Forest Guerrillas (, Karelian: Meččypartizuanat) were an East Karelian

resistance movement A resistance movement is an organized group of people that tries to resist or try to overthrow a government or an occupying power, causing disruption and unrest in civil order and stability. Such a movement may seek to achieve its goals through ei ...

that was created officially on 14 October 1921. There were around 3,000 Forest Guerrillas in total during the East Karelian Uprising as a Karelian and Finnish resistance movement against Bolshevik Russia, aiming for an East Karelian state with independence from

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, and in some occasions unification or cooperation with

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. Most of the soldiers of the Forest Guerrillas were from

White Karelia White Karelia (; North Karelian and or simply ''Viena''; ) is a historical region in Northern Europe, comprising the northernmost part of Karelia, and of the Republic of Karelia in Russia. It is bordered by the White Sea to the east, Murmansk O ...

Repola Reboly (, , ) is a settlement in the Republic of Karelia of the Russian Federation by the Finnish border, located southeast of Kuhmo and northeast of Lieksa. In 1926 the settlement had a population of 1,465, in 2010 - 258 people. History ...

Porajärvi Porosozero (; ; ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, rural locality (a settlement) in Suoyarvsky District of the Republic of Karelia, located along the Suna River. Subdivisions of Russia#Municipal divisions, Municipally, it is a part a ...

and Olonets Karelia. The heraldry of the East Karelian Forest Guerrillas was created by

Akseli Gallen-Kallela Akseli Gallen-Kallela (born Axel Waldemar Gallén; 26 April 1865 – 7 March 1931) was a Finnish painter who is best known for his illustrations of the ''Kalevala'', the Finnish national epic poetry, epic. His work is considered a very importa ...

Origins

Near the end of 1921,

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

-sized

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

groups were being formed in East Karelia to fight against the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

, due to the official abandonment of Finnish support for the cause of Karelian Independence following the signing of the Tartu Peace Treaty between the Finns and Russians. These militias would be united into the ''East Karelian Forest Guerrilla

Regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

'' on 14 October 1921, following a meeting between around 200 representatives from all around Karelia at . The Forest Guerrilla Regiment was sized around 3,000 men strong. In that very meeting held, Ukki Väinämöinen was chosen as the spiritual leader of the Forest Guerrillas, as he was a major proponent and a key figure in Karelian Nationalism, with also serving a commanding role in the East Karelian Forest Guerrilla Regiment, with (

nom de guerre A ''nom de guerre'' (, 'war name') is a pseudonym chosen by someone to use when they are involved in a particular activity, especially fighting in a war. In Ancien régime, ''ancien régime'' Kingdom of France, France it would be adopted by each n ...

: Ilmarinen) being chosen as the commander-in-chief of the Forest Guerrillas.

Structure

The political body of the Forest Guerrillas was the Karelian United Government. The body dealing with foreign affairs of East Karelia, mainly asking for help and aid from the

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, such as

, the

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Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

and

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, was called the Foreign Commission of Karelia. The Forest Guerrillas were divided into three separate units, which were respectively called: the East Karelian Forest Guerrilla Regiment, the Viena Regiment and the Repola Battalion.

Forest Guerrillas at war

Advances & victories

On 11 December 1921, the Repola Battalion launched an offensive attack, capturing

and forcing the Bolshevik Russians to retreat. With the Forest Guerrillas following closely in pursuit, capturing on 15 December 1921, and the pursuit continued until , where the Bolsheviks were encircled and beaten with significant losses. The pursuit tactics which the Forest Guerrillas were using were efficient, until they were forced to battle the Bolsheviks at and , until a tough battle on Christmas night when

was captured for the East Karelians. The Forest Guerrillas had captured around 60,000 square kilometers from the Bolshevik Russians at their highest extent, and there was lots of public support behind them, as Karelian nationalism and Pan-Finnicism were increasingly popular in the

rural areas In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically descri ...

of Karelia. The

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

had begun a counter-offensive against the Forest Guerrillas on 5 November, beginning an attack towards the village of . The Forest Guerrillas had set up defensive positions upon hearing the news and opened fire over the Red Army group traveling over the frozen lake at Uskela. The Forest Guerrillas had defeated the Bolsheviks in their first major encounter.

Forest Guerrilla retreat & dissolution

On 22 January 1922, the Bolsheviks had begun an all-out counter-offensive against the Forest Guerrillas, moving towards Kokkosalmi. The ensuing battle between the Forest Guerrillas and Bolsheviks was fierce, with both sides taking major casualties. The Forest Guerrillas only had around 800 men at their disposal to defend the village, and they had been blockaded by the Bolsheviks. The Karelian Forest Guerrillas retreated towards through a minor gap in the enemy blockade. The Viena Regiment reorganized with help from the Oulanga Company at Sohjananvirta, and on 26 January they came into contact with the Bolsheviks, and a battle across a frozen river ensued with the Forest Guerrillas holding off the Bolshevik forces until the next day, when they once again retreated, this time retreating to {{ILL, Pistojärvi, lt=Pistojärvi, fi, Pistojärvi. On 5 February 1922, they were forced into a defensive battle with the Bolsheviks, where they ultimately retreated across the Finnish-Russian Border into

Kainuu Kainuu (), also historically known as Cajania (), is one of the 19 regions of Finland (''maakunta'' / ''landskap''). Kainuu borders the regions of North Ostrobothnia, North Savo and North Karelia. In the east, it also borders Russia (Republic o ...

, due to the vast Red Army superiority in manpower and the reason that the Forest Guerrillas were lacking ammunition and food supplies.

References