Viena expedition The Viena expedition ( , ) was a military expedition in March 1918 by Finnish volunteer forces to annex White Karelia ( " Vienan Karjala " ) from Bolshevist Russia . It was one of the many " kinship wars " ( " Heimosodat " ) fought near the newly independent Finland during the Russian Civil War . The Russian East Karelia was never a part of the Swedish Empire or the Grand Duchy of Finland and it was at the time mostly inhabited by Karelians . However , many advocates of a Greater Finland considered these Karelians a " kindred " Finnish nation and supported the annexation of Russian East Karelia to Finland . Northern Group . The expedition was made up of two groups . One group was Finnish Jäger troops led by Lieutenant Kurt Martti Wallenius . Initial operations in Northern Finland were successful and the Red Finns were forced to withdraw to Eastern Karelia . He and his light infantry crossed the border at Kuusamo but got bogged down in fighting the Finnish Red Guards . Low level of training and the low morale of the conscripted troops made any advance impossible and only withdrawal of the defending Red Finns allowed the White Finns to advance a small distance until the troops again mutinied at the goals of the operations having passed the state border . In the end the force was withdrawn back within Finnish borders and performed only small incursions into East Karelia . Southern Group . Initial Operations . The other group was led by Lieutenant Colonel Carl Wilhelm Malm and consisted of about 350 volunteers . By 10 April , Malm ' s group had advanced as far as the coastal town of Kem on the White Sea . Malm was unable to capture the town and retreated to Uhtua where he began defending western White Sea Karelia . The Finns now switched tactics and adopted a village - by - village strategy of persuading locals to join the Finnish volunteer side . When the Finnish troops arrived in White Sea Karelia they noticed that the population was divided . A part of the population wanted to secede from Russia and form an independent Karelia separate from Finland . However , a larger part of the population just wanted some form of autonomy . Many thought they would get autonomy as part of Bolshevist Russia . A small minority of the population wanted Karelia to be joined to the new state of Finland . Most importantly , for the great majority of the population , practical issues ( such as ensuring having enough food ) were more important than ideological issues . In the end , the proposal to join East Karelia to Finland received support in the White Karelian villages around Uhtua . Local Finnish White Guard ( " Suojeluskunta " ) militias were formed in over 20 villages in that area . In July , Malm was recalled back to Finland and in his place Captain Toivo Kuisma was placed in charge of the Finnish troops . The Finnish government could not decide whether to recall the troops or to send reinforcements . British Intervention . The situation became more complicated with the landing in Murmansk of 130 British Royal Marine Light Infantry on 6 March to prevent the Germans ( and their Finnish allies ) from gaining the White Sea coast and the Murmansk Railroad . By June 1918 , an assortment of British Royal Marines , French artillerymen , part of a Serb battalion , Poles , Red Russians from the Murmansk Soviet , and some Red Finns occupied the railway line from Murmansk south as far as Kem . The arrival of British reinforcements and an Allied plan for them to link up with anti - Bolshevik units in Siberia prompted Trotsky , now at peace with the Germans , to send 3 , 000 Red troops northwards . In July these troops were disarmed and seen off by the British , who advanced as far south as Sorokka . British - led forces defending the railway line included a battalion of 1 , 400 Red Finns and the Karelian regiment also known as the " Irish Karelians " after Colonel P . J . Woods of the Royal Irish Rifles who raised and led the regiment formed of the local Karelians . The situation of the Viena expedition began to deteriorate . The Karelian regiment stationed in Kem attacked the Finnish troops at Jyskyjärvi on 27 August . 18 men were lost . The next attack came against Luusalmi on 8 September when 42 Finns were killed . The following battles were fought at Kostamus and Vuokkiniemi in September – October . The Finnish troops withdrew to Finland on 2 October . Of these troops , 195 survived and made their way home ; 83 were killed . The British forces withdrew in October 1919 and the situation of the Russian White Army collapsed . Outcome . In the end the expedition failed due British efforts to prevent then German aligned Finland from gaining access to the Murmansk railroad . In addition , British forces in the region made an effort to instill a sense of nationalism ( i . e . to form a Karelian state ) to fight against the Finnish effort to annex East Karelia . Also the support of the expedition from the Finnish government waned with the fortunes of the Germans . After the Viena expedition , the parishes of Repola and Porajärvi in East Karelia had held a vote to join Finland , but Finland gave up all claims to East Karelia in the 1920 Treaty of Tartu . Two years later , after the end of the British expeditionary forces had left Russia and Bolshevik control was established , a group of Karelian irredentia supported by Finnish volunteers began an uprising in an attempt to form their own state .