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Sotamarsalkan nimeämiskirja


Mannerheim was a Swedish-dpeaking nobleman in origin, who had his military training and his earliest war experiences as an officer in the Russian Imperial Army.

This background was reflected in his role as a military and political leader of Finland, and seems to continue to affect the present and future of Finland as well.

Mannerheim did not approve of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, but he understood Russian mentality and appreciated Russia as one of the great powers. He was not particularly enthusiastic about the German intervention in the War of Independence, because he wanted to convince the Finns that the process of gaining independence lay primarily in their own hands.

The extreme tragedy of the Civil War that divided the nation into "reds" and "whites" found expression in the strongly controversial emotions about Mannerheim. Confronting a threat from outside, when the Soviet Union was attacking Finland in late autumn 1939, Mannerheim succeeded in uniting the nation in a courageous battle against the enemy far superior in force.

After the great Soviet offensive against Finland had started in summer 1944, Mannerheim’s statesmanship was needed as the Commander-in Chief of the army and as the newly elected President of the Republic, so that the country would be able to defend herself and to withdraw from the war.

Military Ranks | Military Career in Russia | Russian Army | Imperial Guard | Administration of Imperial Stables | Nicholas II  | In Russo-Japanese War |   Chinese Expedition 1906-1908 | Scientific Expedition in Asia | Time in Poland | World War I | Mannerheim in World War I | Cross of St George | Sword of St George | Russian Revolution |  Resignation from Russian Service

Etusivulle

COURSE OF LIFE | FAMILY | TIME OF GROWTH | MILITARY CAREER | WAR OF INDEPENDENCE | REGENT 1918-1919 | CIVILIAN | DEFENCE COUNCIL | COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF 1939-1946 | PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC 1944-1946 | RETIREMENT | SPECIAL TOPICS | SEARCH