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The Finnish Revolution 1917-18 PDF

617 Pages·1981·39.736 MB·English
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The Finnish Revolution 1917-1918 THE NORDIC SERIES Volume 3 OTHER TITLES IN THE SERIES Volume 1 British Diplomacy and Swedish Politics, 1758-1773 by Michael Roberts Volume 2 Henrik Ibsen, Peer Gynt, translated by Rolf Fjelde. A thoroughly revised version of Fjelde's translation, with new appendixes. Volume 4 To the Third Empire: Ibsen's Early Drama by Brian Johnston Volume 5 Scandinavian Literature since 1870 by Sven Rossel VoI u m e 6 Viking A rt by David M. Wilson and Ole Klindt-Jensen ADVISORS TO THE NORDIC SERIES Thomas Bredsdorff Stewart Oakley University of Copenhagen University of East Anglia Sten Carlsson Juha Yrjana Pentikainen University of Uppsala University of Helsinki Rolf Fjelde George Schoolfield Pratt Institute and JulHard School Yale University M. Donald Hancock Ingrid Semmingsen Vanderbilt University University of Oslo Nils Hasselmo Birgitta Steene University of Minnesota University of Washington Einar Haugen Sigurdur Thorarinsson Harvard University University of Iceland Steven Koblik Richard F. Tomasson Pomona College University of New Mexico Robert Kvavik University of Minnesota The Finnish Revolution 1917-1918 Anthony F. Upton St. Salvator's College University of St. Andrews University of Minnesota Press • Minneapolis Copyright © 1980 by the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. Published by the University of Minnesota Press, 2037 University Avenue Southeast, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55414 Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Upton, Anthony F. The Finnish Revolution, 1917-1918, Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. Finland—History—Revolution, 1917-1918. I. Title. DK459.U67 948.97'031 80-477 ISBN 0-8166-0905-5 The University of Minnesota is an equal-opportunity educator and employer. Preface The reader may think that this is a large book and I make no apology for that. The importance and intrinsic interest of the subject matter fully justifies a comprehen- sive treatment. My reasons for embarking on the project were necessarily highly per- sonal: Any foreigner who chooses to work on Finnish history is likely to possess a special combination of incentives and qualifications that in the nature of things does not occur often. It seemed to me that, being possessed of such a combination, I had some obligation to give a non-Finnish readership access to this significant and little- known episode in modern European history. I would not claim to have exhausted the subject even now; to my knowledge further relevant materials exist that I have not had the opportunity to examine. But the book has already consumed what time could be spared from my full-time university teaching duties over a ten-year period and a line must be drawn somewhere. It is my hope that having opened the subject up, others may be stimulated to probe further into it. I have tried to be sparing in the use of Finnish words and names, but readers should know that Finnish spelling is regular and phonetic and the stress is always on the first syllable of a word. Finland is a bilingual state, with Swedish as a second of- ficial language, and many places and all official institutions have both Finnish and Swedish names. I have chosen the Finnish names throughout, except that the inter- o nationally familiar Aland Islands is used for the archipelago that lies between Finland and Sweden. Russian names and words have been transliterated according to one of the several recognized formulas. Until February 1918 two dating systems were used in Finland, the Russians following the Julian calendar, which was 13 days behind the Gregorian used by the Finns. I have followed Gregorian dating throughout so that, for instance, the October Revolution occurs on 7 November. All the translations from Finnish, Swedish, Russian, and German are my own, with the help of my wife with Finnish and Swedish. I have aimed at literal accuracy rather than literary ele- gance. A work of this kind is always, in reality, the result of a collective endeavor. It would be impossible to acknowledge mv debt to all the people who have contributed. I should like to thank the staffs of the principal archives in Helsinki, the Valtionar- kisto, the Sota-arkisto, the Tyovaen arkisto, the Kansan arkisto, and the staff of Helsinki University Library. The Library of Parliament in Helsinki was extremely helpful in lending its books for me to use in Britain. I have drawn freely on the writ- ings of the many excellent Finnish historians who work in this field. If I select by name professors J. Paasivirta, T. Polvinen, H. Soikkanen, and J. Paavolainen, it is for the additional personal help and encouragement they have given; it in no way dimin- ishes my sense of obligation to the others whose books are cited in the footnotes. Of course the views set out in this book are entirely my own, and no one else carries any responsibility for them. Special mention must be made of my wife's family in Finland, whose generosity and hospitality on many occasions made my work in Finland possible, above all my father-in-law O. Pollanen and Saara and Reino Halonen. The Court of the University of St. Andrews have assisted my work from their travel and research funds, and also granted two periods of sabbatical leave during which much of the work was done. As for my wife's contribution to this book, it is perhaps enough to say that but for her it would never have been conceived at all. Acknowledgments are due to the Valtionarkisto, the Sota-arkisto, the Tyovaen arkisto, and the Kansan arkisto, all of Helsinki, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Library of London for permission to quote from the documents in their col- lections: and to Kustannusosakeyhtio Otava for permission to quote from E. Hein- richs, Mannerheim Suomen kohtaloissa, S. Jagerskiold, Mannerheim 1918, C. G. Mannerheim, Muistelmat: to Kustannusosakeyhtio Tammi for permission to quote from M. Hako, H. Hukkanen, M. Nieminen, Aatteet jaaseet, J. Paavolainen, Poliit- tisetvakivaltaisuudet Suomessa 7975, H. Soikkanen, Kansalaissota dokumenteina: and to Werner Soderstrom OY for permission to quote from J. Paasivirta, Suomen itsenciisyyskysymys 1917, T. Polvinen, Venajan vallankumous ja Suomi, C. Enckell, Poliittiset muistelmani, J. O. Hannula, Suomen Vapaussodan historic/. Contents Chapter 1: The Background to 1917 3 Chapter 2: The Revolution Comes to Finland 26 Chapter 3: Parliament, the Parties, and the Issue of Autonomy 35 Chapter 4: The Disintegration of a Society 56 Chapter 5: The Activists and the Valtalaki 70 Chapter 6: Toward Chaos, August-November 1917 702 Chapter 7: The General Strike 138 ChapterS: Independence 180 Chapter 9: The End of Parliamentary Politics 203 Chapter 10: The Coming of Civil War 237 Chapter 11: Finland Divides 275 Chapter 12: White Finland 306 Chapter 13: Red Finland 352 Chapter 14: The Civil War I 396 Chapter 15: The Civil War 11 445 Chapter 16: The Civil War III 473 Chapter 17: The Reckoning 576 References 549 Bibliography 579 Index 587 Maps Finland in 1917 539 Southern Pohjanmaa 540 The Satakunta Sector 547 The Tampere Sector 542 The Savo Sector 543 The German Operations 544 The Karelian Isthmus 545 This page intentionally left blank The Finnish Revolution 1917-1918

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