The Finnish People's Delegation (, ) was the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

of the

Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic The Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (FSWR), more commonly referred to as Red Finland, was a self-proclaimed socialist state in Finland during the Finnish Civil War from January to May 1918. The FSWR was established by the Finnish People's ...

(Red Finland) created by a group of members in the

Social Democratic Party of Finland The Social Democratic Party of Finland ( , SDP, nicknamed: ''demarit'' in Finnish; , SD) is a social democratic political party in Finland. It is the third-largest party in the Parliament of Finland with a total of 43 seats. Founded in 1899 as ...

during the

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War was a civil war in Finland in 1918 fought for the leadership and control of the country between Whites (Finland), White Finland and the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (Red Finland) during the country's transition fr ...

from January to May 1918. The Delegation was established as a rival to the

Government of Finland The Finnish Government (; ; ) is the executive branch and cabinet of Finland, which directs the politics of Finland and is the main source of legislation proposed to the Parliament. The Government has collective ministerial responsibility an ...

and seized power in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

at the start of the Civil War by supplanting

Pehr Evind Svinhufvud's first senate Pehr Evind Svinhufvud's first senate was the first Senate and '' de facto'' Government of independent Finland. Its term spanned November 27, 1917 – May 27, 1918. It sat in Vaasa during the Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War was a ...

and

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. It passed laws and enactments aspiring to a

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

reform of Finland as per the policy of the

labor movement The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...

with support from the armed

Red Guards The Red Guards () were a mass, student-led, paramilitary social movement mobilized by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 until their abolition in 1968, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a ...

. The Chair of the Delegation was the former Speaker of the Parliament

Kullervo Manner Kullervo Achilles Manner (; ; 12 October 1880 – 15 January 1939) was a Finnish and Soviet politician. He was one of the leaders of the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic. Manner was a member of the Finnish parliament, serving as its speake ...

. The Central Workers' Council operated alongside the Delegation but its role in the Reds' administration was minor.

Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

was the only nation to recognize the Delegation as the government of Finland and its main supporter in the Civil War. The Delegation moved from Helsinki to Viipuri in April, from where its members fled to

Petrograd Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

after the defeat of the Red Guards.

Formation and immediate actions

The decision to start an armed revolution in Finland was initially made by

' leadership and by a branch split from

(SDP) party committee on 23 January 1918, called "Finland's workers' executive committee", whose members represented the most radical wing of the labor movement. On the night of 27 January, the executive committee ordered the Red Guards to arrest members of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

led by

Pehr Evind Svinhufvud Pehr Evind Svinhufvud af Qvalstad (, 15 December 1861 – 29 February 1944) was the third president of Finland from 1931 to 1937. Serving as a lawyer, judge, and politician in the Grand Duchy of Finland, which was at that time an autonomous s ...

, and a host of other leading

capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

politicians, including 33 members of

. However, this failed completely, and the Red Guards' Supreme military staff postponed the coup by a day because of unfinished preparations, so the senators were informed of the

arrest warrant An arrest warrant is a warrant issued by a judge or magistrate on behalf of the state which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual or the search and seizure of an individual's property. Canada Arrest warrants are issued by a jud ...

through a prematurely issued public handout, and had time to hide. The assembling of Parliament on 28 January was blocked and a few members that turned up were arrested. The Finnish People's Delegation was established on 28 January 1918 and it set to lead the revolt started on the same morning. The founding of the Delegation was announced on 29 January in the newspaper ''Työmies'' in a declaration that also named the delegates, and in which the fundamental objectives of the Red government were briefly explained. The Delegation already on its first day occupied the Senate House in

and established itself as the government of the

(Red Finland), an alternative

socialist state A socialist state, socialist republic, or socialist country is a sovereign state constitutionally dedicated to the establishment of socialism. This article is about states that refer to themselves as socialist states, and not specifically ...

to the pre-existing Finnish state. Laki kuolemanrangaistuksen lakkauttamisesta

The Red administration's first action was to discontinue all capitalist

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

s, already on 28 January in the capital, and over the next few days in other cities in Finland. On 2 February, the Delegation confirmed the "

counterrevolutionary A counter-revolutionary or an anti-revolutionary is anyone who opposes or resists a revolution, particularly one who acts after a revolution has occurred, in order to try to overturn it or reverse its course, in full or in part. The adjective "c ...

" press to be suspended "indefinitely". The suspension even applied to the right wing

social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

''Työn Valta'' and ''Itä-Suomen Työmies'' newspapers. After this the only papers allowed to be published were the papers of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian labor movement. The

Whites White is a racial classification of people generally used for those of predominantly European ancestry. It is also a skin color specifier, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, ethnicity and point of view. De ...

' Senate discontinued all social democratic papers correspondingly. In March, the Delegation's Postal and Announcement Department placed preventive

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

on the remaining papers' reporting on the military and foreign affairs. On 2 February, the Delegation ordered the Red Guards to be maintained by the government, essentially placing them under its authority. In practice, the Delegation was later forced to confess that it could barely control the actions of the Red Guards, and reduced the number of military affairs cases it handled. The relationship between the Red Guards and the Delegation remained problematic throughout the war, as the Delegation regarded the Red Guards' actions to be arbitrary, and many guardsmen in turn saw the delegates as "

parasite Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted str ...

s" who were estranged from the realities of the battlefront. In its set of decrees, it published 45

statute A statute is a law or formal written enactment of a legislature. Statutes typically declare, command or prohibit something. Statutes are distinguished from court law and unwritten law (also known as common law) in that they are the expressed wil ...

s in all, and favoured concised and scant language. Most of the Delegation's time went into producing new legislation. It has been estimated that about two thirds of its written laws were reactions to acute administerial issues, and the rest aimed at ideological goals or increasing support. Particularly the laws passed on ideological grounds were modeled after the legislation produced by the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), Nation ...

of 1871 and also the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

in neighboring

, but mostly after Finland's labor movement's previous programmes. The laws passed by the Delegation were announced in the newspaper ''Suomen Kansanvaltuuskunnan Tiedonantoja''.

Finnish People's Delegation members

The delegation members were elected and given similar roles as ministers in a government: * chairman ("prime minister")

* delegate for foreign affairs ("foreign minister")

Yrjö Sirola Yrjö Elias Sirola (born Yrjö Elias Sirén; 8 November 1876 – 18 March 1936) was a Finnish socialist politician, writer, teacher, and newspaper editor. He was prominent as an elected official in Finland, as minister of foreign affairs in the ...

* delegate for internal affairs ("internal minister")

Eero Haapalainen Eero Haapalainen ( Russian Эро Эрович Хаапалайнен, ''Ero Erovich Khaapalaynen''; 27 October 1880 – 27 November 1937) was a Finnish politician, trade unionist and journalist, who served as the commander-in-chief of the Red ...

, from March Adolf Taimi, Matti Airola and Hanna Karhinen * delegate for justice ("minister of justice") Lauri Letonmäki and Antti Kiviranta * delegate for education ("minister of education")

Otto Wille Kuusinen Otto Wilhelm "Wille" Kuusinen (; ; 4 October 1881 – 17 May 1964) was a Finnish-born Soviet politician, literary historian, and poet. After the defeat of the Reds in the Finnish Civil War, he fled to the Soviet Union, where he worked unti ...

* delegate for monetary affairs ("minister of finance") Jalo Kohonen, later Edvard Gylling * delegate for labour ("minister of labour") Johan Erik Lumivuokko * delegate for agriculture ("ministry of agriculture and forestry")

Evert Eloranta Frans Evert Eloranta (10 October 1879 – 1936) was a Finnish politician and a Member of the Parliament for the Social Democratic Party in 1908–1918. During the Finnish Civil War, Eloranta served as the Minister of Agriculture of the Finnish ...

* delegate for provisions ("minister of supply")

Oskari Tokoi Antti Oskari Tokoi (15 April 1873 – 4 April 1963) was a Finnish socialist politician who served as a leader of the Social Democratic Party of Finland. Tokoi became Chairman of the Senate of Finland in 1917, and thus, he was the world's first so ...

* delegate for transport ("minister of transport") Konstantin Lindqvist * delegate for posts and information ("minister of communications") Emil Elo * Procurator ("chancellor of justice") Matti Turkia. Seats on the Supreme Workers' Council were allocated by the People's Delegation as follows: * Finnish Trade Union Federation, 10 *

, 10 *

Red Guard The Red Guards () were a mass, student-led, paramilitary social movement mobilized by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 until their abolition in 1968, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a ...

, 10 *

Labour Unions, 5

Constitutional proposal

The People's Delegation drew up a new Constitution, taking influences from the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

and

Swiss Constitution The Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation (SR 10; (BV); (Cst.); (Cost.); ) of 18 April 1999 (SR 101) is the third and current federal constitution of Switzerland. It establishes the Swiss Confederation as a federal republic of ...

and ideas from the French Revolution. A referendum on the proposal was planned.

Dissolution

From March, a string of defeats had caused the Red Guards (and by extension the Delegation and Red Finland) to be increasingly pushed southeast into the

Karelian Isthmus The Karelian Isthmus (; ; ) is the approximately stretch of land situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia, to the north of the River Neva. Its northwestern boundary is a line from the Bay of Vyborg to the we ...

. In April, the Delegation fled from Helsinki to Viipuri, the fourth-largest city in Finland which was located close to the border with Russia. However, the

were descending on Viipuri and an attack on the city was imminent. On 23 April, the Delegation was effectively dissolved when almost all of its members fled to Russia. Oskari Tokoi fled to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and from there to

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The Red Guards that stayed to defend Viipuri, now without political leadership, branded them as traitors. The Delegation assembled for a session in Helsinki 89 times in all, and in Viipuri less than ten times. Members of the Delegation were not included in the

amnesty Amnesty () is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of people who are subject to trial but have not yet be ...

of Red Guards issued by the Finnish government in late 1918. They could face

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

charges if they returned to Finland and, as a result, lived in

exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

for the remainder of their lives. Delegation members in Russia were soon repurposed by the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

for activities related to Finland and other

Finnic peoples The Finnic peoples, or simply Finns, are the nations who speak languages traditionally classified in the Finno-Permic languages, Finnic language family, and which are thought to have originated in the region of the Volga River. Currently, the l ...

, particularly in Soviet Karelia. They were involved in the establishment of the

Communist Party of Finland The Communist Party of Finland (, SKP; ) was a communist political party in Finland. The SKP was a section of Comintern and illegal in Finland until 1944. The SKP was banned by the state from its founding and did not participate in any elec ...

(SKP), which was banned in Finland and operated underground. Delegation members served as the leadership of the SKP and controlled its activities in Finland from their exile in Russia. In the late 1930s, many surviving members were condemned and executed by the Soviets in the

Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...

References

{{Reflist Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic Political history of Finland Cabinets of Finland

Formation and immediate actions

Finnish People's Delegation members

Constitutional proposal

Dissolution

See also

References