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ABSTRACT
The Finnish Civil War of 1918 has been described as a revolution of expectations in the power vacuum left by the collapse of the Russian Empire. More recently, it has been described as an attempted Bolshevik revolution in a democracy. From the perspective of the Finnish Social Democrats, the re-establishment of the Red Guards and seeking support from the Bolsheviks were aimed at preventing a bourgeois counter-revolution. They saw a clear threat of that in the repeal of the act granting parliamentary sovereignty and the dissolution of the socialist-majority Parliament. This article tracks the origins of the socialists’ mistrust of the bourgeoisie through industrial relations, land-reform debates and war-time food regulation. Unlike in Sweden, collective agreements were not recognized in Finland. In the mentalities, the divide between landowning individuals and their dependent servants continued. Due to rural overpopulation, there had been little social mobility in the 19th century. Social positions had become essentialized, and initiatives to redistribute land had been postponed by the landowning classes. As in Russia, landless people and industrial workers came to share a class consciousness. They began to direct their frustrations at the state, which they saw as representing private interests.
Acknowledgment
MA Frans Flander helped me to gather archival sources.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1. Horne and Gerwart, War in Peace; Eloranta and Osinsky, “Maailmansotien vaikutus vallankumouksiin,” 197.
2. On Finland’s position in the composite empire and under pressure of nationalist unification, see Schweitzer, Autonomie und Autokratie; and Jussila, Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta 1809–1917.
3. Ketola, Kansalliseen kansanvaltaan, 174–259; and Haapala, “The Expected and Non-expected Roots of Chaos,” 43–44, 48.
4. On historiography and the political use of history, see Historiallinen Aikakauskirja 116, no. 2 (2018), 118–25, 181–88, 189–96, 197–204; Alapuro, State and Revolution in Finland, 266–67.
5. Haapala, Kun yhteiskunta hajosi.
6. Ihalainen, Springs of Democracy, 192, 202, 264, 268, 270, 286, 316; Ihalainen, “Diskurssit osana”; Ihalainen, “Proletariaatin vallasta yhteistyöhön.”
7. Lehtinen and Volanen, 1918, Kuinka vallankumous levisi Suomeen.
8. Alapuro, State and Revolution; Itsenäistymisen vuodet; Haapala, “The Expected and Non-expected Roots”; Haapala and Tikka, “Revolution, Civil War and Terror”; Tiihonen, Vallan kumoukset Suomessa.
9. Alapuro, State and Revolution, 141–55. The socialists’ denial of the legitimacy of the newly elected Parliament was due to the ‘stolen majority’ of the previous Parliament.
10. Siltala, “Being Absorbed into an Unintended War”; Siltala, Sisällissodan psykohistoria, 64–112, 228–69.
11. On the co-operation of Finnish Social Democrats with the Bolsheviks, see Ketola, Kansalliseen kansanvaltaan, 244–46; Lehtinen and Volanen, 1918, Kuinka vallankumous levisi Suomeen, 72, 82, 92, 107, 108; Dubrovskaia, “The Russian Military in Finland and the Russian Revolution.”
12. Ochoa Espejo, “Populism and the Idea of the People,” 608–24; Panizza, “Populism and Identification,” 408–17; Mouffe, Agonistics, 23–46. The Russian way of opposing working people (narod) with the educated elites (Beuerle, “Concepts of Democracy from a Russian Perspective,” 116–19, 125–26) does not capture how Finnish socialists understood the repeal of the Power Act as a nullification of the will of a parliamentary majority. It may be more relevant to describing the dual power situation during the autumn of 1917.
13. Verducci and Schröer, “Social trust”; Uslander, The Moral Foundations of Trust.
14. Häkkinen, “Suomalaiset sukupolvet, elämänkulku ja historia,” 21–55; “Elämänkulku esiteollisessa yhteiskunnassa,” 133–35; Nummela, “Väestö, asutus ja elintaso ennen teollistumista 1500–1900,” 92–113; Haapala, “Maaseudun liikaväestöongelman syntyminen 1800-luvulla”; Haapala, Tehtaan valossa, 238–43; Haapala, “The Expected and Non-Expected Roots of Chaos,” 33; Kilpi, Suomen siirtolaisuus.
15. Peltonen, Talolliset ja torpparit, 22–41, 67–75, 90–91; Reuna, Puutyöläisten historia, 50.
16. Rasila, “Vuoden 1910 yhteiskunnan kerrostumat”; Korjus, Hamina 1918, 39–40.
17. Peltonen, Talolliset ja torpparit, 166–226, 231, 238, 268–70, 282–85; and Korjus, Hamina 1918, 67–75.
18. Heaton, Economic History of Europe, 472; Urwin, From Ploughshare to Ballotbox, 68–69.
19. Minutes of Diet 1900, nobility vol. II, 567–72, 653–54; clergy, 1900 vol. II, 926–7; bourgeoisie, vol. II, 645; Parliamentary acts vol. I - III 1914, protest by Social Democrats against the proposal of the agriculture committee no. 1; discussion on land tenancy, Parliamentary acts vol. IV 1914, 699–714, and vol. V, proposal on land acquisition no. 1; Parliamentary minutes 1914 vol. II, 560–61; Rasila, Torpparikysymyksen ratkaisuvaihe, 155–57, 186–68, 231–41.
20. Peltonen, Talolliset ja torpparit, 303, 312; Rasila, Torpparikysymyksen ratkaisuvaihe, 209–210; Rajavuori, Esityksen politiikka, 275–85; Vahosalmi, “Poliittiset vastakkainasettelut ja luokkataistelu Työmies-lehdessä,” 60–63, 72–75.
21. Rasila, Torpparikysymyksen ratkaisuvaihe, 248–50, 257–61, 287–89, 295, 301–14.
22. Voutilainen, Poverty, inequality and the Finnish 1860s famine, 123.
23. Workers’ oral tradition in Korjus, Hamina 1918, 88–89.
24. Mann, The Sources of Social Power 2, 660–66; Federico and Malka, “The Contingent, Contextual Nature of the Relationship between Needs for Security and Certainty and Political Preferences,” 3–48.
25. Haapala, Tehtaan valossa, 137, 281–82; Haapala, “Maaseudun liikaväestöongelman syntyminen,” 296–301; Haapala and Peltola, “Elinkeinorakenne 1750–2000.”
26. Haapala, Tehtaan valossa, 137, 212, 269–86.
27. Hjerppe, The Finnish Economy 1860–1985, 151–71; Haapala, Tehtaan valossa, 182–85, 246–53; Haapala, “The Expected and Non-Expected Roots of Chaos,” 22, 32; Tamminen, “Työpalkkojen kehityksestä Suomessa vuosina 1920–1934”; Talvi, Pohjois-Kymenlaakson teollistuminen, 314–17.
28. Haapala, Tehtaan valossa 245, 251, 289–342; Haapala, Kun yhteiskunta hajosi, 76–84, 101–8; Salkola, Työväenkaartien synty ja kehitys punakaarteiksi 1, 46–7; and Soikkanen, Kohti kansanvaltaa, 273–39, 238–56.
29. Soikkanen, Kohti kansanvaltaa, 51.
30. Ekman, Punalippujen Helsinki, 150–239; Kujala, “Suomalaiset vallankumousjärjestöt ja poliittinen rikollisuus 1906–1908”; Kujala, Vallankumous ja kansallinen itsemääräämisoikeus, 254; Soikkanen, Sosialismin tulo Suomeen, 235, 261; Soikkanen, Kohti kansanvaltaa, 98; Ehrnrooth, Sanan vallassa, vihan voimalla, 71; Tikka, “Strike in Finland, Revolution in Russia,” 199–212.
31. Soikkanen, Kohti kansanvaltaa, 110–19; Ala-Kapee and Valkonen, Yhdessä elämä turvallisemmaksi, 157–64.
32. Soikkanen, Kohti kansanvaltaa, 198; Ekman, Punalippujen Helsinki, 259–60; Uljas and Uljas, Leiväntekijät, 71–76.
33. Törngren, Från Finlands strid för rätt och frihet, 468–69; Kujala, Paperiliiton historia, 45, 50.
34. Haapala, Tehtaan valossa, 194–208, 275, 278, 305–7; Mansner, Työnantajaklubista keskusliitoksi, 56; Ala-Kapee and Valkonen, Yhdessä elämä turvallisemmaksi, 163–64, 200–5.
35. Kuisma, Metsäteollisuuden maa, 542–47; and Kujala, Paperiliiton historia, 35, 51–52.
36. ’Se uusi suojelulaki’. Suomen Ammattijärjestö, 11/1909; “Työnväensuojelulakien tuhoaminen”. Suomen Ammattijärjestö, 11/1910; Mansner, Työnantajaklubista keskusliitoksi, 130–32; Jussila, Nationalismi ja vallankumous, 226; Soikkanen, Kohti kansanvaltaa, 136; Kujala, Paperiliiton historia, 30, 34, 45.
37. Mansner, Työnantajaklubista keskusliitoksi, 56, 61, 70–72; Kuisma, Metsäteollisuuden maa, 545–54.
38. Hilson, “Labour Politics in a Naval Dockyard,” 341–69; Swenson, Capitalists against Markets, 74–90; Ottosson and Rosengren, “I nationens intresse”; Berg, “På spaning efter en svensk modell”; Hamark and Thörnqvist, “Docks and Defeat”; Hamark, Ports, Dock Workers and Labour Market Conflicts; Isacson, Verkstadsarbetare under 1900-talet.
39. Central Archives for Finnish Business Records (ELKA), Mikkeli, 2726, F1580 file 811, Axel Palmgren (agent of the saw employers’ union) to Wolter Ramsay (Finnish Metal Trade Employers’ Association).
40. Archive of Labour, CCA fos CA 1–2 (331.88), Minutes of the executive committee (toimikunta) of SAJ, 12 February, 14 and 30 April, 6 and 15 May, 11 July and 16 December 1909, 16 June, 5 July, 11 and 17 August and 4 November 1910, 2, 6, 23 and 31 March, 6 and 21 April, 5 May, 25 August and 21 September 1910, Archive of Labour.
41. Archive of Labour, CCA fo CA 1–2 (331.88). Minutes of the executive committee of SAJ, 15 May 1909 (Rosenlew machine workshop) and 25 November 1910 (Forssa machine workshop).
42. Vahosalmi, “Poliittiset vastakkainasettelut,” 77–79.
43. Aalto, Kapina tehtailla, 30–37; Talvi, Pohjois-Kymenlaakson teollistuminen, 112–14, 343–53; Turunen, Veripellot, 68–69; and Kuisma, Metsäteollisuuden maa, 533–34.
44. Kujala, Paperiliiton historia, 30–35.
45. Ibid., 40–43.
46. Kuisma, Metsäteollisuuden maa, 542–47.
47. Archive of Labour, Helsinki, CCA fo CA 1 (331.88). Minutes of the executive committee of SAJ, 23 October and 1 November 1909. The SAJ could only state (11 November 1909) how the working hours in Valkeakoski had been extended to 12 hours a day and how workers did not dare to oppose such a unilateral action during the winter.
48. Archive of Labour, Helsinki, CCA fo CA 2 (331.88). Minutes of the executive committee of SAJ, 21 January 1910; Serlachius Museums, Mänttä. Gösta Serlachius, ‘Minnesanteckningar’, July 15–19, 1928, 52, 75; Oula Silvennoinen, Paperisydän. Gösta Serlachiuksen elämä (Helsinki, 2012), 120–21, 157–76; Antti Kujala, Paperiliiton historia, 45–49; Kuisma, Metsäteollisuuden maa, 439; Työmies, October 24 and November 1, 1909, January 19, 1910; Eteenpäin, June 9, 1910.
49. Archive of Labour, Helsinki, CCA fo CA 2 (331.88). Minutes of the executive committee of SAJ, 6 June, 4 and 23 July, 19 and 27 September and 4 October 1912; Kujala, Paperiliiton historia, 55–56; Kuisma, Metsäteollisuuden maa, 404, 410–11.
50. Aalto 2018, 44–58; Talvi 1979, 351–60; Kujala, Paperiliiton historia, 40–60; Talvisto, “Politiikan murroskaudet ja kriisit,” 612–14; Silvennoinen, Paperisydän, 148–53, 166–93, 210–20; Kuisma, Metsäteollisuuden maa, 519–20, 553–54, 581–82.
51. Kuisma, Metsäteollisuuden maa, 358–59, 365–66.
52. Haapalainen, Työväenjärjestöt ja työnantajaliitot, 51–68.
53. See Andersson, Between Growth and Security, 9–11, 28–44.
54. Ekman, Punalippujen Helsinki, 87.
55. Haapalainen, Työväenjärjestöt ja Työnantajaliitot, 51–56; Central Archives for Finnish Business Records, 2813 F 30 file 868. Minutes of the board of the Association of Finnish Workmen’s Employers, 18 December 1916, including the letter of the Sawmill Workers’ Union to the Association of Finnish Sawmill Owners.
56. Kuisma, Metsäteollisuuden maa, 542–47; Kujala, Paperiliiton historia, 35, 51–52.
57. Mollering, “The Trust/Control Duality,” 283–305; and Baier, “Trust and Antitrust,” 231–60.
58. Ala-Kapee and Valkonen, Yhdessä elämä turvalliseksi, 381–83; Kujala, Paperiliiton historia, 58.
59. Haapala, ‘The Expected and Non-Expected Roots,” 38–42, 45; and Korjus, Hamina 1918, 66–67.
60. Central Archives for Finnish Business Records, 2813 F 30 file 868. Letter of the Finnish Metalworkers’ Union to the Union of Finnish Industrialists, 5 April 1917; The working committee of the Finnish Trade Union Federation to the Association of Finnish Workmen’s Employers, 15 December 1916 and 4 April 1917 and the answer of the employers’ organization, 18 December 1916; minutes of the board of the Association of Finnish Workmen’s Employers, 18 December 1916.
61. Central Archives for Finnish Business Records, Finnish Metal Trade Employers’ Association, letters 1910–1917, 2726, F1580 file 812. The working committee of Finnish Metalworkers’ Union to the Finnish Metal Trade Employers’ Association, 26 October and 5 December (quot.) (1916).
62. I am applying here the Kohutian theory of self psychology with regard to the development of narcissism and the role of empathy, e.g. Kohut, The Analysis of the Self; and Lee et al., Five Kohutian Postulates.
63. Mansner, Työnantajaklubista keskusliitoksi, 154–55; Kujala, Paperiliiton historia, 63–64; Central Archives for Finnish Business Records, 2774 F 30 file 677. The Finnish Sawmill Owners’ Association to senator Rudolf Holsti 20 July 1917.
64. Serlachius Museums, Mänttä. GS letters (signums 26, 52, 141). Gösta Serlachius to Wilho Sjöström, 30 May 1917, and to T. B. Andersson, 19 September 1912, and to Julius Lagus 15 July 1932, and ‘Minnesanteckningar’ 15–19 July 1928, 96–99; and Silvennoinen, Paperisydän, 234–46.
65. Archive of Labour, CCA fo CA 2 (331.88). Minutes of the executive committee of SAJ, 19 April 1917.
66. Koivisto, Suomen Metallityöväen Liitto, 192–95; Ekman, Punalippujen Helsinki, 272–73.
67. Piilonen, Vallankumous kunnallishallinnossa, 59, 64; Sami Suodenjoki, “Kohti edustuksellista harvainvaltaa”, 120, 129–35; Haapala, “The Expected and Non-expected Roots,” 35.
68. Watson, Ring of Steel, 348–59.
69. Rantatupa, Elintarvikehuolto ja säännöstely Suomessa vuosina 1914–1921, 78–85; Haapala, “The Expected and Unexpected Roots,” 38–45.
70. Helsinki City Archives, CA, CA1. Minutes of the Helsinki Food Board 18 December 1915, Elintarviketoimisto (Food Agency) and memo from the workers’ meeting (arranged by Helsingin suomalainen työväenliitto) 7 December 1915, Minutes of Helsinki City Council 9 October 1917 § 57 and letter by Eva Somersalo, a resigning member of the food board, 4 October 1917; minutes of Helsinki City Council 25 October 1917 § 2; CB, CB1. Food Agency, appendixes of the minutes, 1916–1917, report of the food board on the invention of food storages, 15 December 1915; an anonymous memo for the alimentary board on butter price; minutes of the food board, 23 February and 6 October 1916, ibid., report on the activity of the food board since 1915 to the City Council of Helsinki, in the printed acts of the city council 1918, no. 6; Nyström, Poikkeusajan kaupunkielämäkerta, 90–117.
71. Rantatupa, Elintarvikehuolto ja säännöstely, 91–101.
72. Rantatupa, Elintarvikehuolto ja säännöstely, 87–90; Helsinki City Archives, Food Agency, appendixes of minutes, 1916–1917 CB, CB1. Minutes of the alimentary board of Helsinki, 7 August (and the enclosed letter by Santeri Salonen 17 August 1917) and 28 August 1917; Korjus, Hamina 1918, 64–75, 97–8; Linden, Spalernajasta talvisotaan, 181–91; Wuokko, “Miliisi Helsingissä vuonna 1917 maaliskuun vallankumouksesta Pörssitalon mellakkaan,” 403–13; Upton, Vallankumous Suomessa 1917–1918 I, 37, 128; Ekman, Punalippujen Helsinki, 274–75; Haapala, “The Expected and Non-Expected Roots,” 44.
73. Siltala, “Being Absorbed into an Unintended War,” 60–70; Salkola, Työväenkaartien kehitys I, 186, 206; Upton, Vallankumous Suomessa I, 221; Ekman, Punalippujen Helsinki, 278–82; Parikka, “Malmin Menetetty Maine.”
74. Turunen, Veripellot, 175–76; Korjus, Hamina 1918, 42–43; Ala-Kapee and Valkonen, Yhdessä elämä turvalliseksi, 793.
75. Korjus, Hamina 1918, 37–38, 147–57.
76. Hamina City Archives, Vehkalahti, III 36 Ca file 1, Ga file 12. Minutes of the municipal board of Vehkalahti §14 18 December 1914 and § 6 31 December 1914; and minutes of the Vehkalahti unemployment board 16 January 1918 § 2, 19 January 1918 § 3 and 8, 26 January 1918 § 6–7 and 4 February 1918 § 1; Korhonen, Vehkalahden pitäjän historia II, 127–95.
77. Piilonen, Vallankumous kunnallishallinnossa, 282–83.
78. Korjus, Hamina 1918, 85–88.
79. Archive of Labour 363.2 C C2. Minutes of Hamina Workers’ Association 30 December 1917 § 6–10 and 28 January 1918 § 2–6; Archive of Labour 323.2 (471) HI file 8, act 255. Report of the events in Hamina, among reports on local workers’ guards and their armament; Korjus, Hamina 1918, 125–31, 137.
80. Haapala, Tehtaan valossa, 310–14.
81. Matikainen, Parlamentarismin kannattajasta vallankumouksen äänitorveksi.
82. Alapuro, State and Revolution, 124–26; Ekman, Punalippujen Helsinki, 86–87. Cf. Kettunen, Poliittinen liike ja sosiaalinen kollektiivisuus; Teräs, Arjessa ja liikkeessä.
83. Haapala, “The Expected and Non-expected Roots,” 46–50.
84. Alapuro, State and Revolution in Finland, 260–66.
85. Siltala, “Being Absorbed into an Unintended War,” 82–85. On risk-taking to avoid the realization of losses, see Kahneman and Tversky, “Choices, Values, and Frames,” 3, 8, 15; and “Prospect Theory,” 23, 33, 41–42.
86. Zagorski et al., “Economic Development and Happiness”; Cloninger, “Hope Rekindled,” 377–98; Kelley and Evans, “Societal Income, Inequality and Individual Subjective Well-Being,” 1–23; Putnam, Our Kids.
87. Berg et al., “Trust, Reciprocity, and Social History,” 122–42; Poundstone, Prisoner’s Dilemma; Kujala and Danielsbacka, Reciprocity in Human Societies. See also Kujala, Vastakkainasettelun yhteiskunnan synty. Cf. Acemogly and Robinson, Why Nations Fail.
88. Braynov and Sandholm, “Contracting with Uncertain Level of Trust,” 501–4.
89. Carter and Weber, The Social Construction of Trust; and Siltala, Sisällissdan psykohistoria, 225–54.
90. On counterfactual contrasting analyses of causal paths and mediating mechanisms, see Pearl, The Book of Why.
91. Soikkanen, Kohti kansanvaltaa I, 247; Salkola, Työväenkaartien synty ja kehitys punakaarteiksi ennen kansalaissotaa II, 177, 356–60; Rinta-Tassi, Kansanvaltuuskunta punaisen Suomen hallituksena, 56; Upton, Vallankumous Suomessa I, 463; Tuomioja, K. H. Wiik, 187; Ekman, Punalippujen Helsinki, 284–90.
92. Siltala, Sisällissodan psykohistoria, 502–19.
93. Kujala, Paperiliiton historia, 52; Aalto, Kapina tehtaalla.
94. Max Engman, Språkfrågan, 328–29; Kraus et al., “Social Class, Contextualism, and Emphatic Accuracy,” 1716–23; Newman et al., “False Consciousness or Class Awareness,” 326–40; Sassoon, The Anxious Triumph, 337–85.
95. Mullainathan and Shafir, Scarcity, 39–66; Baumard, “Psychological Origins of the Industrial Revolution”; Baumeister et al., “Pragmatic Prospection”; and Häkkinen, “Elämänkulku esiteollisessa yhteiskunnassa,” 140–41.
96. Gärtner and Prado, “Unlocking the Social Trap”; and Kumlin and Rothstein, “Making and Breaking Social Capital.”
97. Lewis, Five Families: Mexican Case Studies in the Culture of Poverty; Fromm and Maccoby, Social Character in a Mexican Village; Himmelfarb, Poverty and Compassion. The Moral Imagination of the Late Victorians; Hans-Peter Michels, “The ‘Underclass’ Debate,” 45–57.
98. Siltala, Sisällissodan psykohistoria, 172–221.
99. Eloranta and Osinsky, “Maailmansotien vaikutus vallankumouksiin.”
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Juha Siltala
Juha Siltala is professor of Finnish history at University of Helsinki. His doctoral degree dealt with the Lapua movement of 1930 as a continuation of the Civil War. Since, he has studied religious and nationalist movements and reformism during the 19th century and the Civil War from the point of view of psychohistory. His work includes themes such as male shame, changing working life during globalisation, coping mechanisms of the young under competition, middle-class fears of falling and terror management during the Covid-19 crisis.