Page:Lars Henning Söderhjelm - The Red Insurrection in Finland in 1918 - tr. Annie Ingebord Fausbøll (1920).djvu/112

 Fortunately—for the White army, too, suffered from an extremely critical complaint: it went almost without anus to its gigantic task.

The important question of the conduct of war-operations on the part of the Red was most closely connected with the question of how the Russian troops would stand. Were they to observe neutrality, and leave the country as quickly as possible, or were they openly to side with the Red? The answer came quickly enough.

On the 30th January the Russian Post and Telegraph Minister pays a visit to the Red Government at Helsingfors, and there observes as follows:—

"The Russian Brother Government hope that the Finnish brethren will carry the struggle they have commenced to a happy ending, and promise their full aid in the war against the bourgeoisie, which belong to the international class of sweaters, and are in consequence the enemies of the people." This official utterance must undoubtedly be designated as a declaration of war from the Russian Government.

Already on the 28th January, however, the troops that were in Finland had issued their own declaration of war. These troops constituted the 42nd Russian Army Corps, whose staff was at Viborg. The staff had, however, been replaced by an Army Corps Commission, and it was this commission which on the above-mentioned day issued an order to all divisions, the first paragraph of which ran as follows: "From and with the 28th of this instant the troops of the 42nd Army Corps are regarded as being at war with the civic White Guard of Finland."

There was, however, yet another authority which was to have a word to say in the matter. This was the "Rayon Committee of the Army, Navy, and Russian Working-men in Finland," which on the 4th December had been appointed sole representative of the Russian