The Battle of Tampere of the Finnish Civil War

Finnish Civil War

The Finnish Civil War was a part of the national, political and social turmoil caused by World War I in Europe. The Civil War concerned control and leadership of The Grand Duchy of Finland as it achieved independence from Russia after the October Revolution in Petrograd...

 was fought in Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 in 1918 between Red and White

White Guard (Finland)

The White Guard was a voluntary militia that emerged victorious over the socialist Red Guard as part of the Whites in the Finnish Civil War of 1918...

 forces. The White forces besieged and captured the main city of the Red Guards, Tampere

Tampere

Tampere is a city in southern Finland. It is the most populous inland city in any of the Nordic countries. The city has a population of , growing to approximately 300,000 people in the conurbation and over 340,000 in the metropolitan area. Tampere is the third most-populous municipality in...

, taking around 10,000 Red prisoners.

This was the largest military engagement in Nordic history to that point and Finland's first major urban battle

Urban warfare

Urban warfare is combat conducted in urban areas such as towns and cities. Urban combat is very different from combat in the open at both the operational and tactical level...

. The battle was decisive, and soon afterwards the war was over. Even after the war, some Red Guard soldiers tried to make it to the Russian border, as they believed the alternative was to be captured and be placed in prison camps by the White Guards where conditions were thought to be inhumane.