Finnish White Guard

The White Guard (Finnish:Suojeluskunta, plural: Suojeluskunnat, Finland-Swedish: Skyddskår, literary translated as Protection/Defense Corps) was a voluntary militia that emerged victorious over the socialist Red Guard as part of the Whites in the Finnish Civil War of 1918. The Finnish term Suojeluskunta has received many different approximations in English, including the literal translation Protection Corps, and Security Guard, Civic Guards, National Guard, White Militia, Defence Corps, Protection Guard, and Protection Militia. They were generally known as the White Guard in the West due to their opposition to the communist Red Guards. In the White Army of Finland many participants were recruitees, draftees and German trained Jägers and not part of the paramilitary as sometimes it's erroneously thought. Their central organization was named Suojeluskuntajärjestö, and the organization consisted of local chapters in municipalities. Russian revolution of 1905 led to unrest and lack of security in Finland, which was then a Grand Duchy under the sovereignty of the Russian Czar. Citizen militias were formed as a response, but soon these would be formed along political (left-right) lines. The Russian Revolution of 1917 and the subsequent independence of Finland also caused conflicts in Finland. On January 27, 1918, the Finnish government ordered the disarmament of remaining Russian garrisons with the forces of the White Guard, and on the same day, the Reds proclaimed revolution, leading to a bloody civil war. White Guards, led by General C.G.E. Mannerheim, constituted the bulk of the victorious White Army during the Finnish Civil War (1918). After the war, Finnish Defence Forces and a regular police service were founded. From 1919 up to 1934 White Guards were considered a voluntary part of the army, and separate Guard formations were in the reserve, but in 1934, all defence was consolidated into the regular army was and the Guard became a voluntary defence training organization only. Politically, it was neutral although anti-leftist, clearly anti-Communist and conservative and largely rejected by the labor movement and the political left. However, parts of it formed the main forces of the Lapua Movement's abortive coup d'état, the Mäntsälä Rebellion (1932). White Guardsmen served in the regular army during the Second World War. The White Guard was disbanded according to the terms of the Finno-Soviet peace treaty after the Second World War. (From Wikipedia)