Mannerheim's Finland

On 9th October 1918 Princes Frederick Charles of Hesse was elected as the King of Finland by the acting Parliament of Finland. Due to The German Empires defeat at the end of World War One and the abdication of Emperor Wihelm II, it was deemed untenable for a German born monarch to become King of Finland by both influential Finns and Frederick himself.

Mannerheim visited Sweden during the latter half of 1918 after his victory during the Civil War. In October the same year Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim was sent to represent Finland on visit to France and Britain in order to seek Allied recognition of Finnish Independence.

The Allies appreciated and understood the need of a Finnish king. With the newly created Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, the Western allies feared of impeding European communist revolution. During talks, France and Britain both agreed to recognise Finnish independence given a suitable candidate for the Finnish throne - preferably someone of Finnish Nobility. Mannerheim was admitted as the counter-candidate for the Finnish throne provided his Swedish heritage, Finnish upbringing and dislike for both German and Russian ambition. With his candidacy accepted, the Allies would agree upon recognition of Finnish Independence as a Constitional Monarchy - the discretion of which to be decided by Finnish Parliament.

Upon returning to Finland with the conditional offer, the senate voted on elevating Mannerheim to the status of King of Finland. There was large debate within the senate about Mannerheim's Swedish heritage causing a large minority to vote against his favor. A smaller group also argued for the favor of Prince Wolfgang of Hesse, Frederick's younger brother yet this only gained small support and was never officially a candidate.

However with a majority vote, Mannerheim was officialy decided as the King of Finland. He was coronated on the 3rd of June 1919 as King Kustaa I of Finland, the day before his birthday.

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