Universal History Annotation << Back SOVIET-FINNISH WAR (1939–1940): CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES IN HISTORIOGRAPHY N.V. Shabelnik The article discusses the main controversial issues in the history of the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939–1940. in historical literature. The author highlights the most controversial views in highlighting the key issues of the war: causes, cause, nature, results of the war. The main attention is paid to the controversy in the domestic and Finnish historiography of the winter war. One of the controversial issues in the study of war is the cause of the military conflict. Most Russian historians explain the causes of the war as a necessary condition for ensuring the security of the state borders of the USSR in the north-west. Finnish historians, as well as part of Russian researchers, consider the aggressive foreign policy of the Soviet leadership towards Finland to be the cause of the war. Clarification of the circumstances of the beginning of the Soviet-Finnish war still remains an open question. Fundamentally opposite points of view in historiography have developed on the analysis of the nature of war. There is an acute scientific debate over the outcome and results of the winter war. Discussions on the history of the Soviet-Finnish war, which began in the early days of the war, continue to this day, which confirms the relevance of the topic. In his article, the author draws attention to the emergence of new interpretations of the Soviet-Finnish war in modern historical literature. Keywords: Soviet-Finnish war, winter war, geostrategic interests, historiography, research, scientific disputes. DOI: 10.25791/vseist.02.2020.1098 Pp. 12-20.