Red Guard (Finland)
| Red Guards Finnish: Punakaarti Swedish: Röda gardet |
|
|---|---|
| Participant in the Russian Revolution of 1905 and Finnish Civil War | |
A Red Guard fighter and a nurse in 1918
|
|
| Active | 1905–1907 1917–1920 |
| Ideology |
Socialism, Communism, Left-wing nationalism |
| Leaders |
Johan Kock Ali Aaltonen Eero Haapalainen Eino Rahja Kullervo Manner Otto Wille Kuusinen |
| Area of operations | Finland, East Karelia |
| Allies |
 Russian Red Guards Russian SFSR
|
| Opponents |
 German Empire (1918) |
| Battles and wars | Russian Revolution of 1905, Finnish Civil War, Kinship Wars |
Russian Empire (1905–1907)
Finland (1918)
The Red Guards (Finnish: Punakaarti, Swedish: Röda gardet) were a paramilitary units of the Finnish labour movement in the early 1900s. The first Red Guards were established during the 1905 general strike, but disbanded a year later. After the Russian 1917 February revolution the Red Guards were re-established and in the 1918 Finnish Civil War they formed the army of Red Finland. The combined strength of the Red Guard was about 30,000 at the beginning of the Civil War, peaking at 90,000-120,000 during the course of the conflict. The number included more than 2,000 members of the Women's Guards. In May 1918, up to 80,000 Reds were captured by the victorious Whites, 12,000–14,000 of them died in the prison camps of executions, disease and malnutrition. Majority of the Reds were finally pardoned in late 1918.
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