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Baron Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim
Baron Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim , 1867–1951, Finnish field marshal and president of Finland (1944–46). Of a distinguished Swedish-Finnish family in Russian-controlled Finland, Mannerheim rose to the rank of general in the czarist army. In 1918 he led victorious Finnish antisocialist forces against the Finnish Bolsheviks and their Soviet supporters, and in the following year he headed the new regime in Finland as regent. Defeated in the presidential elections of 1919, he went into retirement and engaged in philanthropic activity. He was appointed head of the Finnish defense council in 1931 and commanded the Finnish forces against the Soviet Union in the Finnish-Russian War of 1939–40 and again in 1941–44. In Aug., 1944, he succeeded Risto Ryti as president of Finland, and in September he terminated hostilities with the Soviet Union. He resigned the presidency in 1946 because of ill health and was succeeded by Juho Paasikivi. The Mannerheim Line, a fortified line of defense across the Karelian Isthmus, was planned by him. The Soviet army broke through the line in 1940, and it was subsequently dismantled. |
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"Baron Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Baron Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Mannerhe.html "Baron Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Mannerhe.html |
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Mannerheim, Carl Gustav Emil, Baron von
Mannerheim, Carl Gustav Emil, Baron von (b. 4 June 1867, d. 27 Jan. 1951). President of Finland 1944–6 Born in Villnäs, he was commissioned into the Russian Army in 1889, and served with distinction in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–5) and in World War I. In response to Lenin's Communist takeover in Russia in 1917 he used the Russian weakness to lead the fight for Finnish independence. A conservative nationalist, he suppressed the occupation of Helsinki by Finnish Communists, and continued to take part in the Russian Civil War until 1921, when the beleaguered Communist government finally recognized Finnish independence. As head of the Finnish Defence Council (1931–9) he erected a line of defensive fortifications, the Mannerheim Line, across the Karelian isthmus, within 30 km of Leningrad. He led the Finnish army in the Winter War and during World War II, but was forced on both instances to accept defeat by the superior Soviet forces. As President, he concluded an armistice with the Soviet Union, and declared war on Germany in March 1945. He retired due to ill health.
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JAN PALMOWSKI. "Mannerheim, Carl Gustav Emil, Baron von." A Dictionary of Contemporary World History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JAN PALMOWSKI. "Mannerheim, Carl Gustav Emil, Baron von." A Dictionary of Contemporary World History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O46-MannerheimCarlGstvmlBrnvn.html JAN PALMOWSKI. "Mannerheim, Carl Gustav Emil, Baron von." A Dictionary of Contemporary World History. 2004. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O46-MannerheimCarlGstvmlBrnvn.html |
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Mannerheim, Carl Gustav Emil, Baron von
Mannerheim, Carl Gustav Emil, Baron von (1867–1951) Finnish military leader and statesman. Trained as an officer in the Tsarist army, he rose to the rank of general, and, defeating the Finnish Bolsheviks (1918), he expelled the Soviet forces from Finland. He was appointed chief of the National Defence Council (1930–39), and planned the “Mannerheim Line”, a fortified line of defence across the Karelian Isthmus to block any potential aggression by the Soviet Union. When Soviet forces attacked (1939) he resisted in the FINNISH-RUSSIAN WAR, and in alliance with Germany renewed the war (1941–44). In 1944 he signed an armistice with the Soviet Union. The Finnish Parliament elected Mannerheim as President (1944–46). In March 1945 he brought Finland into the war against Germany.
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Cite this article
"Mannerheim, Carl Gustav Emil, Baron von." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Mannerheim, Carl Gustav Emil, Baron von." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-MannerheimCarlGstvmlBrnvn.html "Mannerheim, Carl Gustav Emil, Baron von." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-MannerheimCarlGstvmlBrnvn.html |
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