Heimosodat - Karelian crisis of 1918-1922

[Vaeltaja]

Karelian crisis of 1918-1922 - Heimosodat - The first Soviet-Finnish war - and so on. Plenty of names for it. It doesn’t really make it any easier to define. I don't claim to know much of the conflict than what i have written below but i think it might be worth posting it to give some insight into the more forgotten battles of the Inter-War Era.

Background for conflict lies in the collapse of the Tsarist Russia in 1917 and the following turmoil in the area. For Finland this meant independence from the Russia (granted by Bolsheviks) as well as civil war (instigated also by Bolsheviks). Finnish Civil War was a brutal affair from which long essays could be written but for this context the following is probably enough: Finnish Civil War was not fought without outside assistance to either of the sides. White Finns (government) had the support of the German Empire while the Red Finns were supported by the Soviet-Russia (Lenin). White Finns were victorious which also bound Finland tightly to the German Empire - to an extent that it has been described at the time as being a protectorate of the German Empire. On top of the nascent parliament elected to become a constitutional monarchy and chose a German prince as Finnish King-Elect (term somewhat dubious, but it carries the message). However the Red Finns did not vanish, most surrendered but some fled east to the Soviet-Russia however they mostly stuck just past the border of the former Grand Duchy of Finland. The presence of large number of revolutionaries was a strain for the (White) Finns and played its part in the events. Neither was the open Soviet-Russian aid (both men and weapons) to the Red Finns easily forgotten.

On the other side of the border situation was if possible even more chaotic due to the ongoing Russian Civil War. Situation was even more complicated by the arrival of the Allied Intervention to the war in 1918. This placed several different groups of people to Karelia. There were Red Finns ousted from Finland, Red Russians (Bolsheviks), White Russians, British as well as the Karelians themselves. All which several different agendas and goals. To add to the mix were also the Tsarist promises to the Finns that the small coastal village and port of Petsamo would be ceded to the Finns as a compensation for the military factory in Sestroretsk very close to St. Petersburg/Leningrad/Petrograd.

If we take the above and keep mind that Finland ran through five different governments during the same period, switched the governmental system once (with regency period included it could be said twice) and also changed its allegiance while at it then it should not be a wonder that it might be a tad difficult to keep on track on who was actually facing who in the Karelia of 1918-1922.

One of the first Finnish actions near the border (not usually counted as an expedition due to its different nature) was a campaign led by Kurt Wallenius in March - May 1918 under the mandate of the Finnish government. It aimed to remove the Red Finns from the vicinity of the Finnish borders by raiding the areas in the East Karelia (more precisely in Viena or White Karelia). These troops consisted of conscripts but while they performed well against the Red Finns within the borders of Finland their morale sagged after crossing the border. Some of the troops even mutinied. While the on military aspect the operation was an outright failure (pretty much all attacks failed) it was technically a success as to the regards of the actual overall goals of the operation since it scared the Red Finns away from the immediate vicinity of the border to seek the protection of the British. Total number of White Finns was around 1 200 opposed by several hundred of Red Finns.

Some of the first Finnish expeditions (like they were and are called) consisted of two roughly 100 men strong groups of civilians led by Finnish PhD Thorsten Renvall and a doctor Onni Laitinen which crossed the border in the spring of 1918 and headed for the village and port of Petsamo. Neither group had any kind of mandate from the Finland (i.e. from White Finns). However by this time Finland was firmly in the German camp and the British who uphold the intervention in the north took a rather dim view of allowing a German protectorate to take control a coastal village (Petsamo was not a town) along the Arctic Coast, when port of that village could be used for example as U-Boat base. Finnish expedition reached the village early in the May 1918 which prompted the British to deploy roughly a hundred marines from HMS Cochrane who together with 40 sailors and 40 bolsheviks aimed to drive the Finns out. Fighting lasted from 3 May to 10 May when the British led force finally drew the Finns out. Following the replacement of the defenders with 200 Serbian soldiers and the withdrawal of the small Finnish force the expedition came to an end.

So in this case we had the Finns (nominally on German side) fighting against the British, the Bolsheviks and the Serbs. Size of forces was around 150 - 200 Finns opposed by up to 200 British and Russians (both later replaced by Serbians).

Second expedition aimed to create an uprising amongst the Karelians in the White Karelia (Vienan Karjala) region. Idea came up amongst the activists in the eastern Finnish town of Kuopio who tried to get the Finnish government to involve itself to the affair. Finnish government however did not want to involved and so no persons actually serving in the Finnish Army were allowed to take part (not at least lead it). It is worth noting that Karelians who had fled to Finland earlier actively agitated for Finns to sent the expedition. Goals of the expedition varied depending on who it was inquired from even amongst Finns. Some thought it was just to create an uprising amongst Karelians, others that it was aimed to capture land for Finland all the way to ‘line of three Isthmuses’ (Baltic Sea - Ladoga - Onega - White Sea) while third view was that it was aimed to eradicating the Reds (both Finns and Russians alike). Leaders of the expedition resigned their commissions in the Finnish army and were able to lead the units which were recruited solely on voluntary basis. This combined with restrictions which didn’t allow any men in ‘conscript age’ (21-24) to join meant that most of the volunteers were 16-21 year old (restriction may not have applied to the whole of the expedition - only parts of it).

Most of the expedition held high hopes that the Karelians would join them but since the Karelian participation to the Finnish expedition remained minimal this lead to swiftly crumbling morale amongst the men. Both the British and the Russians spread information that siding with Finns would lead to German occupation of Karelia which further limited the number of people willing to join the Finns. Real problem for the Finns was that unlike the British they had nothing to give to the people. British were able to support the Karelians and also aimed to create ‘Karelia for Karelians’ movement to the area. The British also trained and armed units consisting of local troops known as ‘Karelian Regiment’ (mainly Karelians) and ‘Murmansk Legion’ (mainly Red Finns) which operated against the Finns at times under direct British leadership. Small scale warfare continued and in the end the White Finns were pushed out with last of the volunteers leaving in October 1918.

Now we get the Finns (“For Karelia”) facing the British, the Karelians and the Red Finns (“For the Freedom of Karelia”). Total strength of the Finns was around 1 500 men of whom around 120 perished. Numbers and even losses of the of Karelians & Red Finns (jointly) were pretty much equal to the Finns.

In 1918 followed an episode where the Karelians just beyond the border took action themselves. In the summer of 1918 the parish of Repola informed the Soviets of its decision to join Finland basing it on the principle of self-determination the Bolsheviks had declared earlier. Finnish regular army moved in to the area during the autumn. Neighboring parish of Porajärvi followed suit in 1919. Parishes were given back to the Soviets in the peace of Tarto of 1920.

Due to the Karelian unwillingness to take part to uprising the Finnish government forbid any further expeditions to the East Karelia unless they could be provided with clear evidence that Karelian uprising would have been taking place. While the government had not taken part to the earlier efforts it had done very little to hinder the efforts or funding of the activists either. In 1919 Finnish activists faked an incident at border village of Vieljärvi by transmitting bogus radio messages. On the following day government had received information that the reported uprising might be faked but activists used of their sympathizers still working in the army to convince that the uprising had happened. However again while the state of Finland did not take part to the expedition itself it allowed it to take place.

There groups of Finnish volunteers crossed the border on 21 April 1919 and started what has became to be known as the Olonets expedition. Finnish group essentially split into several groups, the most important ones operating towards the town of Petrozavodsk and towards the town (or village) of Olonets. Volunteers again expected to receive warm welcome from the Karelians and also assumed that Finnish regular army would intervene as well due to the Karelian uprising. Neither of the assumptions came true. Total number of Finnish volunteers (2 500 - 2 700 men) were supplemented by roughly 1 000 Karelians which fell far short from what the activists had expected. Neither did the British troops that operated just north of the Petrozavodsk against Bolsheviks intervene.

Bolsheviks made a naval landing to Vitele on the shore of lake Ladoga on 26 June beyond the front lines held by the volunteers who were near Olonets. Having lost its main supply artery and suffering heavy losses the volunteers in the south were forced to start their withdrawal back towards Finland. Other groups soon followed them. Fighting died finally down in September 1919. Around 300 - 400 Finnish and Karelian volunteers died and 600 - 800 were wounded.

In treaty of Tarto in 1920 border issues were agreed between the Finns and the Soviets. Negotiations were long and often had the tendency of following the surrounding events (like the Soviet-Polish war) as the fortunes of war waxed and waned so did the demands and willingness to compromise. Soviets agreed to acknowledge the 1812 borders of Finland and addition of Petsamo on a condition that Finns cede the parishes of Porajärvi and Repola. Treaty was agreed finally on 14 October 1920 (after having started already in the spring of 1920). Treaty was welcomed with mixed emotions, some Finns even considered it to have been a shameful treaty. Most of the Finnic people in the areas that had expressed their willingness to join Finland evacuated to Finland following the treaty.

Final event of the Heimosodat was the East Karelian Uprising of 1921-1922. There were several reasons for the uprising. Karelians who had been promised independence by the British had been sorely disappointed to the Bolshevik leadership - and to the apparent lack of autonomy - and to continuous shortages (mainly of food) they suffered. Karelians who had fled to Finland sneaked repeatedly over the border to further agitate people. Finally in October 1921 some of the Karelians had had enough and elected to leave the Soviets. They started by murdering all Bolsheviks or Bolshevik sympathizers they could get their hands on to. The roughly 2 500 Karelian forest guerillas had initially good fortunes and controlled most of the East Karelia. They however expected Finland to intervene on their behalf which Finland due to the treaty of Tarto was now unwilling to do. Finnish activists however rallied in support of the Karelians and roughly 500 Finnish volunteers took part to the fighting in Karelia in 1921-1922 despite that Finnish government had not allowed it. To the disappointment of the Karelians Finns did not supply weapons to the Karelians but limited their support only to emergency food supplies - mainly intended to the civilians. However border was still open enough for limited amount of weapons and munitions to pass over the border alongside the volunteers.

Though early on the border was leaky enough for the volunteers to cross over it but following the leftist Pork Rebellion in January 1922 the Finnish minister of interior Ritavuori clamped the border up tight forbidding food shipments from crossing. This also stopped the slow but steady flow of weapons, ammunition and supplies over the border. This was severe disappointment to the Karelians and the Finnish volunteers who had expected totally opposite reaction from the Finnish state following the leftist activity. Ritavuori himself faced severe criticism from the right wing press for his actions and in the end was murdered in February 1922 by Finnish a activist. Soviet superiority in manpower (estimated from 13 000 to 20 000 men) was overwhelming and the pressed the Karelians and the Finnish volunteers over the border. In the final stages estimated 18 000 to 30 000 Karelians chose to evacuate to Finland rather than stay in the Soviet Karelia. Agreement on peace along the borders between the Finns and the Soviets was reached in June 1922 where both sides agreed to keep people who did not live in the border area away from the immediate vicinity of the borders.

There were some other incidents related to the matter, like the leftist Pork Rebellion or the short lived Republic of North Ingria.

Opinions? Comments? Criticism?

[Juha Tompuri]

Thanks for your interesting input.

leftist Pork Rebellion

= Läskikapina?
If so, perhaps more accurate term of that Soviet (organized/armed) action/attack being Fat Rebellion or (pork) Fat Rebellion.


Regards, Juha

[Vaeltaja]

Yep.

Though what i understood it was more like series of armed robberies than anything else.