Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim
Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (Swedish pronunciation: [kɑːɭ ˈɡɵ̂sːtav ˈěːmɪl ˈmânːɛrˌhɛjm], Finland Swedish: [kɑːrl ˈɡʉstɑv ˈeːmil ˈmɑnːærˌhejm] ⓘ; 4 June 1867 – 27 January 1951) was a Finnish military leader and statesman.[3][4] He served as the military leader of the Whites in the Finnish Civil War (1918), as Regent of Finland (1918–1919), as commander-in-chief of the Finnish Defence Forces during the period of World War II (1939–1945), and as the sixth president of Finland (1944–1946). He became Finland's only field marshal in 1933 and was appointed honorary Marshal of Finland in 1942.
"Mannerheim" redirects here. For the noble family he belonged to, see Mannerheim (family). For his grandfather, see Carl Gustaf Mannerheim (naturalist). For other uses, see Mannerheim (disambiguation).
Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim
Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg (as President of the Republic)
4 June 1867[1]
Louhisaari Manor, Askainen, Grand Duchy of Finland, Russian Empire[1]
(present day Askainen, Masku, Finland)
27 January 1951 (aged 83)
Cantonal Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
Finnish-Russian (1867-1917)
Finnish (1917-1951)
- Anastasie "Stasie" Mannerheim (1893–1978)
- Sofia "Sophy" Mannerheim (1895–1963)
- Count Carl Robert Mannerheim
- Hedvig von Julin
- Sophie Mannerheim (sister)
- Eva Mannerheim-Sparre (sister)
- Count Carl Gustaf Mannerheim (paternal grandfather)
- John Jacob von Julin (maternal grandfather)
- Albert von Julin (maternal uncle)
- Georg C. Ehrnrooth (grandnephew)[2]
- See Mannerheim family
- See Julin family
Military officer, statesman
Imperial Russia (1889–1917)
Finland (1918–1951)
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- 1889–1917 (Imperial Russia)
- 1918 (White Army)
- 1939–1945 (Finland)
Lieutenant general (Russia & White Army)
Field Marshal (Finland)- Marshal of Finland (Finland)
The Russian Empire dominated the Grand Duchy of Finland before 1917, and Mannerheim made a career in the Imperial Russian Army, serving in the Russo-Japanese War and the Eastern Front of World War I and rising by 1917 to the rank of lieutenant general. He had a prominent place in the ceremonies for Emperor Nicholas II's coronation in 1896 and later had several private meetings with the Tsar. After the Bolshevik coup of October 1917 in Russia, Finland declared its independence (6 December 1917) – but soon became embroiled in the 1918 Finnish Civil War between the pro-Bolshevik "Reds" and the "Whites", who were the troops of the Senate of Finland, supported by troops of the German Empire.
A Finnish delegation appointed Mannerheim as the military chief of the Whites in January 1918, and he led them to victory, holding a triumphal victory parade in Helsinki in May. After spending some time abroad, he was invited back to Finland to serve as the country's second regent, or head of state, from December 1918 to July 1919. Despite being a monarchist, he formally ratified the republican Constitution of Finland. He then ran against K. J. Ståhlberg in the first Finnish presidential elections in 1919 but lost and quit politics. Mannerheim helped found the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare in 1920 and headed the Finnish Red Cross from 1922 to his death.[5] He was restored to a central role in national defence policy when President Svinhufvud appointed him as the Chairman of the Finnish Defence Council in 1931, tasked with making preparations for a potential war with the Soviet Union. It was also agreed that he would temporarily take over as commander-in-chief of the country's armed forces should there be a war.[4][6]
Accordingly, after the Soviets invaded Finland in November 1939 in what became the Winter War, Mannerheim replaced President Kallio as commander-in-chief, and occupied the post for the next five years. He became a unifying symbol of the war effort and part of the core leadership of the country.[4] He personally participated in the planning of Operation Barbarossa[7] and led the Finnish Defence Forces in an invasion of the Soviet Union alongside Nazi Germany known as the Continuation War (1941–1944). In 1944, when the prospect of Nazi Germany's defeat in World War II became clear, the Finnish Parliament appointed Mannerheim as President of Finland, and he oversaw peace negotiations with the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom. Already in declining health, he resigned the presidency in 1946 and spent much of his remaining life in a sanatorium in Switzerland, where he wrote his memoirs, and where he died in 1951.[8]
Participants in a Finnish survey taken 53 years after his death voted Mannerheim the greatest Finn of all time.[9] During his own lifetime he became, alongside Jean Sibelius, the best-known Finnish personage at home and abroad.[4] According to Finnish historian Tuomas Tepora, a cult of personality began to be built around Mannerheim right after the civil war.[10]
Given the broad recognition in Finland and elsewhere of his unparalleled role in establishing and later preserving Finland's independence from the Soviet Union, Mannerheim has long been referred to as the father of modern Finland,[11][12][13][14][15] and the New York Times called the Finnish capital Helsinki's Mannerheim Museum memorializing the leader's life and times "the closest thing there is to a [Finnish] national shrine".[13] Baron Mannerheim is the only person to have held the ranks of Marshal of Finland and Finnish field marshal.[16]
On the other hand, Mannerheim's personal reputation still strongly divides opinions among people even to this day, with some critics highlighting his role as the senior commander of the White Guard in the massacres of the Red prisoners during and after the Finnish Civil War and the establishment of the concentration camps in East Karelia, in which poor conditions led to a high mortality rate.
Early life and military career[edit]
Ancestry[edit]
The Mannerheims, originally from Germany as Marhein, became Swedish noblemen in 1693. In the latter part of the 18th century, they moved to Finland, which was then an integral part of Sweden.[17][18] After Sweden lost Finland to the Russian Empire in 1809, Mannerheim's great-grandfather, Count Carl Erik Mannerheim (1759–1837), son of the Commandant Johan Augustin Mannerheim,[19][20] became the first head of the executive of the newly-autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland, an office that preceded that of the contemporary Prime Minister. His grandfather, Count Carl Gustaf Mannerheim (1797–1854), was an entomologist and jurist. His father, Carl Robert, Count Mannerheim (1835–1914), was both a playwright and industrialist, with modest success in both endeavours. Mannerheim's mother, Hedvig Charlotta Helena von Julin (1842–1881), was the daughter of a wealthy industrialist, John von Julin (1787–1853).
Childhood[edit]
Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim was born in the Louhisaari Manor of the Askainen parish (current Masku) on June 4, 1867.[1] After Mannerheim's father left the family in 1880 for his mistress, a daughter of Baron and General Johan Mauritz Nordenstam,[21] the young Mannerheim's mother and her seven children went to live with her aunt Louise; but Mannerheim's mother died the following year.[22] Mannerheim's maternal uncle, Albert von Julin (1846–1906), then became his legal guardian and financier of his later schooling.[23] The third child of the family, Mannerheim inherited the title of Baron.
Coat of Arms of Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim
Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim
"Candida pro causa ense candido"[98]("With an honourable sword for an honourable cause")
Grand Cross with Swords and Diamonds of the Order of the Cross of Liberty (1940; Grand Cross with Swords: 1918)
In the course of his lifetime, Mannerheim received 82 military and civilian decorations.[99]
Finland
Russian Empire
Sweden
Others