Made quite a few additions to the previous post and ran out of editing window so it's reposted.......
II – The Suojeluskunta in the 1920’s
At the same time, the end of the Civil War had brought the Suojeluskunta a challenge. The existing Suojeluskunta organizations had been originally organized as voluntary units for maintaining local security in the chaos of the collapse of the Tsarist Russian Empire, a situation which was no longer valid. With the ending of the Civil War and the White victory, Finland was now truly independent, but with the Soviet Union across the border, with Red Finns organizing and training in Soviet Karelia, and with a dissident working class, many of whom had actively fought for the Reds in the Civil War, Finland needed to safeguard itself against both interior and exterior enemies. The Finnish Army was still very small as we have seen, and as a “Cadre” Army could not have coped with any foreign attack on its own. Having an internal paramilitary organization which would guarantee the safeguarding of Finland against external and interior enemies was seen as important – in the event of external conflict, this organisation would provide trained reinforcements to the Army, and in the event of internal conflict, the organisation could be counted on to be politically reliable and support the Government in putting down any renewal of armed internal opposition.
The Suojeluskunta was seen as the organisation which would enable these security objectives to be met, but to do this the organisation needed to be redesigned and uniformly rebuilt nation wide. Redesigning and restructuring the new organization raised a number of critical questions, debate over which continued well into the 1920s. The more important of these questions included:
- Should Suojeluskunta membership be voluntary or obligatory?
- What should be the main missions of the Suojeluskunta?
- What relationship should the Suojeluskunta have to the Finnish Army, the Finnish political system, and local authorities?
On the 4th of July of 1918, representatives of 171 local Suojeluskuntas gathered in the town of Jyväskylä. The decisions and resolutions made in Jyväskylä had a profound impact on the future of the Suojeluskuntas and greatly influenced the first piece of legislation on the Suojeluskunta, which was a statute legislated by the Finnish Senate on 2 August 1918. The statute was short in text and rather vague on some matters, but it cleared up things considerably and put in place the legislative groundwork needed for creating the new organization. At the same time it recognized the status of the Suojeluskuntas on the part of the State. Matters covered in the legislation included:
- The Suojeluskunta was defined as a State-wide voluntary organization with local and district levels. Each local area would have a local Suojeluskunta;
- The country would be divided to Suojeluskunta districts, all of which would include several localities. Basic organizational structure was defined, with Local and District HQ’s and Chiefs, as well as how these should be created;
- The Suojeluskunta organization would not be part of the Army, but would be a separate entity having its own Commander-in-Chief;
- Membership eligibility requirements were set as being “trustworthy males of at least 17 years of age”. The process of selecting members was that they must be volunteers with a recommendation. Members could be active or passive;
- The Suojeluskunta oath was introduced for all Suojeluskunta;
- The Suojeluskunta were given rights to accept donations and to own property.
The Organizational and Command Structure of the Suojeluskunta
The statute also set out the organizational and command structure for the Suojeluskunta (usually abbreviated to Sk). Initially, there was no overall HQ, and in military matters the Suojeluskuntas were directly subordinate to the Defense Ministry. The statute made the leader of the Senate's Committee of Military Matters, Major-General Wilhelm Thesleff the first Commander-in-Chief of the Suojeluskuntas and gave the Suojeluskuntas their own representative in the Defense Ministry.
Major-General Wilhelm Thesleff (July 27, 1880 in Vyborg - March 26, 1941 in Helsinki): as the first Minister of Defence of Finland and briefly the Commander in Chief of the Finnish army, Thesleff was the first Commander-in-Chief of the Suojeluskuntas. Thesleff began his military career in 1894 at the Hamina Cadet School from which he graduated in 1901. He continued his military studies in St Petersburg at the Nikolai General Staff Academy over the years 1904-1907 and the the Officers Cavalry School from 1910-1911. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, 12 June 1912. Thesleff fought in the first world war in the Russian army (1914-1917), until he was captured by the German's in Riga in September 1917. In October 1917 he was transferred due to a request from the Military Committee to serve as a liaison officer between the Finnish Jäger battalion fighting under German command and the Germans.
He deposed the unpopular Colonel Nikolai Mexmontan. He was the commander of the Finnish Jäger Battalion 27 from 6 November 1917 until 25 February 1918. In March 1918 he was appointed as a liaison officer with the German Baltic Division during the Finnish Civil War. After the Finnish Civil War Thesleff became the War Minister (from 27 May 1918 - 27 November 1918) in the first cabinet of Juho Kusti Paasikivi. He was promoted to the rank of Major General on 14 June 1918. After the resignation of Major General Wilkma, as War Minister, Thesleff became Commander in Chief of the Finnish military forces from 13 August 1918. The first Paasikivi Cabinet had leant towards Imperial Germany but after Germany was defeated in the First World War the cabinet resigned. This also meant the end of Thesleff's political career.
However, in 1919, the Suojeluskunta became an independent organization within the Finnish defense structure, with its own independent HQ (initially named the "Suojeluskunta Toimisto" but in April 1919 renamed "Suojeluskuntain Yliesikunta," commonly abbreviated to Sk.Y). Initially the HQ had only two sections, Military and Financial. Georg D. von Essen was elected as the first leader of the Suojeluskunta HQ and later (in 1919) to the position of Commander-in-Chief of the now independent Sk organization (a position he held until 1921, when General Kaarlo Malmberg took over).
Georg D. von Essen: Commander-in-Chief of the Sk organization:
From 1921 to the end of WW2, General Kaarlo Malmberg held the position of Commander-in-Chief of the now independent Sk organization.
The Suojeluskunta Flag
The Command Structure of the Suojeluskunta:
• Suojeluskuntain Yliesikunta (Sk.Y = Sk General Headquarters): The high command of the Suojeluskunta, headed by the Commander-in-Chief of the Suojeluskunta. When the Sk.Y was first established in 1919 it had two departments, in less than a year the number had increased to seven.
• Suojeluskunta Piiri (Suojeluskunta Districts): Each District controlled a number of Local Suojeluskunta Areas (usually two to three). Each district had a small District HQ lead by the District Chief (Piiripäällikkö). Most of the time Sk District HQs had 4 members and 2 alternate members.
• Suojeluskunta Alue (Suojeluskunta Areas): Each Area contained one or more local Suojeluskunta Units and had a small Sk Area HQ.
• Local Suojeluskunta: The Suojeluskunta Unit for one municipality or town.
At the Local Unit Level, officers were generally ranked as follows, but ranks would vary with the size and structure of the actual Unit:
• Paikallispäällikkö = Local Chief
• Koulutuksen Valvoja (Kapteeni) = Training Supervisor (Captain)
• Osastonjohtaja (Ylikersantti) = Detachment Leader (Staff Sergeant)
• Osaston varajohtaja (Kersantti) = Deputy Detachment Leader (Sergeant)
• Poik.urheilujohtaja = Boy Sport Leader
• Joukkueenjohtaja = Platoon Leader
• Ryhmänjohtaja = Squad Leader
• Ryhmän varajohtaja = Deputy Squad Leader
In most cases, the district chiefs and most officers in the district headquarters were from the Regular Army. By 1920 about 93 % of Finnish municipalities and towns had local Suojeluskunta Units. Initially, members were required to buy their own equipment and rifle, with local chapters helping their members, if the chapters had funds for it. In the early 1930’s, as the financial situation improved and more money was made available for Defence spending, the Defence Department took over responsibility for the purchase of weapons for Suojeluskunta Units.
Local Units were generally identified by Arm Sleeve bands unique to each unit as per the examples below:
Arm sleeve from the 1920's from the local Suojeluskunta unit of the town of Forssan
Arm sleeve from the 1920's from the local Suojeluskunta unit of the town of Turun
Suojeluskunta Districts
Each area of Finland was broken down into Suojeluskunta Districts. This section provides maps showing the location of the various districts and how these changed over time.
Suojeluskunta District Map 1918-1926
Civil Guard District Map 1930
Selection of Suojeluskunta officials:
The Finnish President selected and appointed the Commander-in-Chief of the Sk organization, but the Commander-in-Chief also had to be approved by Sk organization delegates before selection. Meetings of delegates consisted to 2 elected delegates from each Sk District and a Meeting could be called by the Suojeluskunta Chief-of-Staff or by five Sk Districts by written request.
The Suojeluskunta Commander-in-Chief appointed the Chief of each Sk District but before the District Chief was appointed, he also needed to be approved by the Sk District HQ of the Sk District he was about to lead. District HQ members were selected for a two year period and were elected by Representatives of Local Area Suojeluskuntas within each Sk District in annual meetings held in February. In these annual Sk District meetings each Local Area Sk within the Sk District had 1 - 3 representatives depending on the size of the local Suojeluskunta. Additional Sk District meetings could be called by the District Chief and by the Sk District HQ.
Each Local Area Suojeluskunta HQ was lead by the Local Chief (Paikallispäällikkö), who headed the local Suojeluskunta HQ, which had 4 members and 2 alternate members. Members of these Local Area HQs were elected for a period of one year in general annual meeting held in January.
Selection of Sk. Members:
Sk members were divided to two categories: Actual members and Supportive members. Supportive members paid the membership fee, but didn't have the right to vote in Suojeluskunta elections, had no right to wear Sk uniforms and had no responsibility for attending Suojeluskunta training.
The information below concerns only Actual members:
The conduct demanded from those willing to become Suojeluskunta members was quite clear: They had to be trustworthy Finnish males of at least 17 years of age (those willing to join but who were under 21 needed permission from their legal guardian). To be more precise, in this case being trustworthy meant not having a criminal past or the “wrong” kind of political ideals. Ex Red Guard members from the Civil War never had any chance of joining and neither did Communists (who were basically seen as the enemy). As a rule Social Democrats (the moderate left) were also unwanted until the previously mentioned reconciliation between the Social Democratic Party and the Suojeluskunta organization in 1930. The existing members (especially the Chief of the Local Suojeluskunta) decided who was considered trustworthy and who was not. If members of the Local Sk organisation weren’t familiar with the applicant, then written recommendations from two trustworthy persons were needed.
As mentioned in an earlier post, in 1930, in one of the more dramatic moments in Finland’s history, Marshal Mannerheim, working closely with Vaino Tanner, engineered a reconciliation between the Suojeluskunta organisation and the leading Finnish leftist political party, the Social Democratic Party (SDP). Together, in newspaper articles and in a number of joint speeches across Finland, they emphasized the need for a spirit of national unity and the dangers of the rising move towards totalitarianism in Europe. This affected opinions within both organizations and started a swing within the SDP towards a more positive opinion of Finland’s defense organisations and the need to increase military spending. Prior to this rapproachment, Sk members had not been welcome within the SDP, but after the “Reconciliation,” opinions on both sides had started to change.
Within the Suojeluskunta, the leadership encouraged members to take the first step in removing hostility between the SDP and the Sk-organization. A formal event welcoming both Social Democrats into the Suojeluskunta, and Sk-members into the SDP was held on the 15th of March 1930. The symbolic significance was large, but the actual results for members of both organizations were not immediately so. The symbolic significance was large, but the actual results for members of both organizations were not immediately large. By the 10th of April 1933, only about 1,000 Social Democrats had joined Sk organization. However, with Marshal Mannerheim, Vaino Tanner and other SDP politicians and party leaders working together to emphasis the need for Finland’s defences to be strengthened, and new financial incentives for Sk. training included within the State Budget from 1933 on, membership of the Sk began to grow significantly from 1934 on. Suojeluskunta leaders and some (but by no means all) SDP leaders worked together to emphasis the need for Finland’s defences to be strengthened, and continually emphasized that the Suojeluskunta was a “Finnish” organisation, and not a “political” organisation. With SDP membership no longer being a bar to Suojeluskunta membership, and with the changes in military training that began to take place from 1931 on, membership of the Suojeluskunta began to grow significantly from 1931. An added encouragement was provided by the new financial incentives for Suojeluskunta training included within the State Budget from 1931 on, as well as the support offered by both state-owned and private businesses for Suojeluskunta membership. While there was still Union opposition, it became ever more muted over time as more and more Union members joined.
The growth in numbers of “Active” Suojeluskunta members from 1930 – 1939 was indicative of the success of the “Reconciliation”:
1931: 88,700
1932: 89,700
1933: 101,200
1934: 109,500
1935: 126,700
1936: 152,500
1937: 161,900
1938: 201,000
1939: 276,300
The large surge in membership in 1936 coincided with the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War whilst the additional large membership surge in 1938 concided with the Munich Crisis and the now obviously looming threat of another European War. These were the active members capable of military service in the event of war. In addition, there were the “Veteran” members, those who were classified as too old for active military service or who worked in a wartime-critical job and who were refused permission to leave their jobs but who kept up their training and who were grouped into “Home Guard” units. There were some 55,000 men in this category, grouped into Battalion-strength units and organised under the Home Guard Command structure.
OTL/ATL Note: In reality, the reconciliation didn’t occur until 1940, after the Winter War, and while Sk. Membership in 1930 was the 88,700 given, in 1939 Sk. membership was 119,500 rather than the 276,300 given. This is significant as the Sk. Membership were the core of the Reservist Army, providing the bulk of the Reserve Officers and NCO’s as well as a substantial number of trained soldiers who carried out active training throughout the year. In this ATL scenario, the number of such soldiers has effectively more than doubled, and as we will see when we come to the changes in military training that took place through the 1930’s, there are further changes that result in a much larger number of non-Sk Reservists receiving annual “refresher” training. The end result, as we will see, is a larger, highly-trained and well-equipped Reserve Force available at the start of the Winter War.
After 1920, Suojeluskunta members who were at least 20 years old had one vote in the elections of his Local Suojeluskunta and until the statute of January 1934 could also be selected for a responsible position in his Suojeluskunta. After the Statute of January 1934, Suojeluskunta members got one vote in the Suojeluskunta elections after belonging to the Suojeluskunta for one year. As kind of a "old member bonus", they could also get another vote. This "old member bonus" vote was available to those who had belonged to Sk for 15 years, or were over 40 years of age and had belonged to the Sk for at least 10 years. The statute also required those selected for responsible positions to be at least 21 years of age.
Those wanting to join, but younger then 17 could join Boy Units (Poikayksikkö). In the 1920’s, these Suojeluskunta Boy Units didn't give military or weapons training, but instead concentrated on sports. The First Boy Units had been the so called "Squirrel Companies" organized soon after the Civil War for 13 - 16 year old boys wanting to join the Suojeluskunta . In that first try sports alone proved too little to maintain interest, but later in the 1920s interest reappeared and this time it proved more long lasting with a resurgent Suojeluskunta Boy Units ecoming active from 1928. Boy Units also worked to aid recruiting of new members to Sk. Once members of Suojeluskunta Boy Units reached the age of 17, they were transferred from Boy Units to the ordinary Suojeluskunta units. Sports and other activities of the Boy Units attracted many boys to join and about 70 % of them moved on to join the regular Suojeluskunta after reaching the required age. In 1939, the Boy Units had a membership of approximately 200,000, a substansive percentage of Finland’s teenage males under the age of 17.
Suojeluskunta Boy Unit Member
The Suojeluskunta Oath
The Suojeluskunta Oath for active Sk-members before the Suojeluskunta Law of 1927:
“Minä N.N lupaan ja vakuutan kaiken sen kautta, mikä minulle on pyhää ja kallista, että tulen rehellisesti toimimaan Suojeluskuntien tarkoitusperien, Suomen puolustuksen ja laillisen yhteiskuntajärjestyksen turvaamisen edistämiseksi sekä ehdottomasti alistumaan esimiesteni määräyksiin sekä etten vastoin esikunnan suostumusta eroa Suojeluskunnasta, ennenkuin kuukausi on kulunut siitä, kun olen esikunnalle ilmoittanut haluavani Suojeluskunnasta erota.”
“I (first-name surname) will promise and declare by all that is holy and dear to me, that I will sincerely act to promote the goals of the Suojeluskunta, Finnish Defence and the securing of the legal social order and that I will absolutely submit to the orders of my superiors and that I will not resign from the Suojeluskunta without the permission of HQ, or until one month has passed from me informing HQ about my wish to resign.”
The Suojeluskunta-Oath for active Sk-members after the Suojeluskunta Law of 1927:
“Minä N.N lupaan ja vakuutan kaiken sen kautta, mikä minulle on pyhää ja kallista, että Suojeluskunnan varsinaisena jäsenenä rauhan ja sodan aikana rehellisesti toimin isänmaan ja laillisen yhteiskuntajärjestyksen puolustukseksi, alistun sotilaalliseen järjestykseen ja kuriin sekä täytän minulle kuuluvat velvollisuudet ja annetut tehtävät”.
“I (first name surname) promise and declare by all that is holy and dear to me, that during peace and war as an active member of the Suojeluskunta I will act sincerely for the defence of the fatherland and the legal social order, I will submit to regimentation and military dicipline and will fulfill the duties and tasks assigned to me.”
Main functions of the Suojeluskunta during peace:
The primary functions of the Suojeluskunta were defined as “Giving military training to its members” and “Assisting Finnish Armed Forces when needed.” In the 1920s local Suojeluskuntas in the border areas were also often used to assist with border patrol and protection duties as there were far too few Frontier Guard units to adequately patrol Finland’s lengthy borders with the Soviet Union.
Additional functions of the Suojeluskunta were defined as:
Supporting athletics and sports
Assisting authorities when asked (Police Officials & the Government in general)
Propaganda (Publicity)
Suojeluskuntas were very active in supporting athletics and sports,
Assisting authorities in a wide variety of situations where organized and armed troops might be included: This included missions like searching large areas, guard duty and assisting in the apprehension of dangerous criminals. The Finnish Prohibition from 1919 - 1932 resulted in many requests to provide assistance to the authorities as searching for illegal stills hidden in forests demanded a lot of manpower. Some Suojeluskuntas were enthusiastic about destroying illegal stills even without the authorities asking them, while other units were less inclined to provide assistance.
Propaganda: Publicity created by Sk organizations was typically quite subtle. Instead of derogatory and chauvinist speeches, Sk publicity favored organizing popular events using sports, choirs and orchestras as attractions and included some patriotic parts (music, poems etc.) in the programme. Suojeluskuntas also had their own their magazine: "Suojeluskuntalaisten Lehti" ("Magazine of Sk-Members") published by "Kustannusosakeyhtiö Suunta" ("Publishing-Ltd Suunta"), which was replaced with the Sk-organization published "Hakkapeliitta" in 1925. From 1926 on, “Hakkapeliitta” was a weekly color magazine with tens of thousands of subscribers. However, it wasn't the only such publication. "Suomen Sotilas" ("Finnish Soldier") was also a popular magazine and many Sk-Districts had their own magazines. The fact that the large majority of opinion leaders in Finland in the 1920s and 1930s such as teachers and priests, had a positive attitude towards the Sk-organization didn't do any harm either.
Aikakauslehti Hakkapeliitta 49/1929, kansikuva. Kannen tekijä tuntematon
As we will see, from the early 1930’s on, the Sk-organisation worked increasingly closely with the military to produce short Films and “News” clips promoting the military and the Suojeluskuntas (from the mid-1930’s on, these were generally shown in Cinemas before the main feature and were rather well-done) as well as Training Movies and Training Pamphlets and advertising campaigns promoting various aspects of the military and the Suojeluskuntas. An excellent example of this was the campaign supporting the Government’s initiative in introducing School Dental Nurses which simultaneously extolled the role of the Army in bringing the need to the attention of the Government. Another such campaign was that supporting the introduction of “School Meals”, again both supporting the Government initiative, again extolling the role of the Army in bringing the need to the attention of the Government and praising the Lotta Svard organisation for their voluntary work in implementing and running the program for the benefit of all Finnish children. Such campaigns served to more and more create a favorable impression of the Suojeluskunta and Lotta Svard organizations across the entire poltical spectrum.
Suojeluskunta Finances:
The Sk organization and its units were financed from four main sources:
• Voluntary funding: These included donations, membership fees and money collected by Suojeluskunta and Lotta Svärd organizations as entrance fees to functions they had organized and so on. This was the largest source of funding for local Suojeluskuntas.
• Funding from the State Budget: This started when the Finnish State decided to pay the wages of some hired personnel of the Suojeluskunta organization. The sums increased as the Sk organization grew larger, but the Suojeluskunta always remained an inexpensive tool for helping to maintain the defense capability of the Finnish State. State Funding for the Sk at all times remained less than 2% of the yearly State Budget and less then 12% of overall defense spending.
• Funding from Municipalities, Towns and Cities: These typically financed local Suojeluskunta units (as long as left wing parties didn't have a majority on the local council). From 1930 on, almost all local Suojeluskunta units received Municipal / Town funding.
• Business profits from firms owned by Suojeluskunta: Three parts of the Suojeluskunta-organisation were organized as independent companies from early 1927 and also did business outside the Suojeluskunta-organization, functioning for all intents and purposes as commercial entities (which in fact they were). These organizations were:
o Suojeluskuntain Ase ja Konepaja Oy (SAKO = Weapons and Machine Factory of Suojeluskunta).
o Suojeluskuntain Kauppa Oy (SKOHA = Shop of Suojeluskunta).
o Suojeluskuntain Kustannus Oy (= Publishing House of Suojeluskunta).
For fundraising, the chapters organised numerous informal events and lotteries. It is estimated that about one fifth of all get-togethers in Finland in the 1920’s were organised by the Suojeluskunta and as many again by the Lotta Svärd – and by the end of the 1930’s, the figure was probably twice this, meaning the Suojeluskuntas / Lotta Svärd organizations were a key component within Finland’s social fabric. To this end, the Suojeluskunta chapters had several hundred choirs, orchestras, and theatre groups as well as numerous buildings that served a dual function as Armouries, Drill Halls and Social Venues (indeed, if you were a Suojeluskunta member, as often as not your wedding reception took place in a Suojeluskunta Hall).
Suojelusjunta Choir
Suojelusjunta Band
With the ongoing reorganization and restructuring of the Finnish Armed Forces from 1931 on, the Suojeluskunta-organisation came to play an important role in various aspects of defence and was allocated either increased funding or direct support from the military as the organisation came to assume these roles. In addition, the Defence Ministry in some cases contracted direct to the Suojeluskunta businesses – for example, purchasing weapons from SAKO and contracting out the making of training films and pamphlets to Suojeluskuntain Kustannus Oy (something we will look at in more detail in a later Post). These activities all resulted in increased indirect funding for the Sk. Overall, the financial costs of the Suojeluskunta were minimal when compared to the contribution the organisation made to Finland’s Defence. All the training carried out by Suojeluskunta members was voluntary, most local units built their own Unit Halls with voluntary labour and donated materials and into the 1930’s, members and local units paid the costs of weapons and ammunition.
A typical Suojeluskunta Local Unit Hall
III – Suojeluskunta Training in the 1920’s
Training in the Suojeluskuntas did not start well. After the Civil War, the Armed Forces picked the best trained and most competent Officers and NCO’s. Meanwhile the Sk organizations had trouble hiring capable Officers and NCOs. The low quality and inexperience of the Sk Officials responsible for training manifested itself in low quality training throughout the whole Sk. organization. In December 1918 the leadership of the Suojeluskunta decided that the Sk. organization as a whole needed its own Officer School. The Officer School ("Päällystökoulu" aka "Sk.Pk") was established in 1919 in the town of Hämeenlinna and the first course for Sk Officers was held in there in October 1919. A few Sk Districts also organized their own courses for Sk Officers, and from 1921 some Sk Officers also started being trained at the Kadettikoulu (the Officer Cadet School of the Armed Forces), although the number of Sk officers trained through the Kadettikoulu proved minuscule compared to those trained by the Sk Officer Schools (some 1,100 Officer-trainees over the first three years).
Hämeenlinna Päällystökoulu (Officers School)
Over the course of the 1920’s, several new buildings were added to the School and the training given progressively improved and diversified. One of the key factors in improving the situation through the 1920s was that starting from 1921, professional soldiers (primarily Officers from the Finnish Army) replaced the highly-motivated but less professionally-skilled nationalists and independence activists who made up the initial training cadre. Generally speaking, those Conscripts who were selected for Reserve Office Training received basic junior-level Officer Training while completing their conscript service. A very very small number of these Reserve Officers then went on to enter the Cadre Army as full-time Officers, where they went through the Kadettikoulu (the Officer Cadet School of the Armed Forces) training (touched on in an earlier post). Of the remaining Reserve Officers, many went on to join the Suojeluskunta – from 1931 on this was an expectation that was almost always fulfilled – and it was within the structure of the Suojeluskunta training program that these Reserve Officers received the bulk of their more advanced Officer Training. Junior Officer Training at this time (the 1930’s) was very tough and very professional, with the curriculum content constantly being updated and revised based on experience from exercises and from Officers attached to foreign armed forces from 1931 on (a program initiated by Marshal Mannerheim).
Officer Candidates from the Suojeluskunta Officers School participating in a Field Exercise in June 1934.
And while the training through the last half of the 1920’s had been good, in the last half of the 1930’s it was excellent, (we will examine the training content for both the Suojeluskunta Officers and NCO’s and the Cadre Army Officers and NCO’s in detail in a later post). Suffice it to say at this stage that during the 1930s, some 319 Suojeluskunta Officers courses were held there with almost 15,000 participants. The average course length at the Sk Officer School was initially 8 months with about 800 hours of training but by 1935, this had reduced in length to 6 months but with approximately 1400 hours of training. From 1934 on, more specialized courses were also introduced, where advanced and specialized training was offered to selected Suojeluskunta Officers. It could well be said that the Suojeluskunta Officers School, graduates of whom filled almost all Junior and many Senior Officers positions in the Finnish Army of the 1939-1940 Winter War, trained the officer core for the Finnish Army in the Winter War. The high quality of training given to Suojeluskunta officers (and to NCO’s) in the 1930’s permeated outwards into the training given at all levels of the Suojeluskunta, immensely improving the quality of training through the whole organization.
The Content of Sk Officer Training in the 1920’s:
The educational standard required of Sk Officers was confirmed in May of 1921. The level of education and basic training required for Sk Offices was set as being at least 5 years of secondary school or equivalent schooling, together with Sk Officer courses and passing the Sk Officers Exam. And having met these requirements didn't necessarily guarantee promotion. In 1923 the courses and studies for Sk-Officers were also standardized. The Course of Study included much theoretical and doctrinal knowledge, so reading and studying the listed books from the curriculum was an important part of preparation. The subjects studied by Sk Officers included:
• Military Forces doctrine
• Suojeluskunta doctrine
• Weapons doctrine
• Terrain doctrine
• Fortification doctrine
• Tactics
• Company tactics
• Machinegun tactics
• Artillery tactics
• Horse management
Subsequent to the Military Review of 1931 ordered by Mannerheim, a number of other subjects were progressively added to the curriculum over the course of the 1930’s. These included (among other subjects):
• Armour doctrine
• Close Air Support doctrine
• Anti-Aircraft doctrine
• Anti-Tank doctrine
• Inter-arms coordination
If mobilization had taken place in the 1920s, Sk Officers would have been ordered to fill the ranks within the Army for which they had received training when they had carried out their Conscript Service in the military. This was a clear organizational weakness and would have been a waste of resources – this was recognized in the Military Review of 1931 ordered by Mannerheim and was addressed in the subsequent military reforms of the early to mid 1930’s, as we will see.
In 1933, as one of the many reforms of the military being undertaken, the Suojeluskunta created a separate Sk NCO School. Prior to 1930, Sk NCO’s had generally received Junior NCO training during their Conscript Service and on joining the Sk, were generally assessed and appointed to NCO positions after having been a member for some time and having proved their worth within the organisation. The Sk NCO School was created to provide Sk NCO’s with both Senior NCO training (for Sergeants, CSM’s, Warrant Officers) and to provide NCO’s with the training to allow them to fill positions that would in the past have been held by Junior Officers. The objective was to ensure NCO’s were capable of stepping up in the event that Unit Officers were killed or incapacitated during combat.
Sk Member Training Requirements in the 1920’s:
Starting from 1921, active Sk members were required to participate in at least 12 days (about 100 hours) of training per year. The training would usually last one to several days at time and was organized as garrison/camp type training sessions. In theory the emphasis was on shooting and battle training. In reality however, early Sk training included lot of close order drill, while battle training was less common and shooting was a rare treat. It also proved to be a problem for the Suojeluskuntas to achieve the 12 days/year training levels for their active members. Only the very best of the Suojeluskuntas units managed to meet the yearly training requirement in the 1920s. There were also issues around the specialized Branches with their own demands for specialized training for members of their units (Pioneers, Signals, Artillery being examples).
Early Suojeluskunta Training Session in a Local Unit Hall
Maneuvers were expected to play a large part in Sk training, but the first large maneuvers held by Sk organization didn’t take place until 1929 (with 283 officers and 3,841 NCOs and men near the town of Jyväskylä). Following the 1931 Military Review, this changed rapidly and by 1934, Annual Regimental exercises were being held, while by the late 1930’s it was not uncommon to hold multi-Divisional exercises involving tens of thousands of participants.
Local Suojeluskunta Unit conducting a route march exercise, 1920’s
As the level of military skill expected from members of the Sk was standardized, its men were divided into two classes:
A class:
A1: Men fit for frontline service under 40-years old.
A2: Men fit only for guard duty or over 40-years old (only infantry).
B class: Those who had not passed Sk-private exams.
The Timetable for Sk-Private courses, (Includes the time for each training component, based on the Suojeluskunta Rule Book):
General military training – Total 13 Hours
Military forces doctrine, laws and regulations 9 hours
Routine duty 2 hours
Garrison duty 2 hours
Drill training – Total 20 Hours
Close order drill 12 hours
Open order drill 8 hours
B
attle training and field service – Total 64 Hours
Individual battle training 26 hours
Squad battle training 20 hours
Field Service 18 hours
Field works 4 hours
Anti chemical weapons training 10 hours
Equipment training 15 hours
Shooting training 15 hours
Sports education 8 hours
Maintenance 6 hours
Total 68 hours
GRAND TOTAL 155 Hours
Types of Sk Training:
Typically, City Suojeluskuntas had several companies, while the largest ones had Battalions and the Helsinki Suojeluskunta had Regiments. In the 1920s training in the rural Suojeluskuntas was typically exclusively for infantry. At that time only the Suojeluskuntas of the largest city units were trained in other branches of arms such as:
Artillery (few Suojeluskuntas Artillery units outside of the larger cities)
Cavalry (also few Suojeluskuntas Cavalry units outside of the larger cities)
Bicycle troops
Engineers (only in Helsinki and on a very small scale)
Signal units (starting in 1927)
Medical units (starting in 1919 but also with very few Suojeluskuntas Medical units outside of the larger cities)
Suojeluskunta Bicycle Troops on a training weekend, early 1930’s
Artillery training started within the Sk in 1919. The first artillery weapons used were the "75 VK 98" mountain guns, but starting in 1920 the Sk also received other guns. The Sk-Artillery Training Units were made up of 2 gun and 4 gun strong batteries called "Sk Batteries". These Sk Batteries were directly under the command of the Sk.Y. Between 1918 - 1921 the Sk also manned static batteries of 152-mm fortification guns located in the Suvanto-Vuoksi area to guard against the Bolshevik threat. Shooting with live-fire ammunition was quite limited as the older gun types were typically in rather poor shape and there was an ammunition shortage for modern guns.
Shooting as part of training:
Shooting was and is a vital part of the military skillset. The Suojeluskunta included practice shooting and shooting competitions into its activities from the start, but early on this wasn't easy. Hunting was popular among the Finns living in rural areas, but the usual hunting weapon had been a shotgun, not a rifle. After the Civil War the Finnish military dumped a mixed bag of captured rifles on the Suojeluskunta and even the more standard types like the Mosin-Nagant M/91 rifles that were received by the Suojeluskunta were often in very poor shape. Between 1918 and 1923 the Sk organization also found it difficult to find acceptable quality ammunition at reasonable prices. The basic necessities needed for shooter training were accurate rifles and good ammunition, so the rifles needed to be repaired and an adequate supply of ammunition organized.
Erikoisaselajien koulutus jatkui koko talven ja kevään. Pistooammuntaharjoitukset on kuvannut Werner Mauritz Gestrin, Tampereen museoiden kuva-arkisto
Rules used in early Sk shooting competitions can sound odd to todays shooters. Hits were measured as centimeters from the center of the target, and sighting in shots or using rifle slings for support was forbidden. Some Sk members who had the money and wanted good shooting results bought new (usually 7mm x 57 caliber) Mauser rifles at their own expense. Because Japanese and Mosin-Nagant rifles of the Suojeluskunta and their ammunition were what they were, a special handicap system was introduced for them. Basically the handicap system worked like this: Shooters using Japanese rifles recieved 5% compensation and shooters using the Mosin-Nagant rifle recieved 10% compensation, those who used the new Mauser rifles didn't get any compensation. In a way the compensation system didn't always work as perceived. Many of the most successful shooters took trophies using self-loaded ammunition with Mosin-Nagant rifles. The Suojeluskunta soon had the best competition shooters in Finland.
In the 1920’s, the Sk-organization in principle emphasized military shooting (fast and precise shooting at various distances), but in reality the emphasis remained on sports shooting (shooting accurately from pre-known distance). The Suojeluskuntas also built hundreds of shooting ranges for their own use. The number of Suojeluskunta organized shooting competitions and their participants skyrocketed in the 1920s. One of the goals of Sk organization was to make shooting one of the main national sports and one could say it succeeded to a large extent. Shooting continued to be a central part of Suojeluskunta training through the 1930’s but following the 1931 Military Review, the emphasis really was placed on military style shooting – and in particular, fast and precise shooting at various distances and at moving or pop-up targets. Competition shooting still took place, but the Sk emphasized that practice for competitions was in the individuals own time. Indeed, shooting training received a great deal of attention, with constant improvements being introduced. Initially, shooter training used standard bullseye or cutout targets (as in the photo above) but in the 1930’s, Combat Range Training with mechanically-controlled popup targets was introduced. These Combat Ranges became increasingly sophisticated over the decade of the 1930’s.
In the later 1930’s, from around 1937 on, training in shooting was further and even more extensively revised based on Lindberg’s psychological studies. Measures taken included replacing all of the old “bulls-eye” targets with man-shaped pop up targets that fell when hit and repetitious “snap-shooting” range training against the same man-shaped pop-up targets, creating a reflexive reponse pattern that became ingrained after constant repitition (constant repitition was stressed as the key to success). Stimulus-response, stimulus-response, repeated hundreds of times as a training conditioner. The Suojeluskuntas began building new “snap-shooting” ranges which focused on developing combat-shooting, rather than target-shooting skills. With the work largely being done by voluntary labor, changes were quick to be made and by 1938, most Suojeluskunta shooting ranges were all of the “new model”, although old-fashioned target shooters tended to be somewhat resistant.
Many of these ranges permitted Company-sized live-firing exercises to be conducted, giving units valuable tactical battle-skill training under more realistic conditions and there was one training area set up specifically to allow Regimental-sized live-firing exercises – this particular range was in constant use all-year round, by the late 1930’s, most Regiments carried out one 2-3 day exercise per year on this Range. By the time the Winter War broke out, almost all Suojeluskunta members had gone through the new shooting training – and all those who had completed their compulsory military service in the 1938 and 1939 Intakes had certainly received this training. Also as part of incorporating the new shooter training, the Lindberg-developed techniques to train soldiers to consciously adjust their physiological responses had been carried out. This was largely through a combination of breathing exercises and “battle-conditioning” training under conditions of extreme stress and exertion simulating real combat as closely as possible – intense physical exercise followed by range snap-shooting accompanied by simulated grenades and artillery explosions in the main. Conscripts of course received far more intense training, with live bullets being fire overhead on top of everything else. All this moved the standard of shooting of the average Suojeluskuntas member to a very high standard.
Despite the new weapons being introduced to the Army and the Suojeluskunta through the 1930’s, many still preferred the old Mosin-Nagant Rifles, particularly in shooting competitions – and good marksmanship was always emphasized – both the Finnish Army and the Suojeluskuntas emphasized in their training that “every Soldier is first and foremost a Rifleman. One Bullet, One Kill.” As documented in the Suojeluskuntas Hakkapeliitta magazine, the 1937 World Shooting Championships were a real success for Finnish marksmen and for the M/28-30 Rifle, pride of the Suojeluskuntas even as late as 1937.
"SAKO bullet is 'the old tenwalker'" (left), Olavi Elo - a double World Champion and sleeper of team Finland (right)
The opening ceremony. From left to right: former President P. E. Svinhufvud (Ukko-Pekka), President Kyösti Kallio, Field Marshall C.G.E. Mannerheim and General Hugo Österman
Ukko-Pekka preparing to fire (left).
Some of the participating nations (20 in total).
The Gold Medalists
And here’s some further illustrations of shooting competitions, targets and the Rifles used.
The 1937 Mosin-Nagant M28/30 – popular in Shooting Competitions, but by the time of the Winter War replacement in front-line use by a combination of the Finnish Army’s new Semi-automatic Lahti-Saloranta 7.62mm SLR and the Suomi SMG was well underway.
When it came to repairing and building rifles "Asepaja" (Weapons Workshop, later known as SAKO) started in 1919 and proved very useful, but results of its hard work appeared slowly. A temporary solution to the ammunition shortage was loading ammunition with simple equipment in local Suojeluskuntas, and this continued until the ammunition shortage passed.
The Sk Navy
Another interesting part of the Sk-organization directly under the Sk.Y and having its own uniforms was the Sk-Navy. The idea for the Sk-Navy was based on the British Auxiliary Fleet and appeared in 1919, but it took until 1923 for the idea to materialize. Their training was closely related to coastal defence training, which was also one of the special branchs of the military for which the Suojeluskunta provided training for its members. Apparently there was a considerable amount of enthusiasm for the Civil Guard Navy, since the training spread quickly over much of Finland - by the late 1920's there were 76 local sea civil guard units (typically each municipality, town etc had its own local civil guard). These included not only local sea civil guards in the coastal areas around the Baltic Sea and Lake Laatokka/Ladoga, but also many which were located in inland lakes. The number of vessels used in the 1920’s was quite small (as were the boats used), but their number was large on a Finnish scale. Participants in the first Sk-Navy maneuvers included: About 200 boats, 14 tugboats, and about 650 men. In the 1920’s, their planned wartime use was supporting the coastal artillery with guard, communications and transport missions. Members of the Sk Navy had also received training in laying and clearing sea mines and were expected to become familiar with signaling, naval guns and torpedoes. The obligatory minimum amount of training for Sk Navy members was 6 days/year.
Sk-Navy on exercise: Summer 1931
The number of local Civil Guard units providing this type of training increased in the 1930's. The Sea Civil Guard of Helsinki was from the start one of the best equipped units of the Sk-Navy) but in the early years they were short on boats and equipment. On establishment in 1928, they had no boats at all, the first boats acquired were two old open top whaling boats, which were bought by the unit itself in 1930. In 1931 the bough the SP 19 "Merikotka": this was an old sailing boat capable carrying 9 men. In 1932 the Lotta-Svärd organisation donated SP 20: an old motor boat 11-meters long.
As mentioned in an earlier Post, Motor Torpedo Boats and Fast Minelayers were an early component of the Finnish Naval Construction Plan of 1931. Production construction commenced in 1935, with Hietalahden Laivatelakka awarded a contract to build fifty of these boats over a five year period, delivering 10 per year from 1936 through to 1940. In addition, a number of smaller shipyards were awarded contracts to build a further fifty as a Fast Minelayer version over the same period. Later consideration was given to fitting out a third version as an Anti-Submarine Patrol Boat, primarily for service in the Gulf of Finland with the objective of restricting access to the Baltic for Soviet Submarines. A contract for this type was placed in late 1937, and around twenty five had entered service by the time the Winter War broke out. Crew generally consisted of 3 to 4 Officers and 19 Enlisted Ranks.
As an offshoot of the MTB Program the Navy had also decided to build a large number of small Coastal Fast Torpedo Boats on the basis that they wouldn’t cost a lot and if the Soviet Baltic Fleet sortied, they could “swarm” the defences through sheer weight of numbers, with their small size and speed making them difficult to hit. As the threat of war loomed larger in the late 1930’s, more of theses boats were rapidly constructed and by the time the Winter War broke out, some 200 of these Coastal Fast Torpedo Boats were in service, also manned by Sk-Navy personnel. At the same time as the MTB’s were being constructed, a number of underground bases were tunneled into islands scattered around the Gulf of Finland coastline. These underground bases included docks, ramps for pulling the MTB’s and CFTB’s out of the water for routine maintenance and repair and for winter storage, spartan accommodation bays, engineering workshops and fuel and munitions storage. These were intended for wartime use only and were generally only maintained in peacetime by a small number of Naval Reserve (all Suojeluskunta Navy - the Sea Civil Guard) personnel. Locations of these bases were kept a closely guarded secret.
At the same time as the decision was made to purchase these Boats, the Navy decided that both the Boats and the Bases would be manned by Sk-Navy personnel, who while they would remain members of the Sk, would be integrated more closely into the Naval organisation. The decision to assign Suojeluskunta Navy personnel to crew these boats came as a welcome surprise to both the Sk and to the Sk-Navy personnel involved. Competition to get into the units became quite fierce in the late 1930's - and the units had no trouble at all ensuring that they were always fully manned. With approximately 4,500 Sk-Navy personnel manning the Boats, and a further 4,000 odd personnel manning and guarding the Bases, the Sk-Navy grew to a considerable size through the last half of the 1930’s.
The Sk Air Force
The Sk-Air Force was formed in 1935, specifically to augment the Ilmavoimat in the event that War broke out. The SK-Air Force will be covered in detail in the Posts covering the growth of the Air Force in the 1930’s.
The Suojeluskunta and Sports:
The reason why the Sk organization supported sports was quite simple: Fit people make better soldiers and, in general, wide spread sports which maintain fitness have positive effects on a community. Sports played an important part in the Suojeluskunta and the Sk organization also contributed to their development in Finland. Possibly the still most visible effect was introducing "pesäpallo" (basically a Finnish version of baseball, with the main developer of this sport being Sk-Officer Lauri "Tahko" Pihkala) in 1922 and it became so popular and widespread that it is still nowadays a Finnish national sports.
Sk-Officer Lauri "Tahko" Pihkala
For the Sk organization popularizing pesäpallo had purposes beyond developing physical fitness and team spirit: Short spurts and dashes which ended by throwing a hand grenade sized ball were also useful skills for war. The most important sports for Suojeluskunta were skiing, running, gymnastics, and field & track sports. Of these, skiing slowly became the most important. In fact, the Sk-organization even developed a new kind of cross-country ski (which also become the Finnish military ski), which were handier in forests than traditional Finnish skis and winter-training increasingly emphasized tactical movement into and out of combat on skis, as well as ski-warfare tactics and winter-combat and survival training.
Suojeluskunta Unit on a Winter Warfare Training Exercise, mid-1930’s
As mentioned earlier, the Suojeluskuntas was also responsible for the introduction of the "KäsiKähmäTaistelu” fighting technique from 1930 on, first into the Suojeluskuntas units in and around Tampere where, despite the reconciliation between the SDP and the Sk, street-fights between the Lahtarit (“the Butchers”) and the Punikit (“the Reddies") continued well into the decade. "KäsiKähmäTaistelu”, or KKT as it was usually referred to, could loosely be classified as a sport, although in reality it was an eclectic, efficient and extremely brutal form of combat incorporating techniques from wrestling, grappling, striking and kicking, with many elements borrowed from the Japanese and Korean Martial Arts Lindberg had studied. In military usage, KKT incorporated physical endurance training, psychological techniques, the practical usage of cold steel weapons (knives, machetes, entrenching tools, bayonets and rifles), knife and stick fighting techniques and aspects of close quarter combat such as sentry removal.
From 1934 on Lindberg was Chief Instructor of Physical Training and Unarmed Combat for the Finnish Army and also for the Suojeluskuntas, a position which he utilized to ensure the rapid expansion of KKT training throughout the Finnish Army, the Suojeluskuntas and into High Schools through the new (from 1934 on) Military Cadet organisation that replaced the Suojeluskuntas Boy Soldiers and the Lotta Svard’s Girl-Lotta organizations. Partially as a result of the rising level of expertise in KKT, the street-brawls between the Lahtarit and the Punikit began to fade away – for one thing, the results were becoming a little lop-sided, but there were other reasons for this as well (largely economic, with rising standards of living all-round). By 1938, most Suojeluskunta units conducted weekly (usually on a weeknight) KKT training sessions.
The Suojeluskunta had started rewarding its best shooters and its fittest members with fitness medals in 1921. The Suojeluskunta fitness medals were issued in three classes and naturally getting the 1st class medal demanded the most fitness. In the late 1930’s, KKT was included, with regular gradings, inter-unit competitions and medals. One could in a way say that the Sk-organization was the most important sports organization in Finland before WW2.
