Heimosodat

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title: "Heimosodat" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["political-history-of-finland", "finland-in-the-russian-civil-war", "finnish-irredentism", "finnish-nationalism", "wars-involving-soviet-russia-(1917–1922)", "wars-involving-the-united-kingdom", "finland–russia-relations", "finland–soviet-union-relations", "white-movement", "military-operations-of-the-russian-civil-war-in-1918", "military-operations-of-the-russian-civil-war-in-1919", "military-operations-of-the-russian-civil-war-in-1920", "military-operations-of-the-russian-civil-war-in-1921", "military-operations-of-the-russian-civil-war-in-1922"] description: "Interwar conflicts in Finnish territory" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heimosodat" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Interwar conflicts in Finnish territory ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox military conflict"]

Field	Value
conflict	Heimosodat
partof	the Russian Civil War
image	Finnish and Karelian troops in 1921.jpg
image_size	300
caption	Finnish and East Karelian soldiers fighting side by side against Russians during the East Karelian uprising
date	21 March 1918 – 21 March 1922
()
place
result	Treaty of Tartu
territory	Finnish victory in Estonia and annexation of Petsamo
Soviet victory in White Karelia, Aunus, Petrograd and East Karelia
combatant1	{{plainlist
combatant2	{{plainlist
commander1	Flag of Finland 1918 (state).svg Kurt Martti Wallenius
Estonia Johan Laidoner
Uhtua Ukki Väinämöinen
Ingrian people.svg Georg Elfvengren
commander2	{{plainlist
strength1	Finland:
~10,000
strength2	Red Army:
113,000
Red Guard:
1,500
::

| conflict = Heimosodat | partof = the Russian Civil War | image = Finnish and Karelian troops in 1921.jpg | image_size = 300 | caption = Finnish and East Karelian soldiers fighting side by side against Russians during the East Karelian uprising | date = 21 March 1918 – 21 March 1922 () | place = | coordinates = | map_type = | map_relief = | map_size = | map_caption = | result = Treaty of Tartu | territory = Finnish victory in Estonia and annexation of Petsamo Soviet victory in White Karelia, Aunus, Petrograd and East Karelia | combatant1 = {{plainlist|

• Flag of Finland 1918 (state).svg Finnish White Guard
• Estonia
• Uhtua
• Uhtua Forest Guerrillas
• Ingrian people.svg North Ingria | combatant2 = {{plainlist|
• Russian SFSR
• Socialist red flag.svg Finnish Red Guards
• Flag of the Commune of the Working People of Estonia.svg Commune of Estonia
• United Kingdom | commander1 = Flag of Finland 1918 (state).svg Kurt Martti Wallenius Estonia Johan Laidoner Uhtua Ukki Väinämöinen Ingrian people.svg Georg Elfvengren | commander2 = {{plainlist|
• Russian SFSR Jukums Vācietis
• Russian SFSR Leon Trotsky | strength1 = Finland: ~10,000 | strength2 = Red Army: 113,000 Red Guard: 1,500 | casualties1 = | casualties2 = ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Finnish_military_expeditions_to_areas_of_the_former_Russian_Empire_(East_Karelia)_in_the_years_1918-1922.svg" caption="Grand Duchy]]. The areas in light red represent the territorial gains hoped for as part of a [[Greater Finland]]. A border along the Karelian, Olonets and White Isthumuses (three-isthumus border) would have drastically shortened the length of the border with Russia."] ::

The Finnish term Heimosodat (singular heimosota) refers to a series of armed conflicts and private military expeditions in 1918–1922 into areas of the former Russian Empire that bordered on Finland and were inhabited in large part by other Finnic peoples.

The term has been translated into English as "Kindred Nations Wars", "Wars for kindred peoples", "Kinfolk wars", or "Kinship Wars," specifically referring to Finnic kinship. Finnish volunteers took part in these conflicts, either to assert Finnish control over areas inhabited by related Finnic peoples, or to help them gain independence from Soviet Russia. Many of the volunteers were inspired by the idea of "Greater Finland". Some of the conflicts were incursions from Finland, and some were local uprisings in which volunteers wanted either to help people fight for independence or to annex areas to Finland. According to Aapo Roselius, about 10,000 volunteers from Finland took part in the armed conflicts mentioned below.

• Viena expedition (1918)
  • Murmansk Legion
• Petsamo expeditions (1918 and 1920)
• Estonian War of Independence (1918–1920)
  • Pohjan Pojat () and helped Estonian troops.
• Revolt of the Ingrian Finns (1918–1920)
• Aunus expedition (1919)
• Advance on Petrograd (1919)
• East Karelian Uprising (1921–1922)

The phenomenon is closely linked to nationalism and irredentism, as Finland had just formally gained its national independence in 1917, and a part of the population felt that they had obligations to help other Finnic peoples to attain the same. Estonia, the closest and numerically largest "kindred nation", had gained its independence at the same time, but had fewer resources, fewer institutions ready to support its attained position, and more Bolshevik Russian troops within its borders. Other Finnic peoples were at a less organized level of cultural, economic and political capability. The Finnish Civil War had awakened strong nationalistic feelings in Finnish citizens and other Finnic peoples, and they sought tangible ways to put these feelings into action. For the two next decades, Finns participated at a relatively high rate in nationalistic activities (e.g. Karelianism and Finnicization of the country and its institutions). This development was related to the trauma and divisiveness of the Finnish Civil War. Many White sympathizers in the Civil War became radically nationalistic as a result of the war. The strenuous five-year period of World War II — which also mostly unified the nation — reduced this enthusiasm.

Viena expedition

Main article: Viena expedition

Petsamo expeditions

Main article: Petsamo expeditions

Finnish involvement in the Estonian-Soviet War

Main article: Pohjan Pojat

Revolt of the Ingrian Finns

Main article: Revolt of the Ingrian Finns

Aunus expedition

Main article: Aunus expedition

Advance on Petrograd

Main article: Battle of Petrograd

East Karelian Uprising

Main article: East Karelian Uprising

Glossary

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Heimosotureita.jpg" caption="Volunteer tribal soldiers from the Viena-Karelian military campaign"] ::

; Sota : "War", in this context, a low-intensity one, consisting of actions such as border skirmishes, expeditions by volunteer corps, expulsion of remnant occupational forces or attempts to foment rebellion in the local populace.

; Heimo : "Tribe" or "clan", but in this context, also the ethnic and language kinship between Baltic Finns; "kindred peoples". Somewhat comparable to the German concept of Völkisch.

; Sukukansa : People who are linguistically and/or ethnically akin to one another; "suku" means "family" and "kansa" means "people" (singular).

Notes

References

References

1. (2007). "Vergangenheitsdiskurse in der Ostseeregion". LIT Verlag Berlin-Hamburg-Münster.
2. (May 15, 2019). "Villi itä: Suomen heimosodat ja Itä-Euroopan murros 1918-1921". Tammi.
3. Roselius, Aapo. (2014). "Finnish Irredentist Campaigns in the Aftermath of the Civil War // The Finnish Civil War 1918. History, Memory, Legacy". [[Brill Publishers.

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