BWPicPPsh

The Winter War fought between the Soviet Union and Finland during
1939-1940 ended with Stalin forcing Finland to come to terms
favorable to the Soviet dictator. However, it had been a costly
victory. The Red Army endured over 126,000 dead and 300,000
wounded. Nevertheless these same losses helped the Red Army learn
invaluable lessons; lessons that may have helped save it to stave off
final defeat against Germany during 1941-42.

Among the many lessons learned was the value a portable, light
automatic weapon presented to soldiers fighting on the modern
battlefield. When the Winter War began the Finns ranked among the
world leaders in automatic weapons usage. Finnish automatic weapons
included the 9mm Suomi M-31 submachine guns and an early assault
rifle; the 7.92 mm M26 light machine gun (LMG). Even though
classified as a light machine gun the M26 proved more similar to the
American Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) than a characteristic LMG;
though heavy by modern assault rifle standards the M26 weighed less
than the BAR. The Russian's suffered enormous casualties fighting
Finnish infantry armed with such firepower. In 1939-40 only the
German army employed automatic weapons as extensively as the
Finnish army. However, the German infantry's reputation for heavy
firepower primarily arose from liberal use of true crew served machine
guns possessing high rates of fire. German infantry mostly lugged
bolt-action rifle into combat. Thus, during the Winter War, the Red
Army painfully learned what light automatic weapons could do, and
later used simple but ruggedly built submachine guns to great effect
against the Germans.

One submachine gun in particular quickly took center stage as the Red
Army's pre-eminent source of individual firepower. Designed by
weapons manufacturer Georgi Shpagin the PPsh-41 submachine gun
had several notable qualities that made it an effective weapon. For
one, it was reliable, its chrome-lined chamber and bore proved very
easy to maintain in the field. Second, it packed a significant
short-range punch with its large box or drum magazine packed with
7.62x25mm pistol rounds made all the more accurate at close ranges
with its light recoil. Therefore, almost anyone holding this easily
handled weapon could quickly spray dozens of rounds at a target -
helping to make up for highly abbreviated training courses. Such a
weapon proved crucial to the success of a 1941-42 era
mass-conscript Red Army lacking the time and the means to produce
highly trained soldiers capable of accurately directing semi-automatic
rifle fire at their foes as was representative of the German Army's
draft classes during the first years of the war. First produced late in
1941 the PPsh proved so easy to manufacture and so effective in the
field that it quickly entered mass production and became a prized
trophy by Soviet and German soldiers alike; especially valued for
operating in close combat and urban fighting.