The Victims of the Civil War
The Civil War caused more than 36,000 victims out of a population of just over 3 million people. The fallen on the battlefields were 9,500; about 3,500 of them were Whites, 5,700 Reds and the rest of other nationalities.
The victims of the so-called Red terror were 1,650. The Red violence raged especially in the first and last weeks of the war. In the first weeks the Red terror was directed against the Whites who were trying to head to areas dominated by the Whites. While in the last weeks the Reds, who were about to be defeated, committed summary executions and acts of personal revenge. The Red terror turned especially against landowners, industrialists, representatives of economic and social power, teachers, members of the White Guards, priests of the Finnish Church and also against moderate Socialists.
The White terror caused about 10,000 casualties. It took place mainly in the months of April and May, when the Red defeat was certain and the fear of their reprisals diminished. Between April 15 and the end of May about 6,000 Reds were killed with a peak of 200 victims a day between late April and early May. The White terror especially targeted those who had taken part in the Red terror, the Red Guards, representatives of the Social Democratic Party, members of Parliament and Socialist-led local governments.
Among the victims of the White terror there were 350 women and 60 children under 16 years of age.
The White terror was pursued rather systematically. The Whites were convinced to defend the legitimate government of the country and have the right to punish the Reds who had betrayed their country allying themselves with Bolshevik Russia. The Whites harboured a deep contempt for the Reds, considered second-class citizens, hooligans who were guilty of wanting to establish in the country the dictatorship of the proletariat.
However, the highest number of Reds died in prison camps. At the end of May about 80,000 Reds were detained in these camps and among the prisoners there were 5,000 women and 1,500 children.
The prison camps were overcrowded and lacking the most basic facilities. At a time when the country was gripped by a severe food shortage, the prisoners received little food and, worse still, little water. In four months 12,000 prisoners died from malnutrition and disease, dysentery being the most common cause.
The horror of the camps aroused the condemnation of Great Britain and the Nordic countries. Amnesty, granted in autumn, led to the liberation of about 75% of the prisoners by the end of the year. But even after the release more than 600 people died of the effects of malnutrition.
After the war, Finland was a frustrated and torn country on which weighed the legacy of 25,000 orphaned children.
Written by Modestino Carbone.