Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
at the beginning of the Mannerheim road in Helsinki, Finland]]Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (June 4, 1867 – January 28, 1951) was Finland's reputed Commander-in-Chief and later President of Finland (1944 – 1946).
Mannerheim was born in Louhisaari Castle in Askainen to a Finland-Swedish family of Dutch ancestry that had been ennobled in 1768. He was related to Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld. He was the third child in a countal family in which the younger sons inherited the title of Baron. Besides his mother tongue, Swedish, Mannerheim also spoke Finnish, Russian, French, German and English.
Mannerheim's great-grandfather, Count Carl Erik Mannerheim, had held a number of offices in Finland's civil service during the early years of the semi-autonomous Russian Grand Duchy of Finland, including membership of the Senate. Mannerheim's father, Count Carl Robert, was a poet, writer and businessman. His businesses were not successful though, and he eventually became bankrupt. He later moved to Paris and lived the life of an artist.
A Cavalry Officer in the Imperial Russian Army
Due to the worsened economic situation of the family, Mannerheim was sent to the Military College in Hamina in 1882, at the age of 15. He was later expelled for breaches of discipline in 1886. He then attended private grammar school in Helsinki, passing his university entrance examinations in 1887. Immediately after that he left for Saint Petersburg, where he was accepted into the Nikolai Cavalry School. At that time Finland was a Grand Duchy in personal union with Russia. He graduated in 1889, was promoted to the rank of Cornet, and although he was initially stationed at a cavalry garrison in Poland, he was eventually accepted into the chevalier guard cavalry regiment that was part of the Russian Empress' bodyguard. His family arranged him to be married to Anastasie Arapova, daughter of a Russian general, for economic reasons. They had two daughters, Sophie and Anastasie. The marriage ended in an unofficial separation in 1902 and in a formal divorce in 1919.
Mannerheim was not admitted to the staff-officer academy - mainly because of his inadequate Russian. Instead, he specialised as an expert on horses, buying stud stallions and special duty horses for the army. In 1903 he was put in charge of a display squadron and became a member of the equestrian training board of the cavalry regiments.
Mannerheim volunteered for the Russo-Japanese War in 1904 and was stationed at the 52nd Njzhin hussar regiment in Manchuria with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was promoted to colonel for his bravery in the battle of Mukden.
On returning from the war, Mannerheim spent time in Finland and Sweden 1905-1906. As a representative of the baronial branch of his family, he was present as a members of the Estate of Nobility in the last session of the Diet of Finland.
He also led an expedition to China, travelling from Tashkent to Kashgar from July to October 1906, with the French scientist Paul Pelliot. Shortly thereafter, he led a separate expedition into China until the autumn of 1908. The expedition had strategic purposes, in addition to anthropological, because these areas in northern China were a potential point of crisis between Russia, China and even the United Kingdom (see: The Great Game). After the trip, he was in 1909 given a position as a regimental commander in Novominski, Poland. In 1912 he became a part of Imperial entourage as a lieutenant general.
In World War I, Mannerheim served as a cavalry commander at the Austro-Hungarian and Romanian fronts. After the February Revolution of 1917 in Russia, Mannerheim fell out of favor with the new government, and in September was relieved of his duties. He was now in the reserve and trying to recover his health in Odessa. He began planning retirement to civilian life and a return to Finland.
From Civil-War Victor to Head of State
In January 1918 the Senate of the newly independent Finland, under its chairman Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, appointed Mannerheim as Commander-in-Chief of Finland's almost non-existant army, which was then not much more than a number of locally set up White Guardss. His mission was the defence of the Government during the Civil War in Finland. He accepted the position despite of his misgivings about the German influences in the government. He founded his headquarters in Seinäjoki and begun to disarm the remaining Russian garrisons and their 42,500 troops.
Dismayed at the increasing German influence Mannerheim left the country temporarily in June 1918. Mannerheim was thus out of the country during the last, fateful period of the civil war, a time of mass deaths as a result of disease and starvation in prison camps and of lengthy trials. During the war he had already tried to stop the 'White terror' and had opposed the mass imprisonment of Reds.
In autumn 1918, Mannerheim held discussions in London and Paris. In September he was summoned back from Paris to become Regent. There were even monarchists who wanted to make him Finland's king. After the elected Väinö I of Finland had aroused the victorious Allies' suspicions, and renounced the throne, Mannerheim secured recognition of the independent Finland from the United Kingdom and USA. He also requested and received food aid from overseas to avoid famine. Although he was an ardent anti-Bolshevik, he eventually refused an alliance with Russian White generals because they would not have recognized Finnish independence. In 1919 he lost a presidential election in the Parliament to Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg and retreated from public life.
Between the Wars
In the interwar years, his pursuits mere mainly humanitarian. He supported the Finnish Red Cross and founded the Mannerheim's Children's Foundation. In 1929 he refused right-wing radicals plea to become a de facto military dictator although he did express some support of the right-wing semi-fascist Lapua Movement. After president Pehr Evind Svinhufvud was elected 1931, he appointed Mannerheim as chairman of Finland's Defense Council. In 1933 he received the rank of field marshal. He supported Finland's military industry and sought (in vain) to establish a military defence union with Sweden. However, rearming the Finnish army did not work as swiftly as he hoped and he was not enthusiastic about a war. He had many strifes with various Cabinets, and signed numerous letters of resignation.
Commander-in-Chief
When negotiations with the Soviet Union failed in 1939, Mannerheim on October 17, 1939, again withdraw his resignation, thereby again accepting the position as Commander-in-Chief of Finland's army in case of war. He reorganized his headquarters in Mikkeli. Officially he became the Commander-in-Chief after the Soviet attack on November 30. His strategic aide was Aksel Airo.
Mannerheim spent most of the Winter War and Continuation War in his Mikkeli headquarters but made many visits to the front. Between the wars, he held on to the authority as Commander-in-Chief, which according to the letter of law would have gone back to the presidents (Kyösti Kallio and Risto Ryti) after the Moscow Peace, March 12, 1940. In June 1942 the Finnish government granted him the title of Marshal of Finland. Mannerheim kept relations to the German government as formal as possible and refused Nazi demands for a written treaty of alliance or that Finnish troops should attack the besieged Leningrad.
End of the War, A Brief Presidency
In the moment when Germany was deemed sufficiently weakened, and USSR's summer offensive was quenched (thanks to President Risto Ryti's agreement with the Germans in June 1944), Finland's leaders saw a chance to reach a peace with the Soviet Union. Risto Ryti resigned, and Mannerheim was elected as president on August 4, 1944, mainly because he was the only one with sufficient prestige both internationally and domestically. After a month the Continuation War was concluded on harsh terms, but ultimately far less harsh than that of the other states in the power of USSR. Finland retained its sovereignty, the territorial losses were limited, but the War reparations were heavy.
Finland also had to fight the Lapland War against the withdrawing German troops in the north, and at the same time demobilize her army.
Mannerheim resigned for reasons of declining health in March 1946. Even Finnish communists, his enemies in 1918, recognized his peacemaking efforts.
Mannerheim was succeeded by his Conservative but russophile Prime Minister Juho Kusti Paasikivi.
Mannerheim retired to the Valmont sanatorium in Montreux, Switzerland to write his memoirs. He died on January 28, 1951 in Lausanne, Switzerland. He was buried in the Hietaniemi cemetery in Finland in a state funeral with full military honors.
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