Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic

Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic
Suomen sosialistinen työväentasavalta Finlands socialistiska arbetarrepublik
1918
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Red:Socialist territory Blue:White territory
Capital		Helsinki
Languages		Finnish
Government		Precursor of a Socialist state
Chairman		Kullervo Manner
Legislature		Finnish People's Delegation
Historical era		World War I and Finnish Civil War
•	Established	29 January 1918
•	Disestablished	5 May 1918
Currency		Markka
Preceded by Succeeded by Pehr Evind Svinhufvud's first senate Grand Duchy of Finland Kingdom of Finland (1918)
Today part of		Finland  Russia

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The Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic, more commonly referred to as Red Finland, was a theoretical precursor of an unrecognized Finnish socialist state. It was outlined during the Finnish Civil War, on 29 January 1918 by the Finnish People's Delegation, the Reds and Red Guards of the Finnish Social Democratic Party, after the socialist revolution of Finland on 26 January 1918.

Red Finland/FSWR was an attempt to establish a socialist nation, based on the legacy of Scandinavian-Finnish culture, socialist ideas originating from Central Europe and Finnish nationalism, including plans to expand the Finnish territory. The political visions included principles of democracy, but as Red Finland was primarily the formation of revolution and civil war, the acts of violence and warfare were emphasized in the policy. The Red Guards included a minor faction of Finnish Bolsheviks who supported association of FSWR to Soviet Russia. FSWR/Red Finland never gained a true status and form of state and republic as the Reds lost the Civil War on 5 May 1918.

The geographical area of Red Finland as well as the front line between White and Red Finland took shape approximately between 28 January and 3 February 1918, and it remained largely unchanged until general offensive of the Whites in March 1918.

The Finnish People's Delegation, mainly Otto Ville Kuusinen, formulated and set forth, on 23 February 1918, a draft for a constitution of Red Finland/FSWR, on the basis of the Finnish Social Democratic principles and mentality. The Marxist concept of dictatorship of the proletariat was absent from the program. Instead, it represented an idea of democratic socialism and it was influenced by the constitutions of Switzerland and United States, and French Revolution. The constitution model included most of democratic civil rights for the Finnish citizens, including an extensive use of referendum in political decision making, but private property rights were excluded and given to state and local administration. The draft was never finally formulated and approved in Red Finland, before the defeat of FSWR in the 1918 war.