Sunday, January 09, 2011

Mannerheim Jörn Donnerin kertomana Osa 2

Mannerheim, berättad av Jörn Donner Del 2 / [Mannerheim As Told by Jörn Donner Part 2]. Part 2 of a five-part non-fiction essay tv series FI 2011. PC: Jörn Donner Productions / Franck Media. D+SC: Jörn Donner. ED: Klaus Grabber. M: Pedro Hietanen. 58 min. YLE TV1 transmission watched on 9 Jan 2011

Official presentation: "Having returned to Finland in 1918 Mannerheim has to create the army for 'white' Finland. The war of liberation turns into civil war. Mannerheim loses the presidential election and continues as a gray eminence. The 1930 peasant march brings him prominently back into sight".

Helsinki, January 1918: Mannerheim is appointed Commander-in-Chief of the White Army. He travels to Vasa, receives the Jägers (the Finns of the Prussian 27th Jäger Battalion). Under his command Red Tampere is defeated. The German forces under Rüdiger von der Goltz embark in Hanko. Mannerheim's stance towards the Germans is critical. The Whites establish 18 prison camps, red prisoners face executions, famine, and epidemics. This little brook, now in St. Petersburg, was the border between Finland and the Soviet Russia. Mannerheim has been promoted General of Cavalry in March. There is a plan to create Finland a monarchy, with a King from Germany. In the interregnum period Mannerheim is temporary Regent. Mannerheim tries to incite Finland to attack the Soviet Union. Yudenich expects support from Mannerheim and Finland, in vain. There are plans of a coup in circles around Mannerheim. At the Helsinki home of Mannerheim: Mannerheim never had a permanent home during his life. Mannerheim's stay in Hanko, divorce, affairs, keeping a café in the French style. Here Donner digresses to the Hanko occupation by the USSR 1940-1941. The travels in the 1920s, for instance in Karlsbad, meeting exile White Russians. Officially he was a private person who entertained in the best circles. The Peasant March in 1930, organized by the extreme right and financed by the big capital. Mannerheim was their star but he distanced himself from them. There is no evidence that Mannerheim supported military dictatorship. Mannerhim's only profession was that of the soldier. - The silent footage running at overspeed looks ridiculous.

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