The Finnish Revolution 1917-18

617 Pages·1981·39.736 MB·English

by  Anthony F. Upton

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
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The Finnish Revolution 1917-1918