Mannerheim
Carl Gustav Emil
“One of the greatest Finns ever, a true hero to the Fatherland if there ever was one” –Tarja Halonen, current Finnish president.
Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, as he was formerly known, was born on the 4th of June, in the summer of 1867 at his family’s manor, just north of Turku. He was born into a wealthy and distinguished Finnish-Swedish family, and as a younger son of a count he inherited the title of baron. Mannerheim's early life was shadowed by the death of his mother early in his life, as well as problems in the family's financial situation due to his father’s debts that came about from extensive gambling. The young Mannerheim did not get off to a great start in terms of education, being expelled in 1886 from the Hamina Military College for bad behavior.
1) Mannerheim as a child, left 1874. 2) Mannerheim as General
Military service
For most of Mannerheim’s life, the army and military played a large part. Having been expelled from Hamina Military College in Finland, his opportunities in the Finnish armed forces (under Russian control) were bleak. Thus he pursued his military career in Russia starting in 1887, where he served for thirty years as an officer in the Russian Imperial army. He started as a Private and advanced to the rank of Lieutenant General. What’s more, Mannerheim’s aristocratic family background, financial support from his maternal relatives and his successful military training opened the way for him to the highly respected Regiment of the Royal Guard. He served all over the world with the Russians in various wars, including the Russo-Japanese war in Manchuria, China and the First World war in Poland. Mannerheim’s military career with the Russians ended in 1917, when he resigned to return to Finland which had just recently gained independence. His vast skills in commanding troops were widely recognized among Finnish soldiers and in 1918 he was elected the Commander-in-Chief of the army of the Finnish Republic. The Finnish civil war between the Communist reds and Socialist whites was a darker period in Mannerheim’s life, having to command Finnish whites to kill fellow country men…
3) Socialist and Communist troops come to a cease fire, May, 1918 4) Serving in the Russian cavalry
World War II
It seemed to be a common occurrence for Finland and Russia to be at war, with World War Two being no exception. In November 1939 the Soviet union invaded Finland, beginning the first winter war. Stalin had expected to conquer the whole country by the end of 1939, but Finnish resistance frustrated the Soviet forces which outnumbered them three to one. Mannerheim at the time was Commander-in-Chief of Finland’s small force of conscripted men, numbering only 160,000 which was hardly a match for the Soviet’s 23 divisions, numbering over 500, 000 men. Yet Mannerheim used his knowledge of Soviet tactics and doctrine, employing guerrilla tactics, fast-moving camouflaged ski troops, and capitalizing on their local knowledgeof the area.By the end of the winter the Soviets decided they had had enough.(Over 50% casaultities). Thus, in the end, Finland had held out and in March a peace treaty was signed. Finland had lost 27 000 men and ceded about 10% of it’s territory and 20% of her industrial capacity to the Soviets.
5) Peace treaty is signed in Moscow, March 1941. 6) Finnish winter troops on the move, 1939.
The events of the Winter War had increased Mannerheim’s fame abroad and thus when the Continuation War started, Mannerheim was appointed again as Commander of Chief of Finnish forces instead of a German General. During the continuation war, when Finland fought along side the Germans to recapture land that the Russians had taken over, Mannerheim sent his troops the famous Order of the Day of the Sword Scabbard on 10 July 1941 - signifying the start of the war. With in hours Finnish and German infantry had smashed the surprised Russian border guards and were driving deep into enemy territory on the whole eastern front.
From his command post Mannerheim led the Finnish forces within the framework of the resources available to a small country and used them wisely. For example, Finland had virtually no tanks, only a few outdated artillery pieces and a tiny air force as opposed to the hundreds of tanks the Soviets had.(The Finns made great use of captured Russian equipment.) .) Mannerheim made a wise choice in not pursuing the Russians past the post war borders, as it avoided reprisals on the Finns when the war turned in favor of the Soviets. He gave the order to halt and static defensive warfare set in. As the Germans started to fall back from Russia in 1944, Finland was in a sense forced to fight its fleeing allies as they retreated back through Finland. Thus the second winter war started when the Finns battled the worn out Germans retreating through Lapland. This pleased the Soviets immensely and prevented another war with the now well organized professional Soviet forces. Despite this Finland still lost territories to Russia as the Russians found evidence that Finnish forces were involved in the siegeof Leningrad.
7) Abattle of eastern Finland 8) Aportrait of Mannerheim during the war
PRESIDENT
On the 4th of August, 1944, Mannerheim was elected President of the Republic of Finland. Despite still being the Commander of the Finnish armed forces, he was elected because he was considered the only person that could steer the country to firm and long lasting peace with its neighbour. Finns looked up to him and just his presence alone in a matter could decide the outcome. Mannerheim pushed for such things being the Commander of the Finnish armed forces, he was elected because he was considered the only person that could steer the country to firm and long lasting peace with its neighbour. Finns looked up to him and just his presence alone in a matter could decide the outcome. Mannerheim pushed for such things serious matters at hand, Mannerheim wanted to eradicate poverty and bridge the social class hatred that had spawned the civil war. Although Mannerheim served as president as best as he could, he realised that he was more of a military man and that he couldn’t lead Finnish foreign policy to its potential. Mannerheim resigned from office in March 1946 after only 2 years as president. Despite the fact that he was 79 and exhausted from illness, Mannerheim still showed great concern for the fate of Finland, as he actively supported his successor, Paasikivi, on presidential matters
DEATH.
After his retirement Mannerheim was involved with the Finnish red cross. But, at his age, the post was tostrenuous for him and he moved to Switzerland. He lived there for the rest of his life in a manor that he purchased. Even at this late age he continued his old hobbies of hunting and writing and for once in his life enjoyed the quiet things. Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim died in his sleep on the 27th of January 1951, in Lausanne, Switzerland. Days of mourning followed in Finland. One of her greatest heroes who had lead her through such tough times, had finally passed away. He was buried ceremoniously in the centre of Hietaniemi military cemetery in Helsinki along side his fellow comrades who had fallen before him, for Finland.
Mannerheim’s statue in Helsinki