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Thanks to massive aid supplied by Finland's neighbors and the western allies the Finns were better able to handle the Russian attack.
In fact let us say that the Finnish government deceides that after 1938 that it needed to spend more money on national defense than it did in OTL. The result is that Marshal Mannerheim had a Finnish army that was better equipped with artillery, AT weapons and the Finnish Air Force had more combat aircraft. After the occupation of Czechoslovkia and the rising tensions with Poland Finland elected to cancell spending on the Olympic and instead to move that money to improve the defensive forification. The Mannerheim line thus had improved fortifications capable of withstanding an attack.
The result is the Soviet offensive hit a fortified line that was far stronger and the Finns inflicted greater loses on the first Soviet thrust. In addition the arrival of volunteers from its neighbors and other countries helped. In addition the Allied expeditionary force arrived earlier.
What were the results: The Soviet Union Suffered loses of more than 250,000 and the lose in manpower were just the start. Stalin 's decision to attack and the failure left open the question of whether he could continue to lead the country. Other in the leadership saw it as an opening to discredit Stalin and topple him from Power.
The improvement to the Finnish Military allowed it to emerge from the conflict with the country intact.
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