What was Finland like in 1918? Let's put it this way, if Russia is a big pot of gruel, thick and sticky, then Finland is a small bowl of gruel, equally thick and sticky.

In Russia, the Bolsheviks fought against the Provisional Government, and in Finland there were Social Democrats against the Finnish Provisional Government. Although the scale is not the same, the opposition is as sharp as ever. Even the antagonism in Finland is even more complicated, because there are so many forces and emotions in Finland.

From the very beginning of Finland's independence, there were two completely different opinions in Finland on the future of Finland, and the provisional government, which was the first to come to power to represent the interests of the bourgeoisie, felt that it was easy for us Finns to become independent and free, and finally we could not send people to the fence, so we should do a good job in construction and work hard to build a prosperous, strong, democratic, and civilized new Finland!

It should be said that this idea is good, but not all Finns accept it, and the radicals, who have been actively working for the independence of Finland, feel that we should first settle the sins of the Russians instead of busy with construction. What a great opportunity the World War is, you should take this opportunity to give the polar bears a little color, and fight them, so that they will never dare to fight Finland again!

A large part of those who thought this were the pioneers of Finnish national independence who had "returned from their studies" from Germany, who had sided with Germany in the First World War, and who had now formally reconciled Germany and Russia. They still think they have to give the Russians a little color.

This kind of power is very marketable in the Finnish military, and it can be said that Finland's newly established government army has a strong pro-German and anti-Russian color. Of course, in Finland this is not a small force. But to say that it is the absolute mainstream. Able to dominate everything. That's also unrealistic.

Physically, the national mood of the Finns is relatively peaceful, and they love peace more than war. More people did not want to fight, and the class contradictions that had never been more acute in Finland were gradually replacing the national contradictions that had existed before independence. The antagonism between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie was ignited by the October Revolution in Russia.

The influence of the Social Democrats was considerable among the Finnish working class, and with the victory of the October Revolution in Russia, the Finnish working class was ready to learn from the advanced experience of Big Brother and prepare to build Finland into a socialist country as well.

The working class in Finland is strongly demanding an eight-hour working day throughout the country. It demands a minimum subsistence guarantee, demands comprehensive protection of the legitimate rights and interests of the working class, and even demands an agrarian revolution like Russia, where all land is nationalized and redistributed.

All these demands were undoubtedly exorbitant for the Finnish bourgeoisie, which they were unwilling to accede to in their entirety. It must be noted that the Finnish bourgeoisie is indeed more enlightened than the Russian bourgeoisie, and that they do not reject the demands of the workers altogether, such as the eight-hour workday. And they agreed.

It should be said that at this time, the working class in Finland was indeed too agitated and radical. After certain concessions made by the Provisional Government, they were not satisfied, their appetites began to grow great, they began to be dissatisfied with the bourgeois government, and they were ready to build a Soviet power like Russia.

As a result, the class contradictions began to become irreconcilable, neither the bourgeoisie nor the proletariat were willing to make concessions, and at a time the international environment around Finland was quite bad, and foreign forces from all sides inevitably had to join in. For example, Germany, Sweden and Russia. The three companies are engaged in a series of political games around Finland, and they are all looking for their own proxies in Finland. So, a proxy war inevitably began in Finland.

Among them, the Russian Bolsheviks must have supported the Finnish Social Democratic Party, and class feelings were placed there. And if all goes well, if the Social Democratic Party of Finland really wins the struggle, I am afraid that Finland will join the Soviet Union as a union republic, just like Ukraine.

This was absolutely good for Trotsky, who was fond of exporting revolution and advocating the theory of permanent revolution. Because it meant a major breakthrough for communism in northern Europe, Finland as a springboard for communism to triumph in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.

For the Germans, although it was a rapprochement with Russia, which forced Russia to withdraw from the war. But Russia's war potential is there, and it is difficult to say what will happen in the future if the polar bear is allowed to take a breather.

For the sake of protecting Germany's interests, it is undoubtedly a good idea to let Russia continue to be chaotic and create as much trouble as possible around Russia to draw the attention of polar bears. Moreover, there is already a pro-German force in Finland, so I am really sorry for people if I don't take advantage of it.

As for Sweden, to be honest, for the Swedes, their feelings with Finland are complicated. It has been said before that the land of Finland originally belonged to Sweden and that the Finns were under Swedish rule. Sweden of that era was a first-class power in Northern Europe.

However, with the rise of polar bears, after several generations of efforts, Sweden was beaten alive, and Finland became a jewel in the Tsar's crown. To put it mildly, Finland's history is Sweden's history of shame, and it would be more emotionally comfortable for Swedes to free Finland from the polar bear's shackles.

And freeing Finland from Russian enslavement would also be of substantial benefit to Sweden, the insatiable polar bear is undoubtedly the worst neighbor, no one wants to live across the door from a polar bear, who knows when this damn violent bear will break through the door and kick you out of the house. It's better to have someone else as a neighbor with a polar bear, so that there is more or less buffer space.

In the eyes of the Swedes, Finland is the best buffer zone, and if the Finns, who are not on the right path with the polar bears, guard the first line of defense and firmly lock the space for Maozi to move north, this is undoubtedly to ensure their own safety.

So, from a geopolitical point of view, the best option for the Swedes is to help the Finns become independent and have the Finns guard the gates for them. So for the Swedes, there are very few options, and they will certainly not support the Finnish Social Democratic Party, which is in league with the polar bears. Their choice was naturally the Provisional Government of Finland.

Russia, Germany, Sweden. At this small table in Finland. There have been three potential forces, and these three are enough to fight the landlord. But God seems to think that Finland is not lively enough, and thinks that the landlord is too monotonous, so he insists on stuffing the table with a strong force, so that the landlord becomes a mahjong player.

Yes, there is a fourth force in Finland, the remnants of the former Provisional Government in Russia, which was historically led by the hapless Kerensky. With the support of the Entente, the cargo pulled out a detachment and operated aggressively in the northern regions of Finland and Russia, and at one point threatened Petrograd from the north.

In tiny Finland, these four forces fought in a big way for a year, and their tragedy was no less than that of the Russian Civil War. Of course, the last victor was the bourgeois Provisional Government of Finland, and Kuusinen, the leader of the Finnish Red Army, was forced into exile in Russia.

However, this is only the result of history, because with the addition of a certain immortal, the situation in Finland has become more complicated, compared to history. The outbreak of the civil war in Finland has been postponed and has entered the end of March. The civil war has not yet broken out. The German power, which had the greatest support for the Finnish Provisional Government, also took full control of the Finnish Provisional Government. On the contrary, it was the Entente bloc, which had historically been close to soy sauce, that intervened even more, and together with the Swedes, became the two pillars of Finland's anti-Russian power.

It is conceivable how complicated the situation is in Finland today, and in this chaotic situation, Li Xiaofeng's old friend Mannerheim is not having a good time. At the beginning of independence, Finland could be said to be basically undefended, with basically no army (there was no one during the Tsarist period, only 10,000 or 20,000 Russian garrisons), and the police were pitiful.

In particular, the lack of control of the Finnish Provisional Government formed by Svenhuwood was not much better than that of the Finnish Social Democratic Party, headed by Kuusinen. It can be said that under the wave of the workers' movement, the Swain Huvud cabinet was shaky.

At that time, Mannerheim accepted Svenhuwood's appointment as commander-in-chief of the Finnish armed forces. But to tell the truth, Mannerheim, the commander-in-chief, is about the same as Kornilov, except for one title, he has few soldiers under his command. Even under the threat of the wave of the workers' movement and the Finnish Red Guards, the commander-in-chief had to leave the capital, Helsinki, and go to the city of Vasha on the west coast to form his own army (especially to emphasize, this is fiction, not history, don't sit in the right seat, the butterfly effect of a certain immortal crossing has changed everything).

After arriving in Vasha, Mannerheim actively formed an army, but to be honest, it was very difficult, at least much more than the formation of a border police force by a certain immortal. The situation was that the Social Democrats, led by Kuusinen, had broad workers' support and spontaneously formed workers' Red Guards throughout the country. Moreover, the people's delegation led by him had already begun the October Revolution in Finland.

In a rather dire situation, the first to extend an olive branch to the Finnish Provisional Government were the Swedes (historically Germans, in fact, Germany directly sent troops to Finland, and eventually controlled Finland). With the help of the Swedes, Mannerheim's work was finally on the right track, at least with the money and guns.

In the first quarter of 1918, Mannerheim formed a "people's army" of tens of thousands in the Varsa area, and in April, according to his plan and the plan of the Finnish Provisional Government, the government army would counterattack the Red Guards and wipe out the damned pro-Russian elements.

It was in March, just as Mannerheim was about to launch a counteroffensive that he caught his attention with the news that, according to the French embassy (after the independence of Finland, France recognized the independence of Finland, while Britain and the United States did not), in the Vyborg region, it seemed that the Russian Bolsheviks were using certain Finnish enterprises for military production and smuggling.

Especially when Mannerheim found out that the companies involved were Ambrera and NORINCO, it should be said that he felt quite bad. He had been paying attention to these two companies for a long time, because they were inextricably linked to a certain immortal.

And Li Xiaofeng left a very deep impression on Mannerheim, at least he knew that someone was quite difficult to deal with. He would not be at all surprised that these two enterprises were really supplying the Russian Bolsheviks with military equipment and food, as the French claimed, which was too much in someone's style.

Mannerheim understood perfectly well that someone was using Finland precisely as a springboard in order to bypass the Entente sanctions against the Russian Bolsheviks. And that's what happened to Mannerheim. It is absolutely unacceptable. As you can imagine. Such an act would definitely annoy the Entente Group, to which Finland was a pitiful minority.

For the sake of Finland's safety, for the sake of national independence, Mannerheim must put an end to the dangerous behavior of a certain immortal. Of course, for the time being Mannerheim had nothing to do with Ambrera and NORINCO, and his troops did not even retake Helsinki, for Vyborg, far away on the Russian border. What deterrent can it be?

However, after many encounters with a certain immortal, Mannerheim also learned to be smart, or at least to use political means to solve problems. Indeed, he and the Finnish Provisional Government had no deterrent effect on a certain immortal, and for them to protest against the actions of Ambrera and NORINCO was tantamount to scratching the itch in their boots.

But Mannerheim knew that the Entente had a great deterrent effect on Russia and against a certain immortal. In his opinion, Russia has greatly offended the Entente group, and if this matter is stabbed out again. I'm afraid it will be an uproar. Such political influence must be weighed by an immortal.

So, this is the warning that Victoria received from the Finnish Provisional Government. Mannerheim actually wanted to warn a certain immortal very cryptically - you have been targeted by the Entente group. Hurry up and stop it!

It's a pity that Mannerheim miscalculated the situation, he didn't expect that Li Xiaofeng had already made a comprehensive plan to use Finland as a springboard, for a certain immortal, Finland is a springboard related to the future of him and Russia, how could he stop because of this threat?

And to tell the truth, Mannerheim's behavior is actually a fox and a fake tiger, and he really thinks that he can scare a certain immortal in the name of the Entente group? It's ridiculous that a certain immortal who is well versed in history knows very well that the Entente is now too busy to take care of itself, and there is not much spare power to interfere in the internal affairs of Russia. If they are really so awesome, what are they doing to incite the Czech legions and prop up Russian agents?

For Li Xiaofeng, the Entente was an out-and-out paper tiger, and he didn't have to care about that gang of goods until the Germans were finished. Therefore, Mannerheim's attempt failed at the beginning, and Li Xiaofeng would never stop.

Of course, Li Xiaofeng also misjudged the situation, that is, he did not expect that the warning of the Finnish provisional government was at the behest of Mannerheim. If he knew Mannerheim's attitude, he would certainly not seek Mannerheim's help again, because it would be pointless.

Sure enough, when someone's telegram reached Mannerheim, the future Finnish founding father was furious. He had never seen such a shameless person, some bastard with bad ideas in Finland, shamelessly ask him to do the work of the Finnish Provisional Government and get them to retract the warning and the decision on sanctions.

Nima, deceive people too much!

Anyway, at that time, Mannerheim directly tore up the telegram, as a person with a strong sense of national honor, Mannerheim definitely belongs to the kind of person who is particularly principled and persistent. At the height of the Finnish Civil War, the cabinet headed by Sven Huvd tried his best to ask for German assistance, asking the Germans to send troops directly to help Finland drive out the Russian ghosts.

For this reason, Mannerheim was furious, and directly told Swainhuwood that if the cabinet dared to do this, then he would resign immediately!

In this regard, Sven Huwood and the Germans had to do a lot of his work, and only after his two demands were met did Mannerheim make concessions.

First, from the moment the German troops landed on Finnish territory, they were under the command of the Finnish Supreme Commander; Second, the commander of the German expeditionary force had to make a proclamation to the Finnish people. It shows that the German army did not come to Finland to interfere in Finland's internal affairs, but to help Finland fight against the hordes of foreign murderers who broke into Finnish territory and undermined law and order.

At that time, Hindenburg agreed to both requests, and Mannerheim reluctantly remained in office.

One can imagine how angry Mannerheim would be when he received a very unreasonable telegram from an immortal. For him, this is the Russians' interference in Finland's internal affairs in Chiguoguo, saying one thing and doing another.

However, what Mannerheim did not expect at all was that not long after receiving this extremely angry telegram from a certain immortal, an incident that made him even more angry happened again. Soon Sven Huwud sent him a telegram from the German Embassy. In the message, the Germans also demanded that the Finnish government stop pointing fingers at Ambrera and NORINCO and that the Finnish government withdraw all impractical sanctions.

At this moment, Mannerheim is really thunderous, there is a certain immortal in front of the German government, and the intention of the two groups of people in the front and back is very clear - this is interfering in the internal affairs of Finland!

Mannerheim can imagine why this would happen, and it is clear that the Germans had made a dirty political deal with the Russians to achieve their ulterior motives at the expense of Finnish national interests!

At that time, Mannerheim excitedly suggested to Swinhuvud that a strong protest must be lodged with the German and Russian governments, and that they must be made aware that Finnish independence and sovereignty are completely indesecrated!

However, Sven Huwood was not Mannerheim, and he did not have the kind of persistence that only a soldier has. Born as a politician, he prefers to accept political deals. In his opinion, Finland was weak, and if it provoked both Germany and Russia, the consequences would be dire.

The lesser of two evils, Sven Huvud believes that Finland can only endure: "Karl, we must be patient. We also need German assistance, and without German allies, it will be difficult for us to win this war. It's for the future of Finland, Karl! (To be continued......)