August Anselm Wesley ( Wesslin; born 3 August 1887; last rumoured to be alive 1942) was a Finnish journalist,

trade unionist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (s ...

, and revolutionary who was the chief of the

Red Guards Red Guards () were a mass student-led paramilitary social movement mobilized and guided by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 through 1967, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a Red Guard lead ...

general staff in the 1918

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 ...

. He later served as a lieutenant in the British organized

Murmansk Legion The Murmansk Legion, also known as the Finnish Legion, was a British Royal Navy organized military unit during the 1918–1919 Allied North Russia Intervention. It was composed of Finnish Red Guards who had fled after the Finnish Civil War from ...

and the

Estonian Army The Estonian Land Forces ( et, Maavägi), unofficially referred to as the Estonian Army, is the name of the unified ground forces among the Estonian Defense Forces where it has an offensive military formation role. It is currently the largest ...

Life

Early years and the Finnish Civil War

August Anselm Wesslin was born in the industrial town of

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

and emigrated to the

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in 1904 at the age of 17. He was an active member of the Socialist Party of America, working as a speaker among Finnish-American workers. Wesley studied at the Work People's College in

Duluth, Minnesota , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

, where he also worked as a teacher in the mid-1910s. He was a journalist in the

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 ...

daily '' Industrialisti'', which was linked to the

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines general ...

. Wesley held

United States citizenship Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Cons ...

, but when the country joined

World War I 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 ...

in 1917, Wesley returned to Finland via Japan and

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to avoid the draft. Wesley moved to

Joensuu Joensuu (; krl, Jovensuu; ) is a city and municipality in North Karelia, Finland, located on the northern shore of Lake Pyhäselkä (northern part of Lake Saimaa) at the mouth of the Pielinen River (''Pielisjoki''). It was founded in 1848. The ...

, in the remote province of

North Karelia North Karelia ( fi, Pohjois-Karjala; sv, Norra Karelen) is a region in eastern Finland. It borders the regions of Kainuu, North Savo, South Savo and South Karelia, as well as Russia's Republic of Karelia. It is the easternmost region of Fin ...

, the hometown of his spouse, Fanny Käyhkö. Wesley worked as a district party secretary of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

. During the Finnish general strike of 1917, he was the head of the local strike committee and was soon elected commander of the Joensuu Red Guard. As the civil war started in late January 1918, the White Guards took control in Joensuu. Many of the Reds were captured, but Wesley managed to leave the town. He sneaked across the front line to the Red controlled southern Finland and headed to the capital city of

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

. He became the commander of the Helsinki Red Guard, and on 16 February, Wesley was named the chief of the Red Guards general staff, the second-highest position in the organization's hierarchy.

In the Murmansk Legion

After the loss at the

Battle of Tampere The Battle of Tampere was a 1918 Finnish Civil War battle, fought in Tampere, Finland from 15 March to 6 April between the Whites and the Reds. It is the most famous and the heaviest of all the Finnish Civil War battles. Today it is particular ...

on 6 April 1918,

Kullervo Manner Kullervo Achilles Manner (, Russian Куллерво Густавович Маннер, ''Kullervo Gustavovich Manner''; 12 October 1880 – 15 January 1939) was a Finnish politician and journalist, and later a Soviet politician. He was a memb ...

was given dictatorial powers and Wesley was dismissed. Before the socialist faction fell in late April, Wesley fled to

Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

. He moved to East Karelia and joined the

, which was a British-organized unit comprising Finnish Red Guard fighters who had fled to Russia. During the Allied

North Russia Intervention The North Russia intervention, also known as the Northern Russian expedition, the Archangel campaign, and the Murman deployment, was part of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War after the October Revolution. The intervention brought ...

, Wesley served as an interpreter and an intelligence officer and ranked as a

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lieutenant. Following the

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surrender, the status of the Murmansk Legion changed as the Allies and Soviet Russia became enemies. The Finnish commander of the Murmansk Legion, Verner Lehtimäki, stayed loyal to the Bolshevik government, but Wesley, Oskari Tokoi, and Karl Emil Primus-Nyman openly supported the Allies. They urged the Finnish working-class to reject communism and join them in pursuit of a democratic socialist Finland. The exiled

Communist Party of Finland The Communist Party of Finland ( fi, Suomen Kommunistinen Puolue, SKP; sv, Finlands Kommunistiska Parti) was a communist political party in Finland. The SKP was a section of Comintern and illegal in Finland until 1944. The SKP was banned ...

declared the three traitors and outlaws. Afterwards, Wesley exposed Lehtimäki's mutiny plan and his intentions of attacking Finland. As a result, Lehtimäki and others, such as

Iivo Ahava Iivo Ahava (born Afanasev; 19 February 1896 – 16 April 1919) was a Karelian-born Finnish military officer and nationalist who supported the idea of an independent East Karelia. In the 1918 Finnish Civil War, Ahava led a Red Guard unit fighting ...

, were dismissed from the Legion and joined the Bolshevik side.

Life in Estonia

The Murmansk Legion was disbanded in late 1919.

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and the United States had set a precondition for the recognition of Finland's

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

; the government of Finland had to allow the legionnaires to return home safely and they could not be punished for their actions. This agreement, however, excluded the Red Guard leaders such as Wesley. He was given permission to move to Britain, but Wesley chose to stay in Estonia. He joined the Estonian Army, where he served as a lieutenant in the

War of Independence This is a list of wars of independence (also called liberation wars). These wars may or may not have been successful in achieving a goal of independence. List See also * Lists of active separatist movements * List of civil wars * List o ...

. After the war, Wesley settled in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

where he first worked for the ministry of social affairs and later as a journalist in the newspaper '' Vaba Maa''. Wesley also translated literature to Estonian and Finnish. One of his translations is the 1937 Estonian version of Laozi's famous work, ''

Tao Te Ching The ''Tao Te Ching'' (, ; ) is a Chinese classic text written around 400 BC and traditionally credited to the sage Laozi, though the text's authorship, date of composition and date of compilation are debated. The oldest excavated portion d ...

''. During the 1920s and 1930s, Wesley contacted the Finnish government several times asking to return to Finland, but with no success; the government maintained the exclusion of return for Red Guard leaders. When the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

occupied Estonia in June 1940, Wesley went underground. He was last seen in

Narva Narva, russian: Нарва is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in Ida-Viru county, at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva river which forms the Estonia–Russia international border. With 54 ...

in 1941. According to some newspaper sources, Wesley starved to death in the Siege of Leningrad in 1942.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wesley, August 1887 births Date of death unknown Politicians from Tampere People from Häme Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) 20th-century Finnish journalists Estonian journalists Finnish translators Estonian translators Finnish socialists People of the Finnish Civil War (Red side) Royal Navy officers People of the Russian Civil War People of the Estonian War of Independence American people of Finnish descent Missing people Finnish emigrants to Estonia Finnish emigrants to the United States (1809–1917) Finnish expatriates in Russia Finnish refugees Refugees in Russia