Mannerheim did not save Finland from the Soviets even once, much less twice. A border revision could have gotten him out of the Winter War. This is a fact. That is exactly what happened after the Finns lost. He didn't need to lose a war to get a settlement! In the end the Soviets won WWII but Finland still wasn't lost.
The idea that Mannerheim saved Finland is like saying Ronald Reagan won the Cold War. Mannerheim and Reagan both wasted oceans of blood and mountains of money on a mad crusade for nothing. Rewriting history to claim these people somehow won when they were murderous fools fighting their own scarecrows is detestable.
Mannerheim's favorable press comes from winning the civil war in 1918 for the Whites. He was the Finnish counterpart of the Freikorps who suppressed socialist revolution. They did it by things like murdering Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg. And by sponsoring right wing groups like the Nazis. Hitler no more created himself than Osama did.
The Japanese were not finessed by cunning Soviet diplomacy. They were beaten at the battle of Nomonhan (if I remember correctly) in 1939.
The idea that Mannerheim saved Finland is like saying Ronald Reagan won the Cold War. Mannerheim and Reagan both wasted oceans of blood and mountains of money on a mad crusade for nothing. Rewriting history to claim these people somehow won when they were murderous fools fighting their own scarecrows is detestable.
Mannerheim's favorable press comes from winning the civil war in 1918 for the Whites. He was the Finnish counterpart of the Freikorps who suppressed socialist revolution. They did it by things like murdering Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg. And by sponsoring right wing groups like the Nazis. Hitler no more created himself than Osama did.
The Japanese were not finessed by cunning Soviet diplomacy. They were beaten at the battle of Nomonhan (if I remember correctly) in 1939.