Finnish Civil War in the context of "Petrograd"

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.

Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (Finland Swedish: [kɑːrl ˈɡʉstɑv ˈeːmil ˈmɑnːærhejm] , 4 June 1867 – 27 January 1951) was a Finnish military commander and statesman. 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 World War II (1939–1945), and as the president of Finland (1944–1946). He became Finland's only field marshal in 1933 and was appointed honorary Marshal of Finland in 1942.

Born into a Swedish-speaking aristocratic family in the Grand Duchy of Finland, 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 1896 coronation ceremonies for Emperor Nicholas II and later had several private meetings with him. After the Bolshevik coup of November 1917 in Russia, Finland declared its independence on 6 December, but soon became embroiled in the 1918 Finnish Civil War between the Whites, who were the troops of the Senate of Finland, supported by troops of the German Empire, and the pro-Bolshevik Reds.

A civilian casualty occurs when a civilian is killed or injured by non-civilians, mostly law enforcement officers, military personnel, rebel group forces, or terrorists. Under the law of war, it refers to civilians who perish or suffer wounds as a result of wartime acts. The term is generally applied to situations in which violence is committed in pursuit of political or military goals. During periods of armed conflict, there are structures, actors, and processes at a number of levels that affect the likelihood of violence against civilians.

The term is also sometimes used in non-military situations; for example, during police operations against criminals such as bank robbers, hostage-takers or mass shooters, deaths/injuries by members of the public who are neither police nor the criminals may be referred to as civilian casualties.

Otto Wilhelm "Wille" Kuusinen (Finnish: [ˈotːo ˈʋilːe ˈkuːsinen] ; Russian: О́тто Вильге́льмович Ку́усинен, romanized: Otto Vilgelmovich Kuusinen; 4 October 1881 – 17 May 1964) was a Finnish-born Soviet politician, literary historian, and poet.

From 1911 to 1917, Kuusinen served as Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Finland and became one of the leaders of the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic in 1918. After the defeat of the Reds in the Finnish Civil War, he fled to Soviet Russia.

Hjalmar Fridolf Siilasvuo (born Hjalmar Fridolf Strömberg, 18 March 1892 – 11 January 1947) was a Finnish lieutenant general (Finnish: kenraaliluutnantti), a knight of the Mannerheim Cross and a member of the Jäger Movement. He participated in the Eastern Front of World War I, the Finnish Civil War, the Winter War, Continuation War and the Lapland War.

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.

The Kingdom of Finland (Finnish: Suomen kuningaskunta; Swedish: Konungariket Finland; 1918–1919) was a failed attempt to establish a monarchy in Finland in the aftermath of the Finnish Declaration of Independence from Russia in December 1917 and the Finnish Civil War from January to May 1918. The victorious Whites in the Parliament of Finland began the process of turning Finland into a kingdom and creating a monarchy. Although the country was legally a kingdom headed by a regent for over a year, the king-elect Friedrich Karl never reigned nor came to Finland following Germany's defeat in World War I. Republican victories in subsequent elections resulted in the country becoming a republic.

During the Finnish Civil War of 1918, Finnish Reds on friendly terms with Soviet Russia fought Finnish Whites who allied with the German Empire. Direct aid from the German Baltic Sea Division helped the Whites win the war. The provisional government established after the Grand Duchy of Finland's declaration of independence leaned heavily toward the Finnish right and included a number of monarchists. The parliament drew up plans to create a Finnish monarchy on the legal theory that the Swedish Constitution of 1772 was still in effect, but there had been an extended interregnum with no monarch on the throne. Prince Friedrich Karl of Hesse was elected to the throne of Finland on 9 October 1918 by the Finnish parliament, but he never took the position nor traveled to Finland. Soon after the election, Finnish leaders as well as the population belatedly came to understand the grave situation their German allies were in, and the wisdom of electing a German prince as monarch as Germany was about to lose World War I was called into question. Germany itself became a republic, deposed Kaiser Wilhelm II and signed an armistice with the Allies in November. The victorious powers informed the Finnish government that the independence of Finland would only be recognized if it abandoned its alliance with Germany. As a result, Friedrich Karl renounced the throne in December and the Baltic Sea Division withdrew from Finland. In the March 1919 election, with the Finnish left and socialists able to vote, republicans won a crushing victory. Finland's status as a republic was confirmed in the Finnish Constitution of 1919.