Important dates

June

1 June

The general strike in Turku ends. Prime Minister Oskari Tokoi and Procurator P. E. Svinhufvud manage to end the strike in Turku, but the threat of a new confrontation remains.

5 June

The bread rationing system is introduced throughout the country. The monthly ration is 1,050–2,100 grams, depending on the job.

8 June

The Senate issues a bill on how the relationship between Finland and Russia should be arranged. The law would have allowed the Russian provisional government to convene, open and close parliamentary sessions and oversee Russia’s interests in Finland.

15–18 June

The SDP holds an extraordinary party congress in Helsinki. The congress approves a resolution which states that Finland should seek to become an independent republic.

The majority of the participants in the party congress accepts the way in which the Tokoi Senate was appointed. A minority criticises the fact that decision-making power had been transferred to Russia, as the Senate had been appointed by the provisional government.

24 June

The delegation in Stockholm hands the German General Staff a memorandum urging Germany to rush its military aid to Finland. The delegation is asking for weapons for 100,000 men and a German invasion in Southern Finland. The activists exaggerate the readiness of the Finns to revolt by implying that there already exist rebel troops in Finland.

30 June

The militia in Helsinki goes on strike which lasts until 26 July.

Measures ordered by Allan Serlachius, head of interior affairs, to restore legitimate law enforcement lead to the militia in Helsinki going on strike. The main objective of Serlachius, who is from the Young Finnish Party, is to get rid of socialists in the militia. Representatives of Helsinki Workers’ Associations demand that the militia be transferred into the hands of the working class, and launch a strike.

A print workers’ strike stops the printing of non-socialist newspapers in the capital and many provincial towns for over a month.