The Red Terror can be separated into two distinct phases: the initial systematic eradication of class enemies and counter-revolutionaries and secondly, a last bout of violence just before Red Finland was defeated. The Red Terror caused the deaths of approximately 1600 Finnish citizens.
After the Red Coup, the Reds began to consolidate southern Finland. The targets of Red killings were members of the local elite, bourgeois class enemies, and perceived counter-revolutionaries. Revolutionary Courts were established in municipalities across Finland to try and execute suspected counter-revolutionaries and class enemies. One third of those killed in the Red Terror, roughly 500 people, were executed by way of this systematic purging process.[1]
A great deal of these early killings also had little to do with politics; rather the lawlessness of the revolution afforded those with personal vendettas or feuds to act on their impulses.
By March 1918, the Red Terror had subsided. However, after the Battle of Tampere, as it became clear Red Finland was being defeated, Red killings flared up again. Approximately 640 hostages and class enemies previously left alone were killed by vindictive and retreating Red Guards.[2]
The Red Terror was one of the causes of the White Terror. The Whites, who in many cases were committing similar crimes, thought the Red Terror justified draconian measures adopted by the White during the Civil War and many undertook revenge on the Reds. Red Guards who participated in the Red Terror were also investigated, either being executed or imprisoned for their crimes.
The bodies of executed prisoners of Viipuri Jail. Credit: J. O. Hannula
Citations
[1] Marko Tikka, “Warfare and Terror in 1918,” in The Finnish Civil War 1918: History, Memory, Legacy, ed. Tuomas Tepora and Aapo Roselius (Leiden ; Boston: Brill Academic Pub, 2014), 99.
[2] Robert Gerwarth and John Horne, eds., War in Peace: Paramilitary Violence in Europe after the Great War, Reprint edition (Oxford University Press, 2013), 79.
Banner photo – Bodies at a collection point in Tampere. Credit: Vapriikki Photo Archives
Finland Divided 