| abstract | - The Finnish Civil War was fought in Finland from 27 January to 15 May 1918 between Red Guards (Punainen Suomi) and White Guards (Valkoinen Suomi). The Reds were supported by Russian Soviet Republic, while the Whites received military assistance from the German Empire. The Reds carried out a failed general offensive from mid February to early March. The general offensive of the Whites was issued on 15 March 1918. A large number of Russian soldiers remained stationed in Finland in the beginning 1918, but as the majority of these troops were unwilling to fight, and were withdrawn from Finland by the end of March, Soviet Russia's main support to the Reds was in supplying weapons. The White offensive was bolstered by the intervention of the Baltic Sea Division of the German army in southern Finland on 3 April. The battles of Tampere and Viipuri won by the Whites and the Battle of Helsinki won by the German troops were the decisive military actions of the war, leading to victory for the Whites.
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