Finland has been cleared of the enemy. German troops, in co-operation with Finnish battalions, attacked the enemy between Lakhti and Tevasthus in an encircling movement, and in a five days' battle, in spite of a bitter defense and desperate attempts to break through, we have overwhelmingly defeated him. The Finnish forces cut off his retreat in a northerly direction. The enemy is closed in on every side, and, after the heaviest losses, is laying down his arms. We took 20,000 prisoners. Thousands of vehicles and horses were captured.
A dispatch dated May 8 reported, however, that the country was far from pacified, and that the Red Guards continued to offer resistance at many points.
Speaking before the Main Committee of the Reichstag, on May 8, Friedrich von Payer, the German Imperial Vice Chancellor, defended Germany's intervention in Finland. The fundamental aim of this step was "to create in North Finland a final condition of peace, both military and political." He stated that the entire staff of the 43d Russian Army Corps was recently captured in Finland. He denied that Germany intended further to interfere in the inner affairs of Finland, and added that Germany had concluded economic and political treaties with Finland whereby both parties would profit.
UNDER GERMAN DOMINATION
While these military operations were being carried on, Finland was becoming a German province. Late in March an American and an English officer, visiting General Mannerheim at Vasa upon orders from their legations, were threatened by Finnish White Guard officers with personal violence and turned out of the dining room of the chief hotel. This incident was described as characteristic of the feeling existing among the majority of Finns. On April 1 Vasabladet, the chief Vasa newspaper, wrote: "No military or other similar persons from any of the countries at war with Germany ought to be allowed to stay within the borders of our country so long as we, with the help of God and Germany, are fighting our hard fight for liberty, order, and justice against the barbarous ally of the western powers." It appears from a case reported on April 26 that the viséing of foreign passports by Finnish officials depends now upon the consent of the Berlin authorities.
Finland was proclaimed a republic in December, 1917. It has always been one of the most democratic countries in Europe. It is asserted, nevertheless, that the experiences through which the former grand duchy has passed in the last six months have converted many classes of the population to monarchism. A Stockholm dispatch dated May 8 declared that a monarchy would probably be proclaimed in Finland, and that Duke Adolph Frederick of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, uncle of the Crown Princess of Germany, would be appointed King.
GREATER FINLAND
In the middle of April it became known that the Finnish statesmen had an ambitious plan for the territorial aggrandizement and political expansion of their country at the expense of Russia, and possibly also of Norway. A Stockholm paper published a statement that Germany had agreed to the establishment of a Greater Finland, to include the territory of the Petrograd-Murman railway to the arctic. The newspaper added that the Finnish railway system was to be enlarged with a view to establishing direct connection from North Cape to Budapest and Constantinople. Thus Finland would become the cornerstone of a "Mitteleuropa" stretching from the arctic coast to Asia Minor and beyond. A well-known Finnish painter stated in an interview that the Finnish troops, co-operating with the Germans, would take Petrograd as well as the south coast of the Gulf of Finland, which is ethnically Finnish. An announcement was made on May 8, before the Main Committee of the Reichstag, that no Germans were participating or would participate in the advance of Finnish troops on Petrograd.
A movement has been set afoot among Karelians, presumably by Finns, in favor of the Finnish annexation of Russian Karelia, on the basis of the principle of self-determination. Karelia includes parts of the Governments of Petrograd, Olonetz, and Archangel; its aboriginal population belongs to the Finnish race.
