Image: Two Red Guards photographed in Atelier Nyblin, Kaisaniemenkatu 3 A, Helsinki, Finland, 8 April 1918. Colorized by Julius Jääskeläinen

Description: One of the men is identified as Otso Aronen, probably the man on the right, the left man is dressed in a Russian uniform. Perhaps among the few hundred of Russian soldiers that were still stationed in Finland and decided to join the Finnish Red Guards when the civil war broke out. As the war started on 27 January, the Red Guards occupied the capital, Helsinki, and the largest towns of industrialized southern Finland. The front line was soon established, stretching from the Gulf of Bothnia to the Karelian Isthmus, 30–50 kilometres north of Pori, Tampere, Lahti, Lappeenranta and Vyborg. The Whites occupied rural northern Finland, where the few Red strongholds fell in less than two weeks without any strong resistance. 4 days after this photo was taken the battle of Helsinki would begin and the city was quickly taken by the Finnish White Guard and the German Baltic Sea Division.
Title: Two Red Guards photographed in Atelier Nyblin, Kaisaniemenkatu 3 A, Helsinki, Finland, 8 April 1918. Colorized by Julius Jääskeläinen
Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/155661213@N08/50767025832/
Author: Julius.jaa
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0
License: CC BY 2.0
License Link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0
Attribution Required?: Yes