Viena expedition
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The Viena expedition ( fi, Vienan retkikunta, sv, Vienaexpeditionen) was a military expedition in March 1918 by
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 ...
volunteer forces to annex
White Karelia Karelia ( Karelian and fi, Karjala, ; rus, Каре́лия, links=y, r=Karélija, p=kɐˈrʲelʲɪjə, historically ''Korjela''; sv, Karelen), the land of the Karelian people, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for ...
(''Vienan Karjala'') from Bolshevist Russia. It was one of the many "kinship wars" (''
Heimosodat The Finnish Heimosodat (singular ''heimosota''), refer to a series of armed conflicts and private military expeditions in 1918–1922 into the areas of the former Russian Empire which were neighbouring Finland and inhabited in large part by ot ...
'') fought near the newly independent Finland during the
Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...
. The Russian
East Karelia East Karelia ( fi, Itä-Karjala, Karelian: ''Idä-Karjala''), also rendered as Eastern Karelia or Russian Karelia, is a name for the part of Karelia that since the Treaty of Stolbova in 1617 has remained Eastern Orthodox under Russian supremacy ...
was never a part of the
Swedish Empire The Swedish Empire was a European great power that exercised territorial control over much of the Baltic region during the 17th and early 18th centuries ( sv, Stormaktstiden, "the Era of Great Power"). The beginning of the empire is usually ta ...
or the
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 ...
and it was at the time mostly inhabited by
Karelians Karelians ( krl, karjalaižet, karjalazet, karjalaiset, Finnish: , sv, kareler, karelare, russian: Карелы) are a Finnic ethnic group who are indigenous to the historical region of Karelia, which is today split between Finland and Russi ...
. However, many advocates of a
Greater Finland Greater Finland ( fi, Suur-Suomi; et, Suur-Soome; sv, Storfinland), an irredentist and nationalist idea, emphasized territorial expansion of Finland. The most common concept of Greater Finland saw the country as defined by natural borders enc ...
considered these Karelians a "kindred" Finnish nation and supported the annexation of Russian East Karelia to Finland.


Northern Group

The expedition was made up of two groups. One group was
Finnish Jäger troops 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 ...
led by
Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...
Kurt Martti Wallenius Kurt Martti Wallenius (25 July 1893 in Kuopio – 3 May 1984 in Helsinki) was a Finnish Major General. Jäger Movement Wallenius was a member of the Finnish Jäger troops trained in Germany prior to Finnish independence. In 1915, Wallenius trave ...
. Initial operations in Northern Finland were successful and the Red Finns were forced to withdraw to Eastern Karelia. He and his light infantry crossed the border at
Kuusamo Kuusamo ( sme, Guossán; smn, Kuáccám) is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . T ...
but got bogged down in fighting the Finnish Red Guards. Low level of training and the low morale of the conscripted troops made any advance impossible and only withdrawal of the defending Red Finns allowed the White Finns to advance a small distance until the troops again mutinied at the goals of the operations having passed the state border. In the end the force was withdrawn back within Finnish borders and performed only small incursions into East Karelia.


Southern Group


Initial Operations

The other group was led by
Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...
Carl Wilhelm Malm Carl may refer to: *Carl, Georgia, city in USA *Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community *Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name *Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of tel ...
and consisted of about 350 volunteers. By 10 April, Malm's group had advanced as far as the coastal town of Kem on the
White Sea The White Sea (russian: Белое море, ''Béloye móre''; Karelian and fi, Vienanmeri, lit. Dvina Sea; yrk, Сэрако ямʼ, ''Serako yam'') is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is su ...
. Malm was unable to capture the town and retreated to
Uhtua Kalevala (russian: Калевала; krl, Kalevala) is an urban locality (an urban-type settlement) and the administrative center of Kalevalsky District in the Republic of Karelia, Russia. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 4,52 ...
where he began defending western White Sea Karelia. The Finns now switched tactics and adopted a village-by-village strategy of persuading locals to join the Finnish volunteer side. When the Finnish troops arrived in White Sea Karelia they noticed that the population was divided. A part of the population wanted to secede from Russia and form an independent
Karelia Karelia ( Karelian and fi, Karjala, ; rus, Каре́лия, links=y, r=Karélija, p=kɐˈrʲelʲɪjə, historically ''Korjela''; sv, Karelen), the land of the Karelian people, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for ...
separate from Finland. However, a larger part of the population just wanted some form of autonomy. Many thought they would get autonomy as part of Bolshevist Russia. A small minority of the population wanted Karelia to be joined to the new state of Finland. Most importantly, for the great majority of the population, practical issues (such as ensuring having enough food) were more important than ideological issues. In the end, the proposal to join East Karelia to Finland received support in the White Karelian villages around Uhtua. Local Finnish White Guard (''
Suojeluskunta The White Guard or Civil Guard (, ; ; ) was a voluntary militia, part of the Whites (Finland), Finnish Whites movement, that emerged victorious over the socialist Red Guard (Finland) , Red Guards in the Finnish Civil War of 1918. They were g ...
'') militias were formed in over 20 villages in that area. In July, Malm was recalled back to Finland and in his place
Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
Toivo Kuisma was placed in charge of the Finnish troops. The Finnish government could not decide whether to recall the troops or to send reinforcements.


British Intervention

The situation became more complicated with the landing in
Murmansk Murmansk (Russian: ''Мурманск'' lit. "Norwegian coast"; Finnish: ''Murmansk'', sometimes ''Muurmanski'', previously ''Muurmanni''; Norwegian: ''Norskekysten;'' Northern Sámi: ''Murmánska;'' Kildin Sámi: ''Мурман ланнҍ'') i ...
of 130 British
Royal Marine Light Infantry The history of the Royal Marines began on 28 October 1664 with the formation of the Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot soon becoming known as the Admiral's Regiment. During the War of the Spanish Succession the most historic achi ...
on 6 March to prevent the Germans (and their Finnish allies) from gaining the White Sea coast and the Murmansk Railroad. By June 1918, an assortment of British Royal Marines, French artillerymen, part of a Serb battalion, Poles, Red Russians from the Murmansk Soviet, and some Red Finns occupied the railway line from Murmansk south as far as Kem. The arrival of British reinforcements and an Allied plan for them to link up with anti-Bolshevik units in Siberia prompted Trotsky, now at peace with the Germans, to send 3,000 Red troops northwards. In July these troops were disarmed and seen off by the British, who advanced as far south as Sorokka. British-led forces defending the railway line included a battalion of 1,400 Red Finns and the
Karelian regiment Karelian refers to something from or related to the region of Karelia, in present-day Russia and Finland. *Karelians, the Balto-Finnic people of this area *Karelian language, their Finnic language *Karelian foods :* Karelian pasties :* Karelian ho ...
also known as the "Irish Karelians" after Colonel P.J. Woods of the
Royal Irish Rifles The Royal Irish Rifles (became the Royal Ulster Rifles from 1 January 1921) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army, first created in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot and the 86th (Royal County D ...
who raised and led the regiment formed of the local Karelians. The situation of the Viena expedition began to deteriorate. The Karelian regiment stationed in Kem attacked the Finnish troops at Jyskyjärvi on 27 August. 18 men were lost. The next attack came against Luusalmi on 8 September when 42 Finns were killed. Subsequent battles were fought at Kostamus and Vuokkiniemi in September–October. The Finnish troops withdrew to Finland on 2 October. Of these troops, 195 survived and made their way home; 83 were killed. The British forces withdrew in October 1919 and the situation of the Russian
White Army The White Army (russian: Белая армия, Belaya armiya) or White Guard (russian: Бѣлая гвардія/Белая гвардия, Belaya gvardiya, label=none), also referred to as the Whites or White Guardsmen (russian: Бѣлогв ...
collapsed.


Outcome

In the end, the expedition failed due British efforts to prevent then German-aligned Finland from gaining access to the Murmansk railroad. In addition, British forces in the region made an effort to instill a sense of nationalism (i.e. to form a Karelian state) to fight against the Finnish effort to annex East Karelia. Also the support of the expedition from the Finnish government waned with the fortunes of the Germans. After the Viena expedition, the parishes of
Repola Reboly (russian: Реболы, fi, Repola, krl, Rebol´ä) is a settlement in the Republic of Karelia of the Russian Federation by the Finnish border, located southeast of Kuhmo and northeast of Lieksa. In 1926 the settlement had a populatio ...
and Porajärvi in East Karelia had held a vote to join Finland, but Finland gave up all claims to
East Karelia East Karelia ( fi, Itä-Karjala, Karelian: ''Idä-Karjala''), also rendered as Eastern Karelia or Russian Karelia, is a name for the part of Karelia that since the Treaty of Stolbova in 1617 has remained Eastern Orthodox under Russian supremacy ...
in the 1920 Treaty of Tartu. Two years later, after the last of the British expeditionary forces had left Russia and Bolshevik control was established, a group of Karelian irredentia supported by Finnish volunteers began an uprising in an attempt to form their own state.


See also

*
Aunus expedition The Aunus expedition was an attempt by Finnish volunteers to occupy parts of East Karelia in 1919, during the Russian Civil War. ''Aunus'' is the Finnish name for Olonets Karelia. This expedition was one of many Finnic "kinship wars" (''heimos ...
*
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 ...
*
Metsäsissit Forest Guerrillas ( fi, Metsäsissit) was a Finnic resistance movement formed by some of the inhabitants of the parishes of Repola and Porajärvi, in addition to several White Guard volunteers after their territory was ceded to Bolshevist Rus ...
*
North Russia Campaign 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 ...
* Pork mutiny *
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 ...


Notes


References


External links


White Finland's attempts to conquer East Karelia in 1918
{{DEFAULTSORT:Viena Expedition Wars involving Finland Russian Civil War 1918 in Finland Finland–Russia military relations Finland–Soviet Union relations