White Guard (Finland)
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The White Guard, officially known as the Civil Guard, was a voluntary militia, part of the Finnish Whites movement, that emerged victorious over the socialist Red Guards in the Finnish Civil War of 1918. They were generally known as the "White Guard" in the West due to their opposition to the "communist" Red Guards. In the White Army of Finland many participants were recruits, draftees and German-trained Jägers – rather than part of the paramilitary. The central organization was named the White Guard Organization, and the organization consisted of local chapters in municipalities.
White Guard of Nummi in the 1930s
The collapse of discipline in the Czarist Russian armed forces in 1917 created a power vacuum. Here, anarchist Russian sailors are photographed in Helsinki during the summer of 1917.
Whites in trench at battle of Ruovesi, March 1918.
The Civil Guard House in Iisalmi
Red Guards (Finland)
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The Red Guards were the paramilitary units of the labour movement in Finland during the early 1900s. The Red Guards formed the army of Red Finland and were one of the main belligerents of the Finnish Civil War in 1918.
A Red Guard fighter (right) and a nurse (left) in 1918
Arrested Reds are taken in custody after the 1906 Sveaborg rebellion.
Worker's Militia in the Turku suburb of Maaria during the general strike of May 1917.
A demonstration in Turku in March 1917.