How is this song viewed in Finland?

9 comments

1. Might have heard it at some point but I don’t recall.

   Pretty good song. Translation is great, but decent at least

2. Hmm. The reds or Russians that this song speaks of are mostly Finnish people. The whites called the reds Russians in many cases, so this isn’t as uncontroversial song if it was written in the 1950’s.
   But the song it self is a interesting part of history.

3. Well. I’ve never heard this before, but it sounds very controversal. Civil war is a big trauma for Finns as a nation. On the one hand there were working class on the communist side backed by Russians and then there were owners of land and rich people backed by Germans (obviously with some excepions so not so black and white). But on the other hand there were a lot of people who were forced to the side of their superiors. Mostly it was Finns against each other over the opinion how the country should be ruled. Horrific things were done by both sides. Whites won (which in historical perspective is objectively a good thing), reds became scum. The prison camps for the reds were the main inspiration for Hitler’s consentration camps. Bodies of reds weren’t in many places even allowed to be buried in the graveyards and memorials for the reds were commonly placed far away from the church, sometimes even outside of the church area. The war remains as one of the bloodiest civil wars ever taken place. Without the winter wars unifieing effect the nation could still be more devided. Although, for some people this divide of nation is still, if not big, but some kind of deal. Some people identify as red or white and make jokes of the matter.

   (If you want some insight in the form of fiction I would recommend “Täällä Pohjantähden alla”-trilogy (“Under The Northern Star”) written by Väinö Linna. It pictures how things went in the countryside during civil war and after it from the red perspective. Not sure though if it was never translated from Finnish. Hope it was.)

   I myself have some heritage from both sides so I even couldn’t pick a side. But somehow this song makes me feel slightly ill. Amount of hate in the lyrics (especially during times like these) is mind-blowing. But I’m pretty sure that both sides had their chants and this kind of songs so I am not pointing any fingers.

   TLRD: very controversial, coz civil war is never simple

4. Its’s a Civil War propaganda song used by the White Guards. The lyrics try to paint the Red Guards as Russians, even though almost all of them were Finnish socialists. The melody is from *Kauan on kärsitty / Suomen kaartin paluumarssi* a marching song used by Finnish soldiers fighting in the Russo-Turkish war.

   If you are interested in songs that were actually used by Finns fighting against Soviet aggression, I recommend the WWII propaganda songs *Njet Molotoff*, *Kremlin uni*, *Äänisen aallot*, *Sörnai gusha*, *Elämää juoksuhaudoissa* and *Eldankajärven jää*. I believe that all are available with English translations.

5. Old war propaganda song for morale boosting, based on an older song. Both sides, whites and reds, made their own versions of it.

6. Good song

7. One of my favourite songs tbh i love listening our military marches. I know that the background is controversial but i don’t see problem with blasting it even as someone who comes from a family with socialist background

8. First I was like “Oh this is [Kauan on kärsitty](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nehkhIOa-0), good song” but oohh no, lyrics are changed

9. This song is one an old record I have in my parents’ home. There are some really funny Finnish songs about resisting Russia, such as ‘Banzai’, which is a celebration of Japan’s defeat of Russia in the 1904-5 war, and a song celebrating Kaiser Wilhelm.