White Guard (Finland)

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The White Guards is one translation of the Finnish term Suojeluskunta (plural: Suojeluskunnat, Finland-Swedish: Skyddskår) that has received many different translations to English, for instance: Security Guard, Civil Guard, National Guard, White Militia, Defence Corps, Protection Guard, Protection Corps and Protection Militia.

These White Guards constituted the bulk of the victorious White Army during the Civil War in Finland (1918), and also the main forces of the Lapua Movement's failed coup d'état, the Mäntsälä Rebellion (1932).

Similar paramilitary militias existed in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, i.e. in lands like Finland which were under Russian sovereignty until the end of World War I. These militias remained in existence until World War II, partly evolving towards Home Guards. The phenomenon should be distinguished from the Freikorps established in Germany after her defeat in the first world war, although some similarities exist.

The following text is intended only to cover the situation in Finland.

[edit] Historical context

(See also: Civil War in Finland)

Tensions during Russia's failed war against Japan in 1905 led to empire-wide civil unrest, known to Soviet historians as the Revolution of 1905. In Finland the unrest was expressed as a General Strike, during which "Red" (Socialist) "Protection Guards of Workers" were organized, but also "White" (anti-Socialist) "Security Guards". The White and Red Guards were typically disguised as fire-brigades, because the Russification policy included a ban on all associations except fire brigades.

The first violent clash between Red and White Guards occurred in July 1906 in Helsinki, but the renewed Russian oppression meant a common enemy, meaning serious conflicts would wait until after the February Revolution in Russia 1917, when tensions over issues such as Parliamentarism, land reform and democratization of municipal elections, between a Socialist majority in Finland's Parliament and Cabinet, and the non-Socialist minority supported by Kerensky's revolutionary Provisional Government in Russia, led to increased polarization, strikes and some political violence. "Red Guards" were set up in some towns, as the Police in Finland was virtually abolished by the Provisional Government of Russia, although few Red Guards were established before November due to resistance from the Social Democratic leadership.

In this situation some of the old fire-brigades were revived simply as an answer to insecurity and lawlessness, particularly in the rural countryside where the strike-connected violence actually was most intense. Suojeluskunnat were organized by leaders of the local societies, that was usually Conservative academics and industrialists, but "the Reds" were often collectively invited through their employers or their local Labor Union.

New elections for Finland was announced by the Russian government, and the Left lost their absolute majority in the Parliament.

The February Revolution, and even more so Lenin's Bolshevist October Revolution, ignited hopes also in Finland. The polarization and mutual fear between Leftists and Rightists in Finland had increased dramatically. About 30 political assassinations were reported. Subsequently a pure non-Socialist cabinet was appointed which, after the Bolshevists had seized power in Russia, felt squeezed between increasingly revolutionary Socialists at home and aggressive Bolshevists in Saint Petersburg, close to the border with Finland's South-East border. Numerous Russian troops stationed in Finland made things worse, as they too burned with revolutionary frenzy, which they called their "svoboda" - their freedom. Their svoboda appeared to the Finns as the Russian military going out of control. They were intoxicated, they looted, they acted violently and they executed their officers. And on top of all this: a General Strike in Finland.

[edit] The White Guards in the Civil War

The Senate, led by Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, proposed a Declaration of Independence, which the Parliament adopted on December 6th, 1917. Declaring independence is one thing, exercising control over the territory is another. Svinhufvud's "White Senate" had nothing but the "White Guards" to rely on as yet. The 42,500 Russian soldiers had to be disarmed and sent back to Russia, and the "Red Guards" had to be kept in check. Unfortunately the necessary confidence had disappeared.

The Civil War in Finland was ultimately ignited, when Svinhufvud's Senate on January 13th, 1918, was authorized by the Parliament to organize a Police force of the Suojeluskunnat. Soon the Senate asked general Mannerheim to form a new Finnish army on the basis on the Suojeluskunta militia, which already had begun in small scale to disarm the Russian garrisons - at the same time intending to stop the flow of weapons to the Red Guards. On January 18, 1918, a rival Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic was declared with the support of the Red Guards.

Neither the Red Guards nor the White, were trained for combat. Army structures had to be built in extreme haste. The White Army relied on the Finnish Jaeger troops (2,000 men) able to act as instructors and officers, on volunteers from Sweden (1,200 men, of whom a large part were officers), and on Finnish officers from the Russian Tsarist units, who returned home after the October Revolution. The White Army could use confiscated Russian weapons, and weapons delivered by Germany. The Red Army got weapons from Bolshevist Russia, and initially had more men in arms, but lacked instructors and officers.

With the defeat of the Red Army, after four months of bitter Civil War, the White Guards were recognized as one of the key agents in the victory.

In reality, German troops had made a necessary contribution to the Whites' victory, but for the sake of National Pride, it was important to stress the importance of the White Guards, the basis of the White Army, and of the Finnish Jaegers, the Army's elite.

The Civil War erupted at a time when Finland was focusing on the Russian threat: Russia had tried to russify Finland for 20 years; White Russia wanted to limit Finland's autonomy; Russian soldiers were the closest threat; and Russian Bolsheviks were perceived as the most dangerous. In this situation, it was easy for large parts of the Finnish public to assume that the Civil War had been The War of Liberation from Bolshevist Russia, and consequently perceive the Reds as traitors.

Germany's defeat in the World War, half a year after the Civil War, followed by soured relations with Sweden, having turned Socialist, particularly in connection with Åland's attempted secession from Finland, made it even more natural to talk quietly about the foreign (i.e. Russian, German, and Swedish) contributions to the White victory.

The White Guards were accordingly depicted as Finland's freedom fighters. The aftermath of the Civil War was, however, extremely bloody. As the Reds had murdered some 1,100 people in their zone of control (so-called Red terror), the Whites retaliated ruthlessly, executing some 8,500 people after the recapture of the Red areas (so-called White terror). It is estimated some 9,700 Finns were executed in the Civil War and its aftermath. Some 4,000 Whites and 4,500 Reds were killed in action. The famine of 1918 claimed another 20,000 Finns. Because of their ruthlessness and eagerness to retaliate, the White Guards earned the title Lahtarikaarti (Butcher Guard) amongst the Reds.

[edit] The White Guards after the Civil War

The local White Guards function in the following 20 years - up to the Winter War - was a mixture of Veteran Corps and Home Guards. They also sponsored numerous sport competitions and promoted voluntary national defence. In the Winter War members of the Guard provided a quarter of the manpower of the field army, a contribution made more important as they were the best trained and equipped personnel having had to purchase their own rifle and overcoat during their membership of the Guard.

The frosty relations between White Guards and Socialists started to ease during 1930s. During 1920s Socialists had demanded the White Guards be demobilized, but as the Guard leadership and the overwhelming majority of the members remained loyal to government during Mäntsälä rebellion, the demands were moderated to making the Guards official part of the army. The rift was ultimately healed during the Winter War, when leadership of the Guard and the Social Democratic Party issued a joint statement February 15, 1940, in which the Guard leadership recommended local Guards to recruit Socialists and the Party leadership recommended its members to join Guards.

After the Continuation War, the Finnish White Guards were disbanded in 1944, as per demands by the Soviet Union.

[edit] See also

• Red Guards (Finland)
• Lotta Svärd - voluntary auxiliary organisation for women.
• Soldier's Home Associations