Field Marshal Mannerheim of Finland

"Finland & Gustaf Mannerheim" 

First some background on Finland: Finland is known as "Suomi" in Finnish. The Finnish language is non-Indo European,* being from the "Uralic" family of languages, which includes two other prominent national languages, Hungarian and Estonian, besides several other smaller languages, most spoken in Finland and Estonia. "Uralic" refers to the Ural Mountains, a mountain range in Russia considered by many to be the dividing point between Europe and Asia, and the region is generally believed to be the ancestral homeland of "Uralic." Finnish vocabulary has been influenced by the Indo European languages around it, but it gave English one well known word, "sauna" (close Finnish relative Estonian has "saun"). Finland was part of the Tsarist Russian Empire during the 1800s until the end of 1917. While the Tsar was the head of state of Finland, the area enjoyed a degree of independence within the Russian Empire. When the Bolsheviks took power in Russia in November 1917, the (broad) political right and the (broad) political left in Finland clashed in a relatively brief civil war, with the right winning. Finland became a republic and elected a president in 1919. 

Tensions with the successor to the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, exploded in the fall of 1939,** as Soviet dictator Josef Stalin wanted Finland to cede territory to the Soviet Union to protect the major Soviet city of Leningrad*** by moving the border further from the city. The Soviet proposal for territorial adjustments were rejected by Finland and the Soviet Union invaded Finland. The Finns fought back in a gallant effort to defend their country, and in doing so, they gained the admiration of many people around the world. In the end, the Soviets, though staggered by heavy casualties, poured in more troops and equipment and the Finns had to come to terms with the Soviets.**** This moved Finland diplomatically closer to potential powerful ally Germany. When German dictator Adolf Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, Finland participated as a German ally.***** After initial success and the encirclement of Leningrad, the war in northern Russia essentially stalemated. By the summer of 1944 war weary Finland wavered and came to an armistice agreement with the Soviet Union. Finland remains a democratic country to this day. The second part will give some info about Mannerheim. 

* About a 5% minority of the population of Finland speaks Swedish, which is a Germanic language akin to English, Norwegian, Danish, German and others. Swedish is recognized as one of Finland's national languages.

** There were a number of territorial issues pressed by the Soviet Union against Finland, but the main one involved the border area near Leningrad. 

*** Leningrad was the former Tsarist city of St. Petersburg. When the Soviet Union broke up, Leningrad was again named St. Petersburg. 

**** Historians refer to the war between Finland and the Soviet Union, fought in 1939-1940, as "the Winter War."

 ***** Britain declared war on Finland in late 1941, largely to show symbolic support for the Soviet Union. The actual conflict between Britain and Finland was minimal.

Photo of the flag of Finland (photo in the public domain from Wikimedia granted by author Jan Leineberg)

WORD HISTORY:

Nail-This word traces back to Indo European "nogh," which meant "claw, hoof, toenail." This gave Old Germanic "naglaz," with the same meanings, but also the sense of "metal spike/metal peg." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "naegel," which meant "finger or toe nail," and a variant "naegl," which meant "claw, toe nail, or metal spike." These later became "naile," as the "g" sound died out, and then the modern version "nail." The verb form came from Old Germanic "(ga)naglijan(an)," which gave Old English "næglan," which then became "nailen," before the modern version. Common throughout the other Germanic languages: German and Low German "Nagel," West Frisian "neil," Dutch "nagel," Icelandic "nögl," Norwegian "negl/nagl" (depending upon dialect), Swedish "nagel," and Danish "negl."