army of 30,000 men; but the Germans insisted that a force of 100,000 men on a peace footing should be raised. As the population of Finland is only 3 millions, the plan was absurd. However, after a little experience in drilling these intractable soldiers, the Germans decided that 27,000 would be ample. The opposition in the country was strong, and the summons to the colours was ignored. Of the recruits called up at Helsingfors in August, only eight per cent. appeared.

One of the reasons for this reluctance was the adventurous foreign policy of the Government. The successes of the spring, both those of the Germans and their own, seem to have caused many Finns to lose their sense of proportion. There was talk of a Finnish army marching to Petrograd, conquering the opposite coast of the Gulf of Finland, and establishing a frontier contiguous with Germany. There were those who cherished still more ambitious dreams; but, under German direction, this enthusiasm was concentrated on two definite objects: firstly, Eastern Karelia, and, secondly, an icefree port on the Arctic or possibly the whole Murman coast. The advantages of the latter as an outlet for the enormous timber resources of northern Finland are obvious; and there appeared to be some justification for the move towards Eastern Karelia, many of whose inhabitants speak Finnish and were said to be oppressed by the Bolsheviks. There can be little doubt that the German object was to establish a submarine base on the Arctic, and, by seizing the Murman Railway, to cut off all connexion between Russia and the Entente except through Vladivostok.

These plans were somewhat embarrassing to the Allies, who had no quarrel with the Finns and fully appreciated the difficult situation which had led to the calling-in of the Germans. As the Finnish Government facilitated the passage of Allied refugees from Russia, there seemed good ground to continue diplomatic relations and to seek a modus vivendi. On the other hand, the presence of the Germans could not be ignored. In March they seized a number of British subjects in the Åland Islands and despatched them to Danzig. Immediately after their arrival in Finland they tried, in vain, to force Allied subjects to register with them. Time

passed by, and in May the British Consul at Helsingfors stated that provisional recognition of the Finnish Government would be given, if imprisoned British subjects were released, if free passage for persons and goods were granted, if Finnish waters were opened to British ships, and if Finland remained neutral. Finland, in the German grip, was unable to comply with these conditions. In the previous month the British Government had pointed out that Finland, having concluded a treaty incompatible with neutrality, could expect no foodstuffs; it had also expressed the wish that no attack should be made on Russian territory. The Finnish Government thereupon conveyed its willingness to abstain from action against the Murman coast.

Nevertheless Finnish troops, officially said to be volunteers acting without authority, were reported in May to have crossed the Russian frontier with the object of seizing Petchenga. From time to time news came of extensive construction of military roads and railways in the north of Finland; and in July the scheme assumed a more definite shape. As a counter-move, Allied troops were sent to the Murman coast, an agreement with the Murman Regional Council having been concluded on July 7. The Allied forces advanced down the Murman Railway; and on Aug. 9 skirmishing near Kandalaksha was announced. To re-assure the Finnish Government, the British Minister at Stockholm made it known that no objection was entertained to an ice-free Finnish port on the Arctic, but no decision could be made about territory which had been Russian. At this time great military preparations were still proceeding in the north of Finland; but the German reverses in August came like a bolt from the blue, and much less zeal was shown in pursuing the designs on the Murman and Eastern Karelia. The Finns had no desire to clash with the Entente; and the inhabitants of Eastern Karelia had also laid down such conditions that they evidently were not very eager to join Finland. On Sept. 18, Germanled Finnish forces were defeated at Ukhtinskaya, and Southern Karelia was cleared. Some three weeks later, the Allied troops operating from Kandalaksha had driven all Finnish forces out of Northern Karelia. The German troops were now withdrawing from Finland; and in the

middle of November, as the result of the German Revolution, General von der Goltz announced that they would all be removed.

The arrival of General Mannerheim in England about the same date was significant. It is well known that the victory of the White Guards was due in a large measure to his strategic skill, the troops under his command capturing thirty-five towns as against seven taken by the Germans. If his advice had been accepted, the aid of German troops would never have been asked; and, when the reorganisation of the Finnish army by German officers was planned, he resigned his post and retired to Sweden. A few days after his landing in this country, General Mannerheim was elected Regent in the place of M. Svinhufvud. The Ministry of the latter, owing partly to the inexperience of its diplomats, had succeeded in alienating sympathies in Scandinavia and had failed to arrive at an agreement with the Bolsheviks, in spite of the negotiations at Berlin in August. It had nearly embroiled itself with the Allies, and had been a mere tool in the hands of Germany; while it had failed to find any solution for its domestic problems.

The new Ministry, with which a new chapter in the history of Finland begins, contains six Republicans and seven Monarchists. It will seek to obtain the recognition of Finnish independence, to pursue a neutral foreign policy, to preserve the territorial integrity of Finland (no cession of the Åland Islands), and to restore normal conditions at home with new elections to the Diet at the earliest possible date. It is to be hoped that brighter days are in store for the unhappy people of Finland, and that the wounds of civil war may soon be healed.

HERBERT G. WRIGHT.