Battle of Petrograd (Mannerheim's Finland)

The Battle of Petrograd was  considered both a and  battle fought 16-23 April 1919 between the Finnish White Army, Estonian Volunteers and Allied Intervention Forces against retreating Finnish Reds and the Bolshevik Red Army in,. It was the conclusive major urban battle to the War of Liberty and is particularly known for the execution of, a high ranking member of the Bolshevik Party. Furthermore, many Russians were captured and were later either executed or sent to prison camps and the city was ceded to Finland following the.

Background
Following the success of the an offensive was planned with the aid of the Allied Intervention Armies from Murmansk and Archangel and the assistance of Nikolai Yudenich who led the Estonian Volunteer Army to attack Petrograd, the capital of Russia at the time. The city was particularly important for trade and naval defence, linking the Neva river to the Gulf of Finland. Furthermore, Petrograd had been the breeding ground for the October Revolution. Since the revolution the forces garrisoned in Petrograd had been a lesser force due to the need of men to fight on Southern Russia and Siberian fronts. A month or so prior to the assault, Joseph Stalin had been stationed there to takeover military operations in fear of naval operations from Allied forces in the Gulf.

Northern Offensive
Following the victories in Finland, German troops located there either returned home to Germany or joined the pro-German forces in the Baltics and other eastern-Europe locations such as Ukraine. With these forces gone, the Eastern Army had to be reorganised. Command had been passed to. The army, organised in Viipuri, was 15,000 men strong supported by 3,000 Allied Intervention Forces who had been securing Kola and White Karelia in favour of Finland. The assault was launched on 16 April from the North side of the City. Joseph Stalin retreated the majority of his forces across to the south bank of the Neva after little fighting as resistance on the outskirts was minimal.

Southern Offensive
The next day, Yudenich's troops numbering 5,000 began their assault from the south. With the main concentration of Red Army troops on their side of the bank, the fighting was intense and constant assistance and pressure was demanded of the Finnish troops to help Yudenich break through. It wasn't until the 18 April that Yudenich, supplied with 5 tanks from Britain, punched through the defences. Combined with Finnish forces the Whites squeezed the Red Army, pinching them from both sides. Efforts escalated as more and more civilians joined the Bolshevik effort and fighting was intense for 4 days.

Defeat
By 19 April, Stalin recognised his defeat and attempted to flee the city via train. He left from the Moskovsky railway station in the early evening but was captured moments after leaving. The train was blocked and Stalin was later hanged at the platform in the late hours of the night.

Aftermath
Petrograd had some 700,000 civilians who were mostly Russian. Many working class citizens were captured as sympathisers to the communist cause. Ingrian and Finnish civilians located there saw the assault as a liberation of the city. Furthermore, Nobility and many middle class Russians were enthusiastic about Finnish occupation. 400,000 civilians were either relocated, executed or imprisoned to work in Labour camps. The aftermath of Petrograd is regarded as one of the biggest exoduses in modern history.

For the next few months through summer. Multiple attempts were made to retake the city by Red Army troops. This was however in vain due to the constant lack of equipment and resources in order to fight on all fronts.

Reconstruction and re-population of Petrograd began after the which affirmed cession to Finland. The city was later renamed and the population eventually became majority Ingrian and Finnish.