Sophie Mannerheim Jr. - End of The War and A Brief Presidency

End of The War and A Brief Presidency

In June 1944, Gustaf Mannerheim, to ensure German support while a major Soviet offensive was threatening Finland, thought it necessary to agree to the pact the German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop demanded. But even then Mannerheim managed to distance himself from the pact and it fell to President Risto Ryti to sign it, so that came to be known as the Ryti-Ribbentrop Agreement. This allowed Mannerheim to revoke the agreement with the resignation of President Ryti at the start of August 1944. Mannerheim succeeded him as president.

When Germany was deemed sufficiently weakened, and the USSR's summer offensive was fought to a standstill (see Battle of Tali-Ihantala) thanks to the June agreement with the Germans, Finland's leaders saw a chance to reach a peace with the Soviet Union. It became clear that Mannerheim was the only person who had sufficient prestige, both internationally and domestically, to extricate Finland from the war. He enjoyed the confidence of a majority of the Finnish people, and was effectively the only one with the authority necessary to guide Finland in the transition from war to peace.

At first, attempts were made to persuade Mannerheim to become prime minister, but he rejected this because of his age and lack of experience in the running of a civil government. The next suggestion was to elect him Head of State. Risto Ryti would resign as President, and parliament would appoint Mannerheim as Regent. The use of the title "Regent" would have reflected the exceptional circumstances of his election. Mannerheim and Ryti both agreed, and Ryti resigned as president on 1 August, giving as reasons his health and the necessity of combining civil and military authority in one person at that moment. Mannerheim decided that he wished to be elected president to avoid any misconceptions about the nature of his office. Due to the difficult conditions, general elections could not be held. Instead, the Parliament passed a special act conferring the presidency on Mannerheim on 4 August 1944. He took the oath of office the same day.

The dangerous state that Finland found itself in was reflected in Mannerheim's inauguration speech before the Finnish Parliament:

Mr Speaker, I wish to express my heartfelt thanks for the kind words that you spoke about me. Honourable members of parliament, in accepting for the second time, at this difficult moment of national destiny, the duties of head of state, I am so deeply aware of the responsibilities placed upon me. Great are the difficulties that we will have to overcome in order to safeguard our future. Foremost in my mind at this moment is the army of Finland, now in its fifth year of battle. Trusting the Almighty, I hope and I believe that, with the support of the parliament and the government and having an unanimous people behind us, we will succeed in preserving our independence and the existence of our nation.

A month after he took office, the Continuation War was concluded on harsh terms, but ultimately far less harsh than those imposed on the other states bordering the Soviet Union. Finland retained its sovereignty, its parliamentary democracy and its market economy. Territorial losses were considerable; all Karelia and Petsamo were lost. Numerous Karelian refugees needed to be relocated. The war reparations were very heavy. Finland also had to fight the Lapland War against withdrawing German troops in the north, and at the same time demobilize its own army. It is widely agreed that only Mannerheim could have guided Finland through these difficult times, when the Finnish people had to come to terms with the severe conditions of the armistice, their implementation by a Soviet-dominated Allied Control Commission, and the task of post-war reconstruction.

Mannerheim's term as president was difficult for him. Although he was elected for a full six-year term, he was in his late seventies, and had accepted the office reluctantly after being urged to do so. The situation was exacerbated by frequent periods of ill-health, the demands of the Allied Control Commission, and the war responsibility trials. He was afraid throughout most of his presidency that the commission would request that he be prosecuted for crimes against peace. This never happened. One of the reasons for this was Stalin's respect for and admiration of the Marshal. Stalin told a Finnish delegation in Moscow in 1947 that the Finns owe much to their old Marshal. Due to him Finland was not occupied. Despite Mannerheim's criticisms of some of the demands of the Control Commission, he worked hard to carry out Finland's armistice obligations. He also emphasised the necessity of further work on reconstruction in Finland after the war.

Mannerheim was troubled by recurring health problems during 1945, and was absent on medical leave from his duties as president from November until February 1946. He spent six weeks in Portugal to restore his health. After the announcement of the verdicts in the war crimes trials were announced in February, Mannerheim decided to resign. He believed that he had accomplished the duties he had been elected to carry out: The war was ended, the armistice obligations carried out, and the war crimes trial finished.

Mannerheim resigned as president on 4 March 1946, giving as his reason his declining health and his view that the tasks he had been selected to carry out had been accomplished. Even the Finnish communists, his enemies in 1918, appreciated his efforts and his role in maintaining the unity of the country during a difficult period. He was succeeded by his conservative Prime Minister Juho Kusti Paasikivi.