Karl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim

Karl Gustaf Mannerheim of Finland was a great life in history. He was a military person, but he possessed a warm heart and loved his nation. Mannerheim was a simple man who had simple goals, which were reflected from his motto, "With pure arms on behalf of pure goals" (Mannerheim), meaning that he would only fight for a good cause. General Karl Gustaf Mannerheim, the marshal of Finland, led Finnish troops through the fight for independence of his homeland in World War 2. The values he lived by were determination and devotion towards anything that mattered to him. Mannerheim was also a compassionate philanthropist who founded the Mannerheim Child Welfare League which is still in operation. Karl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, a Swedish descendant was born in to a Finnish family in 1867. Due to money problems of his family during his early years, he had serious discipline problems in school (Karl). Mannerheim was sent to a Finnish cadet-school to learn self-discipline, but he had already adapted a determined and willful way of thinking during his early years. During the time of the military school Mannerheim became interested in military careers, and soon found himself attending a prestigious Nicholas Cavalry school in Russia from where he graduated in 3 years (Stults). He served in the Russian army in the Russo-Japanese war distinctively and took on a task to travel and map China as a secret intelligence officer from 1906 to 1908 (Stults). He fought in the First World War in the Russian uniform and led a cavalry brigade on the Austro-Hungarian and Romanian battlefronts (Stults). Mannerheim was awarded with the greatest military decoration of the Russian Federation the "Order of St. George" in 1914 (Karl). In 1917, Mannerheim returned back to Finland in 1918 and led the anti-communist troops in the civil war of Finland. He then became the commander-in-chief of the Finnish defense forces (Stults). During the interwar period Mannerheim focused on humanitarian causes, heading the Finnish Red-Cross and founding the Mannerheim child welfare league in 1920 (Mannerheim). During the 1920's and the 1930's Mannerheim returned to Asia where he hunted and travelled. In 1939, when the peace negotiations with the Soviet Union failed, Mannerheim took on the job of commanding the Finnish Defense forces at the age of 72. Finland fought the Soviet Union in many separate wars from 1939 to 1944 with the help of Nazi-Germany, which provided supplies to Finland (Karl). After the war in 1944, he enjoyed a brief presidency and moved to Switzerland for his retirement years, where he died in 1951 (Mannerheim).

Mannerheim in China

Determination and Devotion were values that Mannerheim demonstrated through his actions in his life and are characteristic traits that a hero like him possesses. During his life, Karl Gustaf Mannerheim developed a determined and devoted character that drove him to great accomplishments in his life. Mannerheim's perseverance and ambition were the controlling forces through his life. "As a youth, Mannerheim decided on a military career, but he had already developed the streak of willfulness that would be prominent in his mature character." (Karl). He was very confident about his career choice from early on, which underlines his determined attitude. His willfulness would be the factor that would guide his later life. Although Mannerheim had unstable ties to Finland on an emotional level, he was devoted to return to his homeland during World War 2 and fight for the freedom of the nation. "Carl Gustaf Mannerheim's ambivalence toward his Finnish homeland in the first five decades of his life makes his later determination to serve his homeland during very difficult times even more remarkable and commendable." (Stults). Mannerheim's decision to serve his troubled homeland during and after World War 2 points out his devotion towards a subject that somehow mattered to him. His decision to serve Finland in World War 2 greatly changed the outcome of the winter war against the Soviet Union.  Karl Gustaf Mannerheim is a man to admire not only because of his values such as determination and devotion toward anything that that mattered to him, but also because of his achievements in the military career.

Order of St. George

 Mannerheim was not only an adventurer, a brilliant military mastermind, and a man of principle. He was also a warmhearted man who put other people and his nation ahead of himself. Karl Gustaf with the help of his sister Sophie conceived the idea about a child welfare program in Finland that would improve the health of the nation's children." He gained a positive reputation for his civic and humanitarian efforts, which included the formation of a child welfare program (1920) using his name and financial support and his becoming the chair of the Finnish Red Cross"(Stults). Like many other pioneers before him, he reached beyond himself to help the nation's children to survive the problems that came with the wartime showing his compassionate side. His humanitarian actions underline how he was a man of many qualities and took care of the ones that he felt responsible of. As the Winter War progressed and the Soviet Union came within the range of releasing artillery fire upon major Finnish cities, Mannerheim thought about the best of his country and negotiated a peace treaty with Stalin (Stults). "Stalin was eventually able to draw up his massive artillery against Mannerheim. Pragmatic by nature, Mannerheim decided that Finland had no choice but to negotiate a 1940 peace treaty" (Karl). Although the nature of the event was masked, Mannerheim had demonstrated his wise way of acting under pressure by negotiating a peace treaty instead of letting the enemy kill his people like other military leaders had done during the war. His way of thinking about the best of his people makes him a great man in history that possessed characteristics of a true father of a nation. 

Statue of Mannerheim in Helsinki, Finland

Mannerheim was not only a soldier and highly demanding military commander, he was a politician, and an adventurer who supported  humanitarian causes - And in addition he possessed one quality that is common to all great men, a tremendous will-power that lead him through his desperate times. His way of considering his nation and loved ones as the top priority during the wartime distinguishes him from the other leaders of his time. Mannerheim's admirable life values and his heroic acts inside and outside of his country, makes him a hero in the eyes of his nation. The time of heroes is not over, and the legacy of Karl Gustaf Mannerheim will live forever in the hearts of the people he once loved. His ambition, perseverance and humanitarian acts make him a person of great admiration. Karl Gustaf Mannerheim truly was, and still is a hero whom we all can learn an important lesson from. 

Work Cited

Karl Gustaf  Mannerheim." Historic World Leaders. Gale, 1994. Gale Biography In Context.

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Mannerheim, Carl Gustaf Emil von." World Book Student. World Book, 2012. Web. 9 May 2012.

Mannerheim Museo." Mannerheim Museo. Mannerheim Museum. Web. 09 May 2012.

Stults, Taylor, and Stults Taylor. "Carl Gustaf Mannerheim." Great Lives From History: The Twentieth Century (2008): 1. Biography Reference Center. Web. 2 May 2012.