Bear with me for a short course of History.
On 30 November 1939, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics opened a massive offensive against the young Finnish republic. This would be the Winter War (SWE: Vinterkriget).
2 weeks later, on 14 December, exactly 68 years ago, this illegal invasion caused the Soviet Union to be expelled from the League of Nations which once more proved "as effective as a catflap in an elephant house".
Using ponderous and outdated human-wave tactics, the Soviet generals led their men to a fearful slaughter (in the time-honoured fashion of the First World War, men were expected to "march very slowly towards the enemy machine-guns", as Captain Blackadder would put it).
The Finnish forces, holding the Karelian Isthmus Fortifications according to the Grand Plan of Field Marshall Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, decimated whole divisions of Soviet troops using superior tactics and the excellent knowledge of terrain by their skijaeger, machine-gun and sniper troops.
The brave stance of the Finns and the many foreign volunteers (including, for a very brief period, Christofer Lee) led to a relatively mild peace treaty that ceded only 10% of Finnish ground to the Soviets (since victory would be impossible in the end, against the greatest army of the world).
Now who was Lotta Svärd ?
Förrn den ädle kungen i Finland stred,
Hon blivit en krigsmans brud;
Och då trumman rördes och Svärd drog med,
Så följde hon samma ljud.
(Ere the noble king to Finland's shore,
She'd become a warrior's bride.
When the drums beat, and Svard went off to the war,
She followed him stride for stride.)
Hon blivit en krigsmans brud;
Och då trumman rördes och Svärd drog med,
Så följde hon samma ljud.
(Ere the noble king to Finland's shore,
She'd become a warrior's bride.
When the drums beat, and Svard went off to the war,
She followed him stride for stride.)
(Poetic English translation by C.W. Stark, C.B. Shaw and C.D. Broad)
Lotta Svärd is one of the most important characters in Johan Ludvig Runeberg's epic poem Fänrik Ståls sägner (Ensign Stal's Tales, Vänrikki Stoolin tarinat in Finnish). It speaks of the bravery of the men who tried to defend the Finnish lands during Russia's war with Sweden after the Treaty of Tilsit (The Finnish War, 1808-09), even though the whole affair was poorly planned and the cause was doomed (the Fortress of Sveaborg capitulated in 1809 and Russia took possession of Finland).
During this war, Lotta Svärd followed her husband faithfully, carrying supplies for the men in the army, like a noble version of Mutter Courage...
Following her example, after the bitter civil war of 1917-18 and the Indipendence of Finland from Imperial Russia, Finnish women organised in paramilitary groups of volunteers to help the nation in that time of dire need.
(Lotta Svärd logo, with heraldic roses and crux gammata. Designed in the early 20's, it has nothing to do with the nazi swastika and ideology. National Socialism had practically no followers in Finland, and with the rise of the nazis in power, Finnish-German relations deteriorated).The organization grew and along with it grew its contribution.
By 1923 the Lottas had collected more than 500000 finnish marks to help refit the M91/24 7,62 mm rifles of the army with new barrells (hence the rifle was named "Lotta-rifle").
When the Winter War broke up the Lottas volunteered for every auxilliary post imaginable, freeing as many men as possible to join the Army for the brave defence of their country against bolshevism and Stalinist oppression.
It was, however, at field paramedical service that the Lottas excelled.
In their blue-gray uniforms, their hair drawn back tightly , they were radiant angels of light and hope for every wounded and sick man. They worked tirelessly to alleviate the pain of those unfortunate enough to have seen the real face and cruelty of that desperate war.
Their selfless contribution was the definition of the nursing ideal and of the sense of duty and faith to their men and their country.
Thus, I choose to start with these volunteers, ideal after that legenderay figure of Lotta Svärd, for my series of posts about women.
Faith and duty. Courage, compassion and love. That's who Lotta Svärd was.
2 comments:
A very interesting story George. I have to admit that I have never heard about these women. They did actually contribute to the Finnish resistance to the Soviet forces.
Beyond this, I am very curious to find out what is in store for us in ''Women, pt.II''...
I will be waiting patiently...
My only regret about the "women" series is that it will be rather haphazard in its timeline. Interesting figures take precedence over chronological order, so expect leaps of centuries back & forth.
About Lotta Svard now, well, almost every armed struggle had women volunteers. What is particularly fascinating here is the degree of response to the call, their excellent organization and their almost total integration to the Finnish war effort. They were not mere bystanders who helped. They were considered an integral part of the fighting force of Finland (which says a couple of things about true respect for women).
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