Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim
One of the most important historical figures in Finland is Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim. Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (4 June 1867 – 27 January 1951) was a Finnish statesman and military leader. He was the military commander of the Whites during the Finnish Civil War of 1918, Regent of Finland (1918-1919), commander-in-chief of Finland's defensive forces during World War II (1939-1945), Marshal of Finland (1942-), and Finland's sixth president (1944–1946).
Before 1917, the Russian Empire governed the Grand Duchy of Finland, and Mannerheim rose through the ranks of the Imperial Russian Army to the rank of lieutenant general. He played an important role in Emperor Nicholas II's coronation ceremonies in 1896, and he afterward had several private encounters with the Tsar. Following the Bolshevik revolution in Russia in November 1917, Finland declared its independence on 6 December 1917 - but soon became embroiled in the 1918 Finnish Civil War between the pro-Bolshevik "Reds" and the "Whites," who was Senate of Finland troops supported by troops from the German Empire. In January 1918, a Finnish delegation appointed Mannerheim as the Whites' military commander. He was actively involved in the planning of Operation Barbarossa and led the Finnish Defence Forces in the Continuation War, an invasion of the Soviet Union alongside Nazi Germany (1941–1944). When Nazi Germany's defeat in World War II became obvious in 1944, the Finnish Parliament chose Mannerheim as President of Finland, and he oversaw peace negotiations with the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom. He stepped down as President in 1946 and died in 1951.
Mannerheim has long been referred to as the father of modern Finland, owing to his unparalleled role in establishing and later preserving Finland's independence from the Soviet Union, and the New York Times has called Helsinki's Mannerheim Museum memorializing the leader's life and times "the closest thing there is to a national shrine." Mannerheim's personal reputation, on the other hand, continues to divide people to this day, with detractors stressing his involvement as General of the White Guard in the fate of the Red Prisoners during and after the Finnish Civil War. Mannerheim is the only Finn to have held the honorary rank of field marshal, which is awarded to exceptionally brilliant generals.
