In 1939, the Soviet Union invaded the country of Finnland, expecting an easy victory over what they considered an untrained and very small army. However, in reality they were met with fierce resistance from the Finns and nearly lost the war. The Finns later fought the Soviets in the German-backed Continuation War to reclaim their lost land. However, the Finns would end up on the losing side, as their German allies were quickly being defeated in the two-front Second World War.