thinking they were fighting a Finnish raiding force. After this embarrassing blunder, 88 00:07:26,959 --> 00:07:30,920 and fearful of more raids, they began doubling the guard duties, meaning 89 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:35,480 their soldiers quickly became exhausted with little means of replenishing their lost energy. Coupled 90 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:40,680 with this, their rapid advance into the Finnished countryside meant that their supply lines 91 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:44,800 had been stretched to the limits, with only black bread and frozen dried meat 92 00:07:44,959 --> 00:07:48,079 to sustain them. So on the night of the tenth of December, the 93 00:07:48,120 --> 00:07:53,279 seven hundred and eighteenth Rifle Regiment, one of the groups of soldiers affected by 94 00:07:53,319 --> 00:07:58,319 these raids, managed to swing around behind the Finnish army and crept up slowly 95 00:07:58,439 --> 00:08:03,360 on a very lightly defended Fanish supply station at Varilampe Pond. The Soviets should 96 00:08:03,439 --> 00:08:07,279 have annihilated them in a matter of hours, but despite the element of surprise 97 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:11,040 and even their superior numbers, there was one thing they had encountered on that 98 00:08:11,079 --> 00:08:16,720 would derail their entire operation. The finished artillery and supply troops, not expecting 99 00:08:16,759 --> 00:08:20,480 to be ambushed at this very moment, had hunkered down inside their thick canvas 100 00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:24,680 tents and were making themselves comfortable, well as comfortable as camping in snow could 101 00:08:24,720 --> 00:08:30,040 ever rarely be. They had a few roaring fires going that served the dual 102 00:08:30,079 --> 00:08:33,720 purpose of not only keeping them warm, but also as a means to cook 103 00:08:33,759 --> 00:08:37,639 their hearty winter meals on and at this very moment, the Soviet soldiers were 104 00:08:37,639 --> 00:08:43,720 planning their attack just outside of the finished night watchmen's view, while the soldiers 105 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:46,679 inside the tents were in the middle of cooking up a delicious sausage stew. 106 00:08:48,679 --> 00:08:52,600 The giant pots were thick with vegetables, meat, and fatty offcuts, and 107 00:08:52,799 --> 00:08:56,960 the smells that emanated were almost cartoonish upon the wind. Now it's worth explaining 108 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:01,279 at this point the relationship that Finland had as with good sausages. They are 109 00:09:01,360 --> 00:09:07,360 a self described sausage nation, and on average, each finn eats almost three 110 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:11,600 kilograms of sausage each year. In Finland, they have their very own national 111 00:09:11,639 --> 00:09:18,000 sausage named makera. It is similar to a German bok verst and most commonly 112 00:09:18,039 --> 00:09:22,159 consists of finely ground pork, amongst other traditional ingredients. In Finland, it's 113 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:28,200 not uncommon to find entire aisles in the supermarkets dedicated to variations of this delicious 114 00:09:28,279 --> 00:09:31,519 national sausage, especially in the summer time, when outdoor grilling means an even 115 00:09:31,639 --> 00:09:37,559 larger variety. Their popularity undeniably stems from a sense of cultural importance, but 116 00:09:37,679 --> 00:09:43,480 practically they are also a popular choice due to their relative cheapness, long shelf 117 00:09:43,519 --> 00:09:46,960 life, and the fact that they can be added to so many different dishes. 118 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:52,120 Sausage, casseroles, soups and pustas are all common dishes in households around 119 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:56,240 the world, and even more so in Finland. So it's no surprise then 120 00:09:56,320 --> 00:10:01,399 that this national love of sausage would extend even to the military. Its ubiquitous 121 00:10:01,399 --> 00:10:05,759 availability and the ability to add it to a large stew full of potatoes, 122 00:10:05,799 --> 00:10:09,720 onions and carrots made it a meal that was not just cost effective and protein 123 00:10:09,799 --> 00:10:13,679 rich, but also incredibly simple to produce. Now with that vivid image in 124 00:10:13,679 --> 00:10:18,440 your minds, you can now imagine the glee with which these finished soldiers stirred 125 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:22,879 their pots, knowing that shortly they would be consuming their very favorite meal. 126 00:10:22,639 --> 00:10:26,159 All of a sudden, a battle cry sounded from the darkness as the Soviet 127 00:10:26,200 --> 00:10:31,679 soldiers rushed to attack the finished camp. The Finns, realizing what was happening, 128 00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:35,120 grabbed their overcoats and weapons and scattered into the surrounding fields and forests while 129 00:10:35,159 --> 00:10:41,000 fighting off some pursuing Soviet troops. Then all of a sudden, everything went 130 00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:46,080 quiet. They realized the Soviets were no longer chasing them and they had been 131 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:50,360 allowed to escape. This made no sense to them, as their camp was 132 00:10:50,399 --> 00:10:54,720 not a fortified position that itself would have been the target of the attack until 133 00:10:54,759 --> 00:10:58,440 soon they realized what was happening. One of the finished troops managed to sneak 134 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:03,120 close enough back to the camp to find out why the attack had suddenly stopped, 135 00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:07,279 and what he saw before him was almost incomprehensible. The Soviet soldiers, 136 00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:11,080 who had been on an enforced non stop march for the last five days, 137 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:16,840 had stopped midway through their attack as soon as the smells from the simmering sausage 138 00:11:16,840 --> 00:11:20,559 stew had hit their nostrils. For so long they had been underfed to the 139 00:11:20,559 --> 00:11:26,440 point of near starvation that when their brains registered the quantities of hot, delicious 140 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:31,480 food in front of them in that moment, nothing else mattered. They dropped 141 00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:35,559 their weapons and grabbed whatever they could and started scooping up the hot, delicious 142 00:11:35,559 --> 00:11:41,080 stew, gorging themselves after weeks of inedible slop. Some soldiers didn't even bother 143 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:43,799 to look for plates or balls and simply used their helmets to scoop up their 144 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:48,919 portions. Tragically for them, it would end up being their very last meal. 145 00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:54,360 During this sudden and extended pause in fighting, the Finnish troops had managed 146 00:11:54,399 --> 00:12:00,200 to regroup under the command of the Finnish officer Major Pejari. He had listed 147 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:03,799 soldiers from the nearby sixteenth Infantry Regiment, along with the field cooks and medics, 148 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:09,000 and surrounded what had up until very recently been their own camp. Major 149 00:12:09,039 --> 00:12:13,240 Pejari silently signaled for them all to fix their bayonets to the ends of their 150 00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:18,799 rifles, as he knew this upcoming skirmish would involve a large amount of close 151 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:22,840 quart of fighting inside many of the tents. With another loud battle cry, 152 00:12:22,879 --> 00:12:28,759 the tables had been spectacularly turned as the Finns now rushed the Soviets in their 153 00:12:28,840 --> 00:12:35,240 very own surprise attack. Historian William Trotter describes what happened next simply as a 154 00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:39,600 blood bath. It was one of the very few times that proper bayonet fighting 155 00:12:39,679 --> 00:12:43,759 was recorded in the Winter Wars, and the resulting skirmish was brutal and without 156 00:12:43,840 --> 00:12:48,200 mercy. Soldiers on both sides locked themselves in gruesome hand to hand combat, 157 00:12:48,519 --> 00:12:52,840 but the weakened Soviet troops, now too full to move properly, never stood 158 00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:58,240 a chance. Their entire battalion was routed with ease, and only a handful 159 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:03,480 of Russian soldiers made it out alive. This battle served as a stark reminder 160 00:13:03,559 --> 00:13:07,279 of just how disorganized the Soviet army was, but even so, their seemingly 161 00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:13,200 never ending numbers would wear down their opposition eventually in a war of Puiatrician Despite 162 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:18,279 this Finnish victory at Varra lampsy Pond, it took the Soviets just one hundred 163 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:22,960 and five days to completely overwhelm the opposition into surrendering. Finland ceded their territory 164 00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:28,600 back to the Soviet Union. But this particular offensive had some potentially history changing 165 00:13:28,600 --> 00:13:33,000 consequences. Adolf Hitler had been paying close attention to the Russian invasion of Finland 166 00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:37,320 and had been more than adequately briefed on their lack of leadership and general military 167 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:43,000 ineptitude. It was this simple fact that ultimately persuaded him to split his forces 168 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:48,120 from simply steam rolling his way through Europe to declaring his own war against Russia, 169 00:13:48,559 --> 00:13:52,519 meaning that they had to now fight on two fronts, ultimately decimating his 170 00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:56,519 forces in the process. It was not long, however, before his own 171 00:13:56,559 --> 00:14:03,279 troops learned the harsh realities of fighting in a winter war unprepared and underresourced. 172 00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:09,639 There are countless stories from countless wars of food and drink playing a pivotal role 173 00:14:09,639 --> 00:14:11,960 in the outcomes of certain battles, and I'm sure we'll touch on those in 174 00:14:13,039 --> 00:14:16,679 future episodes, but for now, I think it's worth being somewhat grateful that 175 00:14:16,960 --> 00:14:22,080 as you settle in this evening to eat whatever delicious meal you've prepared, you 176 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:26,879 don't have to worry about a horde of angry, finished soldiers brandishing sharpened bayonets 177 00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:50,919 rushing at you from out of the darkness. This show is made entirely by 178 00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:54,679 me, Nick Charlie Key, with our theme music having been made by the 179 00:14:54,799 --> 00:15:05,360 enigma that is the mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder. If you'd like to support the show, 180 00:15:05,559 --> 00:15:09,200 the simplest way to do that is over on our Patreon account. There's 181 00:15:09,279 --> 00:15:11,720 just one option, so for just two bucks a month, you'll help me 182 00:15:11,799 --> 00:15:16,799 keep producing this show, and in return, you'll get your name forever etched 183 00:15:16,840 --> 00:15:20,720 onto our supporter's Wall of Fame over on our website and then maybe listen out 184 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:26,039 for your name in an upcoming episode. So until next time, bon appetite.