Finnish Right-Wing History of the Early 20th Century

[wilpuri]

Here are the rough outlines of Finnish right-wing extremism of the early to mid 20th century


Lapua Movement

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

(Redirected from Lapuan liike)
Jump to: navigation, search
Lapua Movement (Lapuan liike) was a political movement in Finland, started in 1929, initially dominated by ardent anti-communist nationalists, emphasizing the legacy of the nationalist activism, the White Guards and the Civil War in Finland, however soon turning into more of a Fascist movement. The Lapua Movement was banned after a failed coup-d'état in 1932. Ironically, the banning was done under the Protection of the Republic Act, which originally was dictated by the Lapua Movement. The activities were then continued in IKL (Isänmaallinen Kansanliike).
The leaders of the Lapua Movement were Vihtori Kosola and general Kurt Martti Wallenius.
Many politicians, and also high military officers, were initially sympathetic with the Lapua Movement, as anti-communism was the norm in the educated classes after the Civil War. However, excessive use of violence made the movement less popular within a few months.
In the Civil War Ostrobothnia was one of the most important strong-holds and bases of the White army, and anti-Communist sentiments remained extremely strong in Ostrobothnia. Late in November 1929 the Communist Youth Movement arranged a happening in Ostrobothnian Lapua. This infuriated the locals, who violently made an end to the meeting. On December 1st an anticommunist meeting was held, attracting more than 1,000 people. A ban of all communist activities was demanded.
Marches and meetings were arranged throughout the country. On June 16th, 1930, more than 3,000 men arrived to Oulu in order to destroy the print and office of the Communist newspaper Pohjan Voima. However, the last issue of Pohjan Voima had appeared on June 14. The same day, a Communist print in Vaasa was destroyed. A so-called "Peasant March" to Helsinki was a major show of power. More than 12,000 men arrived in Helsinki on July 7th. The government yielded under the pressure, and communist newspapers were outlawed in a Protection of the Republic Act.
After this, the Lapua Movement became even more extreme. Their activities included harassing individual Communists, Social Democrats, Pacifists, Liberals and labor unionists. One common treatment was "muilutus", which started with kidnapping and beating. After that the subject was thrown into a car and driven to the border of the Soviet Union.
During its early stages the movement was also responsible for several murders. Their victims were common people and ranged from leftists to non-socialists that were viewed as too moderate. Lapua Movement's acts are considered to be the last political murders in Finland to this date.
Meetings held by leftist and labour groups were also interrupted, often violently. More than 400 meeting locals owned by the labour movement were closed by Lapua activists.
On October 14th, 1930, the popular ex-president Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg and his wife were kidnapped, beaten and driven to Joensuu (i.e. not really to the Soviet Union this time). This was intended as a first stage of a coup d'état, but it backfired and the general support of the movement collapsed. Moderate people left the movement, and extremists took the stage. Never-the-less, a few months later the Lapua Movement was capable of not only demanding "their man" appointed President of Finland by the Collegium of Electors, which only weeks before had been chosen in a nation-wide voting, but a sufficient number of the electors followed the Lapua Movement's request, disregarding the intentions they had declared during the election campaign. The Movement's man, Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, was elected.
In February 1932 a Social Democrat meeting in Mäntsälä was violently interrupted by armed Lapua activists. The event escalated to an attempted coup d'état known as the Mäntsälä Rebellion (Mäntsälän kapina), led by the former Chief of Staff of Finland's Army, general Wallenius. Despite the appeals of Wallenius, the army and the White Guards were largely loyal to the government. Many historians believe the main reason for the failure was poor planning. The rebellion ended after President Svinhufvud had held a radio speech to the rebels. After a trial, the Lapua Movement was banned on November 21st, 1932. Wallenius and about 50 other leaders were sentenced to prison.
Finland\'s foreign relations and reputation were without doubt damaged by the broad support the Lapua Movement initially was shown by Finland's elite, and by the ties between the Movement, the White Guards and Finland's army. Particularly the neighbours came to view Finland with even more suspicion.
In the Soviet Union, the Lapua Movement's actions were closely followed. Old deep-rooted perceptions of Finland as a threat and as a continuation of the ancient tsarist régime were enhanced — both among ordinary citizens and in the Bolshevist leadership — further contributing to the development leading to the Winter War. Not the least in Leningrad, the old tsarist capital, were the old concerns kept alive over having the border far too close. Over that border invasion armies had arrived right at the doorstep of the capital twice in the 18th century and then, again, in 1918, immediately after Finland's independence, during the ongoing world war, the German enemy had been invited by Finland and threatened to bring the horrors of war on the civilians of Leningrad. Russian newspapers mirrored these fears, covering events in Finland and interviewing victims that had been deported to Russia by the Lapua Movement as telling examples of terror in capitalist countries.

Academic Karelia Society

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.


Jump to: navigation, search

AKS poster


The Academic Karelia Society (AKS) (Akateeminen Karjala-Seura) was a Finnish elitist nationalist organization aiming at the growth and improvement of newly independent Finland, founded by academics and students of the University of Finland in 1922. Its members retained influential positions in the academic life of the era. The Karelia Society was suppressed in 1944, in the aftermath of the Continuation War, that to a great extent had been planned and fought in accordance with AKS' agenda.
The Karelia Society's program was centered around their main demand: the acquisition of East Karelia from Soviet Russia.
AKS also organized aid to Finnic minorities in Soviet Russia and refugees from there. Domestically it was an emphatic proponent for a strengthened army and for strict restrictions against Socialists.
In the 1930s, the AKS was an ally of the ultra-right Patriotic People\'s Movement party. AKS also maintained close ties with a militant secret society called Vihan Veljet. Some authors claim that Vihan Veljet was actually a group inside the AKS, not a separate organization, but there is not much evidence in either way. The archives of AKS were hidden or destroyed in 1944.

Tribal wars

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

(Redirected from Heimosodat)
Jump to: navigation, search

Estonian Liberation War

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

(Redirected from Estonian War of Independence)
Jump to: navigation, search
The Estonian Liberation War (Estonian: Vabadussõda, literally "freedom war"), also called the Estonian War of Independence, in 1918-1920, was Estonia's struggle for independent state in the aftermath of World War I and the Russian Revolution.
[edit]

Timeline

In November 1917, upon disintegration of the Russian Empire a Diet (Maapäev), which had been elected in the spring of that year, proclaimed itself the highest authority in Estonia. Soon thereafter, the Bolsheviks dissolved Maapäev and forced the Estonian nationalists temporarily underground. A few months later, using a moment between the Russian Red Army's retreat and the arrival of the advancing German troops, the Committee of Elders of the underground Maapäev issued a proclamation the independent Republic of Estonia on February 24, 1918 and formed a provisional government. This first period of independence was extremely short-lived, as German troops entered Tallinn on the following day. The German authorities recognized neither the provisional government, nor its claim for Estonia's independence.
After Germany's defeat in World War I (November 1918) however, an Estonian provisional government was able to retake office. A new military invasion by Soviet Russia followed a few days later, marking the beginning of the Estonian War of Independence. The first Russian attacks at Narva on 22rd November were met by German and Estonian defenders but the Germans thereafter withdrew westwards. On 28th November Red Army made an assault to capture the city with an artillery support and on 29th November the Red Army captured Narva and Narva-Jõesuu. Estonian bolsheviks declared regional local government in Narva under the name of the Estonian Workers’ Commune (Eesti Töörahva Kommun) The small, poorly-armed Estonian defense force was initially pushed back by the Red Army close to the capital, Tallinn. Only 34 kilometers was a distance between Tallinn and front line. Partly due to the timely arrival of a shipment arms brought by a British naval squadron under Admiral Sinclair the Bolsheviks were stopped. In January 1919 the Estonians launched a counteroffensive under Commander-in-Chief Johan Laidoner. In this the Estonian Army was supported by the Royal Navy as well as some Finnish, Swedish and Danish volunteers. By the end of February 1919 the Red Army was expelled from the entire territory of Estonia.
Estonian troops also advanced into northern Latvia. Latvia had been declared an independent state like Estonia, but its pro-British government of Kārlis Ulmanis was toppled by a German general Rüdiger von der Goltz, who had installed a pro-German puppet government in Riga in May 1919. This was possible because under the terms of their armistice with the Western Allies, the Germans had been obliged to maintain their armies in the East to counter the Bolshevik threat. A Baltic German military unit Landeswehr, together with the "Iron Division" of the regular German army, started to advance northwards and demanded that the Estonian army end the "occupation" of parts Northern Latvia. It was widely believed that the real intent of Landeswehr was to annex Estonia into some German-dominated state like United Baltic Duchy which had existed in 1918. In the military conflict that ensued, the Baltic-German Landeswehr were defeated by the advancing Estonian Army in Northern Latvia near the city of Cēsis in June 1919. (June 23, the anniversary of the Battle of Wenden (Võnnu in Estonian) is celebrated in Estonia as a national holiday "Victory Day.")
Although Estonia had been liberated the Bolsheviks were still active and the Estonian high command decided to push their defence lines across the border into Russia. The offensive began on May 13th. By now the Estonian land, naval and air forces comprised 74,500 men including a 3,000-strong White Russian Northern Corps. This had its origins back in the autumn of 1918 as a small White Russian force raised under German approval in the Pskov area, which had retreated from the Bolsheviks and joined up with Estonian National forces. The Estonian May offensive was extremely successful and the Northern Corps mobilised local population in the liberated Russian territory. On June 19th 1919 the Estonian Commander-in-Chief General Laidoner removed the White Russians from his command and they were renamed the North-Western Army. Shortly afterwards General Nikolai N. Yudenich took command.
The Bolsheviks began a counter-offensive in July 1919 which regained much ground lost during the Estonian offensive but the North-Western Army survived. With arms provided by Britain and France and supported by the Estonian army, Estonian warships and the British Royal Navy, the North-Western Army began an offensive on 28th September 1919 with the aim of capturing Petrograd. White Russian forces got as far as ten miles from Petrograd but the Bolshevik leader Leon Trotsky gathered "an army of workers and soldiers", which was able to repulse Yudenich's troops and force their retreat back into Estonia where the Estonians, fearing the consequences of accepting an armed mob, disarmed and interned them. The Bolsheviks made determined assaults on fortified positions at the Estonian frontier but exhausted themselves and a ceasefire came into effect on 3rd January 1920.
On February 2, 1920, the Peace Treaty of Tartu was signed by the Republic of Estonia and Bolshevist Russia. The terms of the treaty stated that Russia renounced in perpetuity all rights to the territory of Estonia.
Of interest is the British contribution to the struggle in the Baltic in 1918-19: 1) arrival of British naval forces in December 1918 after lobbying in London by Estonian politicians, which brought needed military equipment, training and also artillery support from Royal Navy ships; 2) protection of the Estonian left flank by naval action in the Gulf of Finland. This included the first combined air/sea assault in history, when British aircraft and torpedo boats attacked and destroyed the Bolshevik fleet in Kronstadt; 3) the British supplied equipment including tanks and "advisors" to the White Russian North-Western Army and British tank crews are said to have got closer to Petrograd in the autumn of 1919 than German Panzer crews did to Leningrad in WWII.

The Viena expedition was a military expedition by Finnish volunteer forces to "liberate" White Karelia (or Vienan Karjala in Finnish) from the Bolsheviks in March 1918. It was one of many Finnic Tribal wars.

The initial Finnish advance.


The expedition was made up of two groups. one, led by Jaeger Lieutenant Kurt Martti Wallenius crossed the border at Kuusamo, but got bogged down in fighting the Red Guards. The other group, led by Lieutenant Colonel Carl Wilhelm Malm consisted of about 350 men. By April 10, the group had advanced as far as to Kem, or Vienan Kemi, on the White Sea coast. Malm was unable to occupy the town and retreated to Uhtua and began defending western White Karelia. The Finns now switched tactics and tried to "enlighten" the population by going from village to village.
When the Finnish troops arrived in White Karelia they noticed that the population was divided. A part of the population wanted to secede from Russia, not necessarily to join Finland but to form an independent Karelia. Most would have been content with just some form of autonomy, which they thought they would get as part of Soviet-Russia. A small minority wanted Karelia to be joined to Finland. For the great majority getting food on the table was more important that politics.
In the end the thought about joining East Karelia to Finland got some support in the White Karelian villages around Uhtua. Local Suojeluskunta militias were formed in over 20 villages in the area. In July Malm was recalled back to Finland and in his place captain Toivo Kuisma was placed in charge of the Finnish troops. The Finnish government couldn't decide whether to recall the troops or to send reinforcements.
The situation became more complicated with the landing in Murmansk of 130 Royal Marines on 6th March to prevent the Germans (and their Finnish allies) from gaining the White Sea coast and the Murmansk railroad. By June 1918 an assortment of British Royal Marines, French artillerymen, part of a Serb battalion, Poles, Red Russians from the Murmansk Soviet and some Red Finns occupied the railway line from Murmansk south as far as Kem. The arrival of British reinforcements and an allied plan for them to link up with anti-Bolshevik units in Siberia prompted Trotsky, now at peace with the Germans, to send 3,000 red troops northwards. In July these were disarmed and seen off by the British, who advanced as far south as Sorokka. British-led forces defending the railway line included a battalion of 1,400 Red Finns and the Karelian regiment. Also a Karelian regiment of East Karelians was formed.
The situation of the Viena expedition began to deteriorate. The Karelian regiment stationed in Kem attacked the Finnish troops at Jyskyjärvi on August 27. 18 men were lost. The next attack came against Luusalmi on September 8 where 42 Finns were killed. The following battles were fought at Kostamus and Vuokkiniemi in September-October. The Finnish troops withdrew to Finland on October 2. 195 of the troops managed to get home, 83 were killed.
The British forces withdrew in October 1919 and the situation of the Russian White Army collapsed. After the Viena expedition, the parish of Repola in East Karelia had held a vote to join Finland, but Finland gave up her claims on East Karelia in the Treaty of Tartu in 1920.

Aunus expedition

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.


Jump to: navigation, search
The Aunus expedition was an attempt by Finnish volunteers to occupy parts of East Karelia in 1919, during the Russian Civil War. Aunus is the Finnish name for Olonets Karelia. It was one of many Finnic Tribal wars.
[edit]

Background

In February 1918 general Mannerheim, the commander of the anti-communist White Guards, wrote his famous "sword scabbard order of the day", in which he said that he would not put his sword into the scabbard until East Karelia was free of Russian control. After the Finnish Civil War there was much public discussion about joining East Karelia to Finland.
Earlier attempts in 1918 to Petsamo and White Karelia (Viena expedition) had failed, partly due to a passive attitude of the Karelians. Later the British occupied White Karelia.
During the summer of 1918, the government of Finland received various appeals from East Karelia for joining the area to Finland. Especially active were the inhabitants of the parish of Repola, which had held a vote to join Finland. The Finnish Army occupied the parish in the fall of 1918. In January 1919 a small expedition of volunteers occupied the parish of Porajärvi, but was quickly repulsed by Bolshevik forces. Porajärvi held a vote on January 7 to also join Finland.
In February 1919 Mannerheim made clear to the Western powers and the White Army that Finland would attack the Bolsheviks in St. Petersburg if it would receive material and moral support. During the same time the plans for the Aunus expedition were prepared and the Jaeger-Major Gunnar von Herzen was chosen as the commander of the troops. He thought that the expedition would succeed with a thousand Finnish volunteers, but only if the Karelians would join the fighting. Mannerheim approved the plan, but demanded that England would also have to approve of it before it would proceed.
[edit]

The Expedition

The expedition crossed the border on the night of April 21, 1919. The goals were to capture Lotinanpelto, Petrozavodsk and the Murmansk railroad. The troops were divided into three groups and were made up of 1000 volunteers. The southern group advanced to Lotinanpelto in just three days, but was pressed back behind River Tuulos by Bolshevik troops. The northern group captured Prääsä. At this time it became obvious that there weren't enough troops to complete the goals of the expedition. A new round of recruiting 2000 new volunteers was started and Mannerheim made Aarne Sihvo the new commander of the expedition.
Major Paavo Talvela's regiment started an attack aimed at Petrozavodsk on June 20, but was beaten by Bolsheviks and Finnish Red Guard forces just outside the town. The English troops that operated along the Murmansk railroad were quite close by, but did not participate.
The Finns had hoped that the Karelian population would have joined the troops as volunteers but only a few did and their morale was never very high.
The initiative now passed to the Bolsheviks. On June 26 over 600 Finns of the Red Officer School in St. Petersburg made a landing at Vitele across Lake Ladoga behind the Finnish lines. The southern group was forced to retreat to Finland after suffering heavy losses. Talvela's group was also forced to retreat back to Finland.
[edit]

Aftermath

The only result from the expedition was that the parish of Porajärvi declared on June 6 that it wished to join Finland. As had the parish of Repola already done in 1918. The regular Finnish Army moved in to occupy the parish. In the treaty of Tartu in 1920 Finland and Soviet Union agreed on their common border. Repola and Porajärvi were left on the Soviet side and the Finnish troops had to be withdrawn before February 14, 1921. The young police chief in Repola, Bobi Sivén shot himself in protest.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aunus_expedition"

Forest Guerrillas (Finland)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

(Redirected from Forest Guerillas (Finland))
Jump to: navigation, search
Metsäsissit (Forest Guerillas) was a Finnic resistance movement formed by some of the inhabitants of the parishes of Repola and Porajärvi in addition to several White Guard volunteers after their territory was given back to Bolshevist Russia in the Treaty of Tartu of 1920. The metsäsissi forces managed to capture large parts of East Karelia during their rebellion against their Russian rulers in 1921, aiming to unite these areas with the newly formed Republic of Finland. Ultimately, however, in 1922 the last rebel forces were driven back into Finland by the Bolsheviks.

Some pictures from here of the 'peasant march':