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Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (June 4, 1867
– January 28, 1951) was the reputed
Commander-in-Chief of Finland's Finnish Defence
Forces|Defence Forces, Marshal|Marshal of Finland,
an outstanding strategist and officer and was
later President of Finland (1944–1946).

Mannerheim was born in Louhisaari Castle in
Askainen to a Finland-Swedish family of Dutch
ancestry that had been nobility|ennobled in 1768.
He was related to Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld and was
the third child in a noble family in which the
younger sons inherited the title of Baron (in
Finnish language|Finnish Vapaaherra, in Swedish
language|Swedish Friherre). Mannerheim was
christened Carl Gustaf Emil, but was called by his
middle name Gustaf (in Finnish language|Finnish
Kustaa) and throughout his whole life he signed
his private letters Gustaf or G. Besides his
mother tongue, Finland-Swedish|Swedish, he also
spoke Finnish language|Finnish, Russian
language|Russian, French language|French, German
language|German and English language|English.

On December 5, 2004, Mannerheim won the Suuret
Suomalaiset programme and was voted as the
greatest Finnish person of all time. 

==Ancestry==
The Mannerheim family descended from a Dutch
businessman and mill owner, Henrik Marhein, who
emigrated to Gävle in Sweden. His son, Augustin
Marhein, was raised to the nobility in 1693, with
his surname later becoming Mannerheim. His son, an
artillery colonel and a mill supervisor, Johan
Augustin Mannerheim, was raised to the status of
Baron at the same time as his brother in 1768. The
Mannerheim family came to Finland in the latter
part of 18th century.

Mannerheim's great-grandfather, Count Carl Erik
Mannerheim, had held a number of offices in
Finland's civil service during the early years of
the semi-autonomous Russian Grand Duchy of
Finland, including membership of the Senate of
Finland|Senate. Mannerheim's father, Count Carl
Robert (1835-1914), was a poet, writer and
businessman. His businesses were not successful
though, and he eventually became bankrupt. He
later moved to Paris and lived the life of an
artist. Mannerheim's mother, Hedvig Charlotta
(Hélène) von Julin (1842-1881), was a member of
the wealthy von Julin family. Louhisaari had to be
sold in 1880 to cover the debts of Count Carl
Robert, and the following year his wife died,
leaving their children to be brought up by
relatives.

Due to the worsened economic situation of the
family, Mannerheim was sent to the school of the
Finnish Cadet Corps in Hamina in 1882, at the age
of 15. He was later expelled for breaches of
discipline in 1886. He then attended the Helsinki
Private Lyceum, passing his university entrance
examinations in June 1887. Immediately after that
he left for Saint Petersburg, where he was
accepted into the Nicholas Cavalry School. At that
time Finland was a Grand Duchy in personal union
with Russia. He graduated in 1889, was promoted to
the rank of Cornet, and was posted with the 15th
Alexandria Dragoon Regiment in Poland while
waiting for a position to become available with
the Chevalier Guards.   

== An Officer in the Imperial Russian Army ==
Eventually, in January 1891, Mannerheim was
transferred to serve in Her Majesty Maria
Feodorovna's Chevalier Guards in St Petersburg.
His family arranged for him to be married to
Anastasie Arapova, daughter of a Russian general,
for economic reasons. They had two daughters,
Sophie and Anastasie. The marriage ended in an
unofficial separation in 1902 and in a formal
divorce in 1919.

Mannerheim served in the Chevalier Guards until
1904, though he was posted to the Imperial Court
Stables Administration from 1897 to 1903.
Mannerheim specialised as an expert on horses,
buying stud stallions and special duty horses for
the army. In 1903 he was put in charge of a
display squadron and became a member of the
equestrian training board of the cavalry
regiments. In October 1904, Mannerheim was
transferred to the 52nd Nezhin Dragoon Regiment in
Manchuria, with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He
fought in the Russo-Japanese War and was promoted
to Colonel for his bravery in the battle of
Mukden.

On returning from the war, Mannerheim spent time
in Finland and Sweden 1905-1906. As a
representative of the baronial branch of his
family, he was present as a members of the Estate
of Nobility in the last session of the Diet of
Finland. He also led an expedition to China,
travelling from Tashkent to Kashgar from July to
October 1906, with the French scientist Paul
Pelliot. Shortly thereafter, he led a separate
expedition into China until the autumn of 1908.
The expedition had strategic purposes, in addition
to anthropological, because these areas in
northern China were a potential point of crisis
between Russia, China and even the United Kingdom
(see: The Great Game). 

After the trip, in 1909 he was appointed commander
of the 13th Vladimir Uhlan Regiment. The following
year, Mannerheim was promoted to Major General and
was posted as the commander of the Life Guard
Uhlan Regiment of His Majesty in Warsaw. In 1912
he became a part of Imperial entourage, he was
appointed a cavalry brigade commander in 1913.

In World War I, Mannerheim served as a cavalry
commander at the Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian
and Romania|Romanian fronts. After distinguishing
himself in combat against the Austro-Hungarian
forces, Mannerheim was in December 1914 awarded
one of the highest honours of Imperial Russia, St.
George's Cross, 4th class. In 1915 Mannerheim rose
to command the 12th Cavalry Division and, after
the February Revolution of 1917, he took the
command of the 6th Cavalry Corps in the summer of
1917. Already in April 1917 Mannerheim had been
promoted to Lieutenant General (the promotion was
backdated to February 1915 ). However, Mannerheim
fell out of favor with the new government, who
regarded him as one of the officers who did not
support the revolution. In September he was
relieved of his duties, when in sick leave after
falling from his horse. He was now in the reserve
and trying to recover his health in Odessa. He
began planning retirement to civilian life and a
return to Finland.

== From Civil-War Victor to Head of State ==
In January 1918 the Senate of the newly
independent Finland, under its chairman Pehr Evind
Svinhufvud, appointed Mannerheim as
Commander-in-Chief of Finland's almost nonexistent
army, which was then not much more than a number
of locally set up White Guard (Finland)|White
Guards. His mission was the defence of the
Government during the Civil War in Finland. He
accepted the position despite of his misgivings
about the Germany|German influences in the
government. He founded his headquarters in
Seinäjoki and began to disarm the remaining
Russian garrisons and their 42,500 troops. During
the ensuing Civil War (or War of Liberty, as it
was known among the 'Whites') in March 1918,
Mannerheim was promoted to general of cavalry
(ratsuväenkenraali).

Dismayed at the increasing German influence,
Mannerheim left the country temporarily in June
1918. Mannerheim was thus out of the country
during the last, fateful period of the civil war,
a time of mass deaths as a result of disease and
starvation in prison camps and of lengthy trials.
During the war he had already tried to stop the
"White terror" and had opposed the mass
imprisonment of Reds. 
 
In autumn 1918, Mannerheim held discussions in
London and Paris. In September he was summoned
back from Paris to become Protector of State or
Regent. There were even monarchists who wanted to
make him Finland's monarch|king. After the elected
Frederick Charles of Hesse had aroused the
victorious Allies' suspicions, and renounced the
throne, Mannerheim secured recognition of the
independent Finland from the United Kingdom and
United States|USA. He also requested and received
food aid from overseas to avoid famine. Although
he was an ardent anti-Bolshevik, he eventually
refused an alliance with Russian White generals
because they would not have recognized Finnish
independence. In 1919 he lost the presidential
election in the Parliament of Finland|Parliament
to Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg and retreated from
public life.

==Between the Wars==
In the interwar years, his pursuits were mainly
humanitarian. He supported the Finnish Red Cross
and founded the Mannerheim's Children's
Foundation. In 1929 he refused the right-wing
radicalism|radicals' plea to become a de facto
military dictator, although he did express some
support for the right-wing semi-fascist Lapua
Movement. After President Pehr Evind Svinhufvud
was elected 1931, he appointed Mannerheim as
chairman of Finland's Defence Council. At the same
time Mannerheim received the written promise that
in the event of a war, he would become the
Commander-in-Chief (Svinhufvud's successor Kyösti
Kallio renewed this promise in 1937). In 1933 he
received the honorary title of Field Marshal
(Sotamarsalkka, Fältmarskalk). Mannerheim
supported Finland's military industry and sought
(in vain) to establish a military defence union
with Sweden. However, rearming the Finnish army
did not occur as swiftly or as well as he hoped
and he was not enthusiastic about a war. He had
many disagreements with various Cabinets, and
signed numerous letters of resignation.

== Commander-in-Chief==
When negotiations with the Soviet Union failed in
1939, Mannerheim on October 17 again withdrew his
resignation, thereby again accepting the position
as Commander-in-Chief of Finland's army in case of
war. He reorganized his headquarters in Mikkeli.
Officially he became the  Commander-in-Chief after
the Soviet attack on November 30. His strategic
aide was Lieutenant General Aksel Airo.

Mannerheim spent most of the Winter War and
Continuation War in his Mikkeli headquarters but
made many visits to the front. Between the wars,
he held on to the authority as Commander-in-Chief,
which according to the letter of law should have
gone back to the presidents (Kyösti Kallio and
Risto Ryti) after the Moscow Peace Treaty
(1940)|Moscow Peace, March 12, 1940.

In the Continuation War, Mannerheim kept relations
with Nazi Germany's government as formal as
possible and successfully opposed their proposals
for a treaty of alliance. Mannerheim also firmly
refused to let his troops contribute to the siege
of Leningrad.

Mannerheim's 75th birthday on June 4, 1942, was a
major occasion. The government granted him the
unique title of Marshal of Finland (Suomen
Marsalkka, Marskalken av Finland). He was the
first and only person to receive the title. A
surprise visit by Adolf Hitler in honour of
Mannerheim's birthday was less pleasing to him and
caused some embarrassment.

Mannerheim's record as the Finnish
Commander-in-Chief is not easy to assess. At the
time, and even to this day, Mannerheim's immense
prestige made criticism of his conduct of war
almost tantamount to treason (especially as the
criticism often came from Soviet sources and
Finnish communists). It is perhaps easiest to
divide Mannerheim's role in two: Mannerheim the
military commander and Mannerheim the politician. 

As a military commander Mannerheim was a mixed
success. Under his leadership the Finnish Defense
Forces fought a generally successful war that in
the end saved Finland from Soviet occupation.
Mannerheim took great care not to waste the lives
of his soldiers, and avoided unnecessary risks.
Perhaps his greatest shortcoming was his
unwillingness to delegate. While he had a number
of very able subordinates, foremost among them
Lieutenant General Aksel Airo, Mannerheim insisted
that all the department heads in the Finnish
General Headquarters report directly to him,
leaving Chief of General Staff General of Infantry
Erik Heinrichs little to do. Indeed, Mannerheim
said that he did not want to be 'one man's
prisoner'. Mannerheim overwhelmed himself with
work, and as a result coordination between the
different departments in the General Headquarters
suffered. It has been suggested that one reason
why the Soviet offensive in Karelian Isthmus in
June 1944 took Finns by surprise, was that
Mannerheim was unable to see the forest for the
trees. There was no other authority save
Mannerheim who could collect all the intelligence
and turn it into operational directives.

On the other hand it can be argued that Mannerheim
excelled in politics. Even though a soldier, and
as such not supposed to take part in politics,
Mannerheim could not but be a highly political
figure. As soon as it around 1942 became
increasingly clear that Germany would not
necessarily vanquish the Soviet Union, Mannerheim
was kept, as it were, in reserve, in order to
potentially take the leadership of the nation and
lead it to peace. Mannerheim played this role very
skilfully, he had a clear vision how Finland
should conduct its war in the sensitive situation
when the war's ultimate end was unclear. He knew
how to treat the Germans to secure as much
military support as possible without involving
Finland in any binding treaties. This policy
reached its logical conclusion when Mannerheim
succeeded Risto Ryti as the President of the
Republic in August 1944.

== End of the war and a brief presidency ==
In the moment when Germany was deemed sufficiently
weakened, and Soviet Union|USSR's summer offensive
was fought to standstill (thanks to President
Risto Ryti's Ryti-Ribbentrop Agreement|agreement
with the Germans in June 1944), Finland's leaders
saw a chance to reach a peace with the Soviet
Union. Risto Ryti resigned, and Mannerheim was
elected as President of Finland|president on
August 4, 1944, mainly because he was the only one
with sufficient prestige (sociology)|prestige both
internationally and domestically. After a month
the Continuation War was concluded on harsh terms,
but ultimately far less harsh than those imposed
on the other states in the power of USSR. Finland
retained its sovereignty; the territorial losses
were limited, but the war reparations were heavy.
Finland also had to fight the Lapland War against
the withdrawing German troops in the north, and at
the same time demobilize her army. 

Mannerheim resigned for reasons of declining
health on March 4 1946. Even Finnish
communism|communists, his enemies in 1918,
recognized his peacemaking efforts. He was
succeeded by his conservative but Russophilic
Prime Minister, Juho Kusti Paasikivi. 

Mannerheim bought Kirkniemi manor in Lohja and
intended to spend his retirement there, but in
1947 he had an ulcer operated on and it was
recommended that he should travel to the Valmont
(sanatorium)|Valmont sanatorium in Montreux,
Switzerland to recuperate and write his memoirs.
He died on January 28 (Finnish time, January 27
local time), 1951 in Lausanne, Switzerland. He was
buried on February 4 1951 in the Hietaniemi
cemetery in Helsinki in a state funeral with full
military honors, and today retains respect as one
of Finland's greatest statesmen.

start box
succession box|
 title=President of Finland|
 before=Risto Ryti|
 years=1944–1946|
 after=Juho Kusti Paasikivi

end box

== See also ==

* Mannerheim Cross
* Mannerheim Line

== External links==
* http://www.mannerheim.fi/ C.G.E. Mannerheim in
the history of Finland
*
http://www.mikkeli.fi/fi/museot/english/02_the_hea
dquarters_museum/ Mikkeli Headquarters Museum
* http://www.mll.fi/in_english/ Mannerheim League
for Child Welfare
*
http://www.mikkeli.fi/fi/museot/english/02_the_hea
dquarters_museum/02_mannerheim/mannerheim_cross
The Mannerheim Cross and Knights.