Karl Rudolf Walden

Karl Rudolf Walden (born December 1, 1878 in Helsinki , † October 25, 1946 in Sysmä ) was a Finnish general and politician .

Professional career

In 1902 he founded a large paper trading company in Saint Petersburg . During the following years he was also a respected member of the Finnish community of St. Petersburg. He remained active as a businessman in the paper industry until his death in 1946 . He played a key role in the mergers of companies and was a co-founder of the paper manufacturing company UPM-Kymmene . He was also the first President of FinPap, the umbrella organization for the Finnish paper industry.

Military and political career

Graduated from the Hamina Cadet School

Walden graduated 1892-1900 military training at the Military Academy of Hamina , however, had the army in 1902 after a reduction of military service leave.

Finnish Civil War and Post War

In the Finnish Civil War , which essentially shook the country from January 27th to May 5th, 1918, he took the post of Chief of the Vaasa Military District from February 20th to March 5th, and then from March 5th to March 5th. May that of the chief of headquarters . He was then from 6 to 22 May 1918 security chief of the occupied territories. From November 27 to December 30, 1918 he was finally commander-in-chief of the army and the civil guard .

During the civil war he rose from major on February 3, 1918 to colonel on June 20, 1918.

Walden was from November 28, 1918 to August 15, 1919 for the first time Minister of War in the government of Lauri Ingman and Kaarlo Castrén . On April 6, 1919, he was promoted to major general . In 1920 he was a participant in the negotiations for the Treaty of Tartu , where the Soviet Union , the independence of Finland recognized.

Second World War

During the Winter War he was from December 3, 1939 to March 27, 1940 representative of the headquarters in the cabinet of Prime Minister Risto Ryti . In this capacity he was a participant in the Moscow peace negotiations that led to the signing of the Moscow Peace Treaty on March 12, 1940 . During this time the general and industrialist distrusted the patriotism of the Finnish labor movement, despite his good personal relations with the then foreign minister and former leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) , Väinö Tanner . Nevertheless, from January 1940 the industrial associations accepted the trade unions as negotiating partners on labor issues.

Ryti appointed him Minister of Defense on March 27, 1940. He also held this office in the cabinets of Johan Wilhelm Rangell , Edwin Linkomies , Antti Hackzell , Urho Castrén and Juho Kusti Paasikivi until November 27, 1944. During this time he was also President of the State on December 21, after Ryti was elected Acting Prime Minister from 1940 to January 3, 1941. On April 9, 1941, he was promoted to lieutenant general.

During the continuation war between Finland and the Soviet Union from June 1941 to September 1944, he had great political influence as defense minister and looked for political ties with Sweden and the USA . On June 3, 1942, he was promoted to General of the Infantry . On September 19, 1944, he was also a member of the Finnish delegation to negotiate the Moscow armistice , which ended the continuation war.

Awards

During his life, Walden was awarded several decorations such as the Order of the Freedom Cross ( 1918), the Order of the White Rose (1919) and the Mannerheim Cross (1944).

In addition, he was awarded the Swedish North Star Order , the Danish Dannebrog Order (1928), the Swedish Order of the Sword , the Grand Cross of the Star of Romania and the German Order of Merit from the German Eagle (1939).

Web links

Commons : Rudolf Walden - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Biographical sources and background information

personal data
SURNAME	Walden, Karl Rudolf
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Jukka Rangell
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Finnish politician and general
DATE OF BIRTH	December 1, 1878
PLACE OF BIRTH	Helsinki
DATE OF DEATH	October 25, 1946
Place of death	Sysmä