The Red Insurrection in Finland in 1918

A STUDY BASED ON DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE

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BY

HENNING SQDERHJELM

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THE RED INSURRECTION IN FINLAND IN 1918

The Red Insurrection in Finland in 1918

A STUDY BASED ON DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE

BY

HENNING SODERHJELM, Ph.D.

Translated by Anne I. FAUSB0LL

LONDON

Harrison and Sons, Printers in Ordinary to Hit Majesty

45-47. St. Martins Lane W.C2

Price Three Shillings and Sixpence Net.

CONTENTS.

THE PRELUDE.

i. The Historical Background ...

2. From the Outbreak of the War to the Russian Revo-

lution

3. The March Revolution in Russia and the Position of

Finland

4. Occurrences of the Autumn and Winter : —

October

November

December

January ...

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12

15

28 32 49 54

THE INSURRECTION.

1 . Red and White : General Characteristics

2. The Outbreak of the Insurrection

3. The Red Army

4. The Leadership of the Red

5. The Red and their Opponents

6. The Fall of the Red Power

7. Postscript

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THE PRELUDE.

On the 27th January, 1918, " Finland's Working-men's Executive Committee " announced that Finland's working- men had proceeded to revolution, that the lawful govern- 1 in nt had been overthrown, and that all power in Finland had now passed over to the organised working-men and their revolutionary organs.

Hereby the civil war was declared which was to ravage Finland's soil and demand such painful sacrifices. The revolutionaries — the " Red " — and their Russian allies succeeded in taking possession of the southern parts of the country and the largest cities here. But in the north the loyal citizens — the " White " — took up arms to free the country from the rebels. They cleared the whole of North Finland and marched towards the south. A long front was formed, beginning at the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia, running in a wide sweep round Tammerfors and on to the east, going on the south side of St. Michel to the river Vuoksen, and ending south of the latter's outfall in lake Ladoga by the Finno-Russian frontier. It was not, however, until the middle of March that the " White " army was ready to proceed to a serious offensive, and by the first days of April, with the assistance of volunteers from Sweden, it had broken up the main forces of the " Red " and conquered Tammerfors. At the same time a German relief expedi- tion, called in by the Finnish Government, landed at Hang6, and after a quick advance took the capital, Helsingfors. Now defeat followed upon defeat for the " Red " army, and at the beginning of May the insur- rection was definitely subdued. The leaders of the revo- lutionaries had fled to Russia, and more than 70,000 men

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of their army had been captured by the victors. The most ignominious and bloodiest episode in the history of Finland was hereby closed.

What was the meaning of this revolution and this insurrection ? What were its wishes, what its aims, and what caused it ? These questions will be quite briefly answered in the present little volume. Any complete statement cannot, of course, as yet be given, and least of all can there be any attempt at an historical account of the war. But it has seemed necessary already now to give interested people abroad a description of the psychology of the movement based upon reliable docu- ments— and exclusively on such. This is attained partly by examining the causes of the revolution and the pre- parations for it, and partly by acquainting oneself with the conception of the " Red " themselves as it is revealed in the accounts and evidence in their papers, of which a great deal have fortunately been found which are of invaluable benefit for the history of the insurrection. * * * * *

This account was written at the suggestion of persons who have been in close touch with the events. While I was doing service in one of the offices established for winding up the affairs of the insurrection, I was enabled to carry out this task, and obtain an insight into all the documents hitherto brought to light, through the friendly assistance of Senator A. Frey and the courtesy of the chiefs and the staff. For this I desire to express my grateful acknowledgments.

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THE RED INSURRECTION.

i. THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND.

For the last twenty years Finland has lived under politically abnormal conditions. For twenty years an intense struggle against Russian oppression has set its Stamp on the whole spiritual existence of the people. At the same time the material conditions of life have run through a rapid development for great portions of the people. The last decades have seen industrialism making more and more headway into a people which before may be said to have virtually consisted of farmers and Government functionaries only. Towns and manu- facturing centres have grown with American swiftness, the city population has been increased chiefly by influx from the country, the housing question has become pressing, the labour movement has grown like an avalanche. Social as well as political conditions have thrown the country off its balance.

Finland is sparsely populated, her soil yields but grudgingly, her climate is cold. The character of her people bears the impression of these harsh conditions. Dogged, tenacious, stubborn, the Finn has accustomed himself to fight a troublesome, slow and silent battle against the hard forces of Nature. He has few neighbours, and has learnt to trust to himself alone. His thoughts revolve round his own toil and trouble, and find their expression in the necessary action, not in sociable words. He is a hermit, and his emotions are of a strong and primitive order. He lives for himself only, and is an out-and-out individualist.

The stranger is to him a stranger, therefore suspe<

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and dangerous. If anyone does him an injury, it burns deeper and deeper into his heart and grows into a dark hatred of the perpetrator. He lacks the power of firing up and then forgetting, for his character is that of the solitary and heavy brooder. He is not used to discipline and quick obedience. He must have a firm confidence in and an absolute affection for his masters to submit to them ; but if so, he does it fully. He is a primitive individualist who does his work after his own mind, and only subordinates himself to the claims of society when he is absolutely convinced that it must be.

The consequence of this is that every universal effort, in order to gain a sure footing in a people thus constituted, and in order to spread and grow, must have the character of something sacred, of a religion. It must rank above every-day claims of utility, must be charged with matter of such a high spiritual kind that it has power to break through the craving for seclusion and through indi- vidualism and lead to a higher order of concord ; it must create a sympathy closely akin to fanaticism. Those sort of spiritual movements are known expressly to Finland from rich experience. There have, of course, been many purely religious movements, but when the Finnish National Movement, the endeavour to raise the Finnish language to a culture-language from having been merely a vernacular of the common people, came into being in the middle of the nineteenth century, this also assumed an almost religious character. This justifiable and very natural movement grew to such enormous proportions for the very reason that it was raised to the rank of a religion. Its purpose was a twofold one, viz., to combat the predomination of the Swedish language, and to raise the level of education among the Finnish-speaking element of the people. In both directions it has often found fanatical expression, and as the negative results thereof

we find, on the one hand, an often bitter conflict between the languages ; on the other hand, a worship of theoretical education, of studies and theoretical knowledge which has drawn too sharp a distinction between the " educated " classes, to which the " student examination " for admit- tance to the university is the only stepping-stone, and the " uneducated," *.*., those who have no academical education.

Another spiritual movement which has assumed the character of a religion — or perhaps rather of an epidemic — is the total abstention movement. It has had the result : entire prohibition for the whole country just because the whole people was stirred up and had the alcohol question presented to them in the light of a sacred cause and not as a difficult problem. In the same way the fight for the co-operative movement has been stamped by a similar holy ardour, where there has been no talk of reason or sense, but only of friend or foe.

It is obvious that a people that is thus constituted ought to live in peace. It will then be able to assert its fine qualities. It will then be able by its tenacity, its perseverance, its stubbornness, to create great and enduring things. But when once it is stirred, when one after another of the sacred claims knock at its doors, it rests with leaders, stump orators, lecturers and the press, whether this people shall be urged towards the good or the bad. Twenty years ago there was one cause which really forced the whole nation to fight, the cause against the unlawful measures adopted for the Russifi- cation of the country. And the people proved itself capable of resistance. In spite of every attempt denationalisation made no progress. A stubborn and tenacious resistance was offered against the Russian work of destruction, a defence was made which will always show as an honourable leaf in the history of

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Finland. The national defence was organised with one single end in view — the firm adherence to the laws of the country, the refusal to submit to the Russian decrees. It was the method of passive resistance, a loyal, quick and " Western " method. But the severer Russian pressure became, and the more the bitterness and hatred against Russian officialdom grew, the more easily could a more active, a more violent policy of opposition gain partisans in Finland. Russian autocracy was the enemy not only of Finland, but of the Russian people as well. And the methods employed from olden times by the Russian revolutionaries were anything but passive. Then, was it not necessary to join forces against the common foe ? Should not the Russian militant methods be employed in Finland too ? The answer was both yes and no. The enemy was common to both, and from this it followed that the Russian revolutionaries were regarded with sympathy in Finland and aided when in distress. But the end aimed at in the struggle was another in Finland than in Russia. We wished only to regain the rights we had been robbed of, and after that to work out our internal development according to our own lights and to the best of our ability. They laboured for the revolution, for a general upheaval, for a political and social liberation of the people, which was to transform Russia completely. We had laws, we had a sense of justice, a law-directed Western liberty ; this the Russian rulers had sought to crush, and this we wanted back again. The Russians knew only decrees and commands, police regulations and reports of gendarmes ; they thought to remodel their country by fresh decrees and regulations of another description. They were absorbed in dreams and Utopias, and yearned for an ideal society in which there was political liberty, and where all social injustice was set right.

In Finland a party was gradually formed which did not realise how great was the difference betwrm the aims of the Russian liberty movement and Finland's struggle for her rights. This was the Labour Party, which has incorrectly described itself as the Social-Democrat Party. This party which, during the rapid growth of the industries, had developed out of some working-men's associations conducted in a friendly spirit by the employers, and which, to begin with, was without all political influence, gained vitality and thrived through the connection with Russian revolutionary circles. It got to look at existing phenomena with Russian eyes, learned to mix up prole- tariat policy with State emancipation, and to employ revolutionary methods of action for the gaining of its ends ; it forgot the huge gulf fixed between Finland's Western social conditions and the Eastern chaos of Russia. This fact, that Finland's Labour Party from the outset struck into Russian paths and made the cause of the Russian revolutionaries its own ; this was the original fatal cause that such a thing as the Red Insur- rection in 1918 became at all possible.

The first results of the tactics of the Labour Party became evident in the stirring years 1905 and 1906. The Russo-Japanese War ended in the defeat of Russia The bitter resentment against the chief men in power in Russia became so widespread that a general strike was proclaimed there towards the end of October, 1905. The stir re-echoed in Finland. This was a " passive " measure which nobody objected to, so here too a general strike was proclaimed. All work throughout the country stopped. The strike included the Government offices, all means of communication, the factories, the university, ren the police. The Government of the country, the lenate, were compelled to resign ; the Russian Governor- General fled to an ironclad lying in the roads of

Helsingfors ; and the Finnish community put forward its claims. They were, of course, to the effect that the down- trodden rights should be restored. But the Labour Party had not been taken into account. In the course of the week that the strike lasted, this party showed how strong it had grown, and its claims were now others than those of the hated "Bourgeois." It demanded a Constituent National Assembly, by which the country's future was to be shaped.

Finland's representative assembly was constituted on antiquated lines, and within its four estates the working- man had not been able to gain a hearing. It was, therefore, a surprise to everybody when they now acted suddenly with such vigour. This was chiefly felt through the forces for the maintenance of order which they instituted. As already mentioned, the police had joined the strike. Protective corps of volunteers for the maintenance of order were then formed, consisting chiefly of students and other young men who wore a white band round the left arm for a badge. The leaders of the Labour Party stood doubtful with regard to these bourgeois organisations ; at first they co-operated with them, but later on they changed tactics. They established their own Protective Corps with a red band round the arm — the first germ of the Red Guard. It now became the object of the latter to arrogate to itself as much of the power as possible. So some of the towns of Finland, amongst others the capital, were " occupied " almost entirely by the Red. Conflicts between the Red and the White could not be wholly avoided, for, in the knowledge of their power, the Labour Party tried to carry through their claim of a Constituent National Assembly. There was a moment when revolvers flashed in the hands of a troop of Red and a troop of White as they met, and another when the working-men already elected their own

Government at a meeting in a square. But finally they yielded and contented themselves with the results obtained by the bourgeoisie groups — the re-establishment of the country's rights. Still the schism had now become as plain as daylight ; the Labour press declared that the upper class had played the people false, and the corps of the Red Guard were transformed to a purely military organisation " to safeguard the interests of the working- man."

The Finnish military had been dissolved in 1901 — only a battalion of the Guards had been left — but this also had ceased to exist shortly before the outbreak of the general strike. Now non-commissioned officers and privates from the dissolved battalion trained the Red bands ; the language of command was Russian, and the actual business of the army somewhat obscure. It was in touch with Russian revolutionary organisations, and became a sort of Finnish central exchange for all the terrorist fanaticism which manifested itself throughout Russia in the course of the following months ; not the least so in the neighbouring Baltic provinces, where excited bands ravaged the large estates with pillage, murder and incendiarism.

In Finland, too, a lot of anarchist outrages were committed, and when in July, 1906, a Russian military revolt broke out in the Sveaborg fortress, the Red Guard considered it their business to interfere. They took the side of the revolutionary troops, and even attempted to bring off another general strike. This attempt was however, foiled by the opposition of the bourgeoisie parties, but the affair did not pass without bloodshed. A band of the White Protection Corps was treacherously assailed in a square in Helsingfors and the Red, who were armed with Russian army rifles, shot down seven of its men.

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The situation was complicated. Certainly the whole of Finland sympathised with the Russian revolutionary movement, but we had — at least to a certain degree — arrived at a possibility of shaping our own internal affairs. Therefore no sensible citizen wished to draw our people into the great Russian muddle. Our strength and our safeguard were law-abidingness, loyalty ; we did not want to fling our whole " Western " position to the winds and plunge into the Eastern maelstrom. Yet the line between the two was not always easy to find, and the working-men did not see it. With Finnish doggedness and stubbornness they had adopted the frail phantasms and Utopias of the Russians. What were to these latter only card-houses, built up in a moment of excitement, and the collapse of which was viewed later on with a shrug of the shoulders, became to the Finnish working- man a sacred, solid temple, firmly fixed, and incapable of ever falling in.

In face of the danger which threatened the unity of the people from the Labour bands — in hopes of satisfying them and giving them what they had learned to regard as a right — the Assembly of Estates, the Lantdag, was now transformed to a representative assembly so demo- cratic that the world has never yet seen its like. It became a Single-Chamber, the 200 representatives of which were returned by a system of universal suffrage for all men and women that had completed their twenty- fourth year. The first elections for this parliament took place in March, 1907. The Labour Party got eighty representatives.

In the meanwhile the Red Guard had been dissolved and the participants in the Sveaborg revolt sentenced to penal servitude. The Single-Chamber opened up a new field of work for the Labour Party which therefore struck into parliamentary paths. They had, however,

read a sufficient number of reports in the papers, about stormy scenes in the parliaments of the Balkan S and elsewhere, to know to the full how cheerfully a session may shape itself with "noise from the Left Pan applause, interruptions and all sorts of enlivening riots. The Single-Chamber gave on the whole a very melancholy picture' of the cultural level of the people.

Upon the improved conditions inaugurated with the general strike there soon followed a period of increasing Russian reaction. In Finland, where the Russian policy of repression had hitherto been regarded wholly and solely as the outcome of views within the highest bureaucracy, it was now discovered that also great portions of the Russian people saw in the national annihilation of Fin- land a great and necessary mission for the Russian Empire. The Duma sanctioned illegal measures against Finland. A fresh era of outrage and violence began for this country. With a certain weariness and pessimism the policy of passive resistance was there taken up again. The work of the Lantdag became mere desolation, partly because all the protests of the Chamber against the new rule of unlawfulness were followed by decrees of dissolution ; partly because the enactments of the Single-Chamber were never corroborated in St. Petersburg ; and, last but not least, because the most powerful party in the Lantdag, the Social Democrats, resorted to tactics of opposition and obstruction which distorted the decisions and gave rise to endless, unceremonious debates.

As said before, the Labour Party had struck into parliamentary paths — that is to say, they now aspired to gain the means of power that could be obtained in the altered circumstances in which no overt Russo-Finnish revolution could be thought of, viz., the majority in the Lantdag. All their work was agitation against the upper class, the bourgeoisie, the capitalists. One catchword

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which proved most effective was the epithet " Butchers of the People," which had been fastened on the White Protective Corps during the general strike. " Butchers " now were all non-working-men, and the word was an excellent termination to the well-known series — robbers, bloodsuckers, misers. The class struggle was proclaimed ; Internationalism, Anti-Militarism, Atheism and Free Marriage were exalted to new lodestars of humanity. The industries suffered greatly during the agitation work. Strike followed upon strike ; the distrust of employers and foremen was unlimited.

The most melancholy thing about the whole of these tactics was no doubt the systematically created distrust of all human motives. The whole activity of the " bourgeois," all his thoughts and efforts, were directed only towards one goal — the fleecing of the working-man in order that he might become rich himself. And the working-man's sole claim to existence was in his efforts to obtain better conditions of life ; poverty was the root of all evil, of all sorrows and sufferings. By this view the " bourgeois " of Finland, amongst others, were shame- fully wronged. They had fought bravely for the rights of their country and on the whole for Western culture in the common native land. They had been imprisoned, exiled and sent to Siberia — nay, in 1911-17 some fifty Government functionaries had been shut up in Russian prisons because they refused to obey illegal Russian orders. All this was suppressed in the Labour press, all this did not exist to the excited working-class ; on the contrary, Finland's upper classes were represented as miserable tools in the hands of Tsarism.

The agitation of the Labour Party was mendacious, brutal and mean. This was chiefly caused by the fact that the party had never succeeded in securing any honest, upright and trustworthy leaders. Its touring

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lecturers, stump orators and editors were almost without exception persons of weak character and many high- flown words with the ambitions of strugglers. Its repre- sentatives in the Lantdag were precisely these lecturers and editors, besides a number of well-trained voting automatons. The sole object of the party was to gain power ; therefore it could never attract men of broader views or nobler sentiments, although the wave of social radicalism that swept over the country after 1905 might have produced many eminent and convinced leaders of a real Social-Democratic Party.

In ordinary circumstances a seditious agitation like that of the Labour Party would have called forth strong opposition and energetic measures of repression. But now the Russian policy of oppression loomed as a con- tinual threat in the background, holding, without a doubt, a still greater danger in store for the country. Therefore, first and foremost, it was necessary to face the latter. Besides, the violent attacks, accusations and threats of the faction leaders were found to be so exaggerated that it was believed they would gradually cease to influence even the working-men. This, however, proved a mistake. The great masses of labourers, recently arrived in the cities and manufacturing centres, with Finnish doggedness and fanaticism had espoused that mixture of extreme Socialistic and Russian revolutionary doctrines which had so long been preached to them. The work of agitation against the " upper class " had left a sediment of dark hatred in their hearts against all other classes, while these latter, without seeing the division with- in the people itself — or at least without perceiving its ex- tent and the danger it carried with it — continued their silent war of defence against the Russian tyrannous policy.

Such was the state of Finland when the world-war broke out.

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2. FROM THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR TO THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION.

The world-war brought Finland into a peculiar position. Without an army, with conscription not legally done away with but put out of practice by the Russians themselves, she stood as a portion of the Russian Empire which did not take part in the war. So severe was the discontent which the Russian policy of repression had aroused in Finland that Russia did not even deem it advisable to attempt to enlist military here. On the other hand, only one wish was prevalent in all classes and factions : the defeat of Russia. For the experience of the Russo-Japanese war, as well as ordinary common- sense, told them that the present regime must come to an end with a defeat, and the way thus be opened to liberty for Finland, whereas a victory would get fresh wind into the sails of the reaction and destroy all our hopes. Even the leaders of the Labour Party were of this opinion, all the more so as it was held by the Russian revolutionary extremists.

Already at the beginning of the war an imperial manifesto had, however, been issued which boded a complete assimilation of Finland. And the further the war proceeded the more severely the Russian pressure was felt. Huge masses of Russian troops were garrisoned here, the Russian Baltic fleet filled the ports, the country was declared to be in a state of war. Through this a practical Russification of the country was begun< Street life took on a Russian aspect, the best customers in the shops were Russians, the erotic successes of the Russian uniform exposed the community to dangers of a particular kind. The Russian gendarmery — the political police showed energetic activity, arrests and the searching of houses was the order of the day, nay,

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Russian soldiers even executed Finnish citizens without as much as asking the permission of the Finnish authorities. The pressure was insufferable, and the ning for deliverance from the yoke of Russia became stronger and stronger. It was obvious enough that the passive method would not in these circumstances lead to the goal. Once — in 1905 — it had brought victory to us, now another vista was before us, and the time for action seemed to have come. Now at least a more or less complete liberation from Russian suzerainty might be thought of and dreamt of. Endeavours of such a kind could not be called treasonable, for, on the one hand, Russia had time after time broken her pledges to Finland, and, on the other hand, it was quite clear of what military importance Finland was as the sole bridge to Western Europe, as a port to the fleet, and as the owner

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of Aland, and this was tantamount to the future exposure of Finland to a policy of Russification still more intense, if possible, than hitherto. Ways and means of inter- fering were considered, and several proposals cropped up. The plainest illustration of this natural effort of Finland to get out of the connection with Russia which was so destructive to her nationality and culture, was given already in the first year of the war by a number of volunteers joining the German army, where they formed a special battalion of chasseurs which, after having been drilled, was placed on the Eastern front.

For the rest, the war carried with it in Finland the same difficulties, the same shortage of food and abundance of money, the same change of values and fortunes as in the rest of the world. But one more phenomenon must be pointed out : the Russian fortification work in the country. This stupendous enterprise, directed against an eventual Swedish invasion or a German landing, consisted both in the surrounding of the most important

cities by belts of forts, blasted into the mountains, by- lines of trenches and barbed wire defences, as well as in the building of lines of defence virtually throughout the whole of the country. How much work these fortifications have cost is best seen from the observations of an officer of the German general staff on the defences round Helsingfors. He says that these fortifications surpassed everything German soldiers had seen during the world-war, as well Liege as Verdun, as well Kovno as Warsaw, nay, even the mountain fortresses in the Italian Alps. These huge positions were built by Finnish labourers under Russian command. Enormous crowds of working-men overran the parts where the work was carried on, the pay was good, discipline there was none, the claims made on individual effort were the least possible. Innumerable were the anecdotes related about bribes, cheating, faked pay-bills, etc., in connection with this work. But one melancholy result they had. The labourers became corrupted, and were thought to fraternise with the Russian soldiers. A friendship was struck up between the worst elements within each group, and the compact was soon sealed by pillage, theft, robbery and murder, all in concert. The tracts where the fortifica- tion-work had been carried on became the worst haunts of Finno-Russian bands of ruffians in the winter of 1917- 1918, and, from the ranks of those fortification workers who had been led astray, the most licentious bands of the reviving Red Guard were recruited.

During the war Finland's Lantdag had not been permitted to assemble. But in the summer of 1916 the new general elections took place. These were not able to create any very great interest, as it was impossible to foresee under what conditions the assembly would meet, and what problems would then be set before it. Only the Labour Party succeeded as before in rallying

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its constituents round the old familiar catchwords, and thus it obtained the power in parliament it had so eagerly coveted. The results of the election were 103 Labour representatives and 97 Bourgeois. The Labour Party was now in absolute majority.

3. THE MARCH REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA AND THE POSITION OF FINLAND.

When the Russian revolution broke out in March, 19 17, it was, of course, welcomed with the greatest joy throughout all Finland, especially as the Government elected by the Duma immediately took up the Finnish question. The strongest feeling of deliverance and relief was, however, in the beginning due to the fact that our political prisoners in Russia might now be sure of libera- tion. Since the autumn of 1915 the leader of the Lantdag, Svinhufvud, had been in Siberia ; thither also the mayor of Vasa city, Hasselblatt, and several others had been deported ; the chief of the fire department was in the interior of Russia, and, finally, a hundred Finnish patriots had been confined for months in the prisons of St. Peters- burg awaiting sentence of death. The thought of these unhappy victims to the struggle for our right had lain like a heavy load on the whole community ; it was to them, therefore, that the first joyful thoughts from Finland went out.

Nor was it long before information was received that the new Russian Government had done everything in its power, viz., once more restored to Finland all her rights. Still at the same time it was found that the representatives of our Labour Party had preferred the demand that the Russian Provisional Government should introduce into its manifesto promises of the social reforms desired by the party ; but as these demands were at

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once rejected as contrary precisely to those fundamental laws which would now again become valid, this bold step did not attract any particular attention. Yet, in the light of later events, this was the first sign that the Labour Party did not shrink from resorting to any foreign means of power, when it was a question of carrying through their own private claims.

The situation soon became very complicated.

The drama played in Finland by the Russian troops carried away by the intoxication of the revolution, showed what an army in process of disintegration means, and what an Asiatic barbarism the Russian army in dissolution was able to develop. The first days of the revolution in Helsingfors took the shape of a huge riot of the soldiers and the mob. Detachments of naval and land forces dashed about in the motor-cars of their commanders, all with rifle or revolver in hand, with the finger on the trigger, firing volleys of shot into the air for joy, or shooting straight before them in order to increase the din and noise caused by the furious speed. They were hunting for the officers who had concealed themselves. The latter were killed wherever they were found, in their houses, in the street, or on staircases* The fatal shot was fired almost without exception from behind, in an unguarded moment when the victim was ordered to come along to be submitted to examination^ or simply arrested without ceremony. The city was entirely in the power of the Russian soldiers. They had turned out the police and maintained " order " themselves. Demonstration meetings and processions were arranged. Machine-guns were pulled through the streets, and fired off now in this place, now in that. Anything like this Russo-Barbarian frenzy had never yet been witnessed by the population ; whichever way you cast your eye in the streets you saw only wild, armed

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bands with the expression of madmen on their faces, carrying revolvers in their hands and the swords of murdered officers at their sides. These, then, were the deliverers of Russia — and of Finland !

It was not possible to regard the riotous bands with any immediate sympathy, even if one was obliged to argue oneself into the belief that even their activity had helped Finland to comparative liberty. It was a Russian mob which was presented to one's sight ; frenzied, brutal, ignorant masses that took the life of their superiors with impunity. And the aversion to these masses grew when it was understood that they by no means intended to abolish the Russian command in Finland. In place of the Russian gendarmery came a " Counter Espionage Department for the Defence of Popular Liberty," which took over all the papers of the gendarmery from the time of war. The liberated Finnish prisoners in St. Petersburg were obliged to fly quickly across the frontier to Sweden, the new Russian military authorites — all sorts of boards and committees — continued to arrest Finnish citizens and arrange house searches. Finland was still ruled by the Russian military garrisoned there, though now no longer by the officers but by the soldiers.

The Labour Party did not, however, entertain any doubts. Bound by its traditions to the Russian revolu- tionary movement, it now cast itself head foremost into the hubbub caused by this latter in Finland. The large demonstration processions of the first weeks were Finno- Russian, the Labour press at once adopted the whole of the wild Russian phraseology, and the lively fraternising started during the fortification-work between the Russian soldiers and Finnish working-men was now complete.

It is a matter of course that, in the undisciplined masses which constituted the Russian troops, the most extreme elements would take the leadership ; the murdering

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of officers was an excellent introduction. It is equally natural that among the Finnish masses of labourers that were expressly invited by the faction-leaders to fraternise wdth the Russians, the most violent individuals were in the liveliest co-operation with the Russian leaders. These latter were for the most part marines recruited in the first instance among the crews of the big ironclads which had been lying in the ports during the whole of the war, and the hands of which had therefore had plenty of time to develop into full-fledged Maximalists, Bolsheviks — nay, into anything and everything but efficient labourers and firm characters.

In Finland pure mob-rule developed with unexpected swiftness. Besides, the Russian soldiers' own conduct, a particularly extensive general pardon granted in con- sequence of the revolution, by which a great number of criminals were liberated, was conducive to this. But first and foremost the tactics of the Labour Party. As before mentioned, it had gained a majority at the elections in the summer of 1916, and when now the Single-Chamber assembled, Kullervo Manner, later of such melancholy fame, became its leader, and since then the equally notorious Oskari Tokoi became president of the parlia- mentary Government which was elected.

One would have thought that the Labour Party ought to have been satisfied with a majority both in Parliament and Government, and should now have entered upon a sober and dignified policy. But this was by no means the case. The first declaration of Mr. Tokoi's Government was certainly applauded in all circles, for in this he stated plainly and unreservedly how much Finland had hoped for the defeat of Russia in the war, and with what confidence we now looked forward to a freer and happier future for the country. But even if the Labour Party thus observed a certain dignity in its most official conduct,

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it still continued its agitation policy against the bourgeoisie with unwearied zeal. Strikes broke out one after the Other. Their purpose was to introduce the eight-hour working-day. This demand was quickly acceded to in several industries, but new causes for strikes were con- tinually found. The worst confusion was brought about In the agricultural world. During the busiest seed-time strike upon strike was organised among the farm hands. They too demanded an eight-hour working-day, a claim which it would be most difficult to give general sanction to within this sphere of activity. A lot of the strikes were started out of pure spitefulness. It was dissatis- faction with a foreman and the demand that he should be discharged, or there was something the matter with the food or the houses ; often a strike was proclaimed against the food crisis. The farm hands refused to belabour the soil and sow, thinking by this refusal to enforce bigger rations.

The strikes often assumed a violent character. The strikers prevented the people on the farms from milking or feeding the cows. The farmers were locked up and tin itened with death if they did not agree to the demands of the " people," the dairies were closed by force, and there were conflicts, with stone-throwing, stabbing and •shooting with revolvers.

The leaders of the Labour Party might, of course, have done much to stop this movement which, for every week that passed, assumed more plainly the character of arbitrariness and violence. But they did not. The reasons for this were many. In part they were not able, and in part they were not willing to interfere with the violent agitation of the masses. This would have demanded •co-operation with the bourgeoisie, and such co-operation was not desired. It would have demanded the establish- ed of an active native police force — a Government

B 2

20

police by preference — whereas now it was the express policy of the Labour Party to destroy the police entirely. The police force, which had been ousted by the Russian soldiers at the very beginning of the revolution, never came into being again. The " people " felt no confidence in this institution, and in its stead local corps for the maintenance of order were established — a " militia/ ' the men of which were to belong to the Labour Party. The struggle to get the police authority | of the country entirely into its own hands was so ener- getically carried on by the Labour Party, and was so successful, that later on in the year the militia in many cases gave the signal for all sorts of disturbances by striking first. Already in the course of the summer the police force of Helsingfors struck, and this act was of course illustrated by a whole series of offences, from the picking of pockets to murder, as was very natural in a city of 200,000 inhabitants which was without any real police, and was besides the haunt of huge masses of undisciplined Russian soldiers.

In the meanwhile the many strikes and the general disturbance had another effect which was also of advan- tage to the Labour Party. They scared the bourgeoisie. This latter now got to know what "■ the power of the people " meant ; it realised that the proletariat no longer begged and prayed, but claimed and demanded. Never, I suppose, has the working-man, but especially the rough, felt so puffed up with power as in the year 1917 in Finland ; never, I suppose, has the bourgeois had so strong a feeling as then that he was only tolerated and that his part was only silence and acquiescence. It was felt in the streets and in tram-cars — everywhere where people of different classes came together — that Finland had got a ruler, that the working-men with tho- assistance of the Russian soldiers had come to feel that

21

their " class " was the one that ruled the country. A typical illustration of this feeling was a resolution, carried at a meeting of labourers at Tornea, in which the upper class were commanded to give up wearing starched collars and cuffs " so that they could get to look like other people."

Difficult as were the exterior and interior conditions of the country, an increased mob-rule could only cause still greater confusion, trouble and disaster. The Lantdag was at work and treated a great number of Bills, but the Labour Party brooked no opposition, would not hear of the least modification or amendment of the Bills once proposed by it. The debates were one long series of violent oratorical sallies against the bourgeoisie, however willing, and more than willing, these latter in fact were to fix by legislation the length of the working-day within the various industries, to reform the municipal legislation, and to accelerate the emancipation of the cottagers — the three chief claims of the Labour Party. But the objective of the party was power. It had only a narrow majority in the Lantdag ; it therefore behoved it to fan the hatred against the " upper class " to a still greater flame. The party did not feel how many enemies it raised up against itself in this way. The farmers were resentful on account of the agricultural strikes, and even the older and more sober working-men began to entertain doubts of the development their party was taking. For it was quite plain that an element of pure ruffianism was coming more and more into the foreground.

However disquieting the situation was in the interior, it was not given all the attention it might have deserved, for another and more important question filled the minds of all — the old question of the relations with Russia. The impotence of the great empire began to show more and more plainly. All the various foreign nationalities within the frontiers of the empire sought to emancipate

22

themselves, and the possibility of an independent Finland came nearer and nearer. It was, of course, difficult to maintain a uniform and firm line of policy in this question,, so vague was the perspective, so varying the Russian drama. But the trend of things was given ; the object must be to get as far as possible from the Russian muddle.

Only the Labour Party vacillated. It was fascinated by the great revolution and drawn towards it as the moth towards the flame. " I believe I am expressing correctly the inmost thought of the whole Finnish proletariat," wrote one of the leaders of the Party on the 4th May, " when I say that the Finnish democracy wishes to fight side by side with the Russian democracy for the most exalted ideals of humanity, and when I say that its will is that Finland may for ever constitute an internally autonomic part of the great free Russia's democracy.' '

But such declarations were as yet out of place. At a party congress in June the Labour Party, without such far- reaching suggestions, resolved that " Finland's people shall be emancipated from State dependency and tutelage."

For as yet the " bourgeoisie " were in power in Russia. On the 3rd July a representative of the Finnish Labour Party expressly declares that this is the meaning of the efforts for independence made by the Finnish proletariat. He says, in a memorial to the great Working- men's and Soldiers' Council at St. Petersburg : " Hitherto we have been obliged to fight on two fronts — against our own bourgeoisie, and against the Russian Government. If our class war is to be successful, if we are to be able to gather all our strength on one front, against our own bourgeoisie,, we need Independence, for which Finland is already ripe."

There was yet another reason why the Labour Party entered the independence of Finland as an item in its programme. The hatred against Russia was so vivid in all sections of the population that overt friendship with

23

Russia might have become fatal. A radical striving for independence would, however, have every condition for strengthening the power of the party. This calculation certainly proved right. In the course of the summer the Labour Party got help in the Chamber from a few bourgeoisie representatives when, on the strength of a resolution sanctioned by the Russian Working-men's and Soldiers' Congress, it wanted to push through Finland's independence in a hurry, together with a number of radical reforms coupled with it. This took place at a moment when it was believed that the downfall of the Russian Provisional Government was pending. But the Government survived the Bolshevik assault and dissolved the Lantdag. Writs were issued for new elections for the ist October. After the dissolution came a series of parliamentary conflicts, which it would take too long to detail here. It need only be stated that the solution of the problem of Finland's independence as sanctioned by the Labour Party, presupposed a continued connection with Russia, whose Government alone had the right of deciding all external and military matters.

The strikes and disturbances continued throughout the summer, and as the butt of them were chosen by preference the representatives of the townships and the country communities. Of these latter was demanded a rise in salaries, or extra work, in order to mitigate distress, etc., and to carry through these claims, the premises where the representatives were assembled were besieged, and the representatives prevented from leaving them, until the claim was granted. At Abo the representatives were beleaguered for a day and a half ; in Helsingfors the whole affair lasted only a few hours ; at Helsinge it looked as if there was going to be black trouble. The mob called in the aid of the Russian military when a siege of a day and a night had brought no result, and the

24

soldiers threatened instantly to set fire to the meeting- house, which was built of wood, if the representatives did not at once comply with the " People's " wish. As the soldiers were evidently in good earnest, the majority of the representatives decided to grant the increase in pay which was the object of the whole affair.

Events of this kind encouraged provisions for the maintenance of order. The successors of the police — the militia of the Labour Party — had proved incapable of doing anything. To this trouble was added a number of cares for the future. A German invasion in Finland was not excluded. At least it might be hoped that the Russian troops would evacuate Finland after an eventual separate peace. In both cases a removal of the Russian troops might then be thought of, and what this meant was seen from the communications about the retreat in Galicia after Kerenski's unsuccessful offensive in July* The whole population of Finland knew that the troops of Russian soldiers it saw in its villages might at any moment be changed into hordes of wild animals, just like those which had looted and burnt, committed murder and outrage in Tarnopol and other cities, and it did not wish to suffer such a fate without at least making some attempt at resistance.

Taking all this into account — the already prevailing anarchy, the mob-rule with its continual acts of violence, and the fear of possible Russian massacres, it was both reasonable and necessary to form protection corps of volunteers for the defence of the life and property of the population. It was just as natural that there should be a wish to recruit these corps from all sections of society and all parties. In many parts the organisation was begun in perfect harmony between the " Socialists " and " Bourgeois." Anyone would be able to see that the matter was urgent and of importance to everybody.

25

In the rules and regulations for the Protective Corps was contained the clause that they were only to turn out at the orders of the lawful police. The Government, from which the representatives of the Labour Party had withdrawn after the dissolution of the Lantdag, established its police-school in the country near the town of Borga, where a mounted troop of 200 men was trained to be ready to be sent out in an emergency to stop revolts in any part of the country. The institution of protective corps was undisguisedly supported by a couple of the provincial papers of the Labour Press. Yet the whole movement was never very extensive. The Pro- tective Corps hardly felt equal to their great task, especially as a great shortage of arms was felt. For many years the import of arms to Finland had been prohibited, therefore there was only a small store of army rifles and a few more revolvers in the possession of the Corps. The 200 pupils in the police-school in November owned twelve rifles, the Protective Corps at Helsingfors in January, 1918, at the outbreak of the insurrection, were in possession of 100. And in the worst case the foe would be a Russian army corps fully provided with artillery and much else, besides the whole of the Russian Baltic fleet. The prospect was not a bright one.

In the meanwhile the various Protective Corps had appeared here and there, had prevented a robbery of butter destined for the hospitals, captured eighteen scoundrels at Helsinge, etc. This was the signal for the Socialists not only to withdraw from all co-operation, >ut also to declare war against the Protective Corps. In the chief organ of the Labour Press, " Ty6mies " (the Working-man), the leading article for the 28th August bore the following title : " The Civic Guard Ready to Attack the Working-man. An Organisation embracing the Whole of the Country is Started."

26

The article asserts quite coolly that the bourgeoisie have armed themselves to " mutilate the starving proletariat.' ' " There is no intention of checking the marauding policy of the war ruffians, but in support of it citizens are armed against the desperate working-men in order to pour out the blood of brethren." This, of course, was sheer conscious untruth. What was the purpose of the Protective Corps will appear from what has been stated above. The want of an efficient police force also shov/ed itself in the rationing of food, the producers in the country were very unwilling to send their products to the towns for the express reason that they feared they would be seized without ceremony by the mob. Here, then, was another task for the Protective Corps. But the campaign against them was continued in the Labour Press. A few more extracts will give an idea of the tone. On the 25th September " Tyomies," under the title ; " Bourgeois* Sanguinary Guards. They Are Being Trained and Armed Quickly. Their Activity is Directed against the Working-men," writes amongst other things as follows : "It is the intention of the upper classes to commit sanguinary deeds, and to crush the working- men's organisations by force of arms. Is there any difference between Bobrikoff's gendarme rule and this occupation ? By no means. These men of the Pro- tective Corps go almost further. They wander about with the finger on the trigger, and are ready to snap the life out of anyone who is dressed in the labourer's jacket." " The bourgeois themselves have let fall the veil. Their blood-dripping measures are revealed to the sight of the honest fellow-citizen, their armed, thousand-headed guards and mounted troops. The bourgeois are bringing up ignorant men to wholesale slaughter of their own fellow citizens. They have already emptied the arsenals of our country, and are

27

directing the muzzles of their guns against their own countrymen, against the hearts of the working-men. The prosperous open their purses and pay tribute of blood in order to protect their class interests."

And all this because eighteen malefactors have been arrested at Helsinge who have held the province in terror for weeks on end, and among which there was one assassin !

The police-school meets with a similar treatment. It says about it : "In Finland we have now over ioo Jack the Rippers. The bourgeois have made a mathe- matically correct calculation, for the result will be exactly the same whether you reduce the number of stomachs or increase the bread rations."

Whence all this ? In part the articles may be accounted for as weapons in the electioneering campaign which was the forerunner of the new Lantdag elections. But the reason why the Labour Party entered the lists in defence of the misdeeds of the mob and the more and more violent anarchy in the country lay deeper. The power of the Bolshevik Party in Russia was growing, and with this party, among whose most eager adherents were the troops garrisoned in Finland and the crews of the Baltic fleet, the Finnish Labour Party was in lively connection. This party was to bring about the great social revolution throughout the world, one fine day it would take all power into its hands, and the Finnish " comrades " wished to take a share in this. They knew quite well that all the other parties in Finland would oppose a Finno-Russian proletariat dictatorship, they knew that the Protective Corps would resist such attempts to force Finland into the Russian chaos. There- fore they talked in this high strain, therefore Finland's respectable citizens were made to appear as bloodthirsty wild beasts, therefore the food crisis was presented as the outcome of their wish to starve " the labouring

28

people/' and therefore all disturbing elements, all robbers and incendiaries, were welcome for the support of the approaching revolution. By painting the citizens as Russian bureaucrats and oppressors of the purest water the end was gained, the Russian military gang and the Finnish labourers presented a common front against the upper class. The situation became clearer, the somer- sault had come off successfully, the Finnish patriots, who with their life and liberty had defended their country against Russian oppression, who had greeted the Russian revolution with rejoicings, had now been made into " black counter-revolutionists," " the executioners of the people," worse than Russian agents of the gendarmery. The situation was ripe for the resurrection of the Red Guard to fight against the Protective Corps.

The Russians understood the intention to act. In October a representative of the Russian Working-men's and Soldiers' Council in Finland says at a Congress of Councillors in St. Petersburg : " Finland stands on the threshold of civil war, Finland's bourgeoisie is armed, and on the point of assaulting the Finnish proletariat. It is the duty of the council to disarm Finland's bourgeoisie and hand over the weapons to Finland's proletariat."

In the course of the summer the first corps of the Red Guard was formed. In October an appeal was issued from the leaders of the Labour Party to form such corps all over the country.

4. OCCURRENCES OF THE AUTUMN AND WINTER.

October.

The elections for the new Lantdag took place on the

1st October. The independence of Finland was included

in the programme of all parties, but in reality a trial of

strength was imminent between the " Bourgeois " and

29

the " Socialists," the Social-Democratic Party was still the official name of the Labour Party. This party had appeared as the protector of the mob and the friend of the Russian soldiers. It must now be the object of the country to choose between being dragged into the Russian revolution whithersoever this would tend, or resolutely avoiding it, taking its fate into its own hands and re- establishing order. Fortunately, it was seen that the infection from the Russian revolution had not impreg- nated the whole people. The Labour Party lost its majority. It returned 92 representatives against 108 bourgeois.

This was a hard blow to the " Socialists." They had gone to the poll with the firm assurance of victory. The many successful strikes, by which wages had been screwed up considerably, had increased the number of the organised labourers almost tenfold, and these were safe votes. Besides this, it was reckoned that the chances for an extreme radicalism were now, in the midst of the world-war and the Russian revolution, better than they had ever been. Only for this reason did the Socialists take part in the elections at all. The Labour Party had not acknowledged the dissolution of the Lantdag, and announced that the new elections were " illegal." They took part in them, however, with the assumption that for the new Lantdag " it could not be claimed that it should in every respect conform to the before-existing legal rules," as it said in the party's call to the poll — but that in opposition to the usual rules of procedure of the Lantdag, it had the right to sanction fundamental laws and taxation acts by simple majority, and also to act as a free constituent assembly.

So that was it. The people elected a Lantdag, but when it was well elected, and had got its Socialistic majority, it would reveal itself as a constituent assembly !

30

By this the power would be placed in the hands of the Labour Party in a way that was as simple as it was shrewd. But it proved a miscalculation. The party therefore changed tactics, and kept very scrupulously to the usual procedure of the Lantdag, in order to bring the influence of their great minority to bear as much as possible.

x\s soon as their defeat in the elections had become known, the Labour Party began to organise corps of the Red Guard in good earnest. Before they had been mutually independent organisations, now they were to be transformed into a real army. The purpose of this was first stated to be self-defence against the butcher-corps, i.e., the Protective Corps, but soon the real, purely revolutionary, intention is allowed to show through, though only obscurely.

In a procalamation issued on the 20th October the leaders of Finland's Collective Trades Unions say as follows : *' As the bourgeoisie is now feverishly arming itself against the labourers in order to stifle their most important endeavours for reform, the leaders are of opinion that in self-defence, and to provide against all contingencies, the labourers should immediately raise corps of Guards all over the country." But already on the 16th October the former chief of the Government, Mr. Tokoi, had

o

pointed out in a speech at Abo that the defeat at the elections need not be of decisive importance as " the labourers had other means of power besides the ballot to bring home their claims. It was necessary to stand firm, and fight for the victory of the revolution when the right moment had come."

On the 31st October the party council of the Social- Democratic Party calls upon those corps of the Guard that are not yet fully equipped to " get ready as quickly as possible, and collect all the forces of the working-men

3i

in order to provide against every contingency, for great events may lie in wait for us." On the next day the " Leading Committee of the Labour Guards Corps " makes the following announcement : " Great events may call upon us before we expect it, and then the Labourers' Guards Corps must be ready to accomplish their task so that we can be on a level with circumstances."

This is an invitation to revolution. Revolution against what ? The word was meaningless, as in reality all the claims for reform, preferred by the Labour Party, had already found, or were on their way to finding, a solution in the Lantdag. But something else was on the books. The most democratic of all election acts had pronounced its sentence, and it went against the Labour Party. It was therefore necessary to bring off a coup by which the party could get into power again in spite of tlni plainly manifested will of the people. The ballot was no good any longer, the " other means of power " were now looked to with confidence. These, however, were for the time being in the hands of a band of men who were the country's enemies, if anyone was, for they were the rifles of the licentious bands of Russian soldiers. With these it was intended to fight and to cow the people in its own country. That, however, is not revolution, it is treason. And the reason for entering into this mad game ? Lust of power together with the fascinating attraction of events in Russia. Besides this, the Labour >arty had now wrought up its own adherents to such a pitch that they obstinately demanded victory, power, and the complete subjection of the " bourgeoisie." A journal belonging to the staff of the Red Guard at "ammerfors shows how the organisation of the corps was irried out. At a meeting on the 6th October, a com- mittee was elected for the securing of weapons from the Russian soldiers. Simultaneously majors were appointed.

32

ioth October. The staff determine that the Guard shall be recruited in accordance with the law of conscription. In North Tavastland are placed eleven battalions of men between twenty-one and forty years. The training to begin immediately.

16th October. Conscription is extended to the ages from eighteen to twenty-one. A special armed troop is formed of completely trustworthy, capable men. Railway men offer to form own battalion. An espionage depart- ment is formed. Maps are provided.

17th October. Four interpreters (for co-operation with the Russians) are appointed. An offer from the Russian soldiers of 500 rifles, at 50 Finnish marks apiece (their real value was from 600 to 800 marks), and 125, 000 cartridges, is received and at once closed with. It is decided to procure revolvers.

In this way it was intended to protect the " poor starving working-men " against the " bloodthirsty citi- zens." A few weeks later it was to appear for what purpose the Russian rifles had actually been procured.

November.

On the 1st November the new Lantdag assembled at Helsingfors. Its most important problem was pro- visionally, in some way or other, to adjust the complicated relations with Russia. The discussion relating to this question was carried on partly between the party-groups and partly between these and the representative of the Provisional Government in Finland, Governor-General Nekrasov. But while awaiting the solemn opening of the session it was possible to follow in the press how the situation was developing round about in the country The notices thereof in a certain way throw light upon the circumstances.

On the 1st November the papers bring the following

33

communications : Six Russian soldiers have searched an office in Helsingfors, arrested two persons and put them in prison. Cause : a secret — and false — denouncement for having stored weapons. — At Viborg, Cossacks there garrisoned have taken offence at a newspaper notice, prevented the paper from appearing, threatened to arrest and flog the editors. — A drunken marine soldier has thrown paving-stones through the windows of a tram-car in Helsingfors. — A Russian sentry has shot a young Finn who had not succeeded in stopping his runaway horse in time. — Russian soldiers have arrested two persons in a villa suburb of Helsingfors — cause unknown.

2nd November. Drunken soldiers make a scene at Tammerfors station which delays the train two hours. —

"wenty soldiers force their way into the editorial offices the Kasko Tidning and make a search of the house.

'ause : a woman has said to a soldier that there were weapons in the yard. The search was without results. — A young girl has been assaulted by two soldiers. —

o

Count Armfelt at Aminnegard has been visited by seven armed marine soldiers who arrived in a motor-car, over- powered a sentry-post and tried to force their way into the main building to " murder and rob," as they said themselves. They, however, retired when they saw that the house was guarded.— At a factory in the up-country the parish constable and two policemen come to fetch a suspected individual for examination. This excites the displeasure of the working-men, who arrest the parish constable and the policemen. They are ordered not to

low themselves on the premises of the factory in future.

-The council of soldiers at Viborg forbids the appearance )f the paper which has excited its displeasure " while the war lasts " and threatens violence. — Finland's Procurator

Idresses a communication to the Governor-General

ith the request that the Russian military, totally

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34

undisciplined as it is, may be withdrawn from the country.

3rd November. Before the lower court at Abo a case is proceeding against six persons arrested for the theft of butter. Suddenly 50 Russian marine soldiers, armed with rifles with fixed bayonets, force their way in and surround both judge and prisoners. Two sailors take their stand on either side of the prosecutor and direct their revolvers against him. Then the court is ordered with threats of revolvers and rifles to release the prisoners. As the bench remain silent, the soldiers themselves release the prisoners, seize all the papers of the court, and take their departure with the six happy thieves. — Two soldiers force their way into a shop, knock down the shop-girl and rob the till. — A board-school teacher and his wife are fired at without cause as they are walking along a country road. They succeed in concealing themselves in a wood. The pursuing soldiers fire about forty shots at them. — A gentleman is attacked one night in the heart of Helsingfors by two marine soldiers, they catch hold of his head from behind and stab him in the chest. A book he carries in his pocket saves him.

The days from the 4th to the 7th November furnish the following illustrations : A fight in a dancing-saloon with stabbing and revolver shooting. Russian soldiers seize without ceremony 300 kgs. of tin ; when the owner appears, the soldiers try to arrest him ; he escapes into a house, is fired at, returns the fire ; the house is surrounded, the man is seized, bound, and taken to the Russian barracks. — A drunken soldier fires several shots through a window, the bullets hit the wall just above the bed of a sleeping child. After that the man shoots down the streets and breaks some windows. Seven house-searches without results are made by Russian soldiers. — Soldiers commit burglary in a school and a factory. — In the

35

middle of the day a gentleman, who has drawn a consider- able sum of money in a bank, is assaulted by three Russian marine soldiers in the heart of Helsingfors. They drag the man into a gateway, strike him till he loses conscious- ness, and rob him. — A woman of the streets has been arrested for theft. Russian soldiers demand her release or threaten to release her by force. — The Government, who had made energetic attempts to re-establish the highly necessary permanent police, is informed by a deputation of Russian soldiers that the military garrisoned at Helsingfors intends to prevent any such attempt by force of arms. — From an account published in a Russian paper of a soldiers' meeting it appears that the soldiers had made journeys to Russia to procure arms for the Finnish labourers.

The situation was not agreeable. Behind the searches and arrests of the Russian soldiers stood the Labour Party, which was not ready itself to come into the foreground, and, for the time being, contented itself with keeping the hated " citizens " in continual terror through all these military assaults. This was not, however, under- stood by the bourgeoisie as yet. They thought that the proceedings of the Russians were caused by an exaggerated and mad fear of " German agents " ; that the soldiers feared a German advance against St. Petersburg, " the heart of the re volution,' ' and therefore ravaged the land as they did. Too great a faith in their own people pre- vented the Finns from seeing facts as they were, the largest political party in the country joining the demora- lised bands of Russian soldiers for purposes of treason.

A speaking proof of this good faith on the one hand, and the treachery of the Labour Party on the other hand, is found in the before-mentioned journal containing reports of the meetings of the Red Guard staff at Tammer- fors. On the 6th November the municipal council

c 2

36

requests the Red Guard to send some representatives to confer with the Protective Corps with a view to co- operation. This request is refused. On the 8th November there is a fresh communication from the municipal council. Information has been received from Estland giving a terrible description of the ravages of the Russian soldiers there. The municipal council therefore again requests the Red Guard to send some representatives to confer with the Protective Corps, in order that they may act in concert if the Russian military should begin to harry Finland as cruelly as Estland. According to the report the answer of the staff is to the effect that disturb- ances from the side of the Russians are not to be feared, and that all grounds are wanting for co-operation between the bourgeois and the working-men. At the same time the staff send two representatives and an interpreter to a Russian soldiers' meeting which " is dealing with the question of procuring arms for us." The result is good. They get their weapons. It must be noted that the staff is under the leadership of the Labour Party, and that the latter, as it appears from several places in the report, was also in direct negotiation with the Russians about the procuring of weapons.

This little incident gives a good idea of the situation. As yet the upper classes had such optimistic notions about the Red Guard of the Labour Party that they believed them ready to defend the country if it became necessary. But these latter were in reality already taken up by an energetic revolutionary co-operation with the Russians, and were arming themselves together with them against their own countrymen — at the same time assuring the latter that no danger threatened.

One more act of violence was committed during the first days of November, and one that attracted special attention, partly because it cost several people their

37

lives, and partly because it showed how exceedingly difficult the task of the Protective Corps practically was. On the 6th November, about fifty armed Russian marine soldiers arrived by train and motor-car in the iibourhood of the estate of Mommila in Tavastland. At Mommila were staying some friends and relatives of the owner, the Landbrugsraad Kordelin — eleven ladies and eleven gentlemen. When they were warned by telephone of the sudden concentration of military in the neighbour- hood, they applied to the nearest town for a guard. Six men were sent. The next morning the soldiers marched into Mommila, cut the telephone wires, took the guard captive, and made an energetic search throughout the house. Four of five of the sailors proved to be Finns in uniform, a couple of these were bad characters from the neighbourhood. During the search gold watches, bracelets, rings, bangles, garments, etc., disappeared. The sailors made themselves at home at the breakfast- table and let the hungry visitors see how much they enjoyed the meal intended for them. As a reason for this enforced hospitality, now one reason, now another, was given. The search was for corn, arms, German spies, all according to circumstances. When the search was ended, all the eleven gentlemen were arrested, in order, as it was said, to be taken to Helsingfors. In the meanwhile the news of the proceedings of the soldiers had spread, and from the neighbouring town, Lahti, thirty men of the Protective Corps proceeded to Mommila to find out what was actually going on. On the high road, some kilometres from the estate, the thirty men met a motor-car packed full of armed sailors, and behind it came the whole bevy of prisoners in various vehicles guarded by sailors. The leader of the Protective troop signalled to the motor-car to stop, which it did. On his asking what the soldiers were up to, they answered

38

by giving fire. After that there was brisk firing which lasted for about forty minutes. The prisoners of the Russians ran off towards the wood, but two of them, the Landbrugsraad, Mr. Kordelin, and the manager of a large factory, a civil engineer, Mr. Pettersson, were immediately shot down by their guards before they had made the least attempt to run away. The shots were fired by a sailor sitting behind them in the cart, evidently a Finn in disguise. A valuable ring worn by Kordelin disappeared and was found again a few months after in the possession of a Russian infantryman who was offering it for sale. In the fight two members of the Protective Corps were killed, a photographer and a verderer, while two sailors were killed and several wounded. The Russians fled in different directions, some of them were captured later on after more or less violent conflicts, but they were of course liberated as soon as they were handed over to the military authorities. The Protective Corps of Helsingfors now marched out, but at the same time the Russian military took alarm. They took possession of the important railway junction Riihimaki, in their nervousness fired at a train with exchanged German invalided prisoners, and sent 400 men with rifles and machine guns to Mommila. In order to avoid bigger fights the Protective Corps of Helsingfors retreated.

The murdered owner of Mommila was a very wealthy man. He had made a will by which the whole of his fortune, amounting to more than forty million marks, was left to all sorts of associations and institutions for the education of the people.

Among the bourgeoisie it was believed that the events at Mommila would open the eyes of the labourers and show them the necessity for concord and united action against the Russian outrages and the native ruffianism. All bourgeois papers expressed the hope that the

39

Protective Corps, as well as all the corps of the Red Guard, would now unite and combine to guard the peace and lawful order of the country.

There was all the more reason for nourishing such hopes as Finland had, just at this time, by the force of circumstances, been practically detached from Russia. On the 7th November the Bolshevik insurrection had broken loose in Russia and the Provisional Government had been overthrown. Russia was now without govern- ment, for the right to the executive power was not acknowledged by anyone but the party's own members, and so much was plain that the power vested in the Russian Emperor, in his quality of Grand Duke of Finland, could not without ceremony pass over to a Russian party committee which had usurped the power. Finland must now decide her own fate.

The moment was great and historical. The collapse of Russia had now progressed so far that Finland as a detached whole could choose her own way and show that she was really a nation with Western culture, capable of holding her own among the States of Europe. But the Labour Party would not hear of anything of the sort. In accordance with the old form of government the Lantdag was to choose a ruler for the country already on the 8th November. But, on account of the split among the factions, the presidency of the Lantdag was of opinion that there were grounds for proposing an administration committee of three persons. The Labour Party moved a counter-proposal containing the programme of an entire social revolution, and demanding amongst other things that the law — the so-called Power Law — which had been the cause of the dissolution of the former Lantdag should now be confirmed. This party thus considered it adequate — as proposed in this law — to continue to commit all foreign and military affairs to the Russian Government

40

which at the moment did not exist. After a great many difficulties the question was decided to the effect that the Lantdag itself took over the Higher Power in Fin- land.

In the meanwhile the Labour Party found that the moment had now come to bring into play those "unparliamentary means of power " they had so often threatened to employ. On the 13th November at twelve midnight they proclaimed a general strike throughout the country, and their first act was to take possession of all the printing offices of the bourgeoisie papers, so that the morning papers could not appear on the 14th. The Red Guard had now come into action.

What was the reason for this sudden vigorous measure just at this time ? The demands preferred by the party in the strike proclamation did not make the matter clearer. They consisted in a radical regulation of the food question, and the struggle against unemployment on the lines laid down by the Labour Party ; the con- firmation of the " Power Law," of the law of the eight- hour working-day, and of the proposed extremely radical municipal law ; secure guarantees for an old-age pension scheme, for an effective taxation of large incomes and war profits, for the emancipation of cottagers, and the extension of the franchise to persons of the age of twenty ; the convening of a constituent assembly.

It is not easy to see how a general strike would be able to act beneficially with regard, e.g., to the providing of food, or do away with unemployment, or why the " Power Law," with its highly unsatisfactory solution of the problem of Finland's relations with Russia, was now so desirable. On the whole there was every possible reason for suspecting that the end and purpose of the strike was something very different from what the proclamation stated, and that this latter was only a

41

mere misleading sign. This was seen in the first instance from the fact that the strike did not end when the Lantdag passed the two Bills it was possible to pass — the eight-hour working-day and the municipal law — but not until a couple of days after, though none of the many other claims had been carried through. Further- more, the real purpose might be inferred from the fact that the strike leadership was in the hands of a committee bearing the name of the" Revolutionary Central Council" — so it was intended to start a revolution. And last but not least, in the declaration which ended the strike, was found a passage showing that power was the ultimate object. " Finland's bourgeoisie is certainly not yet on its knees before the working-class," it says. And as a consolation: "The general strike has ended, but the revolution persists."

A couple of documents now accessible, from the days before the outbreak of the strike, give us another glimpse into its real purpose. On the 9th November a committee elected by the Social-Democratic Municipal Organisation

o

meets at Abo, the purpose of which is "to lead the approaching strike " (in the journal is added above the line: " or revolution "). At the meeting two persons are elected who, together with an interpreter, are to take part in the Russian executive committee's and the Bolshevik committee's meetings now sitting, in order to deliberate on the expediency of united action during the approaching revolution. The meeting is adjourned in order to await the return of the deputation, and is continued again at twelve midnight. Two representatives of the executive committee of the Russians are now present. The report of the meeting runs as follows : ' The Russian comrades gave an account of their plans ; we then explained the situation from our point of view. We agreed that the beginning of the fight should be

42

signalled by three gunshots (first one and then two quickly after one another) . At the same time the Russians stated that they had no objection to our people taking the Hotel Phoenix for headquarters, with the exception of the rooms already occupied by the Russian Soldiers' Committee. We informed the Russians that before morning we would submit a strategical plan for the taking of the city. This plan is later submitted to the Russians."

At the meeting next day the " strategical plan " is discussed, with a few small amendments it is carried, and then sent on to the Russian soldiers. At the same time it is determined that " the leading persons and other such " of the bourgeoisie — a special list is found — are to be arrested immediately on the outbreak of the revolution, and that all " central places " must be taken.

Also in Tammerfors the strike is prepared after joint deliberation with the Russians. The work is thus dis- tributed that the Russian soldiers are to make all searches after weapons and take possession of the telegraph, while the Finnish Red Guard does the rest.

It is thus plainly seen that the real purpose of the November strike was to carry out the " revolution," for which the signal had been given already before, and none other. Now the time had come. The Bolsheviks had taken over the Government in Russia ; now they wanted to do the same in Finland. The Finnish Labour Party was allowed to hang on to the circumference of the big Russian revolution and secure the power to themselves at home. In view of this the party was quite indifferent to what the result would be for the country in its entirety if pure anarchy and complete mob-rule should be the result. It looked as if the party had already lost the last remnant of its sense of

43

responsibility and all understanding of law, order and civilisation, and that its road now lay in the direc- tion of treason and civil war.

The course the strike took showed what the Red Guard was worth. For several days cartloads of Russian weapons had been rolling out towards the " People's House " at Helsingfors. Now the" Working-men's Guard Corps for the Maintenance of Order " were fully equipped. They went round the streets and forcibly closed the shops. They took possession of the headquarters of the police, went over the photographic collection of criminals, and destroyed photographs of thirty-one individuals who were now trusted men in the Guard. Eight of them were murderers. A lot of houses were searched, and in Helsingfors alone close upon 200 persons were arrested. Among these was the district magistrate, who sat imprisoned until the month of January. The district

o

magistrate at Abo suffered the same fate. In the streets patrols sauntered about with guns, now and then firing a few volleys " for the maintenance of order."

But worse was still to come. At the order of the " Revolutionary Central Council " the eighteen above- mentioned ruffians from Helsinge were let out of the district prison at Helsingfors. This was soon felt in their native parish. For thither they went, cheered by the crowd, after having been armed in the " People's House," and there they began their ravages again. First they looked up a board-school teacher, rummaged through his house, found nothing, took him with them into the yard, set him against a wall and shot him. Laughing, the band went on. The parish constable was visited by them, and when he met them on his stairs he was fired at and fell down badly wounded. The band went on and shot the owner of an estate, who came driving along the high road. In his company was a young

44

tradesman who succeeded in escaping. But the next morning he was caught in his home and shot — he might have proved an unpleasant witness. At the estate of Hartonas the owner, Mr. Bergbonn, was sitting at his breakfast table when a band of Red Guardsmen entered and cried: " Hands up ! " Mr. Bergbonn was deaf, and turned to his wife, asking : " What is it they are saying ? M At the same moment there was a loud report and the old gentleman fell dead to the floor, shot through the head. As if nothing had happened the Red " ordermen " now began to search for arms — which, of course, were not found. A guards constable in private service was the next victim. He was sitting in his little house when the Red entered and ordered him to follow them. The wife and children clung to the head of the family and would not let him go. " You shall have him back again," say the Red consolingly to the woman. Half an hour later the door is opened and the dead body of the man is thrown in. " There, you have your husband ! " cries a voice outside.

In a detached villa near Helsingfors lived a widowed lady, Mrs. Sahlstr0m, with her four young sons. They had no reason for believing themselves hated or disliked by the " people." But one morning at seven o'clock they are awakened by a shot from the forest, and looking out through the window they see that the watch-dog lies shot by the steps. At the same moment there is a hammering on the door, and the eldest son, Gunnar, goes out to open it. Hardly has he put his head through the opening when there is the crash of a volley and he rolls down the steps into the yard, wounded though still alive. At the sound of the reports and the savage oaths Mrs. Sahlstr0m comes hurrying up, as also a younger son, Ragnar, only dressed in his night-clothes. As soon as he shows himself he, too, is saluted by a volley and

45

falls down beside his brother's body. Three bayonet thrusts put an end to his life. The ruffians now rush into the house and there find the two youngest boys, the eldest fifteen years old. A gun is raised against him, but the despairing mother has time to throw herself between, and the bullet misses him. A thorough search of the house is now begun, and with revolvers directed against their breasts the boys are ordered to confess 44 where arms were concealed." There were none. Then the men went out. Mrs. Sahlstr0m asked them to help her to carry in the bodies of her two murdered sons lying in a pool of blood in the yard. But the men only laughed, and when she asked them to remove themselves from out of her sight, they declared that they intended to stay and " guard the house." Against whom ?

The strike lasted a week. In this short time the Red force for the maintenance of order murdered thirty-four persons. But besides these there were many wounded, and several of the persons arrested were severely ill- treated in prison. At the house-searches and by the sequestration of various kinds of goods very great values were lost. Articles of gold and silver disappeared, wine-

o

cellars were plundered. At Abo the funds of the food control committee, 60,000 marks, were stolen, and sugar to the value of 200,000 was distributed among " the revolutionary people."

The general strike was brought to an end when it was found that it did not lead to any actual result. It had been a premature echo of the Bolshevik revolution in St. Petersburg, but it had been started in the wrong way by the official insistence on certain claims on Government and Lantdag. In order that these claims might be fulfilled the latter institutions had to function, whereas the aim of a real revolution would, of course, be their downfall. So the strike ended with the

46

declaration that the " valiant Red Guard of the Labour ing Class shall always be maintained as an organisation/' and that ' ' the Revolution continues. ' ' In the j ournal of the Red Guard at Tammerfors the situation after the general strike is designated as an " armistice,' ' during which the Guard is to be reorganised and put into good fighting condition.

One or two things seem to indicate that the revolution strike was organised at the instance of Russia. Lenin and his friends were not yet secure in their seats at St. Petersburg, and, on the other hand, they had their warmest adherents among the sailors in the Baltic fleet at Helsingfors. If the Bolsheviks had been forced to leave the Russian capital, Helsingfors would therefore have been an eminently suitable retreat. It is not improbable — certain features of the preparation for the strike lends support to this idea — that Finland's soil was to be prepared for making Helsingfors a safe head- quarter for Bolshevism. From this place the work for the world revolution could be directed just as well as, or better than, from St. Petersburg. Still, this is a conjecture which at least for the present cannot be proved.

When the strike broke out the country was without any supreme State power, and the Government had resigned. The exchequer was empty, and the food crisis had reached a crucial point. Free Finland did not find herself in any enviable position. As soon as the Lantdag had assumed the supreme power it had to choose a government. The Labour Party proposed an unmixed " Red " senate. This would, however, pre- suppose that a general pardon was to be granted for the crimes perpetrated during the week of the strike As this was a condition impossible to fulfil, a purely bourgeoisie government was elected with Mr. Svinhufvud at the head.

47

At this time there was much talk of a split within the ranks of the Labour Party. It was said that some of its more important members were beginning to lose their enthusiasm for the Russian anarchy, and to realise that the social revolution of the Bolsheviks, extended to Finland, would mean the destruction of this country. And undoubtedly there were signs that the week of the strike, with its experience and consequences that so little benefited the party, had sobered down several persons. But this fact could lead to no result now the Red Guard had once for all been let loose, and the continuance of the revolution proclaimed. Those who could not go to this length had to content themselves with silence or faint protests and retreat. In spite of a bourgeoisie majority in the Lantdag, and a purely bourgeoisie government, in spite of the scruples .of the Socialists themselves, the country had now been delivered up to the two great anarchist and terrorist organisations, the disbanding Russian army and the corps of the Red Guard.

The first task of the Government was to take measures for the re-establishment of order. It was met by almost insuperable obstacles. The force for the maintenance of order, the police, had, as stated before, disappeared, and in its place was found a local militia dependent on the Labour Party. This militia was very soon forced to a complete submission to all the demands of the Red Guard. It was therefore necessary to establish a new force, a force for the maintenance of order that would be independent of all parties, a national militia. Before the problem of this strong force for the maintenance of order could be solved — and its solution in the Lantdag on positive lines became the signal for the outbreak of the insurrrection in January — the Protective Corps had to be strengthened and armed. The already mentioned police school near Borga had been stormed during the

48

week of the strike by a large force of Red Guards and Russian sailors, the men had fled, the kitchen staff had been murdered, the horses stolen.*

A fresh beginning had to be made, and 0sterbotten was chosen as the centre for the new organisation.

But the Government had other equally important problems to solve. The independence of Finland had to be secured, food to be procured, and finances to be restored. The field of work was extensive, it all took time, and the Red gang and their comrades, the Russians, could therefore continue their activity undisturbed.

It became one of the chief tasks of the Red Guard after the strike to protect its felonious members against all designs on the part of the force for the maintenance of order. In this they were very successful. None of the murderers or robbers from the strike were caught ; only an unfortunate thief was twice arrested by detectives and twice forcibly liberated by his comrades. Each time he was liberated he scolded them soundly because they had not made more haste. Likewise the gains of the revolution were defended by retaining the prisoners in gaol. The district magistrates at Abo and Helsingiors were each in his separate cell. At Abo the Red had also taken possession of the lower and higher courts which were thus prevented from working. But a new branch of activity soon flourished for the corps of the Red Guard. From the local representatives in town and country they claimed compensation for the maintenance of order during the strike ! At Abo a claim of half a million was lodged, with the threat of plundering the city if the money were not forthcoming. The money was advanced — worse luck ! At Helsingfors the amount was one million,

* The horses causing the Red Guard a deal of trouble, a good way of getting rid of them was hit upon later on : it was pro- posed that the Government should buy them !

49

at Tammerfors only 100,000, etc. In like manner, the working men began to demand full pay from their employers for the strike days. It was extortion on a grand scale.

Such was the condition of affairs when the month of

December

came. Immediately on the morning of the 1st the newspape^readers had a fresh sensation : Seven armed men in plain clothes had escorted two goods vans packed full of fire-arms across the frontier ; they prevented all examination, failed to show any papers whatever, but saw to it that the vans reached their destination — the towns Kuopio and Lahti, where the contents were unloaded and taken to the houses of the working-men's club in the charge of a guard. This was the first of the many batches of fire-arms which arrived from Russia in the course of the month. The corps of the Red Guard had tasted blood, and the rifles they had employed during the general strike had for the greater part been borrowed of the Russians, and had to be given back again. Instead, the kind Russian Bolsheviks, who in meeting after meeting had proclaimed the principle of self- determination for the peoples, and specially laid stress upon the right of Finland to full independence being as plain as day, now sent any amount of weapons and ammunition to the corps of the Red Guard, whose task it was to crush the Finnish parties which were really in earnest about the right of self-determination. The customs and railway authorities lodged one objection after another but could do nothing, as they lacked all means of power. Thus the Russians distributed arms to the corps of the Red Guard throughout the country. Not only rifles and cartridges arrived, but also machine-guns — at the very least about a hundred. As the Russian military were

D

50

besides provided with a lot of cannon, and to all intents and purposes they identified themselves with the Red, it was only natural that all sensible citizens looked to the future with anxiety.

In an excess of optimism it was, however, hoped that the alteration of the external position of the country would also carry along with it a fortunate solution of the internal problems. On the 4th December the Government solemnly, in the Lantdag, declared Finland to be an independent, neutral State. The Foreign Powers would be immediately communicated with in order to obtain recognition of her independence, and, with regard to the relations with Russia, this question would be submitted to the Russian Constituent Assembly on its meeting. If Finland's emancipation from Russia was once acknowledged, it was the general opinion that the departure of the Russian troops from Finland would come about of its own accord. And as the Bolsheviks were labouring to secure an early peace, and had commenced the demobilisation of the army immediately after the armistice, it looked as if the stay of the Russian military in Finland was not going to be of any great length. If the military again took its departure it would no longer be an impossibility to restore order in the country. When the corps of the Red Guard were deprived of their strongest support, they were sure to return to sense.

Thus it was argued under the influence of the bright prospects shown by foreign affairs. But the acts of violation were continued. On the 4th December the City Council at Tammerfors were locked in by great crowds of working-men who demanded higher wages, and refused to let the council disperse before their demands were granted. After being imprisoned for a day and a night under threats and bawling, the besieged were

5i

liberated. One of them was, however, wounded with a knife as he went away. It is a characteristic fact that as the besiegers, consisting of all sorts of vagabonds, formerly labourers at the fortification works, had not carried out their action with the permission of the Red Guard, the latter determined at a meeting to take the city council under its protection in its character of maintainer of order. After a short debate, the Guard is qnitfe clear as to what shape the " protection " should take. The Red Guard undertakes to liberate the prisoners if they will consent to the conditions of the working-men. But if they do not, the Red Guard will consider their function as members of the city council as suspended, and they will not be allowed to hold any meetings unless the Red Guard gives its consent. At the same meeting the militia (police) corps of the city declares that it wishes to co-operate with the Guard in all respects, and that it will discard all " untrustworthy " elements from its midst. The working-men at Tammerfors demanded full pay later on for the two days they had kept the city council locked up.

Next came the turn of the city council at Viborg. They were locked up for one night. Then the city fathers of Kotka. Against these latter proceedings were carried on in another way. A crowd of working-men sought them out in their homes, and forcibly conveyed them to a meeting in the city hall. Here they were to grant the Red Guard 150,000 marks at once. This took place on the nth December. Already on the 9th the militia corps had declared a strike, so that the city had no police force. Until the evening of the 12th the prisoners received no food. All factories in the town had stopped, and all Government offices suspended their activities as a counter-move. Red Guards and Russian soldiers were on guard, searched houses and made arrests.

d 2

52

On account of the threatening situation, the city council at last acceded to the demands of the Red and were liberated.

On the 13th the city council at Bjorneborg were locked in, and liberated on the 14th.

This kind of farce was played all over the country, and the course it took was entirely dependent on how quick the threatened authorities were in acceding to the demands of the Red. But mob-rule reached its culminat- ing point at Abo. In this town the co-operation between the Red and the Russians had all the time been specially intimate, and the elements of pure ruffianism had also been unusually amply represented. The population of the town which had experienced an endless succession of threats and outrages groaned heavily under the yoke of terrorism, and showed signs of despair, a fact which as a matter of course increased the valour and exactions of the Red. They had taken over the police force and formed their own " militia.' ' As the latter was of more than doubtful worth, the authorities of the town naturally wished to put in a word on the subject, but the Red would not agree to this. As their demands had been twice granted, but new demands were constantly forthcoming, the authorities thought it might now be reasonable to refuse and to propose a conference. This proposal was answered by the striking of the militia, and with a sufficiently plain threat that the state of the city would be made so unsafe that the effects could not be foreseen. On Saturday the 5th December the militia was withdrawn, and Sunday evening the mob was sent to show what could be arranged if desired. Riotous crowds, among them many Russian soldiers, swarmed towards the middle of the town, and began to loot the shops. The large show-windows were smashed, the fixtures destroyed, and the goods dragged off in

53

sacks and bundles, on handbarrows, or in any way that suggested itself. This uproar kept on all night, and the militia-men rejoiced in their successful strike. On the Monday the Red Guard took possession of the post office, the banks, etc. In the evening the looting was madly continued. In the course of Tuesday Russian dragoon patrols interfered — it is stated : Ukrainians — and restored order in the course of the next day and night, much shooting.

The Labour Party, of course, dissociated itself from events at Abo, and declared that they were provoked by the citizens themselves. Against this may be adduced what the soldiers at Abo communicate in their own paper. In this it is said : " The Soldiers' Executive Committee knew beforehand what would happen, but on account of a private communication from the Finnish Revolutionary Committee no measures were taken."

Thus also the month of December passed in violent unrest and under unlimited mob-rule ; we have only been able to report a few of the most sensational events here. The Red bands harried the country, the Russian bands harried the country, no resistance could be offered nor any effective defence set up. A couple of examples of some aspects of the activity of the Red, which have not yet been touched upon, may complete the picture. The Red Guard, which thought itself that it had a great task to accomplish, of course felt painfully the manner in which the bourgeoisie papers exposed its doings. At a public meeting held by the Red Guard at Tammerfors on the 29th November, the style of writing of the papers is sharply blamed and the assembly decide to administer a warning as " the papers cannot be stopped now during the armistice." Two weeks later Russian soldiers forbid the appearance of a Tammerfors paper as it had con- tained a paragraph stating that not all Russian soldiers

54

in Finland are Bolsheviks. This is plainly enough felt as an outrage upon their honour. The staff of the Red Guard deal with this curious judgment and resolve that the Russians can do as they like, stop the paper or not, according to their pleasure. A peculiar view of the liberty of speech and the independence of Finland !

Another occurrence. In the middle of December seven goods vans arrived from St. Petersburg, sealed and guarded by armed men of the Red Guard. They con- tained spirits for technical use — it was said — and went as military goods. At Helsingfors, where the vans were to be unloaded, the authorities interfered so energetically that the unloading did not come off, but no more did the customs examination. The vans stood in the station, guarded both by Red Guards and custom-house officers. There were rumours abroad : was it firearms, explosives, or what ? The riddle was soon solved and the contents of the vans proved to be actually spirits, i.e., 1,296 cases of Russian spirits purchased in Russia b}' the English Legation and designed for the English Red Cross. The cases had disappeared from the custom-house office at St. Petersburg. The Reds at Helsingfors thus missed their stolen Christmas liquor, and these ardent teetotallers, who poured away all spirits they found in their house-

o

searches, at Abo in the week of the strike alone 30,000 litres, now had to go sober all the holidays.

January.

While this marauding was continued round about in the country, the Government laboured at obtaining recognition of Finland's independence. In the first days of January the goal was very nearly reached ; the Bolshevik government in Russia had acknowledged the country's independence, so had Germany, Austria- Hungary, Sweden, Denmark and Norway. This fact, as

55

w 11 as the peace conference in Brest-Litovsk, which revealed the utter impotence of Russia, influenced the situation in Finland. It was necessary for the Labour Party to take a stand upon the subject. Either the ful development of free Finland to a Western State emancipated from Russian dependence and Russian anarchy, or a Finland continually whirling round in the maelstrom of the Russian revolution, sinking into an Eastern chaos, into a gulf of anarchy and terrorism. The party chose the latter alternative. It was the natural consequence of its previous activity and of Russian pressure. But it could not have sunk into the arms of Bolshevism if it had let itself be guided by fairly reasonable views and not by the two powerful passions which now quite blinded it : lust of power and class hatred. The party subordinated itself to the plans of the Russian Bolsheviks, though reluctantly in certain quarters.

These latter were no secret. The formula of the self- determination of nations threatened Russia with destruc- tion. And the peace with Germany was soon to establish the fact that the provinces which had emancipated th mselves were politically independent. Undoubtedly Lenin's whole policy was directed towards preventing such a national disaster to Russia. And the means he employed was the social revolution of the world. It was to paralyze Germany's power, and it was to keep hold of the provinces within the boundaries of the Russian Empire which, without being occupied by the troops of the Central Powers, were now wandering their own ways. The same course was taken in the Ukraine, Estland, and Finland. The Bolsheviks intended to monopolise the power, if in no other way, by force. In this way these states would again become attached to Russia. For even if no separate nations existed to the

56

Bolsheviks, even if they formed an international proletariat, yet they had one centre and one chief : St. Petersburg and Lenin. The mighty Russian dreams of conquest here appeared in a new garb. The conquest of the world which so many highstrung Russian souls had imagined in the time of Tsarism, now cropped up again in a new shape : a proletariat world dictatorship under Russian leadership. If this dim goal was not reached, what had formerly constituted the Russian Empire should at least be retained under the Russian sceptre — the sceptre of the Russian proletariat.

Now, as regards Finland specially, we see the tendencies of Bolshevism reflected in some observations from this time. At a congress in St. Petersburg on the 5th December, 19 17, Lenin says : " Let the bourgeoisie despicably and pitiably quarrel over and bargain about the frontiers. The working-men in all countries and of all nationalities will not let themselves be divided for so paltry a reason. We are just about to conquer Finland." This is indeed plain speaking. Finland may emancipate herself from Russia as much as she likes, it will not in- fluence the labourers. Thanks to them the Russian Bolsheviks reconquer the country and so " self-determina- tion " is disposed of.

On the 19th December the official Bolshevik organ at Helsingfors has the following item : " There is one thing the bourgeoisie have not realised, that self- determination of the nations is conceivable if only the bourgeois upper class power be crushed." That is to say that self-determination is a delusion, for when the " bourgeois upper class power " is replaced by the dictatorship of the proletariat, there will be no nations any more, only classes.

When finally the Bolshevik Government acknowledged the independence of Finland, it was, as one of its members ,

57

st and telegraph minister Proschjan, expressly declares, 94 trusting that it will not be long before the proletariat of Finland begins the fight of the revolution and takes the reins of its country into its own hands. ' ' This "trust " was plainly based on a promise, given by the Finnish Labour Party, before the independence was acknowledged by the Bolshevik Government. This promise was apparently the reason why the acknowledgment was granted at all.

The position of the Labour Party was, however, most difficult. The activities of the bourgeois government had successful, the independence of Finland had been acknowledged, and now the leaders could turn with greater energy upon the interior anarchy, and particularly upon its most essential cause : the Russian troops. The demand that these should be at once withdrawn could now be preferred with greater force after even the Bolsheviks' own government had acknowledged the independence of Finland. And it required a lot of Russian evasions about '* a general plan of evacuation " and all sorts of vague phrases about the necessity of " defending the roads to St. Petersburg, the heart of the revolution, against German imperialism," in order to hold out against the well-founded and peremptory demand of the Finnish Government that the undisciplined troops should be withdrawn. But deprived of these Russian soldiers the position of the Labour Party was not of course very strong.

On the other hand the Red Guard caused its party anxiety. Its ravages and looting, its growing interference in all concerns, the arbitrary seizures of all the stores of the food regulation authorities which it indulged in, in short, the complete terrorism it practised, could not strengthen the " cause of the revolution." According to the statutes of the Guard it ought to be under the complete

58

control of the party leaders. These latter, after the November strike, made many attempts to purge the ranks of the army at least to some slight extent, and particularly to render it an obedient instrument in the hands of the party. But the Red Guard approached nearer and nearer to the age of majority. It was now very well armed and its relations with the Russians were so intimate that it knew exceedingly well the meaning of "an independent fighting organisation " after the Russian pattern. It strove to emancipate itself from the party. But such an emancipation would really mean that the Red Guard took over the leadership in the party, for who would dare to oppose its unscrupulous armed force ?

The meeting of the Red Guard on the 6th January, which was the introduction to the palace revolution, took a characteristic course. Some Russian " comrades " from St. Petersburg appeared before a crowded hall, explaining the course of the revolution in Russia, and at the same time expressing their surprise at the tame revolutionary movement in Finland which was specially doubtful and faltering during the November strike. The Russians gave it as their opinion that the party leaders at Helsingfors were not truly revolutionary. These utter- ances were received with a storm of applause. A proposal for new statutes was now submitted and was carried immediately.

A comparison between the old and the new statutes shows what the purpose was, viz. : to place the leadership of the " continuing revolution " in the hands of the Red Guard. This would afford security against the contin- gency that some poor cowards among the party leaders would prevent extreme measures against the citizens which it would perhaps be " forced " to adopt. Whereas the first paragraph of the old statutes quite innocently stated that "it is the business of the Guard to protect

59

the labourers' liberties of association, assembly, gp and press, and on the whole to serve as a protection to tlu rights of the labourers," this clause in the new statutes has received the following addition : " and to act as an

utive revolutionary force for the aims of the labourers." In the new statutes the second paragraph is quite aew. It runs : " The Red Guard obey the com- mands issued by the General Staff of the Guard. If during the revolution another revolutionary institution, local or embracing the whole country, should arise, the political power will pass over to the latter." In the old Statutes the following decision is made with regard to the supreme administration of the Guard : " The administra- tion of the Guard embracing the whole country is constituted by a management committee of five, whose m mbers are elected and removed by the party leaders and the leaders of the Co-operating Trade Unions at a general meeting." Now it is said : "At the head of the Red Guard of the whole country is a Commander- in-Chief elected by the representative meeting of the Guard, and a General Staff. The latter consists of eight

ibers, out of which the Party Leaders and the Leaders of the Co-operative Trade Unions each elect two, and the Representative Meeting of the Guard, four."

By these and other similar decisions the Red Guard was freed from the tutelage of the party. It now pro- ceeded to take over the leadership of the revolution entirely. Uncertain and faltering the choragi of the party looked on at this advance of the most violent elements. It is a typical fact that they dared not utter a single manly word of warning, but wriggled through the difficulties with vague phrases. How completely they had actually been forced to submit to the power of the Guard is proved by the fact that, already several days before the outbreak of the insurrection, the party's.

6o

representatives in the Lantdag had been forbidden to leave Helsingfors without a written permit from the chief of the Red Guard.

To everyone in the Labour Party who was not blinded by hatred of the bourgeoisie and lust of power it must be plain that a revolution in Finland would be utter madness. With the power it com- manded in parliament the party might carry through almost any reforms and had, as before mentioned, already got some extremely radical bills passed while others were on the road. The demand for a Constituent Assembly was devoid of all sense, as the country's parliament might be considered as such, and as it had been seen how the good party comrades, the Bolsheviks, had dissolved their National Assembly in Russia. The only point on which the bourgeoisie parties insisted inexorably was the question of Finland being drawn into the maelstrom of the Russian revolution. The most primitive instinct of self-preservation was sufficient to tell one that the only way the country ought not to choose was just the way the Red Guard Corps were going.

And to the more experienced men among the leaders of the Labour Party, too, Finland's immersion in the Russian revolution really looked like a very serious matter. The condition of affairs in Finland was too different from that in Russia for any possibility of carrying through the programme of the social revolution of the Bolsheviks in Finland. In the first place there could not be any question of " nationalising " the land in a country with a very large class of freeholding peasantry. So Finland was to take part in the Russian revolution, and yet not take any real part in it — so vague was the programme, so great the vacillation. These vague feelings among the leaders of the party, the conviction

6i

that the Red Guard had usurped the power, fear of the consequences, the realisation of the fact that a social revolution was impossible in Finland, besides the terror of being either a participant or a non-participant — all this is plainly reflected in a lengthy article by Yrj0 i, the future minister for foreign affairs in the Government of the rebels, published on the 12th January. In many columns he first proves the slight prospect of a social revolution in Finland before such a revolution has taken place in the countries that are the chief strong- holds of the capitalist system, and then goes on to say : —

" But though we are of opinion that we shall not in tin near future be drawn into any social revolution, yet the situation may develop into revolution. The class conflict which now shows itself in the clash of economical mt ivsts, in local disputes, in quarrels over sheriffs' offices — nay, even in an armed guerilla war — may perhaps soon come to a head in a decisive struggle for the power. It is plain to everybody that the state of affairs will be unendurable when the interior situation grows worse and worse. Only the ruffians and the instigators of the reaction will derive any benefit from the spread of anarchy in this country. But order may be established either in a ' lawful ' or a revolutionary way."

The lawful way is that of the party accepting a proposal submitted by the Government to the Lantdag for the establishment of a police force independent of the parties. The revolutionary way is that of the party overthrowing the Government. Sirola continues : —

" As I understand it there are now elements within our party that wish for such an appropriation of the governing power, and other elements that have no special desire for it. But above the question whether any of us wish this or not, stands necessity. The situation may develop in such a way that we must at least make an

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attempt. The conviction that this is so may become so general that both the Party Council and the Lantdag group will share it. But above all the working-men themselves ought to have a clear understanding of the matter. In each commune they should find out whether they can obtain the power there. In each district the district secretary and the leaders should calculate the extension of our power and that of our opponents. Everywhere the wTorking-men should try to realise in what sort of a position such an attempt might place us."

The writer thereupon quotes a bit from Marx, and goes on to say : —

'* The most important principle is that one must not play with rebellion. We must therefore be quite clear beforehand as to what we want. According to the opinion of the undersigned the following propositions must be regarded as the foundation of all that is done in this direction.

" I. That no attempt be made at a social revolution and that the supervision of the production and business generally be not interfered with in greater measure than is necessary in order to live — that is to say, in the same measure as a civil state is obliged to interfere, especially in time of war and a state of general distress.

" 2. That decisive measures, e.g., against the Lantdag, be not taken before the great bulk of our party is con- vinced of the necessity of proceeding to such. If this is not the case the revolutionaries may form agitation groups in furtherance of the work for the promotion of knowledge which they desire, but without breaking the common front which must be kept unbroken against the reaction. If, on the other hand, some groups are not satisfied with this, but intend under any circumstances whatever to proceed to action, they should quit the

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party and form their own organisation. It will then know its own extent and strength, and may decide when the moment has come for it to proceed to action.

"3. No action should be taken which completely isolates the proletariat in such an undertaking. By this 1 mean that the lower middle class and the small farmers or, on the whole, people in humbler circumstances should not be irritated so that they go against us."

The writer concludes : " Above all we need courage. The undersigned is not one of the bravest of men, but every one must now add his stone to the building, for the state of affairs is serious."

No, Mr. Sirola was not one of the bravest of men. He wanted to warn, but dared not. He wanted to turn the Red Guard out of the party so that it should not have the worst of it in the event of a defeat, but he dared not do so openly. He speaks of coming to " a clear under- standing of the situation," but by this he means that an estimate is to be made of the strength of both sides.

Tin- psychological moment for a powerful opposition to the revolutionary tendencies within the party should now have come. But nothing was seen but Mr. Sirola's irresolute and pitiable article. And already on the 15th January the party leaders have retired altogether behind tli« ranks of the Red Guard Corps. On that day the latter issues an appeal under the following headlines : —

Gather the Forces of the Proletariat !

The Senate intends to fall upon the Labourers with

Slaughtering Forces !

Select pieces of the appeal run as follows : — " The bourgeois majority of the Lantdag has given its Senate unrestricted authority to exercise a dictator- ship of violence." " The dissatisfied proletariat is threat- ened with swords and lead, whereas it ought to have

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bread, democracy and the crofters' emancipation." " The working-men's Red Guard Corps are evidently absolutely necessary for the protection of Finland's Labour class in these days." " At the last party meeting of the Social- Democratic Party there was not one who proposed to dissolve this Guard, or that the working-men should deliver up their arms. Therefore, let the bourgeois, who now scoff at the whole working-men's guard, and the Senate who wish to proceed to attack with an armed force, let them know that this would be to attack the working class of all Finland. Against such a threat the working-men must strengthen their Guard Corps."

The appeal is an answer to a resolution passed the day before by the officers of the Red Guard. In this the Red Guard demand the immediate summoning of a party meeting and put forward a succession of demands in connection with the shortage of food, unemployment, etc. " Tn order that these ends nay be gained, the political power should be taken over by the Social-Democratic Party. Before measures are taken to put the governing power into the hands of our party, the supreme adminis- tration of the Guard ought to be given over to a com- mittee chosen in accordance with the statutes. If the situation demand it, the supreme command of the Guard should take the management of the revolution into its hands."

The revolution was thus decided upon by the Red Guard, and the Labour Party had submitted to the decision. The reason for this was simple enough. The Government and the majority in the Lantdag threatened to deprive the Red Guard of its power. Such a thing must not happen, and so the problem could only be solved in one wa}'. The Government must be overthrown.

When in November the Lantdag resolved to take over the supreme power itself, no definite line was drawn

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between the spheres of activity of the Government and the Lantdag. The chief of [the Government, Mr. Svin- hufvud, had, however, expressly emphasised, when he assumed office, that the ability of the Government to carry out any work at all would, of course, be subject to its obtaining such rights as pertain to the Government of a country. As such he mentions amongst other things the right of bringing in Bills before the Lantdag and of nominating certain higher officials. However, the Labour Party, of course, made an extensive use of the possibilities for opposition which the obscurity with regard to the competence of the Government and the Parliament gave rise to. Everything the Government did without asking leave of the Lantdag was at once branded as an attempt at a State stroke. Even such measures as a resolution to alter the size of the copper coins was an M attempt at a State stroke."

By such means the Labour Party had succeeded in making the masses believe that the Government, and the majority in the Lantdag upon which it leaned, consisted of a collection of black reactionaries who abused their power in a shameful manner — a power which had been treacherously wrenched from the people. Measures dis- pleasing to the Labour Party now followed in rapid succession. At the beginning of January a Bill was brought in by A. Mikkola and others, concerning the re-establishment of the country's army, and it was eagerly supported by the bourgeois groups. There was nothing singular in this — a new-born State in the critical position of Finland absolutely needed an army, however small, in order to support her first tottering steps towards liberty. The Labour Party, however, did what they could to stop the Bill. Furthermore, a parliamentary com- mittee were working at a proposal for the reorganisation of the police, which it had been attempted to make

1

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acceptable to the Labour Party by letting the force be under the commune. On the 9th January the Government finally sent the Lantdag a proposal for the establishment of a strong force for the maintenance of order, under the control of the Government, to put a stop to the anarchy in the country. As this proposal has been characterised by the Labour Party as an undisguised challenge and declaration of war, there may be some reason to print it here in its entirety. The proposal runs as follows : —

To Finland's Lantdag.

After long-continued sore trials and sufferings our country has attained political independence and freedom. But the interior situation of the country does not in any way answer to even the most primitive foundation for or claims of such a free position. The necessary order does not reign in the country, neither as regards the life, property and rights of our own fellow-countrymen, or those of the numerous foreigners living here. The daily statements, both of the authorities concerned, and the foreign representatives, and the papers, speak of this in the plainest terms. This very day there have been sanguinary encounters in the near neighbourhood of the citj^ between the so-called Red Guard of Helsingf ors and the peaceful population, provoked by the former, in

o

which even lives have been lost. From Abo communication has just been received that the Red Guard of that city has insulted three Swedes, and amongst other things thrown their luggage into the street from a hotel. Anarchist elements, arrived from Russia, have come to stay here, and are acting quite overtly and with violence, sowing the seed of revolution and anarchy among such elements among the soldiers garrisoned here as were already beforehand somewhat unquiet. The state of affairs grows every moment more and more serious, and,

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within a short space of time, will throw our country into complete anarchy if an improvement of circumstances does not soon take place. The police, which at least in the larger cities of the country, after the revolution in Russia last March and owing to communications received from there, were organised as a militia partly through the Labour organisations and partly by the exertions of communal organisations, have not been able to counteract or suppress the arbitrariness or criminal tendencies reigning in several places in the land, nor are they equal to their task, nor is the training of the militia satisfactory. There are even cities where the Red Guard have taken possession of the police stations without themselves taking measures, or permitting others to take measures, for the maintenance of order. In the opinion of the Senate, a militia of this kind, which cannot accomplish its task, is inadequate — even if some improvements may be made on the lines indicated in the proposal forwarded to the Lantdag. Beyond this, and for its completion, a capable, trustworthy and loyal corps for the maintenance of order is required. This is needed at once, both on account of the above-mentioned lamentable internal situation, as well as on account of the pressure put on the Government by numerous foreign powers, particularly England and Sweden, in consequence of the indignities the subjects of these countries residing in Finland have been exposed to.

In consequence of what is stated above, the Senate has considered itself called upon, by the actual circumstances, to proceed without fail to measures for the establishment of such an effective and unimpeachable Finnish Corps for the Maintenance of Order, which could be trusted to maintain order and security in the land.

These measures will, of course, involve considerably greater expenses than it has been customary to assign

E 2

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for the maintenance of the police. The Government does not see its way, and has not considered it necessary at the present time, to suggest what means will be required for the organisation and support of a reinforced corps for the maintenance of order, but will give information on this point in the proposals submitted to the Lantdag concerning expenditure and revenues for the year 19 18.

In view of what has been stated, and as the Govern- ment for the above-mentioned purpose will need more funds than usual, the Government expects,

" That the Lantdag will decide to authorise the Government to take all such measures as it deems necessary to build up a strong force for the maintenance of order in this country.' '

The motion had every prospect of being carried in the Lantdag, the Labour Party, however, did as much as they could to delay the decision, and in the meanwhile to arm their Red Guard, for the state of affairs now began to be threatening. The proposal of the Government would in reality mean that the Protective Corps spread throughout the country were now to be changed into a Government Police Corps, whose activity could not be opposed with impunity. The proper moment for such a reorganisation seemed at last to have come. What with the renewed livelier action of the Red Guard, and the growing resentment against the encroachments of the ruffianly elements, disorderly encounters with arms were to be feared all over the country. It would thus be much better if all the good intentions to wipe out the anarchy were placed under one uniform guidance, even if one incurred the risk of what one would not have liked to risk before — civil war.

The outlines of an actual situation of war became more and more clearly defined. In the course of the first

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ten days of January the Red Guard carried out several large operations. They gave orders for 300 Russian soldiers to go to Nyslott. They arrived by special train, and began to ravage the little town. The subordinate functionaries were arrested, house-searches were made, robberies committed, etc. The district magistrate at Helsingfors who walked out of the prison one day and took up his official duties again, received a visit from some Red Guardsmen, who declared that within forty-eight hours he must be outside the precincts of the district of Nyland, or they would not answer for his safety. — The Government received a written com- munication from the Red Guard, in which the dismissal

o

of the district magistrate of Abo and Uleaborg was demanded — or the Guard would proceed to " active measures." The building formerly used as a residence by the Governor-General, at Helsingfors, and now made use of by the Social Department,* was coolly taken possession of one fine day by the Red Guard that needed spacious rooms in a central position for their headquarters. — One morning a considerable number of armed Red Guardsmen " took " a train in the station at Helsingfors, departed to the nearest stations on the main line, took possession of them, and sent a division of sixty men to an adjacent, larger, village in the parish of Sibbo to plunder. Resistance was, however, offered, the Red were fired at by the peasants, lost a couple of men, and retired. In the Labour Press this was characterised as murder committed on peaceful working-men by the citizens. — At Viborg great crowds of roughs collected from Abo, Helsingfors, and St. Petersburg, because the militia threatened to strike, and because it seemed as if there would be an opportunity for plundering. At Frederik- shamn, where a number of sempstresses had struck, the * An institution for social affairs working under the Home Office.

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Red Guard thought that the demands of the strikers were not complied with quickly enough. They therefore, with the assistance of Russian soldiers, arrested all the Govern- ment officials of the town, and took them to the lock-up. When the Red had kept them there for one night it was thought that they would be sufficiently humbled, and now a lot of demands were made : the city was to grant the Red Guard 50,000 marks for the maintenance of order. Not until the evening, when they had gone without food for a night and a day, and been subject to the wildest threats, did the prisoners submit. — At Mariehamn on Aland Russian soldiers shot one person, wounded one, and arrested three.

Those were only the greater occurrences. Innumer- able lesser ones took place at the same time. But also the Protective Corps began to stir. The failure of the marauding expedition to Sibbo gave the Protective Corps in these parts occasion for stationing guards along the railway line, etc. In 0sterbotten there were signs that the new Government force, which was mainly being organised there, began to excite a wholesome respect among the Russian soldiers. The general feeling in all sensible circles began to be more optimistic. Perhaps anarchy could really be crushed, perhaps the threats hurled out b}7 the adherents of the Labour Party in the Lantdag when the Force for the Maintenance of Order was at last sanctioned after a hot debate lasting eighteen hours, perhaps they were only an outbreak of impotent fury at the defeat of the party.

And yet these hopes were again dashed. The Labour Party got into closer and closer relations with the Russian soldiers, and the behaviour of the latter became more and more lawless. The more time that passed the more sick and tired the soldiers got of all meetings, speeches, and demonstrations. They wanted to arrange every-

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thing for their own greatest convenience. Thus, e.g., the sailors of the Baltic fleet had several really first-class places of entertainment at their disposal. At St. Peters- burg they had seized two very large and very fine Imperial steam-yachts, the " Standard " and the " Polar- star," and taken them to Helsingfors, and they had purchased one of the largest and most fashionable hotels in the city with a theatre, etc., and made it into a sailor's club. Balls were given at the barracks, and several of the lady guests lived for weeks and months in the barracks. All sorts of new organisations were formed. Thus an anarchist club took up its quarters in the fine officers' casino, and hung out its flag there — a skull with crossbones on a black ground. One night two bombs were thrown against the building ; it was apparently some super-anarchist organisation at work. One society called itself terrorists, and their banner was red with a black star in the middle. They also got a fine house for themselves, the Russian harbour captain's, and a couple of motor cars (and I may insert here that motoring was one of the greatest pleasures of the M proletariat ") and advertised for members. The pro- gramme ran : " war against imperialism in all the world, not a life struggle, but a struggle to the death."

These examples show how far removed the Russian military were from all order and discipline, and yet the Labour Party opposed their departure from the country, yet the party held a banquet in honour of liberty together with the soldiers on the occasion of Finlands' indepen- dence, inviting the soldiers on the grounds that the Finnish working-man's place is by the side of the soldiers, not by that of the bourgeois.

And so events took their course. The Labour Party would not let go the power they held by the aid of the mob and demoralised bands of Russian soldiers, while

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all those who had not been drawn into the whirlpool of anarchy now prepared in real earnest to beat down this loathsome regime that infested the country like a plague. Some acts of violence were still committed. In the middle of January the Red committed two murders, while the soldiers, sometimes in uniform but with masks before their faces, sometimes furnished with cotton saturated with chloroform, committed robbery and

o

pillage. At Abo the Red had chosen for their head- quarters a navigation school lying on a hill, and taken possession of it without ceremony ; at Kask0 the soldiers celebrated the Russian new year by seizing upon 400 litres of brandy from a bonded warehouse, making them- selves drunk on it and fighting. They did not settle down until they had two killed and several wounded.

Soon the state of affairs becomes very critical. The Red take up the offensive in real earnest in order to draw the Protective Corps and then destroy them. On the 2 1st January two trains with soldiers are sent from St. Petersburg to 0sterbotten, the centre of the Pro- tective Corps, most singular tactics, considering the acknowledged independence of Finland, and the many promises that the soldiers should be withdrawn from the country. And at Viborg serious disturbances break out.

On Saturday, the 19th January, the Red in that city suddenly surround a factory, and try to break in with a force of 100 men. Seventeen persons, the owner of the factory, his sons and others, offer resistance inside the building. A violent firing ensues. Russian soldiers come flocking to the assistance of the Red, who, at last, on the Sunday morning, succeed in forcing their way into the house and taking captive its defenders, a couple of whom were severely wounded. It had been the intention of the Red to search the factory. The

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fighting spread in the city, the Red sent out patrols everywhere, and searched all pedestrians. Those who carried arms were arrested. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday passed in comparative quiet, i.e., the Red and the Russians were masters in the city, gave chase to the Protective Corps, instituted house-searches and arrests. The Red took up their quarters in the Russian barracks, and were thus ready to sally forth at any time. On Monday night two young men, clerks, travelling on busi- ness, were murdered just outside the city. In the meanwhile the peasants in the neighbourhood had become exasperated, and, on the Tuesday evening, marched into the city under arms, and took possession of the railway station. They met with no resistance, but the Red and the Russians demonstrated their power by opening a lively fire in the central part of the town, both with rifles and machine guns. In order to improve the effect some cannon shot were also fired. Four persons were killed, amongst them two women. One received a bullet in the abdomen on coming out from the theatre, another a bullet in the neck while leaning out of the window to look at the riots. Many were wounded. The peasant Protective Corps received a visit at the station from a deputation of soldiers, who declared that the Corps must retire, or else the city would be shot to ruins by artillery fire. In face of this threat, the Protec- tive Corps thought itself compelled to retire, and the soldiers now took possession of the station.

Wednesday proved a melancholy day. Sixty-eight persons were arrested and taken to the barracks, two prisoners were murdered quite meaninglessly, a com- mercial traveller, aged thirty-seven, in whose breast a Red Guardsman suddenly planted a bayonet, and a student, aged twenty, who was shot without the least reason. At 12 o'clock in the night the whole city was proclaimed

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to be in a state of strike. Towards morning two trains arrived from St. Petersburg, one packed full of Russian Red Guardsmen, the other with firearms and ammuni- tion. Referring to a telegram from the Government of Russia, the soldiers demanded that all the Protective Corps should be disarmed, and the arms delivered up to the Red Guard. The latter was then to operate according to the orders of the representative of the Russian Government in Finland, the so-called Rayon Committee.

On the Thursday the strike reigned. At a station near Viborg two telegraph functionaries had been shot, and the station-master at Viborg, who had been arrested earlier, was found in his cell with his throat cut, an equally meaningless and cruel murder on a man of fifty. The number of the prisoners was now ninety-three, and the Red " played " kindly with them. Now they had to run the gauntlet of two rows of Red and Russians, who struck them with the butt ends of their rifles, now they were arranged in rank and file and counted " to see how much shot was needed," etc.

On the last days of the week, from the 24th to the 27th January, the Red held undisputed sway at Viborg. They marched through the streets, made arrests, and searched houses and committed some outrages, as, for instance, when they fired at a sleigh in which a man was taking his wife to the maternity hospital. The man was wounded in the head, the woman in the abdomen, and the child was born directly after. But the move- ment had now spread through the whole of the country. In the east and the west, in Karelen and 0sterbotten, the Protective Corps were masters, and quite calmly disarmed smaller Russian and Red divisions. But in the south the Red have been seized by the intoxication of war. They occupy the railway stations, collect

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arms, beg machine guns and cannon of the Russians, They get all they want, and concentrate their forces round Helsingfors. Now the moment for the revolution has come.

During these days the Government laboured strenuously at keeping the Russian soldiers outside the conflict. It repeatedly approached the representative of the Russian Government, the Rayon Committee, with written communications, appeals, wishes, and sugges- tions. The committee were obliging and sympathetic, but did nothing. It evidently seemed quite natural to them that the Russian soldiers harried an independent, neutral country as they did. As nothing helped, the Government at last, on the 25th and the 26th of January, addressed itself directly to the Russian Government by a telegram, and by written communications to the Governments of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, France, England, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Greece, and by an appeal to the Finnish people. These three documents ran as follows : — " To the Council of People's Commissioners.

" During the last days there has been committed murder, incendiarism, and a number of disturbances in several places in Finland, in which soldiers staying here have taken part, not only by protecting those elements in the people that have caused the disorder, but even by themselves taking part in the acts of violence which it had not been possible to carry into effect without the assistance given by the soldiers. As it has been stated that the deliberate participation of the Russian soldiers herein is said to be founded on directions and orders given by the military authorities, Finland's Government, who consider such behaviour on the part of the soldiers as a flagrant violation of Finland's inter- nationally acknowledged independence, have resolved to

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apply to the Council of People's Commissioners with the demand that the latter will immediately take effective measures for the prevention of the participation of the soldiers in the deeds of violence against Finnish citizens, as well as their further interference in the internal affairs of the country.

"The President of the Government,

" Svinhufvud." " To the Foreign Powers.

" Although the Russian Government have, on the 4th instant, officially acknowledged Finland's political independence, no effective measures have yet been taken for the withdrawal of the Russian troops from the country. On the contrary, Russia still supports numerous divisions of troops in Finland which, simultaneously with con- suming the scanty food of the country, are not only a hindrance to the maintenance of order and security in the country, but also, in co-operation with the most turbulent elements of the population, commit murder, incendiarism, and other outrages. This circumstance receives its peculiar significance not only by a few misguided soldiers or divisions of soldiers taking part in these crimes, but also by the fact that the representa- tives of the Russian Government resident here directly contribute to the prolongation of this state of affairs, intolerable to an independent country, by giving permission for the distribution of firearms and ammuni- tion belonging to the Russian State, to the masses that take part in the disturbances, and by preventing the establishment of an effective police force obedient to the orders of the Government. Thus, according to com- munications received by the Government of Finland, the commissioner for military affairs of the Russian Government on the 23rd inst. issued orders for the soldiers stationed at Viborg to disarm the Protective

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Corps which had arrived in the city to maintain order, and to arm with their weapons that element among the working-men which had in those days started sanguinary monster riots in the said city.

" Finally, simultaneously with negotiations carried on, it has been orally communicated to the members of the Government by the Sailors' Committee at Helsingfors, that the Russian military in this country is interested in carrying out a social revolution in Finland, and for this purpose ready to support the revolutionary bands with arms against the lawful order of society and the Protective Corps that support it.

" As the behaviour of the Russian Government is an outrage against Finland as an independent State, the Government of Finland will accordingly bring to the notice of the Powers that have acknowledged Finland's independence their emphatic protest.

" On behalf of the Government of Finland,

"P. E. Svinhufvud."

" To the People of Finland.

" The blood of fellow-citizens which has flown during these days forces the Government of this country to appeal to the People.

" Our People has recently seen its dearest hopes realised. It has attained political independence which has already been acknowledged by several of the States of Europe. No external influence will now hinder the Finnish people's possibilities of development. The supreme power in the country is exercised by the Lantdag and the Government responsible to it. Our political, as well as our communal, constitution is democratic.

M Unfortunately, there are those who will not rest satisfied with this way of peace, legality and conviction, but proceed by other means in order to reach their goal.

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Through Russian agency the thought has been spread among our people that in Finland, too, a democratic evolution is only possible through an internal revolution. Such elements among our people, in whom such a thought has been inculcated, have been armed by Russian agency, and thus our country has been brought to the verge of civil war. On the part of the military here stationed during these last days, the most flagrant interference in the internal affairs of Finland has taken place, revolting outrages against the life, property and liberty of Finnish citizens have been committed. And, what is most to be regretted, some Finnish citizens have on their part incited the Russian troops to this, and together with them raised their weapons against Finnish fellow-citizens, and together with them committed outrages and crimes.

M Although they have obtained power from the Lantdag to work for the establishment of a strong police force, the Government of Finland have not the means to maintain peace and order in the country, as long as the Russian troops here resident act as a threat to all peaceful life by supporting the felonious elements in the country.

" In view of this the Government of Finland have considered it their duty to enter a protest before the Government of Russia against the interference of the Russian troops resident in Finland in the internal affairs of Finland, and again to demand the withdrawal of these troops from Finnish territory. In like manner the Government have considered it their duty to forward to the Foreign Powers, which have acknowledged our independence, a note protesting against the presence of the undisciplined Russian troops and against their outrages.

" The Government of Finland find it necessary also to appeal to all Finnish fellow-citizens. Only by a

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determined maintenance of order can we keep our recently acquired independence ; disturbances of the order may either entirely destroy the independence and liberty of our people, bring our country under foreign rule, or expose it to dismemberment. Everyone who disturbs the order is a foe to the Finnish people and its independence.

" But still more degrading to all our people is the fact that the inhabitants of the country enter into connection with the foreign troops, and together with them commit outrages against their own fellow-citizens. Such behaviour is a crime against the people of Finland, and at the same time a crime against the whole order of society. They are directed against the Lantdag, which holds the supreme power in our country. If such behaviour gains the day our people will disappear from the ranks of the peoples of culture, the State of Finland from among the lawfully ordered States.

" The distress of our native country forces us to appeal to you all. We hope that every Finnish citizen will at the present moment be ready for the sacrifices that may be required by the threatened position of our country and our people, of each individually and all in common. The aim of the concerted endeavours of all should wholly and solely be the maintenance of civil peace. In no circumstances can inflammatory acts or reprisals be allowed, nor any private action opposed to the regulations of the Force for the Maintenance of Order.

" Fellow-citizens ! Join hands in order to protect the peace of your homes, the life of those nearest and dearest to you, property, personal liberty, and invio- lability. To maintain order is to defend the independence and the future of the Finnish People.

" The Senate of Finland."

But the leaders of the Labour Party ? Did they not

8o

return to their senses at the last moment ? Even if they could no longer stop the advance of the Red gangs, could they not at least keep aloof, warn and protest ? They did nothing of all this. Quite the opposite. On the 24th January the Party Council issue a proclamation to the Russian soldiers, the chief contents of which in all their bombast run as follows : —

" Russian Comrades !

" From the bourgeois of our country a constant provocative agitation and a stream of filth have during the last months been directed against the Russian revolutionary military garrisoned in Finland. This agitation has exasperated the Russians as well as their Finnish comrades. The revolutionary democracy of Finland and its organisations are overwhelmed with the like abuse. The bourgeoisie papers want to throw the responsibility for the outrages committed against individuals or groups that do not understand the tenets of the revolution on to the shoulders of the revolutionary soldiers and labourers, though these misdeeds are in reality the result of the civil corruption. They therefore brazenly exaggerate what has happened, colour it, and invent lies. All their thoughts run on insulting and blackening the revolution, thus to prepare the soil for a counter-revolution. We understand that this must of course greatly affront the revolutionary Russian military in Finland, which, adhering firmly and with urideviating constancy to its principles, has acknowledged the political independence of Finland. We, the repre- sentatives of the working-men of Finland, fight staunchly with you against such a false and provocative stream of insults provoked by the bourgeois of Finland, and express our distinct disapproval of the counter-revolutionary efforts of the bourgeoisie press.

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" The Social Democracy are fighting indefatigably against militarism and our Party Meeting has distinctly made known that Finland, even as an independent State, does not require any standing army. Neither must, of course, Russian military be maintained in Finland as soon as its withdrawal is possible, and at any not after the conclusion of peace. But the labourers of Finland have not joined the bourgeois in their pro- vocative demands that the military should be withdrawn immediately, in spite of the distressful shortage of food reigning in the country, which, of course, is further increased for the labourers by the presence of the military here," etc. etc.

It is a peculiar logic that runs through this document. The anti-militarists want to keep the soldiers, the starving ones wish to keep those back who are a drain on the supplies, and they who in the first place have prevented the realisation of Finland's liberty are greeted as those who have bestowed freedom on the country.

On the 26th January the Party Meeting appoint an " Executive Revolutionary Committee," " whose decisions and orders the organised labourers of Finland and their Guard Corps should obey." And in the leading paper, " TyGmies," article upon article is produced in order to inflame the masses. The Government of the country is only mentioned in quotation marks, and about its proclamation to the whole people cited above it is said : —

M When the appeal of the ' Government of Fin- land ' became known in Labour circles it roused an unspeakable bitterness, an unspeakable hatred. And no wonder. For its contents are precisely so criminal, so brazen, so brutal, and so sanguinary. And there they are derided who have done the noblest deed for the good of our People. In

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acknowledgment of all that our Russian comrades have done for the liberty of our People, for our independence, for our liberation from oppression and oppressors, they are flouted and called criminals, and on them is thrown the blame of all the shameful outrages for which our ruling class is itself to blame."

And now what in the last instance did the authority do which before all could have mitigated the consequences of the now unavoidable civil war, what did the Govern- ment of Russia do to prevent their troops from fighting against Finland's lawful force for the maintenance of order ?

When the representative of the Finnish Government on the 26th January applied to the " Commissioner for Military Affairs," i.e., the Minister for War, Pokrovski, he stated : " According to information received at St. Petersburg, the social revolution in Finland has begun. In consequence of her principles, it is the duty of Russia to support the proletariat of Finland in its struggle against the Finnish bourgeoisie. The Com- missioner has sent the Finnish Red Guard assistance in Finland, and will continue to do so."

So then the die was cast. Finland's people had to choose between destruction in the Russo-Red maelstrom, or a fight for life and liberty. She chose the latter alternative, and was victorious. But the fight which went before the victory was cruel and sanguinary. This is made clear to us by a quick glance at the rule of violence of the Red during the following months.

THE INSURRECTION

i RED AND WHITE: GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.

In the preceding pages a summary has been given of the events before the outbreak of the insurrection. This was necessary in order to show the causes of the Red revolution. With all brevity they may be summarised as follows : —

As a background, the twenty years of Russian oppres- sion from which the community had suffered, as well as the Russian revolutionary movement, with the fanatical and Utopian views of which the Finnish Labour Movement had been inoculated.

That is to say : Russian infection.

As chief cause, the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, which turned the heads of the Labour Party, who lusted after power, and so tempted them to follow the example.

That is to say : Russian infection again.

As a largely contributing cause that the movement was not even stopped on the verge of the abyss of civil war, the Russian Bolshevik Government's combined plans of a reconquest of liberated provinces, and a social conquest of the world.

That is to say : Russian infection once more.

The programme of, and part played by, the Labour Party was much more simple ; they fought solely for the power or rather to actually get to show and feci their power. The majority in parliament in the spring and summer of 19 17 was not enough for them. Strikes without number were organised. When later they lost

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their majority in the Lantdag, the party went over to " unparliamentary means of force," and created the Red Guard. And when the activities of the latter met with opposition from the Government, the Government was overthrown. Though the party did not intend to carry out a social revolution, they did not scruple to employ anything Russian Bolshevism could offer them of fine phrases, catch words, and other means of agitation as weapons.

From the previous statement, it would appear, too, why a revolution, an insurrection which lacked all ideal merit, which had no other purpose than that of dragging Finland into an Eastern chaos, and giving the power to a small set of political adventurers, why this revolution found the number of adherents it really did : the Red numbered more than 100,000 men.

The reason was that the masses did not at all under- stand the significance of the events they had been drawn into. Everything came little by little. Strike had followed on strike, disturbance on disturbance. This was " revolution." The lawful authorities of the country had not been able to check the lawlessness. They stood powerless. So then it was the " people " that had the power. And the attempts of the upper class to stop the manifestations of this curious popular rule were then a " shameful attempt at a State-stroke and a counter- revolution." It must be beaten down. Therefore, one entered the Red Guard, one armed oneself, and therefore one was willing to fight against the " slaughtering corps." It was a question of honour to serve the efforts of the proletariat and safeguard its position of power — all scruples were silenced by the mighty word " revolution." This word was also sufficient to quiet conscience if the sanguinary deeds of the comrades were felt as a heavy burden. And if that was not sufficient, there was the

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magic formula " provocation " ; if even this did not suffice, then the magic word " butchers " never failed of eff<

If, therefore, the Government wanted to prevent the " just endeavours" of the proletariat, would "deprive the Labouring class of the fruits of its struggle," nothing was easier than to remove this Government. Already twice the Government of Finland had been overthrown by revolution, in November, 1905, and in March, 1917. Each time the whole people had rejoiced. Nothing, it was supposed, could prevent it from being overthrown a third time, as it was said that it was " black " and " counter-revolutionary," and an enemy to liberty, now, as the two former times. One revolution or another, one master or another, the proletariat had once got into power, and this power was to be defended and asserted.

The insurrection was the unavoidable consequence of all that had happened. [Therefore, with much the greater portion the question did not arise : Am I right in rising against the lawful authorities ? No question arose at all — except among the corporations standing as it were immediately between the " proletariat " and the " citizens," among railway, post office, and custom- house officials, the staff of the tramways, cabdrivers, etc. Here a great division reigned, and here it was mainly dependent on how strongly the individual had been influenced by the agitation of the Labour Press, whether he was " Red " or " White." On the other hand, it must be noted that the number of working-men, who more and more clearly perceived the corruption of the rule of violence, was considerable. It was hardly the revolution itself, the overthrowing of the Government itself, which made them hesitate, but it was the sight it the advance of all the low elements within tluir own organisation ; it was the many outrages which made them keep back a little. The position of these working-men

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was extremely difficult, for a refusal to join the ranks of the Red was dangerous if once they belonged to the co-operating trade unions. With threats and violence they were forced into the movement, and those who resisted compulsion as long as possible were disposed of with a couple of shots.

It may seem incredible that the greater part of the working-men had such a clouded conception of the situation. But nevertheless it was the case. All talk of starvation and oppression by capitalists being causes of the movement is false, for the insurrection did not break out because a sweated proletariat wanted to achieve an existence worthy of human beings, but because by the force of circumstances the masses had succeeded in establishing a dictatorship of violence, a terrorism which its leaders would not let go. And if we rightly consider how abnormal the state of affairs in Finland had been for the last twenty years, if we recollect that the whole people for two decades had aspired towards one single aim : liberation from political oppression, then we understand that in the soul of the people there slum- bered mighty leanings towards such a thing as a struggle for liberty, a rising of the people, a revolution under any form. These were chords that vibrated to the lightest touch ; it was a smouldering fire which could be brought to flame up in a fury the instant anything inflammable came near it.

The leaders of the Labour Party were guilty of the greatest of crimes when they directed this stream of yearning for liberty against their own countrymen, against the first Government of independent Finland, against the most democratic of all parliaments. When they pointed out those who had fought in the first rank against Russian oppression, and were the most pro- nounced democrats and most eager fighters for Finland's

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liberty, pointed them out as the tools of Tsarism, black reactionaries, the executioners of the people and more to that effect — then they were guilty of a baseness, a meanness, and an infamy which can never be forgiven. For it was done against their better knowledge ; it was an undisguised and conscious lie. What they built upon in the last instance was the old thirst for liberty among the masses which mainly concentrated in hatred against those in power, whoever they were. Therefore the social questions played only a negligible part in the whole tragedy.

If these, broadly speaking, were the motives of the Red, those of the White may be still more briefly summarised. White, before all, were those who under- stood that Finland must be plucked from out of the whirlpool of the Russian revolution, so as not to be destroyed, who perceived the difference between a Western state of culture, law and order, and the Eastern chaos of Russia, who comprehended into what an abyss a proletariat dictatorship, like that of the Bolsheviks, hurled a country and a people. To these belonged also all " bourgeois," all the " cultivated " classes, the whole " intelligentsia " — apart from pecuniary circumstances. The Red met with complete, unanimous resistance from board-school teachers, subordinate functionaries, clerks, technicists and the like. Again, all those were White who had come under the direct rule of violence of the Red. To these belonged all peasants, the majority of the population of the country. They were not without the universal yearning for liberty, but with them it had remained healthy. They felt the brutal violence intensely, whether it came from above or from below, and they reacted against it. On the whole, the country population was exceedingly sparsely represented among the Red. Only the random, unemployed population

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that had been employed at the fortification work had joined them in great numbers, and in like manner the greater part of the working-men from the centres of industry ; but the following among farmhands and crofters was very slight, and — if they joined the Red — they mostly confined themselves to taking over " the power " in their parish, playing at district magistrates, police and parish council, and ordering about their former masters.

Hardly either to the peasants did the bold step of overthrowing the Government become decisive. The many months of mob-rule had brought them to despair. All ruffians, all Russian soldiers, all wretches and criminals freely made havoc of the country. There was no possibility of order and safety if one did not oneself take up arms and suppress the Russian terrorism. The White fought for liberty, law and order, a war of defence against all destructive, disintegrating forces. Their war was a war of liberation, not a struggle for power.

Plainer, perhaps, than by anything else, the Russian colouring of the Red is shown by the fact that they were entire strangers to such conceptions as law and order. Their whole rule bore the impress of the East, with contempt of the right of others, of discipline and self-control. In this they differed completely from all Western " Socialism.' ' They had the purely Russian mania for giving orders to all the four corners of the earth, for writing ukases, manifestoes and decrees — which were never obeyed. They had acquired the Russian manner of intoxicating themselves in speeches and negotiations through long nights, of talking and smoking themselves into an over-excited frame of mind, of living on the enthusiasm fomented in monster meetings — on the whole, of playing with the fluctuating moods of an irresponsible crowd as the wind plays with the autumn

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leaves. Their life was to be one ecstacy of excitement, one intoxication of power. Motor-cars dashing about, telephones ringing frantically, heaps of telegrams, clicking type-writers, orders here and orders there, food snatched at any moment, an hour's sleep anywhere. What was order, what was cleanliness, what was all quiet and unpretending everyday life — nothing. To rule and reign, live in a fever, throw all middle-class ideals to the winds, that was the thing to do. The revolution of the Ri ! was as foreign as possible to our character, as it was foreign to any deliberate, carefully planned, coolly carried- out revolution. It built on the hypnotism of the mass meetings, it was a riot, no conspiracy.

In the following pages details and facts will supplement this characterisation. It is not intended to give any historical account of the course of the civil war, but only to describe certain aspects of the Red rule as it shaped itself in the south of Finland, and briefly to touch on the outbreak of the insurrection and its final suppression

2. THE OUTBREAK OF THE INSURRECTION.

On Saturday, the 26th January, it was clear to everybody that the Red intended to proceed to serious action. How far they aimed was not known, whether the intention was only to go for all the Protective Corps in the whole country, or to attack the Government also, was uncertain. The Red bands were concentrated at Helsingfors, where Russian Red Guardsmen and marines from St. Petersburg also arrived. On the Saturday evening the weak Protective Corps retreated from the city in order to avoid hopeless fighting in the streets, and some of the members of the Government went to Wasa in 0sterbotten in order to be able to sustain the lawful government there if the worst came to the worst.

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On the morning of Sunday the 27th the activities of the Red began. From the Russian arsenals in the Sveaborg fortress numbers of rifles and a lot of ammuni- tion were transported into the town, and the Red marched forth and took possession of the railway station, the police offices, the telegraph offices, the telephone exchange and the printing offices of the bourgeoisie press. The district prison received orders to keep 150 cells ready for the prisoners of the Red. A number of house-searches and arrests were made. The Red were obviously waiting for the Protective Corps to make a sortie, so that they could honourably conquer the city with arms. They knew very well that the Protective Corps was rather inferior in number to their own forces. That they expected a fight is seen amongst other things from the proclamation which was affixed to all posts and trees, and which, verbatim, ran as follows : —

" To the Inhabitants of Helsingfors.

" All the peaceful inhabitants of Helsingfors are urged to keep out of the streets during the fight with the slaughtering guard, or the consequence will be that they may be shot down.

" The Working-men's Revolutionary Guard desire to avoid the shedding of blood of innocent persons.

" Helsingfors, 27.1.1918."

" The Working-men's Executive Committee."

But as no hostile forces appeared, shots were fired in the air and " order " energetically maintained. In the night a search for the members of the Government was started, but they were not found in their houses. Early on the Monday morning all Government offices were occupied, and a proclamation declared the city to be in a state of strike. At last the public learnt what was meant by all this, when later in the day an

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Appeal to Revolution to the People of Finland was distributed. It read as follows : —

" The hour for the great Revolution has struck for Finland's Labour Class.

" To-day the working-men of the capital have boldly overthrown the headquarters of the dark rule of few who began a sanguinary war against their own people.

" The members of the criminal senate prepared an atrocious civil war, even in the capital of the country, an invidious assault on the organised working-men of Finland. At the same time they have been guilty of such unblushing treason that they have asked foreign monarchical governments to send bands of murderers to butcher Finland's working-men. The life and liberty of our People is hereby placed in the greatest danger.

" Now all power has been taken from this butchering senate. Orders have been issued that the criminal members of this senate are to be imprisoned wherever they are met with, as the prison has already long been their proper place.

" The working class of the country are to take all governing power in Finland into their own reliable hands ,

" Thus the working class have ultimately been forced to rise in order to save themselves and our country from the disaster and distress which the criminal capitalist system has cast our People into. The intrigues of the uncanny and dangerous Senate and its tools have been exposed. In order to usurp the power in the State, that power which — as it is self-evident — ought to belong to the People itself, the Senate have committed one breach of the law after another. The chief aim of all these intrigues has been to put down the Labour Movement of the whole country, to destroy all progress of democracy and bury the suffering People's hopes of a real work of progress.

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" But Finland's Working Class will never become thralls under such a terrible yoke of reaction. Such a heinous attempt at a State-stroke must break down ignominiously. And complete oppression has now begun. This dangerous, reactionary oppression force must be rooted out and rendered innocuous.

" The supreme revolutionary organ of Finland's

working-men, which has been appointed D37 the leaders of

the Social-Democratic Party, does hereby announce that —

" ' All revolutionary power in Finland now belongs

to the. organised working-men and their revolutionary

organ.'

" A Social-Democratic, revolutionary Government will now instantly be formed. At the very first opportunity the names of the members of this Government will be made public.

" The aim is not only to put in new men in the place of the former, but to overthrow the whole bureaucratic system.

" Now our organisations and Guard Corps all over the country must, each according to the best of their ability, fulfil their duty to the revolution. Within our ranks we must maintain a strict, revolutionary order.

" Russian soldiers should be well received everywhere as we know that Russian comrades are the friends of the revolutionary working-men.

" A general strike will not be necessary everywhere for the success of the revolution. The revolutionary working-men must themselves decide in their organisations where this remedy is to be employed. But, for the sake of the revolution, according to our opinion, a general strike should at once be proclaimed in Helsingfors.

" The working-men must, where it is deemed useful and fitting, take over the leadership of communal affairs and other offices.

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" No one must fail or give up ! No long negotations with armed perfidious enemies ! The victory of the working-men must be a complete victory !

" Peaceful fellow-citizens who do not wish to support the enemies of the working-man have nothing to fear from the revolution. Humble folks in the country and in the cities must not spread such lies as that the working-men wish to get hold of their property. On the contrary, the victory of the working class may also better their position in society. The power of the working-men is a just power, which always tries to prevent unnecessary violence, and to mitigate the sufferings of innocent men and women. But the armed handy-men of the overthrown Senate must be pursued without mere}'. Would that those, who have treacherously been tempted, at once throw down their weapons now they have come to recog- nise that it has been hoped to make them fight against the noble cause of the working People.

" The revolution of the working-men is magnanimous but hard. Hard towards the enemies of the People, but a helpful support to all that are oppressed and suffering.

" Look to the revolutionary power of the working-men with confidence ! At the present moment a fight for the >wer is going on in many parts. But irresistibly it will carry victory to our colours !

1 It is our firm conviction that the working-men of >ur country, the present as well as the coming generations, will truly bless this revolution, which is to take Finland into a new and happier time.

"The Executive Committee of the

Working-men of Finland,

" Eero Haapalainen."

Simultaneously with this, a number of " instructions " were issued with regard to the duty of assisting the Red

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troops, etc. In these Finland is also declared to be in *' a state of militant revolution," a situation the import of which has always remained obscure. But as Finland already during the whole of the war had been both in a state of siege and a state of war, something new was required to make an impression. The whole day long motor-cars drove about the town packed full of armed Red Guardsmen and Russians. They fired into the air and at the walls of the houses. Also the patrolling Red Guardsmen fired volley upon volley with their rifles. Still, only two persons were wounded. The whole was a faithful copy of the incidents of the March revolution : this was the exact way in which it was supposed a revolu- tion should proceed. An attempt was also made on that day to imitate the tactics used at the murders of the officers. The chief rate collector of the city was arrested in his office, but liberated late in the evening. In order that he might reach his home unmolested, he was provided with an escort of two Red Guardsmen. When they reached a side street, the two " protectors " abandoned the prisoner they were to protect. The rate collector heard the click of a gun, and turned his head. In the same instant the shot fell. The bullet entered at the back of the neck and went out at the ear. The rate collector fell down and the Red fled. The wounded man was found in the street, was carefully nursed, and eventually recovered.

On the Tuesday the new Government and their pro- gramme were made known to the public. Of course, the Government was formed on Lenin lines ; of course, " Commissioners," not ministers, ruled. And over the Government was a Central Council — as in Russia — which was to control the measures suggested by the Com- missioners. In reality, it was four of the members of the Government who ruled everything, four already

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well-known party men. First, the chief of the Govern- ment, Kullervo Manner, who had been president of the Lantdag during the summer, and who had begun his political career in the first years of the century by going the errands of the Russian rule of oppression. An ambitious struggler. In the second place, the food conti oiler, Oskari Tokoi, an adventurer of the purest water, formerly a miner in America, later the trusted man of the party, once president of the Lantdag, chief of the Government in the spring and summer of 1917. A good intellect, but without any backbone or character. In the third place, Yrjo Sirola, once a student like Manner, journalist, party-leader, now Minister for Foreign Affairs. A quiet-mannered fanatic, and fairly efficient statesman. Finally, Eero Haapalainen, expelled student, a violent and brutal person, who had had many battles with the police, as he often got drunk, but never could learn how to carry his drink, and so always got exceed- ingly ferocious and eager to fight. Now Minister of the interior and Commander-in-Chief of the Red Guard. The programme of the Government of course compre-

Ihends a lot of promises of reform. But nothing is found about the constitutent assembly which had before been so energetically demanded. Nor does the programme contain anything about a coining panellation of land — a considerable divergence that from the programme of the Russian social revolution. But for the rest, it was not a little that was promised. The reforms were briefly these : A complete alteration of the administration of the State, the crushing of the bureaucracy for ever and aye, a chastisement once for all of the wilfulness of the tribunals, an alteration of the whole form of government on democratic lines, in order to safeguard the rights of the working-man, old-age and invalid insurance, the

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the emancipation of crofters and small tenants from the rule of the landlord, the bank funds under the control of the community, and the taking over and working by the community, of "the great plundering enterprises" for the profit of the community without any regard to private property. All these reforms, it further said, could be carried through only by revolutionary measures taken by the revolutionary organs.

The first official action of the new Commission was to send a hearty greeting to the Government at St. Peters- burg, next they informed the governments of the states, which had acknowledged the independence of Finland, of the revolution. By this act, according to the opinion of the Commissioners, the lawful Government of the independent Finland of ten weeks past had been removed, and the country had been subjected to the dictatorship of the proletariat.

But things did not run as smoothly as all that. The vanished Government came to light again at Wasa, somewhat decimated certainly, but still a threatening phantom to the Commissioners. Quite a new figure appeared on the scene at the same time, a personality about whom only few knew that he had been the leader of the organisation of the Protective Corps at 0sterbotten for the last few weeks. This was General Gustaf Mannerheim. It is difficult to describe the rejoicings called forth by his first bulletin, which was secretly made known through Helsingfors, among all who had studied the revolutionary appeal of the Red with disgust, and regarded the shooting gangs of the Red savages in the streets with abhorrence. There was a new note in Mannerheim's telegram, a note of hope and confidence in the sound core of the people, which gave glimpses of the fairest vistas. Now both the Russian and the Red were to be driven out, now the country was to be

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torn from out of the talons of the revolution. The telegram in which the population of South Finland, which had been brought to the verge of despair, found all these promising communications ran as follows : —

" The outrages, pillage and murder committed among the peaceful population by the lowest elements in the community together with the Russian soldieis, among which outrages especially the occurrences at Viborg have excited the fierce indignation of the liberty-loving peasants at 0sterbotten, have obliged me to disarm the Russian troops at Wasa, Lappo, Ylistaro, Seinajoki, Jakobstad, Gamlakarleby and other places.

"If the Red Guardsmen do not submit to the lawful Government, the exasperated peasant troops of this country will be obliged with arms in hand to pass judgment on the traitors.

u A guarantee of personal safety is given to the 5,000 disarmed Russian soldiers, and they will be liberated as soon as an arrangement to that effect has been come to between Finland and Russia.

" The Commander-in-Chief of the Protective Corps,

" General Mannerheim."

So then there was a White army, as well as a Red one. Not for one instant was the final victory of the White doubted.

But the great thing was to offer resistance to the Red even in those parts where they had appropriated the power. A call was made for a general strike among the functionaries, and it was carried through without the least disagreement. Only the physicians and the rationing departments continued work. The banks were kept closed, and the Employers' Union stopped all manufacturing business. Life became extremely

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complicated. The Red gave chase to the members of the Government and the Lantdag, to the officials and bankers in order to arrest them. All these and all who had had anything to do with the Protective Corps had to keep themselves concealed. They stayed with one another, moved sometimes, let their beards grow, and neglected appearances. Disguised thus, the pursued could sometimes take a little walk in the evening. After nine in the evening it was forbidden to go out in Helsingfors. Nor did anybody care to, for every evening there was the sound of shooting in the streets.

Perhaps the worst of all was the absolute uncertainty Red Finland was completely isolated from the outer world, and only had connection with Lenin's St. Petersburg. No Scandinavian newspapers, no letters, no enlightening telegrams got through. Rumours were afloat, and the only sources of news were the newspapers of the Red. They were not to be trusted. The cruelties of the " butchers " and their enormous losses in the fights were the chief contents ; from abroad the only news obtained was of the sort that the Kaiser had been deposed, that revolution was breaking out both in France and Norway, that the power of the Bolsheviks in Russia was increasing day by day. People sat nervous and idle in their homes, only this single thought revolving in their minds : " When will Mannerheim come ? "

In the meanwhile the Red were at work. They searched houses, made arrests and seizures. They had to fill all the Government offices with their own people, and organise their army. The war operations became the centre of the efforts both of the White and the Red. The result, of course, was dependent on them. There may therefore be some reason for pausing to look a little at the army of the Red.

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3. THE RED ARMY.

In order to become incorporated in the Red Guard, the following things were required : Class feeling, a knowledge of tfcfl methods of the Social Democracy, and being a member of the Labour Party. The Guard was thus a pure class army. Every local labour association formed its own Red Guard. The result of this was small groups without number, a lot of " staffs," and a number of " commanders-in-chief." It was, of course, the lnhntinn that a homogeneous organisation should be fmid i I ll< statutes speak of brigades as well as divisions and army corps — but it never got so far. In the larger towns both companies and battalions were formed, but regiments are never mentioned. On the Russo-revolutionary model the men constituted the supreme authority. That is to say, that the orders issued by the officers were made subject to discussion at the meetings of the men, and could either be sanctioned or vetoed. In like manner, the meetings could remove unpopular chiefs and choose others instead. Any uniform or consistent system in this respect seems not, however, to have existed. At one time it is the officers, at another the men who make the decisions.

The original object of the Red Guard was plainly enough purely local operations. Each division was to take over and keep the power in its own part of the country. It was therefore an extremely unpleasant surprise when it proved that the White intended to occupy the whole northern part of the country, and that it became necessary to take the field in the middle of the winter. This would entail claims on the commissariat which it could not meet, and it also made greater demands on the men than had been intended. In spite of all the Russian help with arms and ammunition, the Red army were quite at a loss at the change of programme .

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Fortunately — for the White army, too, suffered from an extremely critical complaint : it went almost without anus to its gigantic task.

The important question of the conduct of war-opera- tions on the part of the Red was most closely connected with the question of how the Russian troops would stand. Were they to observe neutrality, and leave the country as quickly as possible, or were they openly to side with the Red ? The answer came quickly enough.

On the 30th January the Russian Post and Telegraph Minister pays a visit to the Red Government at Helsing- fors, and there observes as follows : —

" The Russian Brother Government hope that the Finnish brethren will carry the struggle they have commenced to a happy ending, and promise their full aid in the war against the bourgeoisie, which belong to the international class of sweaters, and are in consequence the enemies of the people." This official utterance must undoubtedly be designated as a declaration of war from the Russian Government.

Already on the 28th January, however, the troops that were in Finland had issued their own declaration of war. These troops constituted the 42nd Russian Army Corps, whose staff was at Viborg. The staff had, however, been replaced by an Army Corps Commission, and it was this commission which on the above-mentioned day issued an order to all divisions, the first paragraph of which ran as follows : " From and with the 28th of this instant the troops of the 42nd Army Corps are regarded as being at war with the civic White Guard of Finland."

There was, however, yet another authority which was to have a word to say in the matter. This was the " Rayon Committee of the Army, Navy, and Russian Working-men in Finland," which on the 4th December had been appointed sole representative of the Russian

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Government in Finland by Lenin. The military section of this Committee regarded itself as the supreme Russian military authority in this country. It did not issue any declaration of war, but on the 28th January the section orders the 42nd Army Corps to commence decisive operations against the White Guard.

The leadership of the Red Guard Corps was, as it was inevitable! placed in Russian hands. For expert military knowledge on Finnish side there was none. Already on the 15th January the " Commander-in-Chief of West Finland's Army," Michael Stepanovitsh Svet- shnikoff, speaks of the Red Guard Corps as auxiliary troops to the Russian corps, and the Finnish Red are all under the leadership of the Russian district chiefs. Svetsh- nikoff was later appointed commander-in-chief of the Finnish Red Guard Corps, so that these for all practical purposes were amalgamated with the Russia troops.

The supreme war command thus consisted of Russian officers. It was Russian troops that made war against the Protective Corps. And telegraphic reports of the war operations were regularly dispatched to the Russian Minister for War, the Russian Government, and the commandants of the fortresses of Kronstadt and Reval. From this it was very plainly seen that the Bolshevik Government of Russia intended, by the aid of the Red Guard Corps, to reconquer Finland. And this also compels one to think of this Government when one asks oneself where the real mainspring of the outbreak ot the Finnish revolution is to be sought. And for the rest one cannot help comparing this outbreak with the simultaneous great strikes in Austria, and those which broke out some days later in Germany. Elaborate and highly-coloured accounts of them were given in the Finnish Labour Press.

It was, however, impossible for the Russian leaders

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to carry through an organised, properly planned conduct of the war. The troops were too undisciplined for that. Besides, the army had been ordered to demobilise before the insurrection broke out. A great deal of the soldiers wanted to return to Russia, and were disinclined to go to war again. Demobilisation was, however, prevented in all sorts of ways, and the result was more often than not that those who had obtained leave stayed where they were, but now as " volunteers/' and on higher pay. From Russia crowds came streaming in of the Russian Red armies raised there, and from documents and reports the presence of at least the following Russian formations in Finland may be established as a fact : the 42nd Army Corps, a Lettish army, volunteer divisions (con- sisting of men on leave), the National Socialistic Red Army, the Red Labour and Peasant Army, and finally the Anarchist Corps, consisting of 300 Marines. As, besides, the Finnish Red Guard received Russian volunteers, and all its special troops consisted of Russians, it will be understood how impossible it is to form an exact estimate of the number of Russian troops in Finland, and yet that the number was considerable.

The Finnish Red Guard, in spite of all, formed the nucleus of the revolutionary army ; it could supply a lot of soldiers. Their arms and equipment the Russians had to provide. And they did their best. When the General Staff of the Red Guard on the 2nd February sanction the expenses of the Guard for the next two months, the estimate reads as follows : —

Marks. Pay for 30,000 men at 600 marks 36,000,000

,, ,, the Reserve 6,000,000

,, ,, Sanitary Service 3,000,000

,, ,, Widows 2,000,000

Marks 47,000,000

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Here all expenses for clothes, food supplies, and arms are lacking. The clothes and food were procured by " seizures," i.e., the direct plundering of private and public stores, the arms it fell to Russians to provide. They were imported from St. Petersburg and Reval. Besides, command was issued to all the Russian troops that left Finland — on the 26th February it was decided that all Polish, Ukrainian, and Estnian soldiers were to go (they were not Bolsheviks, you see) — to hand over their arms to the Finnish Red Guard. Finally, the Russian Red Government on the 20th February took over all movables in Finland belonging to the Russian State. There were great quantities of weapons, ammuni- tion, explosives, food supplies, and other things, which thus fell into the hands of the Red Guard. The supplies were, of course, to be paid for, and in the liquida- tion committees, appointed everywhere, the Russian Svetshnikoff was chief representative for Finland !

It was, however, necessary to have trained men for the service of the seven armoured trains, for the armoured motor-cars, the cannon and quick-firing machine guns on hand. Such were procured from Russia, and they were even advertised after in the papers — " no matter of what nationality." The artillery men received a monthly salary of 1,200 Finnish marks, the machine gunners got 900. But the shortage never seemed to be quite remedied — so large was the importation of arms. In illustration of the Red Finno-Russian co-operation, we shall here communicate a telegram sent out by Svetshnikoff and Vice Commissioner for the Interior, Taimi, together : —

" To the Special Staff at St. Petersburg.

" By order of the Finnish Government, we request you to hasten the despatch of volunteers to the General Staff of the Red Guard at Helsingfors : ten officers from

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the General Staff, twenty artillery officers, twent}' machine gun officers, twenty sapper officeis and engineers. Besides, there is absolute need of 50,000 three-line rifles, two hundred machine guns (Maxim), fifty three-inch quick-firing guns, three million Japanese rifle-cartridges, ten million three-line rifle-cartridges, and one hundred thousand revolver-cartridges of all calibres."

It is funny to see how ten volunteers out of the officers of the General Staff are quite simply requisitioned.

In such circumstances it may with justice be asked what tasks were left over for the Finnish Commander-in- Chief and the Finnish General Staff. Of course, there were still a few trifles left even for them to do. But they were mostly for ornament. When Haapalainen was elected commander-in-chief he thankfully accepts the post, but at the same time emphasises the fact that he is devoid of all military knowledge. In the minutes of the General Staff a specially enlightening passage may also be found. The whole interior here depicted by the by deserves to be known. At the meeting on the 23rd February a Finnish " comrade " holds forth who has been on a visit to St. Petersburg. There, he says, complaint was made of the bad leadership of the Finnish Red Guard, and there was an uncertainty whether the sending of more weapons to Finland should be ventured. This communication was, of course, received with bitterness, and the lively discussion establishes the fact that " the aggressive activity of the Guard has continually been carried on without the knowledge of the General Staff ! " A sharp reprimand must therefore be sent to Commander-in-Chief Haapa- lainen " with the remark that the General Staff will not undertake the responsibility of reverses in fighting carried on without the knowledge and decision of the General Staff ! " In their solicitude the General Staff

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>olve to procure a commander-in-chief of the best quality, and a deputation is chosen which is to see the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian army, Kiylenko, and the Russian Naval Minister, Dybenko, with the petition that one of them will, at least for a shorter period, take supreme command in Finland. This plan, however, is naturally relinquished, for, when later in the evening the meeting is continued after a pause, it is made known that Dybenko is expected at Helsingfors and so may eventually be peisuaded. Now the General Staff have, however, collected all their energies and resolve that flying machines are to be procured, and that an army is to be raised at Archangelsk, as there are arms there as well as many working-men. This army is to fall into Finland from the North. Besides, a secret plan is to be formed for hunting out the weapons concealed by the citizens of Helsingfors. Every house throughout the city should be closely searched from cellar to attic. Then it is arranged how the next batch of arms from St. Petersburg is to be distributed, and, finally, as a reward for all the energy shown, a kind request is received from the greatest of all the Bolsheviks, from Lenin himself. The latter requests that a company of Finnish Red Guardsmen, " in the uniform of the Guard," may be placed at his disposal. The soldiers are to go to St. Petersburg without arms ; they will be armed and supplied with food there. The General Staff, of course, agree to this, but are of opinion that the company should also be of use to its own army. Therefore, after the lapse of some time it is to return — this time provided with arms — and be replaced by a fresh company without arms. " The political aspect of the matter must be arranged by the Government," conclude the minutes.

Yet, the Russians sometimes make trouble. On the

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before the General Staff. At Viborg Russian soldiers have been enlisted, and these have just arrived. But now they have " taken " a whole hotel, and refuse to go to the front before they get new rifles and new clothes from head to heel. From the Bjorneborg front the further communication is received that a band of sailors that have arrived here have quite suddenly turned back, and have begun to rob the peaceful population of objects of gold and silver and other things. The reason was that they had heard there was some wine in a church. They had then broken into the church, drunk the com- munion wine, and gone out on an expedition of pillage. Neither their Russian nor their Finnish com- rades dared hinder them — " as a great conflict might have arisen."

According to the budget of the 2nd February the Red Guard consisted of 30,000 men. If we assume that the Reserve received half-pay it amounted to 10,000. We have thus an army of 40,000 men. But, according to official documents from the Red, the Guard amounted to 75,000 in March. The augmentation must mainly be put down to the forced mobilisation which was carried out. Already earlier " moral pressure " of every kind had of course been brought to bear in order to get the working-men into the Guard, which does not seem to have been very popular. When the revolution broke out, the men were tempted with the particularly high salary, to which was further added free board and in part free clothing. But now even such working-men as had not volunteered were forced into the Guard. In the first place the municipal workmen and the unemployed were selected. Later the forced mobilisation of all men was ordered — they were taken in the street — but it was only in East Finland the proposal was properly carried through, so that, in fact, " bourgeois " in large numbers

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were put into the Red ranks at the front. In other places they were only arrested and locked up.

If we now look over the still extant documents of the Red Guard, we receive a fair idea of the peculiar order and discipline reigning throughout it. Some interiors may also in this respect serve as an illustration of the military and moral level of the Guard.

In an order of the 26th February the Russian soldiers are admonished not to sell their rifles to the enemy. — 1,079 parcels of food have been seized on the 13th March at Raumo. They belong to the Russian Red Cross, but the commissariat of the Red Guard decide that the Guard are to have them to eat, " although it may be contrary to international agreements." — The Red Guard Cashier at Helsingfors requests that the militia will work out a list of how many thieves and other professional criminals are found in the ranks of the Red Guard.

On the 7th April, when the German troops had already landed and were marching towards Helsingfors, the Supreme Command of the Red Guard — then a com- mittee of three — together with the General Staff issue the following order to the Staff at Helsingfors : " You will have observed an aeroplane above the city with black crosses on the wings. Try and find out what it is. Place zenith guns in suitable places, and bring it down if it is an enemy." It must well be observed that aeroplanes with the not unfamiliar iron cross under the wings had at that time for weeks past been a not un- common spectacle to the population of the city. — On the 27th March the Commander-in-Chief on the East Front sends a communication to all the troops under him with the request that it be made known to every man. Both as regards its tenor and style it is very characteristic, and, literally translated, runs as follows : " Whereas among the men in the parts of Kavantsaari such an

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opinion has arisen that whether they may get leave or they may not they take it of their own accord, and yet they know very well that if they leave the front the butchers will get free access to conquer perhaps the whole of Finland, murder the working-men, and drown the revolution in blood." Then follows an urgent exhorta- tion to stay at the front. — On the 9th March a committee is appointed at Helsingfors to investigate where all the troops from the capital had gone, as it was only known that they were dispersed along the front and entirely lacked officers. The committee departed, but a member reports that already on the way out a quarrel arose, and it dissolved. — The Commander-in-Chief on the West Front is subjected to an examination on the 1st March, because he is seldom sober, and has therefore led the troops astray. — On the 5th April the order is issued that the staff at the front in Syvalahti are to have 50 litres of brandy "for a special purpose." — A troop starts for the front, but discovers on the way that it has two u Commanders-in-Chief." In order to settle the question about the supreme command, the two field marshals take hold each of one end of a rope, and pull with all their might each in his own direction. The victor becomes the real commander-in-chief. — The commanders and the men were often of different opinions. There is a swarm of protests and complaints. As an example, the following extract from the minutes of a meeting held by the men of the motor-car department may be communicated : The demand of the commander- in-chief, Salminen, that the chief of the motor-car department, K. Siintola, should be removed, if the worst came to the worst by force of arms, was brought under discussion. Many opinions were expressed, and it was unanimously agreed to administer a severe reproof to the commander-in-chief for his shameful conduct to

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the chief of the motor-car department." — The Red Guard had a lot of women in its service. They were employed partly as common soldiers, for many woman battalions had been formed, partly as nurses, partly as God only knows what. But there was this curious circumstance that the wives of the Red Guardsmen were not allowed to serve in the Red Guard. In part at least the reason for this was no doubt that ladies with more extensive connections were more heartily welcomed in those circles. So much is suggested by a written communication from the municipal employment office at Helsingfors, which informs the Red Guard that there is great unemployment among the women of the city. " This is in part due to the fact/' says the office with polite good fellowship, " that the Red Guard to a certain extent follow the so-called system of favouritism in the appointment of women, and therefore there are women in the service of the Guard who, on account of their moral conduct, are not adapted for work." — A cashier in the Guard sends in a written complaint of the frauds committed by his staff. — The chief of the general staff is taken into custody in the street, together with a Russian colonel, on account of intoxication. — On the 26th March the staff at Helsingfors resolve that the majors are to pledge themselves to go with their men to the front ! What has here been stated will no doubt be sufficient. These examples will not exactly give you any high opinion of the value of the Red army as a fighting power. And yet it was able to offer decent resistance. This — apart from the great lot of artillery, etc. — was due to the fact that the civil wai in many ways had an " old- fashioned stamp," and that the innumerable skirmishes, surprises, and actions required more personal courage than discipline and control. In general there was no lack of such personal courage.

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4. THE LEADERSHIP OF THE RED.

Not without self-confidence did the Red often declare in their papers that they were doing as another leading people in history had done : they were building their temple with the trowel in one hand and the sword in the other. The simile is right enough, but with the restric- tion that the right hand seldom knew what the left hand was doing. For what the trowel built was not respected by the sword.

The great reform programme of the Red Government was, of course, never carried through. But it was at once subjected to criticism also from their own adherents. A written communication published on the 8th February reflects the disappointment felt in the Labour circles which had expected a real social revolution. It is the workmen at Kymmene Works — the largest in the country — who express their disappointment at a meeting " attended by thousands.'' The programme vacillates between efforts for petty reform and economical revolu- tionary principles " it says very truly in the communica- tion to the Government, and it is therefore not entirely satisfactory to the revolutionary Labour Class. For this reason the meeting desire that the Government will at the earliest opportunity acquaint our People with the main features of their programme, which, according to the unanimous wish of the meeting, should rest on the basis of economical revolution."

The " Government " did not, however, comply with this wish. On the contrary, its members sought in speech and writings to convince their adherents that a social revolution was neither aimed at nor possible. The fact of the matter was that on account of their corruption, the citizens had not been able to do their duty, and there- fore the working-men had been obliged to undertake the, by the way, difficult task of governing the country.

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In reality all the old government offices were kept, only new and quite inexperienced people were appointed to the offices, and the names were altered. All " boards " made into " councils." The railway board became the railway council, the school board the school council, and so on.

An eager legislative activity was, however, started at once, but its underlying intention was obvious enough : the object was to procure adherents also outside the Government's own circle. Judging from everything, it was a great disappointment to the Red that the country population was so little revolutionary as it proved to be. It was therefore hastily overwhelmed with benefits. First it was the turn of the proletariat in the country : crofters and small-holders. By an act of the 31st January, it was proclaimed that the latter could continue to cultivate their soil, and that even without paying any sort of rent. A later decree did, however, in certain cases compensate the owner, and in the shape of State bonds. Also the freeholders obtained easements : the duty of making and keeping up roads was shifted to the State in return for a certain tax, the amount of which was to be fixed later on.

Another group of citizens, whose animosity to the Red rule roused the great resentment and indignation of the new men in power, was the teachers, especially the teaching staff of the board schools. About one- fourth of all the persuasive articles published were meant for the teaching class. It is funny to see how completely the Red were puzzled by the opposition of these men and women. So convinced were they that everything in this world turned on money that they could not make out why poor people should side with capitalists. Salaries were therefore raised considerably, and it was expected that the teachers would come forward and thank.

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They did not come. It was then guessed that there was something " ideal " at the bottom, and elaborate programmes for the reform of the school teaching were published — an odd contribution to the psychology of the Red. How complete was the entanglement in the " capitalist