Helena Aalto and Elli Vuokko, Finnish Red Guards from the Finnish civil war. A 15-week civil war, it was fought between Communist Reds and democratic, anti-communist Whites, and it ended with German intervention and an independent, democratic Finland.
The first Women’s Guards units formed in early February in the main Finnish cities. More than 15 female Guards units were established by the end of March 1918, with a total of about 2,000 women serving. The Women’s Guards were the focus of propaganda by the anti-communist White party. And their own commanders were ambivalent about women serving: they were usually held in reserve and not put into direct combat situations. But as the war continued, and the situation became more desperate, some Women’s Guards units saw combat.
