Finland in WWI (1914-1920)

The region of Finland was a semi-autonomous Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire when World War I began in 1914. The people of Finland decided, in large part, to stay out of the war with only a few thousand volunteering to fight for Russia and Germany. After the 1917 Revolution in Russia the Finnish national assembly demanded greater independence from the provisional Russian government and was denied and dissolved. A second national assembly then declared independence from the Soviet government. The Soviets used the weakened state of Finland’s government to stage a coup on January 28, 1918. Socialist Red Guard militias fought pitched battles against the German backed, anti-Bolshevik White Guard. With support from the German Baltic Division the Finnish White Guard was able to defeat the Reds at the Battle of Viborg on April 28-29, 1917. The German military withdrew shortly after the 1918 Armistice. Throughout 1919 Finland waged small border conflicts with the Soviet Union but was excluded from full participation in the Russian Civil War and only achieved full independence through a Treaty with the Soviet Union in 1920.¹