Red Guards (Finland)

Red Guards Finnish: Punakaarti Swedish: Röda gardet
Participant in the Russian Revolution of 1905 and Finnish Civil War
Red officers during Finnish Civil War
Active	1905–1907 1917–1920
Ideology	Socialism, Communism, Left-wing nationalism
Leaders	Ali Aaltonen Eero Haapalainen Eino Rahja Kullervo Manner Otto Wille Kuusinen
Allies	Russian Red Guards Russian SFSR
Opponents	Russian Empire Grand Duchy of Finland Finland White Guard Germany
Battles and wars	Russian Revolution of 1905, Finnish Civil War, Heimosodat

The Red Guards (Finnish: Punakaarti Swedish: Röda gardet) formed the army of Red Finland during the Finnish Civil War in 1918. The combined strength of the Red Guard was about 30,000 at the beginning of the Civil War, and peaked at 90,000-120,000 during the course of the conflict.

The leadership of the Red Guards altered during the war: Ali Aaltonen, Eero Haapalainen, Eino Rahja and in the end Kullervo Manner. The government of Red Finland was the Finnish People's Delegation. The Red Guards were in power from 28 January to the end of April 1918 in southern Finland. The Red Guards' general staff was located in Helsinki; the other major cities controlled by the Red forces were Tampere, Turku, Pori and Viipuri. Red Tampere came to its end on 6 April 1918 after bloody battles when the White Guards commanded by Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim conquered the city.

Thousands of Red Guards were imprisoned, hundreds of them were executed, and the rest were transported to POW camps. Helsinki was in White control by April 12, 1918. Some joined the Red Army and fought against nationalist Finns in the heimosodat. In fact, during the 1920s, the Soviet International Red Officer School had more Finnish students than the Finnish Reserve Officer School. The highest rank was obtained by Eino Rahja, who was a commander of an army corps (komkor).

During the general strike of 1905 "National Guards" were formed in Finland. These Guards included both socialists and non-socialists, but eventually they were divided into opposing militias. In that year, however, bloodshed was still avoided.

The last surviving Red Guard, Aarne Arvonen, became Finland's oldest man ever before his death in January 2009.

Gallery

• Tampere Pispala red guards memorial.jpg

  Red Guards memorial in Pispala, Tampere

• Jalmari Parikka.JPG

  Finnish red guard leader and actor fi

Strength

End of 1917	20,000 men estimate
When the civil war started	30,000 men
Middle of conflict, (Peak)	90,000+ men
In 1920	Thousands, though all in Russia, mostly in Karelia and Ingria, see heimosodat

See also

• Finnish Civil War: Red and White Terror
• Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic
• White Guards (Finland)