The Victors in World War I and Finland

THE VICTORS IN WORLD WAR I AND FINLAND ~ The Victors in World War I and Finland Finland's Relations with the British, French and United States Governments in 1918-1919 By Juhani Paasivirta Translated from the Finnish by Paul Sjöblom HelSinki 1965 STUDIA HISTORICA Published by The Finnish Historical Society Suomen Historiallinen Seura — Finska Historiska Samfundet vol. 7. JUHANI PAASIVIRTA The Victors in World War I and Finland Title of the original Finnish edition: ENSIMMÄISEN MAAILMANSODAN VOITTAJAT JA SUOMI (published in 1961) To the memory of my father '`' "R c, , f ,01( • TURUN SANOMALEHTI JA KIRJAPAINO OSAKEYHTIÖ TURKU 1965 Preface This work examines Finland's relations with the British, United States and French Governments during the closing stage of World War I and the period immediately after the war. Chief attention is directed to the shaping of diplomatic relations, the procurement of relief supplies for Finland, the resolution of the problem of obtaining recognition for Finnish independence and the issues of the Aland Islands (Ahvenanmaa) and East Karelia. The matter of intervention in Russia is also dealt with insofar as it relates to military operations planned by the so-called White Russians in the Finnish sector and the possible participation of Finland in such action as well as to the relations between the Western Powers and Finland in this connection. The questions involved had by and large emerged in the field of international politics before hostilities had ended, but the radical change in the world situation in the months of October and November 1918 gave them a different position and significance in many respects within the framework of relations between the Western Allies and Finland. The scope of the present work does not reach beyond the concluding stage of the Paris Peace Conference, which produced the Treaty of Versailles. The issues of the Aland Islands and East Karelia remained, it is true, to be definitively settled. But it has been deemed advisable to separate the early phase of the League of Nations from the subject matter here treated. By that time the position of Finland as an independent State had become substantially stabilized and, following the great global crisis, the international situation was showing signs of clearing up and international relations of returning to normal. From the standpoint of progress in carrying out this work, particularly fruitful was the research the author had the opportunity of doing in Eng- land in the spring of 1959 and in the United States in the fall of the same year. From the standpoint of source material, it was of utmost importance that I was able to go through the archives of the State Department in Washington for the years 1918 and 1919. These records shed revealing light on the politics of not only the United States but the Western Powers in general and on the conduct of the Paris Peace Conference. In this connection I wish to express my appreciation of the helpfulness of Dr. E. Taylor Parks, head of the State Department's Historieal Division. 6 Valuable source material relating to special questions was provided, moreover, by the records concerning the operations of General N. Yude- nitch in 1918 and 1919, which are preserved in the Archives of Russian and East European History and Culture, Columbia University, New York. I am indebted to Professor Philip E. Mosely for his service in obtaining a researcher's permit for me and to the keeper of the archives, Mr. Lev.. F. Magerovsky, for his generous assistance while I was at work there. My trips abroad further gave me a chance to do research at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., the British Museum in London and other libraries, the collections of which naturally contain an abundance of literature relating to my field of study that is unobtainable in my own country. In addition, their collections of old newspapers enabled me to attempt a systematic survey of the treatment of the Finnish question during the critical period under examination here by a politically signi- ficant part of the press in the Allied countries. I also wish to acknowledge a debt of gratitude to the many research historians with whom I was in contact during my sojourns abroad. Two of them — Professor Samuel Morison, of Harvard University, and Pro- fessor Edward Hallett Carr, of Cambridge University — stand in special relation to my research project, for they participated in both the prepara- tions for and the actual work of the Paris Peace Conference, the former as an expert on the U.S. Peace Commission and the latter as an assistant with the British Delegation; and, among other things, both had been entrusted with the task of studying the Finnish question. In addition to those already mentioned, I have been in contact with the following persons in seeking and clarifying material likely to shed light upon background questions pertaining to my study: Professor Hugh Seton- Watson of the University of London; Professor W. N. Medlicott and Dr. R. Hatton, London School of Economics; Professor Fritz T. Epstein and Dr. John Davidson, Library of Congress; Professor Hans Kohn, City College of New York; and Professor Oscar Halecki, Columbia University. To all of them I acknowledge my appreciation. Following what has now become a valuable tradition, I was able to draw on the wise counsel of Professor Arvi Korhonen during my research work in my efforts to solve the problems involved and uncover source material. I wish to thank him for this and for having read my whole manuscript. I am indebted to Professor Sven Lindman for his comments. Professor Carl Erik Knoellinger was kind enough to check certain portions of my manuscript that lay in his special field of study, and so was Väinö Luoma, Ph. Lic. 7 Mauno Koski, Ph. Lic., has earned my gratitude by editing the manuscript as a Finnish expert and Matti Nieminen, archives keeper, by lending assistance in many ways in preparing this work for publication. Finally, I am pleased to acknowledge the receipt of a research grant from the Emil Aaltonen Foundation, an ASLA grant for study in the United States and a modest docent's stipend, which was still made avail- able to me while I was engaged in producing this book. Turku, Finland November xi, 196o 1. P. P.S. The original manuscript in Finnish was completed by the end of August, 196o. During the printing stage a couple of major insertions of new material were made in addition to certain minor changes and revisions. It was possible to take notice of some works that appeared after the dating of the manuscript. In preparing the English version, the author added a couple of paragraphs to the first chapter in order to acquaint the non-Finnish reader with the historical background to the period under examination, and he also deleted parts of the text here and there that could be of little or no interest to readers not living in Finland. TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface 5— 7 Table of Contents 8— 9 I THE DEVELOPMENT OF FINNISH INDEPENDENCE BEFORE THE ARMISTICE ro— 29 The Declaration of Independence and the presentation of requests for diplomatic recognition to the Western Allies — France accords recognition, Britain and the United States hold back — Civil War in Finland, German intervention and the position of the Western Allies — The exchange of notes with Finland in the spring of 1918 — The »Petsamo Crisis» — Growing doubts concerning the effec- tuality of pro-German policy — The monarchists and the revision of foreign policy •— Friedrich Karl and the deferment of his coro- nation — von der Goltz and the withdrawal of the German tr00ps from Finland II THE ORGANIZATION OF THE PEACE CONFERENCE AND THE QUESTION OF THE SMALL STATES 30— 42• The »Big Three»: Wilson, Clemenceau and Lloyd George — The participation of the small states in the conference — The plenary session of January 25 — The right of Poland and Czechoslovakia to representation — The position of Finland and the Baltic states III FINLAND'S EFFORTS TO ACHIEVE DIPLOMATIC CONTACT WITH THE WESTERN POWERS 43— 55 The sending of deputations to the Western capitals after the Dec- laration of Independence — The older type of diplomat: Wolff, Kihlman, Ignatius, Reuter — The type represented by Holsti — Reuter and Ignatius in the United States, Kihlman in France, Holsti in London — Will Finland be given the right to sit at the conference table? — The sending of a delegation to Paris and its work there IV FINLAND'S FOOD SHORTAGE AND THE WESTERN ALLIES 56— 77 The Tokoi Government's grain order from the United States — The delay in procuring a transport licence — Hoover's ban and Lansing's new initiative — The new plan for shipping food supplies to Finland via Narvik — Negotiations on control terms — The ban on grain shipments to Finland in March 1918 — The appeal add- ressed on August 8 by the Scandinavian Governments to the Uni- ted States and British Governments — The Armistice and Hoover's arrival in Europe — Holsti's report on the food crisis in Finland 9 and Hoover's decisions of early December concerning relief shipments to Finland — Food shipments to Finland — The Finnish public reaction V THE RECOGNITION OF FINNISH INDEPENDENCE AND THE POLICY OF THE WESTERN POWER 78-114. Mannerheim's mission to London and Paris to contact the Western leaders — The Allied conditions for recognizing Finnish independence — Political sentiment during the period of waiting for diplomatic recognition by the West — France's attitude compared to that of Britain and the United States — The March parliamentary

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