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| - The Finnish Civil War (; ) concerned control and leadership of Finland, during its transition phase from a Russian Grand Duchy to an independent state. The conflict formed a part of the national, political and social turmoil caused by World War I (1914–1918) in Europe. The Civil War was fought from 27 January to 15 May 1918 between the forces of the Social Democrats led by the People's Deputation of Finland, commonly called the "Reds" (, ), and the forces of the non-socialist, conservative-led Senate, commonly called the "Whites" (, ). The Reds—dominated by industrial and agrarian workers—were supported by the Russian Soviet Republic. The Whites—dominated by peasants and middle- and upper-class factions—received marked military assistance from the German Empire. The Reds were based in the
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| - The Finnish Civil War (; ) concerned control and leadership of Finland, during its transition phase from a Russian Grand Duchy to an independent state. The conflict formed a part of the national, political and social turmoil caused by World War I (1914–1918) in Europe. The Civil War was fought from 27 January to 15 May 1918 between the forces of the Social Democrats led by the People's Deputation of Finland, commonly called the "Reds" (, ), and the forces of the non-socialist, conservative-led Senate, commonly called the "Whites" (, ). The Reds—dominated by industrial and agrarian workers—were supported by the Russian Soviet Republic. The Whites—dominated by peasants and middle- and upper-class factions—received marked military assistance from the German Empire. The Reds were based in the towns and industrial centres of southern Finland, while the Whites controlled more rural central and northern Finland. The Whites won the war, in which about 37,000 people died out of a population of 3 million. The Grand Duchy of Finland, ruled as a nominally autonomous part of the Russian Empire, was gradually developing into a Finnish state, including a rise of the Fennoman movement standing for the Finnic majority of the population. By 1917 the Finnish people had experienced rapid population growth and industrialization, and the rise of a comprehensive labor movement. Economic, social, and political divisions were deepening while the Finnish political system was in an unstable phase of democratization and modernization. The collapse of the Russian Empire following the February and October Revolutions of 1917 spurred the collapse of the Grand Duchy of Finland, and the resultant power vacuum led to bitter conflict between the left-leaning labor movement, led by the Social Democrats, and more conservative non-socialists. A breakdown of power and authority penetrated all levels of society. Finland's declaration of independence on 6 December 1917 – though supported by most Finns and soon recognized by the Russian Bolshevist Council of People's Commissars – occurred in the context of the worsening power struggle, and therefore failed to either unite or pacify the nation. With the dissolution of regular police and military forces, both left and right began forming armed groups in the spring of 1917. Two rival paramilitary forces, the White Guards and Red Guards, emerged, both with around 85,000 men. The Reds carried out a general offensive in February 1918; it ended in failure. Soviet Russia's main support to the Reds was the supply of weapons, due to disintegration of the Russian army. A general offensive by the Whites began on 15 March and was bolstered by the arrival of 13,000 soldiers from the German army in April 1918. The battles of Tampere and Viipuri, won by the Whites, and the Battle of Helsinki, won by German troops, were the decisive military actions of the war. Both the Reds and Whites used political terror as a military weapon during the conflict. In the aftermath of the civil war, Finland passed from Russian rule to the German Empire's sphere of power. The conservative Finnish Senate attempted to establish a Finnish monarchy ruled by the House of Hesse, but after the defeat of Germany in World War I, Finland emerged as an independent, democratic republic. The civil war remains the most traumatic, controversial and emotionally charged event in the history of modern Finland, and there have even been disputes about how to designate it. Three-quarters of the war victims were Reds who died mainly in political terror campaigns and in prison camps. The turmoil created severe food shortages, disrupted the Finnish economy and the political apparatus, and divided the Finnish nation for many years. Finnish society was reunited through the social compromises based on long-term culture of moderate politics and religion, the outcome of World War I and the marked post-war economic recovery.
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