Study: Finnish Civil War battlefield deaths more numerous than previously thought

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A total of 9,530 people were killed in battlefield fighting the Finnish Civil War of 1918, with 3,458 deaths on the winning White side, while 5,717 of the dead were Reds, and the rest were of unknown affiliation, if any.
      If the fallen Russians, Germans, and foreign volunteers are included, the number of battlefield casualties is nearly 11,000.
      The number of war dead is as much as 40 percent higher than that in the figures put out in 1921.
      In particular the losses of the Reds have proven to be greater than previously thought.
     
The new figures are from a fresh book, and are based on an extensive database of names, which was compiled in connection with a project on documenting Finnish war dead. Later, researcher Aapo Roselius has specified information on those fallen on various fronts in his final report of his project.
      A total of 36,700 people died in the 1918 conflict.
      Roselius says that the number of Reds killed on the fronts was much greater than has previously been put forward. He says that the database of the war dead project gives the first opportunity ever to present figures that are based on reliable statistics specifically on the front-line losses of the Reds. In addition, he compared the various parts of the front, and how many fighters were killed in different places.
      In the book, he brings out the losses of the Reds and the whites front by front, and even battle by battle.
     
The main reason for the heavy losses on the Red front, according to Roselius, is the poor military skills that prevailed among them.
      Another factor was the arrival of the Baltic Division from Germany to Finland. The Reds' losses in fighting against the Germans were huge, especially near Lahti, Roselius says.
      The Germans were quite overwhelming in their military skills and hardware. About 1,600 Reds and Finns of unknown affiliation were marked as having been killed in battle against the Germans.
      Roselius points out that a comparison of casualties among the Whites and Reds showed that White forces summarily executed Reds who had surrendered in battle, and they were marked down as missing or as having fallen in battle.
     
The Finnish-language report, linked below, contains a short English summary on pages 165-166.


Links:
  Amateurs´ War (.pdf file)
  Registry of names of war dead, 1914-1922

Helsingin Sanomat