100 years ago, in April 1919, the White Finnish troops unexpectedly crossed the Russian-Finnish border in several places. The Finns were advancing on Petrozavodsk. Finland laid claim to the whole of Karelia and the Kola Peninsula.
Background
After the February Revolution, Finnish society split up: workers' seims, the Workers' and Red Guards appeared in the workers' centers; and the bourgeois-nationalist part of Finnish society began to form its own armed units (shutskor - "guard corps").
The Provisional Government of Russia restored the autonomy of Finland, but opposed its complete independence. In July 1917, the Finnish Seimas adopted the "Law on Power", which limited the competence of the Provisional Government to the sphere of foreign and military policy. In response, Petrograd dispersed the Diet. In October 1917, new elections to the Sejm were held, where representatives of the bourgeoisie and nationalists took the leading positions.
After the October Revolution, the Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDPF) and the Finnish Trade Union Executive Committee supported the Bolsheviks. A general strike began in Finland, the Red Guard dispersed the Shutskor's detachments, occupied important points, in many cities power passed to the workers' councils. However, the Central Revolutionary Council, after the concessions of the Diet, called on the workers to end the strike. In December 1917, the Sejm proclaimed Finland an independent state. The Soviet government recognized the independence of Finland. The security detachments became the main Finnish army. The Finnish troops were led by the former tsarist general Karl Gustav Mannerheim.
The revolution and the course of independence split Finnish society. In January 1918, a bloody and brutal civil war broke out. The Red Guard captured Helsingfors and the main industrial centers, railways and ports. The north and most of central Finland remained in the hands of whites - bourgeois-nationalist circles. The Reds had every chance to defeat the enemy: they controlled the main industrial centers, military factories and arsenals of the Russian army and navy. However, they acted passively, hesitantly, adhered to defensive tactics, did not nationalize the banks, did not confiscate the lands and forests of landowners and timber companies - leaving the sources of funds in the hands of opponents, without resolving the issue of allotting land to the poor peasants. Decisive actions were not taken to ensure state security, suppress the counter-revolution and the enemy underground.
Thus, the country and society split into two hostile parts. In March 1918, the Soviet government recognized the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (FSRR). In turn, the White Finnish government received the support of the German Empire. Lenin's government sympathized with the "Red Finns", but feared Germany, and therefore declared its neutrality. In addition, "neutral" Sweden also took the side of the White Finnish government. Thus, the Swedish fleet forced the Russians to abandon Aland, along with all military equipment and powerful artillery batteries. As a result, the weapons and military equipment went to the Swedes and the White Finns. Then the Aland Islands were captured by the Germans.
It is worth noting that the Russian troops that were still stationed in Finland (the wreckage of the old tsarist army) and the large Russian community came under attack. This led to acts of genocide by the White Finns. The Finns attacked and destroyed small units of the Russian army, which had already decayed so much that it could not even defend itself. Finnish nationalists robbed, arrested and killed Russians. Also, the White Finns began to build concentration camps for the Reds. The Nazis sought to oust the Russians from Finland not only with direct terror, but also with the help of boycotts, direct insults, persecution, and deprivation of all civil rights. At the same time, almost all the property acquired by the Russians was abandoned and lost.
In March 1918, the German fleet landed troops on the Aland Islands. In April, the Germans began to intervene in Finland. The command of the Baltic Fleet, in an emergency, carried out a unique operation to transfer ships from Helsingfors to Kronstadt (). On April 12-13, Helsingfors was stormed by the Germans and the White Finns. The remaining Russian ships and vessels were captured by the Finns and Germans. All Russian sailors and soldiers arrested in the ranks of the Red Guard were shot. At the end of April, the White Finns took Vyborg. Mass executions of Russians were also carried out in Vyborg. At the same time, officers, pupils of Russian educational institutions, who had nothing to do with the Reds, were also shot. The reprisals against the Red Finns were carried out on a class basis, and against the Russians - on a national basis. Throughout Finland, the White Finns killed several hundred Russian officers who did not support the Reds. And the property of Russian officers, merchants and entrepreneurs was confiscated. The state property of Russia was also seized. In April 1918, the White Finnish authorities seized Russian state property for 17.5 billion gold rubles.
The White Finns crushed the resistance of the Reds in the most severe way. Even those who kept weapons at home were subject to execution. White, ahead of the Bolsheviks, introduced the practice of concentration camps, where they sent prisoners of the Red Finns. By the beginning of May 1918, the entire territory of the Grand Duchy of Finland was in the hands of the White Finns. However, this was not enough for the Finnish Nazis now. They dreamed of "Greater Finland".
General Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim. 1918 g.
General Mannerheim speaks to commemorate the start of the "War of Independence" in Tampere on January 30, 1919
Greater Finland
In March 1918, at the height of the civil war in Finland, the head of the Finnish government, Svinhufvud, announced that Finland was ready to make peace with Russia on "moderate terms" - the White Finns demanded the transfer of Eastern Karelia, the entire Kola Peninsula and part of the Murmansk railway. The purpose of the invasion of the White Finns into Karelia and the Kola Peninsula was not only territorial conquests, but also material interests. During the World War, Murmansk was a major center for the transfer of weapons, various military equipment, equipment and food delivered by the Allies in the Entente. Before the revolution, the authorities did not have time to take everything out and in Murmansk there were huge reserves of great value. The White Finns, in alliance with the Germans, planned to seize all this. General Mannerheim prepared a plan for the invasion of Soviet Russia to seize territory along the line Petsamo - Kola Peninsula - White Sea - Lake Onega - Svir River - Lake Ladoga. Mannerheim also put forward a project for the liquidation of Petrograd as the capital of Russia and the transformation of the city with the okrug (Tsarskoe Selo, Gatchina, Oranienbaum, etc.) into a free “city-republic”.
On March 18, 1918, in the settlement of Ukhta, captured by the Finns, the "Provisional Committee for Eastern Karelia" was assembled, which adopted a resolution on the annexation of Eastern Karelia to Finland. At the end of April 1918, a detachment of White Finns moved to capture the port of Pechenga. At the request of the Murmansk council, the British on a cruiser transferred the red detachment to Pechenga. The British at this time were not interested in the capture of the White Finns, since the Finnish government was oriented towards Germany. In May, the Finnish attack on Pechenga was repulsed by joint efforts of the Red and British sailors. We also managed to defend Kandalaksha. As a result, the Russians, with the help of the British and French (they defended their strategic interests), managed to defend the Kola Peninsula from the White Finns.
In May 1918, Mannerheim's headquarters published the decision of the Finnish government to declare war on Soviet Russia. The Finnish authorities demanded to cover the losses caused by the civil war in Finland. At the expense of these "losses", Finland was demanded to annex East Karelia and the Murmansk region (Kola Peninsula).
True, the Second Reich intervened here. The Germans decided that the capture of Petrograd would cause an explosion of patriotic feelings in Russia. That the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, beneficial to Berlin, will be dissolved. That power can be seized by the opponents of the Bolsheviks, who will again start a war on the side of the Entente. Therefore, Berlin informed the White Finnish government that Germany would not wage a war for the interests of Finland with Soviet Russia, which had signed the Brest Peace, and would not support the Finnish troops if they were fighting outside Finland. The German government was preparing for the last decisive campaign on the Western (French) front, and did not want to aggravate the situation in the East.
Therefore, in late May - early June 1918, Berlin, in an ultimatum, demanded that Finland abandon the idea of an attack on Petrograd. The Finnish hawks had to moderate their appetites. And the most active supporter of this plan, General Mannerheim, was dismissed. As a result, the baron had to leave for Sweden. It is clear that the Finnish army was stopped not only by Germany. Russian troops were concentrated on the Karelian Isthmus, the Reds still had a fairly strong Baltic Fleet. Soviet ships located on the Kronstadt roadstead could threaten the right flank of the Finnish army advancing on Petrograd with artillery fire and landing. Also, Russian destroyers, patrol boats and submarines were in Lake Ladoga, the formation of the Onega military flotilla began. Soviet seaplanes patrolled over the Ladoga and Onega lakes. As a result, during the navigation of 1918, the Finns did not dare to poke their attention to Ladoga and Onega.
In the summer of 1918, Finland and Soviet Russia began preliminary peace talks. The Finnish General Staff has prepared a project for transferring the border on the Karelian Isthmus in exchange for good compensation in Eastern Karelia. Berlin supported this project. In fact, this plan anticipated what Stalin would later offer Finland to defend Leningrad in the run-up to World War II.
In August 1918, peace talks between Soviet Russia and Finland were held in the German capital with the mediation of the German government. The Finnish side refused to conclude peace with Russia. Then the Germans concluded an "Supplementary Treaty" to the Brest Treaty. According to it, the Soviet side promised to take all measures to remove the Entente forces from the Russian North. And Germany guaranteed that the Finns did not attack Russian territory, and after the removal of the Entente troops in the North, Russian power would be established. The Finnish side was outraged by this agreement, the Finns broke off negotiations. Berlin again warned Finland against the Finns attacking Russia. As a result, the position of "no war, no peace" was established on the Russian-Finnish border.
White Finnish troops. 1918 year
Finnish cavalry. 1919 year
Finland goes on the offensive
Finland soon changed its patron. In October 1918, it was already obvious that Germany was losing the war, and Finnish troops occupied the Rebolsk region in Karelia. In November 1918, the German Empire fell. Now Finland, with the support of the Entente, could start a war against Soviet Russia. In November, Mannerheim visited London, where he held informal talks with the British. In December, the Finnish parliament elected the baron regent (initially the Finns planned to establish a monarchy, Prince Friedrich Karl von Hesse was a candidate for the throne), he actually became the dictator of Finland.
Immediately after the conclusion of the armistice with Germany, Britain began to prepare for an intervention in the Baltic. The British began to supply whites in the Baltics. In December 1918, British ships repeatedly fired at the positions of the Red troops on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland. The balance of forces in the Gulf of Finland was formally in favor of the Reds. However, firstly, the naval command was afraid to respond, for example, to the provocations of the Finns, since Moscow feared complications of "international relations", that is, the wrath of the Entente. Therefore, naval artillery was not used to strike at the positions of the Finnish troops on the coastal flank.
Secondly, many ships are already outdated, most of the ships of the Baltic Fleet have not been repaired for a long time and physically could not leave their bases. They were inferior in speed and armament to British ships. Thirdly, the personnel situation was very bad. There was no order and discipline among the "brothers", many of whom were anarchists. The old officers were dispersed, others were intimidated by the commissars. The training of new commanders, former warrant officers of accelerated releases, was unsatisfactory. The British fleet, on the other hand, had newly built ships, well-trained and disciplined crews, with extensive combat experience. Therefore, the British quickly established control over the entire Gulf of Finland. The British captured two red destroyers at Revel, and later they handed them over to the Estonians. The red fleet was blocked.
In January 1919, the Finnish army also occupied the Porosozerskaya volost in Karelia. In February 1919, at the Versailles Peace Conference, the Finnish delegation demanded the whole of Karelia and the Kola Peninsula. From January to March 1919, Finnish troops waged local hostilities in the Rebola and Porosozero regions.
Under the leadership of Mannerheim, the Finns developed a plan for a campaign against Russia. The southern group (regular army) was to conduct an offensive in the direction of Olonets - Lodeynoye Pole. After the capture of this area, the Finns planned to develop an offensive against Petrograd. The northern group (security detachments, Swedish volunteers and immigrants from Karelia) advanced in the direction of Veshkelitsa - Kungozero - Syamozero. This campaign was coordinated with the white army of Yudenich, which was based in Estonia. For the help of the Finnish troops, Yudenich promised to give up Karelia on April 3, and he was ready to hand over the Kola Peninsula after the construction of a direct railway to Arkhangelsk. Both Yudenich and the Provisional Government of the Northern Region in Arkhangelsk agreed to the seizure of Petrograd to the Finnish authorities. After the capture of Petrograd, the city was going to be transferred under the authority of the North-Western government of Yudenich.
The opponents of the campaign against Petrograd were the Finnish parliament (for financial reasons) and the British (for strategic reasons). The British quite reasonably believed that Petrograd was well defended, it was protected by a fleet, powerful coastal fortifications with artillery, and given the developed railway network, reinforcements could be easily transferred here from the central part of Russia. And the defeat of the Finnish army near Petrograd could lead the Russians back to Helsinki.
On April 21-22, 1919, Finnish troops unexpectedly crossed the Russian border in several places. There were no Soviet troops in this sector. Therefore, the Finns seized Vidlitsa, Toloksa, Olonets and Veshkelitsa without hassle. The advanced Finnish units reached Petrozavodsk. The situation was critical: the Karelian Territory could fall in just a few days. From the north in the direction of Kondopoga - Petrozavodsk the British and the Whites were advancing. However, due to the stubborn resistance of the Red Army units on the approaches to Petrozavodsk, the offensive of the Finnish army was suspended at the end of April.
On May 2, 1919, the Council of Defense of Soviet Russia declared the Petrozavodsk, Olonets and Cherepovets regions under siege. On May 4, 1919, a general mobilization of the North-Eastern region of Russia was announced. May - June 1919, battles raged east and north of Lake Ladoga. The White Finnish Olonets army was advancing on Lodeynoye Pole. The small and poorly trained Red Army men held back the onslaught of the well-trained, armed and equipped White Finns, who also had a significant numerical advantage. Part of the Finnish forces managed to force the Svir below Lodeynoye Pole. At the end of June 1919, the Red Army launched a counteroffensive. During the Vidlitsa operation (June 27 - July 8, 1919), the Finnish army was defeated and retreated beyond the border line. The Red Army received an order not to pursue the enemy abroad.
Thus, Mannerheim's plans to organize a campaign against Petrograd across the Karelian Isthmus were destroyed. Officially, the First Soviet-Finnish War ended on October 14, 1920, with the signing of the Tartu Peace Treaty between the RSFSR and Finland. Russia ceded to the Finns the Pechenga region in the Arctic, the western part of the Rybachy peninsula and most of the Sredny peninsula. However, the Finnish leadership did not abandon its plans to create a "Greater Finland", which became the main reason for three more Soviet-Finnish wars and brought Finland to the Nazi camp.
Finnish troops parade. 1919 year
