The Whites had won at Tampere before the German forces landed in the South, but German military assistance was crucial to the outcome of the Finnish Civil war.

The rank and file of the Whites forces were mostly small-holding farmers from the North.
2,000 Jaeger troops, trained by the Germans to undermine Tsarist Russia in the First World War Along with 1200 Swedish volunteers – all mostly upper class students – they formed the officer corps of the White Guard.

The Reds had about 2,000 deserters from the disintegrating Tsarist army, but very limited support from the Soviet Government, which signed Brest Litovsk treaty just before the Battle of Tampere.
The rank and file of the Red Guard was composed of workers from Tampere and Helsinki.

The Whites were better equipped, better organised and also far more brutal than the Reds. Captured prisoners were generally shot. Many others died of starvation or disease in camps after they surrendered. The Whites killed 6 times as many of their opponents as the Reds did.

Even today, many Finns believe that the Reds were trying to supress Finnish Independence, but the reverse is true!