This is a ‘geopolitical’ biography of the somewhat controversial Finnish national hero, Mannerheim. ‘Geopolitical’ because the book deals mainly with the international political career of the hero and less with his personal family life. Controversial because of the roles Mannerheim played in the two World Wars. Mannerheim had a good career in the Imperial Russian army and drew close to the Czar and was initially not a great supporter of Finnish nationalism at the time of Finnish independence from the Russian empire in December 1917. Mannerheim did not think in terms of nationalism and supported the restoration of the Russian monarchy at the time of the revolution. To this end Mannerheim commanded ‘White’ forces in Finland and was instrumental in crushing the ‘Red’ rebellion there, something for which the Left in the country never forgave him. In the Second World War Mannerheim was part of the group that sought an accommodation with Hitler and encouraged the help by German forces to repel the Russians between 1941 and 1944 following the end of the first Russian invasion and three month Winter War of 30th November 1939. Stalin had intended to occupy the whole of Finland in this second onslaught but found the battle against German and Finnish forces too costly. Although Finland had to secede some 10% of its territory to the Soviet Union it did retain a ‘nervous’ independence.
The author, who was director of the Mannerheim Museum in Helsinki and openly admits to largely relying upon secondary sources, describes the career of Mannerheim and reviews at length the changing attitudes toward the marshal as time has passed. As far as I can tell the author appears to have been as fair-minded as possible in his comments.
The book seems oddly distant for a biography, perhaps as a result of the approach taken. The translation is a little clumsy at times and has not served the author as well as it might. There are a number of interesting illustrations printed in the text.
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