Finnish Defence Forces The Finnish Defence Forces ( fi, Puolustusvoimat, sv, Försvarsmakten) are the military of Finland. The Finnish Defence Forces consist of the Finnish Army, the Finnish Navy and the Finnish Air Force. In wartime the Finnish Border Guard (whic ...

Field Marshal ( fi, sotamarsalkka, lit=War Marshal, sv, fältmarskalk) is officially not an active

military rank Military ranks are a system of hierarchical relationships, within armed forces, police, intelligence agencies or other institutions organized along military lines. The military rank system defines dominance, authority, and responsibility in ...

but an honorary rank that can be bestowed upon 'especially distinguished

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

s'. So far the only holder of this title has been

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or kn ...

Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (, ; 4 June 1867 – 27 January 1951) was a Finnish military leader and statesman. He served as the military leader of the Whites in the Finnish Civil War of 1918, as Regent of Finland (1918–1919), as c ...

, then Chairman of the Defence Council, who received it on 19 May 1933 by the decision of the State Council. Baron Gustaf Mannerheim (1867–1951) served as Regent 1918–1919 and President of the Republic 1944–1946.

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on th ...

Mannerheim had commanded the White Army in the

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War; . Other designations: Brethren War, Citizen War, Class War, Freedom War, Red Rebellion and Revolution, . According to 1,005 interviews done by the newspaper ''Aamulehti'', the most popular names were as follows: Civil W ...

in 1918, and his promotion to

field marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

had already been suggested in 1928, the 10th anniversary of the end of the War. Back then the proposal was rejected as 'too warlike'—and there was also fears that such promotion would prove politically controversial—but Mannerheim was nevertheless given an unofficial

marshal's baton The ceremonial baton is a short, thick stick-like object, typically in wood or metal, that is traditionally the sign of a field marshal or a similar high-ranking military officer, and carried as a piece of their uniform. The baton is distinguis ...

by the Civil War's White veterans. Five years later the political climate was more favourable, and the State Council decided to bestow Mannerheim the rank of field marshal. The decision was kept in secret, and came as a pleasant surprise to Mannerheim. He observed "In a little ultrademocratic country it could seem quite pretentious to indulge in the luxury of a field marshal", but also admitted that it was "not so frightful when the marshal costs the state nothing". It is not known why field marshal never became a substantive rank rather than honorary one, but this distinction caused Mannerheim some consternation at the time. He had to pay a substantial

stamp duty Stamp duty is a tax that is levied on single property purchases or documents (including, historically, the majority of legal documents such as cheques, receipts, military commissions, marriage licences and land transactions). A physical reven ...

of 4000

Finnish mark The markka ( fi, markka; sv, mark; sign: Mk; ISO code: FIM, typically known outside Finland as the Finnish mark) was the currency of Finland from 1860 until 28 February 2002, when it ceased to be legal tender. The mark was divided into 100 pe ...

s. Mannerheim's secretary at the Defence Council, the then

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colon ...

Aksel Airo, tried to make the Defence Forces or Ministry of Defence foot the bill. It is customary that the organization that has originally put a person forward for the title, pays the stamp duty that comes with it. But in this case no such payer could be found and finally Airo had to present the bill to Mannerheim, who commented wryly: "It's good they didn't make a bigger chief out of me." Mannerheim was also initially concerned that as field marshal was not an official rank, he was no longer in the Defence Forces service, but Mannerheim was then assured that he remained in the

Finnish Army The Finnish Army ( Finnish: ''Maavoimat'', Swedish: ''Armén'') is the land forces branch of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Finnish Army is divided into six branches: the infantry (which includes armoured units), field artillery, anti-aircraf ...

officer lists as a

general of cavalry General of the Cavalry (german: General der Kavallerie) was a General officer rank in the cavalry in various states of which the modern states of German and Austria are successors or in other armies which used the German model. Artillery officers o ...

(, his substantive rank since 1918). Mannerheim received the field marshal's title three days after the 15th anniversary of the end of the Civil War, choosing not to receive the title on the anniversary on 16 May, because he did not want to aggravate the wounds of the War. On this occasion Mannerheim was also given a new, official

, but he still preferred to use the old, unofficial one, because it was lighter. In practice field marshal was treated like a military rank. Mannerheim, in co-operation with artist and author Aarno Karimo, designed a new rank insignia consisting of the three heraldic lions of a full general and crossed marshal's batons.Since the introduction of the rank of (

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointe ...

) in 1995, the Finnish Defence Forces' full general's rank insignia has consisted of four heraldic lions. On Mannerheim's 75th birthday 4 June 1942 he was bestowed the title of ''Marshal of Finland'' ( fi, Suomen marsalkka, link=no, sv, Marskalk av Finland, link=no) that has been specially created for him, although it was fully symbolic title and his rank insignia remained the same. At the time when

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

was under Swedish rule (before the

War of Finland The Finnish War ( sv, Finska kriget, russian: Финляндская война, fi, Suomen sota) was fought between the Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire from 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809 as part of the Napoleonic Wars. As a res ...

in 1808–1809), a number of Finnish-born men reached the corresponding rank of .

Footnotes

References

* Meri, Veijo (1988): ''C.G. Mannerheim. Suomen marsalkka'' * Palokangas, Marko (2000): ''Itsenäisen Suomen sotilasarvot ja -arvomerkit: Suomen maavoimien sotilasarvojärjestelmä ja arvoasteiden merkitsemistavat vuosina 1917-2000'' * Screen, J.E.O. (2000): ''Mannerheim: the Finnish Years''
''Yleinen palvelusohjesääntö 2002''
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060827065111/http://www.mil.fi/reservilainen/pdf/YlPalvO.pdf , date=27 August 2006 Military ranks of Finland * Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim