Sankarien aukion perinnepaalu

What happened here

Battles, troop movements and military operations recorded near this site.

1. 1 May 1918

   Battle of Lahti

   Battle · Suomen sisällissota · 922 m

   Battle of Lahti was a 1918 Finnish Civil War battle, fought from 19 April to 1 May by the German troops and Finnish Whites against the Finnish Reds in Lahti, Finland. Together with the Battle of Viipuri, from 24 to 29 April, it was the last major battle of the war. The German unit Detachment Brandenstein, commanded by colonel Otto von Brandenstein, attacked Lahti on 19 April, taking the town by the next evening. At the same time, a column of tens of thousands of Red refugees was approaching Lahti from the west. On 22 April, the Reds launched a counterattack to break through the German lines and clear the way for the fleeing people. The attempt failed and the Reds finally surrendered on 1 May. As a result, the Whites and Germans captured about 30,000 Reds and their family members who were placed in a concentration camp on the outskirts of Lahti.

   == Background == At the time of the Finnish Civil War, Lahti had a population of 6,500. The town was important for the Reds due to its location by the vital Riihimäki–Saint Petersburg railway, connecting Lahti to the major war theatres in Tavastia and Karelia. Red troops were formed and trained in the Hennala Garrison which the Russians had built in the early 1910s. As the Red front had collapsed in the northern part of Tavastia and the Battle of Tampere was over in 6 April, tens of thousands of Red refugees headed east through Hämeenlinna and Lahti. In the late April, there were about 40,000 Reds inside the triangle formed by the towns of Hämeenlinna, Riihimäki and Lahti. The German Baltic Sea Division landed in Hanko on 3 April. After the victorious Battle of Helsinki, fought 12–13 April, the division marched north to Riihimäki and Hämeenlinna, which forced the Red refugees to head to Lahti. Another German unit, Detachment Brandenstein, landed 75 kilometres east of Helsinki in Loviisa 12 April. The original plan for Detachment Brandenstein was to attack the Red stronghold of Kotka and then cut the Saint Petersburg railway in Kouvola. For some reason, the Germans finally decided to move north to Lahti, instead of Kotka in the east.

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Nearby

One site is rarely a trip on its own. These are the closest others.

• Eläköön Suomi, sotiemme 1939-1945 sankarimuistomerkkiLahti · Memorial12 m
• Kenttävartio 2Lahti · Fortification122 m
• KarpalonmäkiLahti · Fortification191 m
• Teivaanmäki 1Lahti · Fortification350 m
• MytäjäistenharjuLahti · Fortification363 m
• KisatulikukkulaLahti · Fortification367 m