Finnish author Erkki Hautamäki is also a councillor of education and a reservist in the Finnish army, holding the rank of Major. Hautamäki has completed a lengthy process and fulfilled a historical task in his book “Finland in the Eye of the Storm”, which Marshall Mannerheim and his trusted aid Vilho Tahvanainen left for future generations. Driven by a need to bring out the historical truth ERKKI HAUTAMÄKI
FINLAND In the Eye of the Storm
Based on the secret documents of Field Marshall C.G.E. Mannerheim from 1932 to 1949.
Part 1
1932-1940
This book is dedicated to Vilho Tahvanainen, an unrelenting patriot and aid to Field Marshall C.G.E. Mannerheim.
Prologue
The Second World War (in Europe) ended in the spring of 1945. Nations were awakening from a nightmare of which the toll of material destruction and human casualties could not yet even be evaluated. Germany, the core of Europe was a smouldering heap of rubble. National Socialism had been crushed, good had triumphed over evil and peace had finally arrived.
The defeated were forced to surrender without compromise. The word of the victor was now law and their interpretation for causes of the war and of those guilty would remain as the only truth for future reference. In the same instance one’s own slate was wiped clean of any guilt or wrongdoing. The full weight of guilt for the insane evil and war crimes that took place was placed solely on the shoulders of the defeated even though all parties involved have later been proven guilty of atrocities to varying degrees.
Justice of the victor was dished out at the Nurnberg trials. Not in the sense that the accusations were wrong or falsified but in the sense that the accused were not given the chance to defend themselves against false and weak accusations. The same holds true for allied actions during the war.
Some of the war crimes committed by the allies were e.g. the mass murder of Polish officers by the Russians in Katyn in the spring of 1940, the horrifying terror bombings of Hamburg and Dresden by England and America in February of 1945 and the cruelty towards German POW’s by the Americans and Russians. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in September of 1945 remains one of the worst acts of genocide to date.
With time and a change in the political climate, restrictions were removed and researchers were granted access to previously inaccessible files giving us yet again a different viewpoint of true accounts. It then came to light that the truth of the victor had on many accounts been established by forgery, hiding documents, suppressing evidence and even lies.
For over half a century we have knowingly been brainwashed into linking all the evil in the world to Hitler and the German people. The holocaust, which is continuously in the press, literature, the theatre, film, music, the radio and television has coloured our judgement as to the actual causes of the Second World War and those guilty.
It is clear that Hitler and the Nazi leaders of the Third Reich were guilty of terrible crimes against humanity. However, this book will not tackle these matters, as they are well known and documented. On the other hand, one cannot deny war crimes committed by the allies and especially Russia under the leadership of Stalin.
Larger nations displayed a ruthless disdain towards smaller nations and their right to remain neutral. In its entirety are revealed the secret agreements, political intrigue, deception and an inconceivable chain of events that led to the beginning of the Second World War and finally its end.
Even Finland, a small northern republic and democracy was unwittingly drawn to this war frenzy of the lager nations. Finland was however fortunate in those years of turmoil to have as its military and political leader a figure of great foresight and determination in the form of field Marshall Mannerheim. He had a broad experience spanning many years in international politics and a network of contacts on to which Finland was able to build the military and political alliances that saved the country.
During the Winter War, having received details of a secret agreement between the Western Powers and the Soviet Union to destroy Germany, Mannerheim, along with Finland’s political leaders made crucial decisions that saved the nation and possibly all the Nordic countries from becoming one large battleground.
From 1932 onwards, Mannerheim kept original documents consisting of , for example, secret reports, letters, personal notes, into a file code named ”S-32”. Political reasons stopped Mannerheim from using this file as evidence after the war.
I have used secret documents, which victor nations have suppressed for 50 years, in Marshall C.G.E. Mannerheim’s file ”S-32” as the basis of my research. This material can finally shed some light on the historical truth that was not published along with Mannerheim’s memoirs.
I have strived to merge the dramatic content in file S-32 with other source material and to display it in chronological order to give a clear account of political and military development in Europe. We can thus follow a logical chain of historical events, which lead us on from the First World War.
We will come to realise – as the Marshall used to say- that matters which were put forward to him were often so complex, unclear and even unbelievable that he had to pause to get a sense of what was actually meant. The same patience is asked of the reader.
With this book I hope to prove, particularly to my Finnish countrymen along with readers from other countries that our wartime leaders were not guilty of the crimes they were blamed for or the wars Finland was dragged into between 1939-1945. Conflict was inevitable in order for us to remain independent. The crimes for which our leaders were accused and tried for were a direct result of demands from the victor nations, especially the Soviet Union.
This now published volume I deals with the time period 1932-1940 up to “ the war of continuation”. My purpose is to deal with “the war of continuation” in volume II and the peace process that followed (1941-1948).
Erkki Hautamäki
Following are two evaluations by Swedish Military Journals.
Was the non-aggression pact between the Soviet Union and Germany on 23.8.1939 just a tactical ploy to win time? Was allied aid to Finland in 1939-40 just a ruse to invade Norway and Sweden whilst giving the Soviet Union an opportunity to invade Finland and the Baltic States, creating a northern front against Germany? Erkki Hautamäki, who holds the rank of Major in the Finnish army, has at his disposal the secret files of Vilho Tahvanainen, an undercover courier and trusted aid to Marshall Mannerheim. The Tahvanainen files consist of copies of Mannerheim’s secret (S-32) files covering the years 1932-50 duplicated with the authority of the Marshall himself. The author of this book has had a unique opportunity to compare and contrast documents and files from different countries and get an idea of the behind the scenes politics of the larger nations during WW2.
Pennan
ach Svärdet, Tidskrift för svenskt militärhistorikt Bibliotek, N:10 B 2004
Now a clearly new and previously unknown part of history is uncovered which will affect all of the Nordic countries. The Finnish, in the wars they were forced to participate in, committed no crimes and were in no way to blame for the beginning of the conflict. The author has given us an engrossing and somewhat frightening account of the political scheming and double dealing of the major world powers.
Kenneth Awebro, Norbottens Kuriren 7.6.2004
