How did the Russo-Finnish War influence Hitler's view of the Soviet military?

The Russo-Finnish War (1939–40) significantly influenced Adolf Hitler’s perception of the Soviet Union. Following the initial, poor performance of the Red Army against Finnish forces, Hitler—along with the western democracies—tended to underestimate Soviet military capabilities.1

This early humiliation of the Soviet military reinforced Hitler's belief that the Soviet Union was weak, a miscalculation that contributed to his decision-making regarding the invasion of the Soviet Union. While Soviet strategists eventually learned from their failures and successfully breached the Mannerheim Line, the initial impression of Soviet incompetence remained a factor in the German leadership's strategic outlook leading up to Operation Barbarossa.1