Thursday, March 24, 2011

Spotlight On: Finnish Civil War

The Finnish Civil War was caused largely by the social turmoil in Europe created by World War I. The war itself was fought from January 27 to May 15, 1918 between two groups who became known as the "reds" and the "whites." The Reds, who were backed by Bolshevik Russia, were Social Democrats, led by the People's Deputation of Finland. The whites, who received assistance from the German Empire, were the nonsocialist force. However, tensions had been growing in and around Finland for years before world War I. One of the most dividing factors was the Bolshevik takeover in Russia.

The Bolshevik takeover in Novemeber 1917 brought emotions in Finland to a boiling point. On one side of the spectrum, there were the middle classes, who feared radical socialism, suspecting that it would destroy their way of life. Works, however, were inspired by the revolution and embodied this spirit with the Finnish Worker's general strike of November 14. For fourty-eight hours, workers controlled the state. Some of the most radical strikers even proposed a full seizure of power. During the two days of striking, there were numerous armed clashes between White Guards and Red Guards.

Following the genral strike, it was clear that the White Guards had an upper hand in the fighting due to weapon shipments from Germany. As a result, a government with heavy middle-class influence was established under the leadership of Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, and on Decmber 6, 1917, Finland declared itself an independent state. Before the war, Finland had been a Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire. Svinhufvud's government demonstrated that it would have zero tolerance for socialist influencinf by making the Whote Guard a state security force. The atmosphere of poltiocal violence, class tensions, and mistrust ws so strong in Finland buy January 1918, that civil war was inevitable.

Despite having nearly twice the army size of the Whites, the Reds faced a number of disadvantages throughout the war that would lead to them losing in the end. The Reds had poor leadership, training, and equipment, as well as food shortages. The Whites had professional leadership and this was one of the reasons they won the war. Mannerheim, who was the official military leader of the whites, was an experienced soldier who understood large scale operations. His strategic judgement guided the whites almost flawlessly. Some of the decisive battles were fought at Tampere, Viipuri, and Helnski, all of which were won by a combined White and German force.

The civil war was clearly  one of the most catastrophic events in FInnish history. Over 37,000 people were killed, but only one fourth of these deaths occured on the battlefield. The rest came as a result of executions detention camps created during poltical terror campaigns. The war divided society so much that there was even argument over what to call the it. Whites wanted it to be called a "War for Independence," while the Reds insisted that it was a civil war. Following the defeat of the German Empire in World War I, the Finnish people retained their independence, and slowly, Finland was reunited through poltical compromise, though the socialism question remained relevant in Finland up through the Cold War.

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