Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic in the context of "C. G. E. Mannerheim"

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 Finnish Civil War was a civil war in Finland in 1918 fought for the leadership and control of the country between White Finland and the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (Red Finland) during the country's transition from a grand duchy ruled by the Russian Empire to a fully independent state. The clashes took place in the context of the national, political, and social turmoil caused by World War I (Eastern Front) in Europe. The war was fought between the paramilitary Red Guards, led by a section of the Social Democratic Party with backup of the Russian bolsheviks and the paramilitary White Guards of the senate. General C. G. E. Mannerheim led the White Guards with major assistance by both the Finnish Jäger Battalion trained in Germany and the German Imperial Army, along the German goal to control Fennoscandia and Petrograd of Russia. The Reds composed of industrial and agrarian working class people controlled the cities and industrial centres of southern Finland. The Whites composed of land owners and the middle and upper class people controlled the rural central and northern Finland.

In the years before the conflict, Finland had experienced rapid population growth, industrialisation, gradually increasing urbanisation and the rise of a comprehensive labour movement. The country's political and governmental systems were in an unstable phase of democratisation and modernisation. The socio-economic condition and education of the population had gradually improved, and national awareness and culture had progressed. World War I led to the collapse of the Russian Empire, causing a power vacuum in Finland, and the subsequent struggle for dominance led to militarisation and an escalating crisis between the left-leaning labour movement and the conservatives.