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Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim

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"I will not sheathe my sword until Finland and East Karelia are free."[1]

Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (kɑːrl ˈɡʉstɑv ˈeːmil ˈmɑnːærhejm; 4 June 1867 – 27 January 1951) was a Finnish military commander and statesman. He served as the military leader of the Whites in the Finnish Civil War (1918), as regent of Finland (1918–1919), as commander-in-chief of the Finnish Defence Forces during World War II (1939–1945), and as the president of Finland (1944–1946). He became Finland's only field marshal in 1933 and was appointed honorary Marshal of Finland in 1942.

Quotes

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"Vad i helvete gör han här?"
  • I welcome you, Jaegers, to the fatherland. At a time when the fate of the fatherland seemed most bleak, you young people believed in its future. You sacrificed your home, your happiness, everything, in order to build a great and happy future for our unfortunate country. And your guiding star has not led you astray.
    • Mannerheim's speech to the Jaegers in Vaasa in 1918.[2]
  • Forts, cannons and foreign aid will not help unless every man himself knows that he is the guard of his country.
    • Mannerheim's speech to strengthen and maintain the will of the soldiers to fight.[3]
  • What the bloody hell is he doing here?
    • Mannerheim's reply after hearing that Adolf Hitler would be arriving to visit in Finland for Mannerheim's 75th birthday visit.[4]

Daily orders

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  • The brave soldiers of Finland! I undertake this task at a time when our centuries-old enemy is once again attacking our country. Trust in the commander is the first condition for success. You know me and I know you, and I know that each of you is ready to fulfill your duty until death. This war is nothing more than the continuation and final act of our War of Independence. We are fighting for home, religion, and the Fatherland.
    • Mannerheim's first daily order after President Kyösti Kallio appointed him as Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish Defence Forces in November 1939.[5][6]
  • Soldiers! I have fought on many battlefields, but I have not yet seen warriors like you. I am proud of you as if you were my own children, as proud of a man of the fells in the North as of a son of the plains of Ostrobothnia, the forests of Karelia, the hills of Savo, the fertile fields of Häme and Satakunta, the temperate groves of Uusimaa and Southwest Finland. I am as proud of the sacrifice offered by a son of a poor hut as by a rich one.
    • Mannerheim after the end of the Winter War on March 14, 1940.[5]

References

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  1. ↑ Tänään 80 vuotta legendaarisesta päiväkäskystä (in fi). Verkkouutiset (11 July 2021).
  2. ↑ Mannerheimin puhe jääkäreille löytyi (in fi). Ilta-Sanomat (3 June 2008).
  3. ↑ (in fi)Uusi Pikkujättiläinen. Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö. 1986. p. 1022. ISBN 951-0-12416-8. 
  4. ↑ Mannerheim kuuli Hitlerin saapuvan syntymäpäiväjuhliin: – "Vad i helvete gör han här?" (in fi). Päivänlehti.
  5. ↑ a b Ylipäällikön päiväkäskyt (in fi). Mannerheim Foundation.
  6. ↑ Jägerskiöld, Stig (1986). Mannerheim: Marshal of Finland. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 0-8166-1527-6. 
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