Martti Pihkala
Martti Aleksander Pihkala was a National Coalition Party MP who became known as a Jäger activist, Ostrobothnia White Guard founder, in the 1920s and 1930s, leader of the strikebreaking organisation Vientirauha, also known as "Pihkala's Guard" and an influencer of the Lapua movement and the Patriotic People's Movement.
Life
Martti Pihkala was born into the Gummerus family, known as the clergy family. His parents were provost Aleksanteri Gummerus and Alma Maria Nordlund. Martti Pihkala's brothers were Bishop Jaakko Gummerus of Tampere and Professors Lauri “Tahko” Pihkala and Rurik Pihkala. Pihkala's son was Professor of Agricultural Sciences KU Pihkala. He is also the grandfather of Bishop Juha Pihkala. The founder of the Gummerus publishing house, Kaarle Jaakko Gummerus, was the uncle of Martti Pihkala. After graduating from high school, Pihkala graduated as a primary school teacher from the Jyväskylä Seminary in 1903. He then worked as a teacher at Jyväskylä's deaf-mute school in 1904–1920.Jäger Movement, the White Guard and the Civil War
Pihkala was involved in Jäger recruitment. In 1917, he toured with his brother Lauri Pihkala in Central Finland and Southern Ostrobothnia to talk about the importance of establishing white guards. Together with Sakari Kuusi, he was the most significant influence on the establishment of the white guards of Central Finland. Pihkala took part in the Finnish Civil War on the White side in the 1st Battalion of the Northern Häme Regiment, led by the Estonian Hans Kalm, which later became known for its violence and war crimes. He was in the White guard headquarters organizing detachments which played a key role in the white terror that took place during the Civil War. It has been suggested that Pihkala also participated in the executions in the prison camps.In April 1918, Pihkala published the book "What kind of Finland should we create?" In his book, he considered the supreme enemy of culture to be hedonism rather than the goal of the continuation of the family. He advocated forced sterilization and the isolation of those who had "wicked" lives from society as a means of breeding a superior Finnish race. Pihkala placed harmony between social classes as a counterbalance to moral decay and socialism.
Strikebreaking organisation Vientirauha
After the Civil War, increased leftist activity was particularly evident on construction sites. The number of strikes increased and several of them became politicized. The interests of the Communists and the Soviet Union were seen as the reason for the strikes. In 1920, employers' organizations decided to set up a special organization focused on breaking strikes. Martti Pihkala came to lead this organization called Vientirauha. Vientirauha, known as the 'Pihkala Guard', had a maximum of 34,000 men, from which strike breakers could be assembled if necessary. Especially in Southern Ostrobothnia, Pihkala's organization was strong. Vihtori Kosola, the future frontman of the Lapua movement was an agent for the Vientirauha. The best known of the strikes broken by the organization was the year-long harbor strike that began in 1928.In Vientirauha, Pihkala offered an opportunity for “white leaders... who took part in an activist movement or in the preparations for the struggle for freedom... the most active voluntary way to fight Bolshevism.“ Vientirauha was a significant successor to the so-called white Finnish ideology and the way to maintain the activist network. Breaking the strikes also led to bloody clashes. Vientirauha came to an end in 1940 with the January negotiations between employers' and workers' organizations during the Winter War called the Betrothal of January.