Anyone who has spent even the shortest periods in Helsinki or in many parts of Finland already knows the name Mannerheim. According to the Marshal, there are at least dozens of designated streets, squares and public spaces, not least the 5.5 km boulevard in the center of Helsinki, which has served as the capital’s main thoroughfare since its foundation in 1942.
You will also find his statue parked outside the Kiasma Art Gallery in Helsinki, where a striking young Mannerheim figure sitting at the start of a fight sits on top of a horse. Identical statues can also be found in Turku, Tampere, Lahti, Seinäjoki and Mikkeli. His legacy also extends far beyond the borders of Finland: among the many places abroad bearing the Mannerheim name is a park in Switzerland and a reservoir in Arizona.
Both at home and abroad, Mannerheim is known as the founder of independent Finland – a man who led Finnish troops through the brutal Winter War and the Continuation War and served as the only soldier ever to hold the Finnish Presidency, helping with the transition from war to peace in 1944–1946. His personal life and background have also been documented in great detail, while his military career before World War II has become the subject of ever closer scrutiny as new generations reevaluate his complex legacy.
Born in 1867 into a family of Swedish aristocrats, Mannerheim seemed destined to live a life typical of his rare cohort. Finland was then the Grand Duchy of Finland, an autonomous region of the Russian Empire that had previously been under Swedish rule. The Mannerheimites were a noble clan whose blue-blooded lineage dates back to at least the 17th century and extended to the aristocratic mansion of Sweden, Germany, and Finland.
Just like his mother and father, Mannerheim’s mother tongue was Swedish, as was practically the case in the upper shell of Finland at the time, despite the fact that Finland had been under Russian rule since the turn of the 19th century.th century. One thing that few know to this day is that Mannerheim never learned the Finnish language. Despite fluent Swedish, German, French and Russian, he did not even start learning Finnish until after the war, when he was in his fifties. Even then, he wanted to speak Swedish both privately and publicly for the rest of his life.
Just like many other high-heeled men of his generation, Mannerheim spent much of his youth cutting his teeth at Hamina Cadet School, then high school. de choix to Finnish aristocrats preparing for life in the officer class of the Russian Imperial Army. He then continued to serve the Russian Empire for more than three decades, separating himself during the Russian-Japanese War of 1904-05, on expeditions to Central Asia, and in World War I. In his memoirs, Mannerheim looked back at his time in Russia’s service, writing that he had “broader perspectives than I could ever do in Finland.”
Next had to be one of the most bitterly disputed parts of his legacy, which further divides opinions. When the Finnish Civil War began to gain momentum, Mannerheim took over the Finnish whites, whose task was to defeat the “red” Finnish Bolsheviks and expel the remaining Russian troops from Finnish territory. Assisted by the German army, Mannerheim succeeded.
The Civil War stands out for its exceptional cruelty and terror on both sides, and few commanders emerged from the conflict. As commander of the whites, Mannerheim directed mass events and terrorist campaigns, which are still considered the lowest places in Finnish history, especially the brutal retaliation and killing of red soldiers and civilians in the aftermath of the 1918 battle of Tampere. It is this case that is arguably the most mentioned of his critics today, from time to time Twitter storm or campus Ruckus.
Immediately after the end of the conflict, Mannerheim retired midway, declaring that he expected a peaceful life in public. Fate had other plans that were typical of much of Mannerheim’s life. He was re-elected to public life in the 1930s as chairman of the Finnish Defense Council, whose task was to prepare Finland for the war with the Soviet Union (the concrete remains of the Mannerheim Line are still a popular tourist destination today).
To everyone’s surprise, the Soviet Union invaded Finland at the end of 1939, which got Mannerheim as the commander-in-chief of a Finnish army. Although this first conflict ended in the defeat of Finland and the cruel conditions of surrender imposed by the Soviet Union, Mannerheim’s leadership was observed internationally because he was able to secure great profits despite being significantly overworked and overworked.
After a few months of uneasy peace, Finland began to invade the Soviet Union with Nazi Germany, starting a continuation war. Once again, Mannerheim was unable to take Finland to success, but his ability to massively damage Soviet military capabilities and strongly oppose Soviet counterattacks probably helped prevent Finland from sinking behind the Iron Curtain after the war. Appointed President of the Republic of Finland at the end of 1941 (the only soldier who even served in this capacity), Mannerheim was then entrusted with the mammoth task of negotiating a peace treaty with the winning councils.
To the surprise of many international observers, this succeeded. Although Finland was required to pay crushing war reparations and had to fight much of Karelia permanently, the country had managed to avoid the Soviet satellite, unlike many neighboring countries. Shortly after the peace talks ended, Mannerheim retired, citing his state of health. He then moved to a sanatorium in Switzerland to write his memoir, in which he spent the rest of his life before his death in 1951.
Today, Mannerheim is remembered in many different ways. For some he was a skilled tactician who made the land necessary, while for others he was an unscrupulous pragmatist with little moral doubt about doing the job. Either way, the legacy of titan in this history is still felt to this day.
Adam Oliver Smith – HT
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Source: The Nordic Page