Finnish Army The Finnish Army ( Finnish : " Maavoimat " , Swedish : " Armén " ) is the land forces branch of the Finnish Defence Forces . Today ' s Army is divided into six branches : the infantry ( which includes armoured units ) , field artillery , anti - aircraft artillery , engineer s , signals , and materiel troops . History of the Finnish Army . Between 1809 and 1917 Finland was an autonomous part of the Russian Empire as the Grand Duchy of Finland . Between 1881 and 1901 the Grand Duchy had its own army . Before that several other military units had also been formed while Finland belonged to Sweden . The Grand Duchy inherited its allotment system ( " ruotujakolaitos " ) from the Swedish military organization . However , for several decades , Russian rulers did not require military service from Finland - operations and defence were mostly taken care by Russian troops based in the Grand Duchy . As a result , officer benefits of the allotment system became practically pensions , as payment was based on passive availability , not on actual service . During Napoleonic Wars three 1200 men regiments were formed in Finland and Topographic corps in Hamina . In 1821 the Topographic corps was transformed into cadet officers school . In 1829 one of the training battalions was transformed into Young Guard Battalion , the Finnish Guard . During the Crimean War , 1854 , Finland set up nine sharpshooter battalions based on rote system . Conscription was issued in Finland in 1878 . The Finnish Guard took part in fighting to suppress the 1830 November Uprising in Poland and participated in the Russo - Turkish War ( 1877 – 1878 ) , after which it gained the status of Old Guard of the Russian Emperor . The Finnish army was gradually broken up during the " oppression years " just after the turn of the century . As Finnish conscripts refused to serve in Russian Army , conscription ended in Finland and it was replaced with a tax paid from the Finnish Senate to the Imperial treasury . At the turn of the 20th century , the Russian empire was weakening , and this was reflected in a reduced capacity of the Russian troops to keep public order . Voluntary defence organizations disguised as fire brigades were formed by the Finnish people , especially during the strikes during and after the Russo - Japanese War . There were socialist Red Guards and conservative , anti - socialist Protection Guards ( or White Guards ) . Also , during the First World War activists secretly travelled to Germany to receive military training and to be trained as Jaeger troops , ( " jääkärit " ) . After independence and beginning of the Finnish Civil War the White government declared the White Guard s as government troops , and the war was fought between the Red Guard s , assisted by Communist Russians , and White Guards added with the Jaegers and assisted by the German Empire . After the war in 1919 , the Protection Guards became a separate organization . Therefore , strictly speaking , there is no continuity between the White Guards , which became a voluntary organization , and the Finnish army , which was a cadre army based on conscription . However , Jägers gained important positions in the army , and German tactics and military principles were adopted . Winter War . The Finnish Army consisted of 9 field divisions , 4 brigades and a number of small independent battalions and companies at the beginning of the Winter War in 1939 . The Army was organised into three corps . The II and III Corps were organised into the Army of the Isthmus which was located on the Karelian Isthmus , the likely location for the main Soviet attack . The IV Corps defended the area north of Lake Ladoga . The defence of the rest of the border up to Petsamo by the Arctic Ocean was given to the North Finland Group which consisted of a handful of independent battalions . In order to organize replacements for the units a Field Replacement Brigade ( " Kenttätäydennysprikaati " , " KT - Pr " ) of nine battalions was formed . But due to the severity of the Soviet attack the battalions had to be used as combat troops . Also three Replacement Divisions or Home Replacement Divisions ( 1 . Koti . TD - 3 . Koti . TD ) were formed from the available reservists . As the situation became more alarming the 1st and 3rd Replacement Divisions were reformed into the 21st and 23rd Division s and sent to the front on December 19 . The 2nd Replacement Division was deployed as individual regiments to Northern Finland . Army of the Isthmus . Army of the Isthmus ( " Kannaksen Armeija " , " KannA " ) under Lieutenant General Hugo Österman was located on the Karelian Isthmus . Immediately by the border on the isthmus were stationed four delaying groups named after their location . Continuation War . The Army of Karelia was formed on 29 June 1941 soon after the start of the Continuation War . There were seven Finnish corps in the field during the war , the I , II , III , IV , V , VI and VII . During the war , the Finnish Army was responsible for the front from Gulf of Finland to Kainuu . The front in the Northern Finland was the responsibility of German AOK Norwegen . During summer and autumn 1941 , the Finnish Army re - conquered the areas lost to the Soviet Union in the Winter War and pushed deep into Soviet territory in Eastern Karelia . In winter 1942 , the Finnish political leadership ended offensive action and the front stagnated for over two years . The relatively inactive period of stationary war ended abruptly in June 1944 , as the Soviet Union started her Fourth Strategic Offensive . As a result , the Finnish Army lost large areas of Karelian Isthmus , most importantly Viipuri , a major city and was forced to retreat from Eastern Karelia . However , in the decisive Battle of Tali - Ihantala , the Soviet advance was halted . The Soviet Union concentrated its forces for the battles in Central Europe , and Finland made a separate peace in September 1944 . Lapland War . The Lapland War ( Finnish : Lapin sota ) were the hostilities between Finland and Nazi Germany between September 1944 and April 1945 , fought in Finland ' s northernmost Lapland Province . While the Finns saw this as a separate conflict much like the Continuation War , German forces considered their actions to be part of the Second World War . A peculiarity of the war was that the Finnish army was forced to demobilise their forces while at the same time fighting to force the German army to leave Finland . The German forces retreated to Norway , and Finland managed to uphold its promise to the Soviet Union . Organisation Today . The Army is organised into four Military Provinces : southern , western , eastern and northern . The military provinces are responsible for defence and planning in their areas . The four military provinces are further divided into 22 regional offices or regional military provinces which are responsible for conscription , organizing the local defence and aiding the voluntary defence organizations . The Army is commanded by Lieutenant General Raimo Jyväsjärvi , who succeeded Ilkka Aspara on July 1 , 2011 . Logistics is centrally planned by the Army Materiel Command , which has one Logistics Regiment in each Military Province . Equipment . Major weapon systems used by the army