Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim in the context of "Risto Ryti"

Pehr Evind Svinhufvud af Qvalstad (Finland Swedish: [ˈpæːr ˈeːʋin(d) ˈsviːnhʉːʋʉd ɑːv kʋɑːlstɑːd], 15 December 1861 – 29 February 1944) was the president of Finland from 1931 to 1937. Serving as a lawyer, judge, and politician in the Grand Duchy of Finland, which was at that time an autonomous state under the Russian Empire's rule, Svinhufvud played a major role in the movement for Finnish independence. He was the one who presented the Declaration of Independence to the Parliament.

From December 1917, Svinhufvud was the first head of government of independent Finland as Chairman of the Senate. He led the White government during the Finnish Civil War while Mannerheim led their armies. After the war, he served as Finland's first temporary head of state with the title of Regent during the project to establish a German-aligned monarchy in the country, until late 1918 when he stepped down in favour of Mannerheim. He later served as Prime Minister from 1930 to 1931, before being elected to the presidency. As president, he was notable for putting an end to the Mäntsälä rebellion.

The Mannerheim Line (Finnish: Mannerheim-linja, Swedish: Mannerheimlinjen) was a defensive fortification line on the Karelian Isthmus built by Finland against the Soviet Union. While this was never an officially designated name, during the Winter War it became known as the Mannerheim Line, after Finnish Army's then commander-in-chief Field Marshal Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim. The line was constructed in two phases: 1920–1924 and 1932–1939. By November 1939, when the Winter War began, the line was by no means complete.

The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet–Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union during World War II. It began with a Finnish declaration of war on 25 June 1941 and ended on 19 September 1944 with the Moscow Armistice. The Soviet Union and Finland had previously fought the Winter War from 1939 to 1940, which ended with the Soviet failure to conquer Finland and the Moscow Peace Treaty. Numerous reasons have been proposed for the Finnish decision to invade, with regaining territory lost during the Winter War regarded as the most common. Other justifications for the conflict include Finnish President Risto Ryti's vision of a Greater Finland and Commander-in-Chief Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim's desire to annex East Karelia.

On 22 June 1941, the Axis invaded the Soviet Union. Three days later, the Soviet Union conducted an air raid on Finnish cities which prompted Finland to declare war and allow German troops in Finland to begin offensive warfare. By September 1941, Finland had regained its post–Winter War concessions to the Soviet Union in Karelia. The Finnish Army continued its offensive past the 1939 border during the invasion of East Karelia and halted it only around 30–32 km (19–20 mi) from the centre of Leningrad. It participated in besieging the city by cutting the northern supply routes and by digging in until 1944. In Lapland, joint German–Finnish forces failed to capture Murmansk or cut the Kirov (Murmansk) Railway. The Soviet Vyborg–Petrozavodsk offensive in June and August 1944 drove the Finns from most of the territories that they had gained during the war, but the Finnish Army halted the offensive in August 1944.

White Finland (officially known simply as Finland) is the name given to the anti-communist refugee and provisional government declared in Finland following the October Revolution. Its forces, known as the Whites (Finnish: Valkoiset, IPA: [ˈʋɑlkoi̯set]; Swedish: De vita, Swedish pronunciation: [de ˈviːta]), led by Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, fought against the forces of the rival Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic, known as the "Reds", during the Finnish Civil War in 1918.

At the start of the civil war, the Whites controlled the majority of Finland's territory, chiefly its central and northern areas. These were largely rural areas however, and most industrial centres, including the capital of Helsinki, were under Red control, forcing the senate to relocate to the coastal city of Vaasa. Imperial German support, coupled with a comparatively lacklustre Soviet support for the Finnish Reds helped the Finnish Whites ultimately win the short but brutal civil war. The Whites also enjoyed support from Swedish, Estonian volunteers, as well as the Polish Legion in Finland and some Russian White Guards.

In the Finnish Defence Forces, Field Marshal (Finnish: sotamarsalkka, lit. 'War Marshal', Swedish: fältmarskalk) is officially not an active military rank but an honorary rank that can be bestowed upon 'especially distinguished generals'. So far the only holder of this title has been Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, then Chairman of the Defence Council, who received it on 19 May 1933 by the decision of the State Council. Baron Gustaf Mannerheim (1867–1951) served as Regent (1918–1919) and President of the Republic (1944–1946).

Lieutenant General Mannerheim had commanded the White Army in the Finnish Civil War in 1918, and his promotion to field marshal had already been suggested in 1928, the 10th anniversary of the end of the War. Back then the proposal was rejected as 'too warlike'–and there was also fears that such promotion would prove politically controversial–but Mannerheim was nevertheless given an unofficial marshal's baton by the Civil War's White veterans. Five years later the political climate was more favourable, and the State Council decided to bestow Mannerheim the rank of field marshal. The decision was kept in secret, and came as a pleasant surprise to Mannerheim. He observed "In a little ultrademocratic country it could seem quite pretentious to indulge in the luxury of a field marshal", but also admitted that it was "not so frightful when the marshal costs the state nothing".