In the course of the Finnish Civil War, the White Army self-defense forces shot and killed the socialist Red Army Red Guards in 1918. In the areas occupied by the White Army, people were arrested for belonging to workers' organizations and the leaders of the organizations were shot. In Sveborg, public executions were carried out, machine guns were in operation for several hours each day, and about 200 people a day were shot with explosive rounds, sending chunks of flesh flying in all directions. In Helsinki, about 100 people were killed when White and German troops marched in front of workers' wives and children in a fierce urban battle. About 40 Red Army women who were armed were pulled out onto the ice and shot dead without trial. Thousands of Reds escaped at Tammafo, but about 2,000 were killed in the fighting and about 5,000 were taken prisoner. The White victors slaughtered the defeated Reds, and at Viipuri, some 600 Reds were lined up in three rows along the edge of the fortress moat and machine-gunned in cold blood. The number of people massacred was estimated to be between about 10,000 and 20,000. About 70,000 Red Army troops were held in concentration camps, and about 2,347 people died of disease in about 26 days.
The Finnish Civil War broke out from January 27, 1918 to May 15, 1918. It was a civil war over the leadership and control of Finland during the transition from a grand duchy of the Russian Empire to an independent country. The civil war broke out as part of the national, political and social turmoil caused by the Eastern Front of World War I in Europe. The Finnish Civil War was fought between the "Red Army," led by the Social Democrats, and the "White Army," commanded by the non-socialist, conservative Senate. The paramilitary "Red Guards," composed of industrial and agricultural workers, dominated the cities and industrial areas of southern Finland. On the other hand, the paramilitary "White Guard," composed of peasants, middle class and upper class, dominated the rural areas in central and northern Finland.
Finnish society was experiencing rapid population growth, industrialization, and urbanization, and a comprehensive labor movement was emerging. The country's political and administrative system was in a precarious stage of democratization and modernization, but the socioeconomic conditions of the people and their national cultural status were gradually improving. The collapse of the Russian Empire due to World War I led to a power struggle, militarization and a deepening of the crisis between the Finnish leftist labor movement and the Finnish conservatives.
The Red Army was supplied with weapons by Soviet Russia in February 1918, and an all-out offensive failed; a White Army counter-offensive began in March and was reinforced by units of the German Imperial Army in April. The decisive military actions in this civil war were the Battles of Tampere and Viipuri, won by the White Army, and the Battles of Helsinki and Lahti, won by the Germans, leading to an all-out victory for the White and German armies. Both the Red Army and the White Army engaged in political terrorism. Many Red Army prisoners of war died of malnutrition and disease. In total, about 39,000 and 36,000 Finns died in the war.
The Finns moved from the Russian government to the German sphere of influence and made plans to establish a German-led Finnish monarchy. This plan was abandoned when Germany was defeated in World War I, and Finland emerged as an independent and democratic republic. The civil war divided Finland for decades, but social compromises based on a long period of moderate political and religious culture, the outcome of World War I, and the economic recovery after the civil war reunited Finnish society.
