Anastasie ja sophie mannerheim biography

When the Russo-Japanese War broke out in 1904, Mannerheim was 37. His marriage had failed, and he was frustrated by his stagnating military career. He came to the conclusion: If I’m not involved in this, I risk becoming nothing more than a cabinet soldier. He volunteered for the Russo-Japanese War. He rode across Asia as part of a reconnaissance expedition in 1906–1908 and served as a regiment commander in Poland in 1909–1913. Finally, he acted as field commander in World War I fronts in Galicia, southern Poland and Romania.

During his years in Poland and in World War I, Mannerheim developed into a field commander who knew how to use his service branch, the cavalry, in breakthrough and pursuit situations, and on the flanks when engaged in strategic outflanking manoeuvres. He also learned to spare his men and to combine the operations of the cavalry, artillery and infantry. As the war progressed, the societal climate of Russia changed, the combat morale in the army deteriorated and the loyalty to authorities declined. Mannerheim left his military career in Russia because of the revolution and returned to Finland in December 1917.