Vilhelm Aleksander Thesleff

Wilhelm Aleksander Thesleff (27 July 1880,

Viipurin maalaiskunta Viipurin maalaiskunta, sv, Viborgs landskommun, is a former municipality in Finland. It consisted of the rural districts around the city of Vyborg, Viipuri. It was ceded to the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic after Finland's defeat ...

Grand Duchy of Finland The Grand Duchy of Finland ( fi, Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta; sv, Storfurstendömet Finland; russian: Великое княжество Финляндское, , all of which literally translate as Grand Principality of Finland) was the predecessor ...

- 26 March 1941,

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

) was a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

general, first Minister of Defence of Finland and briefly the commander in chief of the Finnish army. Thesleff began a military career in 1894

Hamina Cadet School The Hamina Cadet School and Finland Cadet School were the common names for the Fredrikshamn cadet school during the period 1819–1901. The Cadet School was founded in 1780 by Georg Magnus Sprengtporten at Kuopio and transferred in 1781 to Rantas ...

from which he graduated in 1901. He continued his military studies in

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Nicholas General Staff Academy The General Staff Academy () was a Russian military academy, established in 1832 in St.Petersburg. It was first known as the Imperial Military Academy (Императорская военная академия), then in 1855 it was renamed Nichola ...

in the years 1904–1907, and the Officers Cavalry School 1910–1911. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, 12 June 1912. Thesleff attended the first world war the Russian army in 1914–1917, until he was taken prisoner by the Germans in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

in September 1917. In October 1917 he was transferred by request of the military committee to serve as a liaison officer between the Finnish Jäger battalion fighting under the German command and the Germans. He deposed the unpopular Colonel Nikolai Mexmontan. He was commander of the 27th Jäger Battalion from 6 November 1917 until 25 February 1918. In March 1918 he was appointed as a liaison officer with the

Baltic Sea Division The Baltic Sea Division () was a 10,000 man German military unit commanded by Rüdiger von der Goltz. The core of the division comprised two army brigades from the German Eastern Front: 95. Reserve Infantry Brigade (led by Colonel K. Wolff) and 2 ...

during the

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War; . Other designations: Brethren War, Citizen War, Class War, Freedom War, Red Rebellion and Revolution, . According to 1,005 interviews done by the newspaper ''Aamulehti'', the most popular names were as follows: Civil W ...

. After the

Thesleff became the War Minister, 27 May 1918 – 27 November 1918 in the first cabinet of

Juho Kusti Paasikivi Juho Kusti Paasikivi (; 27 November 1870 – 14 December 1956) was the seventh president of Finland (1946–1956). Representing the Finnish Party until its dissolution in 1918 and then the National Coalition Party, he also served as Prime Ministe ...

. He was promoted to the rank of Major General, 14 June 1918. After the resignation of Major General Wilkman, as a war minister, Thesleff became commander in chief of the Finnish military forces on 13 August 1918. Paasikivi cabinet had been leaning towards

Imperial Germany The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

. When Germany was defeated in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

the cabinet resigned. This also meant the end of Thesleff's political career. 1880 births 1941 deaths People from Vyborg District People from Viipuri Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Finnish major generals Finnish senators Military personnel of the Russian Empire Russian military personnel of World War I People of the Finnish Civil War (White side) Ministers of Defence of Finland {{Finland-politician-stub