Editing Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (section)

===Interwar period===
[[File:Pyoveli Mannerheim.jpg|thumb|"Mannerheim the Executioner" (''Pyöveli-Mannerheim''); the [[caricature]] of Mannerheim from 1940 as part of [[communist]] and [[socialist]] [[propaganda]] is strong evidence of how Mannerheim heavily divided opinions, especially in the aftermath of the Civil War.<ref>[https://www.ts.fi/uutiset/1074214054 Mannerheim ei ollut koko valkoisen Suomen sankari] – ''[[Turun Sanomat]]'' (in Finnish)</ref>]]
In the interwar years, Mannerheim held no public office, mainly because he was viewed by many politicians of the centre and left as a controversial figure for his ruthless battle with the [[Bolsheviks]], his supposed desire for Finnish intervention on the side of the [[White Army|Whites]] during the [[Russian Civil War]], and the Finnish socialists' antipathy toward him. They saw him as the [[bourgeois]] "White General". Mannerheim doubted that modern party-based politics would produce principled and high-quality leaders in Finland or elsewhere. In his gloomy opinion, the fatherland's interests were too often sacrificed by the democratic politicians for partisan benefit.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Virkkunen |first1=Sakari |title=Mannerheimin kääntöpuoli |language=fi |date=1992 |publisher=[[Otava (publisher)|Otava]]|location=Helsingissä}}</ref>{{sfnp|Jägerskiöld|1983}}

He kept busy heading the Finnish [[Red Cross]] (Chairman 1919–1951), was a member of the board of the International Red Cross, and founded the [[Mannerheim League for Child Welfare]] (''Mannerheimin Lastensuojeluliitto''). He was also the chairman of the supervisory board of a commercial bank, the Liittopankki-Unionsbanken, and after its merger with the Bank of Helsinki, the chairman of the supervisory board of that bank until 1934, and was a member of the board of [[Nokia|Nokia Corporation]].<ref name=Museum >[http://www.mannerheim-museo.fi/mm.php?page=marsalkka&lang=eng Mannerheim-Museo.fi] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110113092355/http://www.mannerheim-museo.fi/mm.php?page=marsalkka&lang=eng |date=13 January 2011 }}</ref> He offered to serve the [[French Foreign Legion]] in the [[Rif War]] (1925–1926), but was turned down.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://mannerheim.fi/08_sivil/e_legion.htm | title=MANNERHEIM - Civilian - Foreign Legion }}</ref>

In the 1920s and 1930s, Mannerheim returned to [[Asia]], where he travelled and hunted extensively.{{sfnp|Screen|2000|pages=90–97}} On his first trip in 1927, to avoid going through the [[Soviet Union]], he travelled through the [[British Empire]], going by [[ocean liner|ship]] from [[London]] to Bombay. From there he travelled to [[Lucknow]], [[Delhi]], and [[Kolkata|Calcutta]] in the [[British Raj|British India]]. From there he travelled overland to [[British rule in Burma|Burma]], where he spent a month at [[Rangoon]] and [[Mandalay]]. He then went on to [[Kingdom of Sikkim|Sikkim]] and returned to Finland by car and aeroplane.<ref name="Museum" />
[[File:Mannerheim Tiger Hunt 1937.jpg|thumb|Mannerheim with [[Juddha Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana]] on tiger hunt in [[Nepal]] in 1937]]
In his second voyage, in 1936, he went by ship from [[Aden Protectorate|Aden]] (a British territory in [[Southern Arabia]]) to [[Bombay]]. During his travels and hunting expeditions, he visited [[Madras]], [[Delhi]] and [[Nepal]], where he was invited by the Rana Prime Minister [[Juddha Shumsher Jang Bahadur Rana|Juddha Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana]] to join a [[tiger]] hunt.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.is.fi/kotimaa/art-2000007672704.html|title=Tutkija: Mannerheim oli kolonialisti, kun ampui tiikereitä norsun päältä – tällaisia olivat Intian-matkat, joihin marsalkka osallistui "valkoisen metsästäjän roolissaan"|first=Tuomas|last=Manninen|work=[[Ilta-Sanomat]]|date=December 10, 2020|access-date=June 4, 2021|language=fi}}</ref> In the same year, Mannerheim made a private visit to the [[United Kingdom]], where he was accompanied for the first time by [[security guard]]s, who Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] himself had given Mannerheim to use during the trip. However, Mannerheim is known to have been bothered by the presence of security guards, because mainly as a [[Fatalism|fatalist]], he firmly believed in fate, if it had to happen in the form of an untimely death, and in addition, he also strongly trusted his own authority.<ref name="nu"/>

In 1936, Mannerheim represented the Finnish government at the funeral of King [[George V]] of the United Kingdom.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mannerheim-museo - Kronologia |url=https://www.mannerheim-museo.fi/fi/gustaf-mannerheim-2/kronologia/ |access-date=2024-12-04 |website=www.mannerheim-museo.fi}}</ref>

In 1929, Mannerheim rejected a plea by [[Far right|right-wing radicals]] to become a military dictator. While he did express some support for the right-wing [[Lapua Movement]], he distanced himself from the group after they became violent.{{sfnp|Screen|2000|page=104}} After President [[Pehr Evind Svinhufvud]] was elected in 1931, he appointed Mannerheim as chairman of Finland's Defence Council and gave him a written promise that in the event of war he would become the Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish Army. (Svinhufvud's successor [[Kyösti Kallio]] renewed this promise in 1937). In 1933, Mannerheim received the rank of [[Field Marshal (Finland)|Field Marshal]] (''sotamarsalkka'', ''fältmarskalk''). By this time, Mannerheim had come to be seen by the public, including some former socialists, less as a "White General" and more as a nonpartisan figure, enhanced by his public statements urging reconciliation between the opposing sides in the Civil War and the need to focus on national unity and defence: "we need not ask where a man stood fifteen years ago".{{sfnp|Screen|2000|page=112}} Mannerheim supported Finland's military industry and sought in vain to obtain a military defence union with [[Sweden]]. However, rearming the Finnish army did not occur as swiftly or as well as he hoped, and he was not enthusiastic about a war. He had many disagreements with various Cabinets, and signed many letters of resignation.<ref name=Virkkunen >Virkkunen, Sakari (1994) "Presidents of Finland II" ''(Suomen presidentit II)'', published in Finland</ref>{{sfnp|Turtola|1994}}

====1920 assassination attempt====
After their defeat in the Civil War, some [[Red Guards (Finland)|Red Guards]] attempted to [[assassination|assassinate]] Mannerheim. One of the would-be assassins, [[Eino Rahja]],<ref>[https://walkhelsinki.fi/mannerheimin-murhayrityksen-jalkinaytos-kaytiin-vallilassa/ Mannerheimin murhayrityksen jälkinäytös käytiin Vallilassa] (in Finnish)</ref> was in charge of the Saint Petersburg International School of Red Officers. He began planning an assassination by assembling eight groups of Finnish Red Guards in Saint Petersburg for this purpose. The attempt happened in April 1920 during a [[White Guard (Finland)|White Guard]]'s parade on [[Hämeenkatu]] in [[Tampere]], in which General Mannerheim was to participate.<ref name="nu">{{cite web|url=https://www.nurmijarvenuutiset.fi/paikalliset/5394149|title=Omatkin halusivat tappaa Mannerheimin – Uutta tietoa: tällaisia murhayrityksiä aikalaiset juonivat marsalkan päänmenoksi|first=Jari|last=Pietiläinen|work=[[:fi:Nurmijärven Uutiset|Nurmijärven Uutiset]]|date=7 October 2022|access-date=8 October 2022|language=fi}}</ref>

The group gathered on 3 April at the Park Café in Hämeenkatu; and at this stage, group member Karl Salo was designated as a shooter and given a [[Colt's Manufacturing Company|Colt pistol]]. However, the assassination attempt failed due to Salo's hesitation.<ref name="nu"/> Salo's security detail in the crowd, consisting of Aleksander Weckman and Aleksanteri Suokas, who had been equipped with [[Carl Walther GmbH|Walther]] and Colt pistols, lost sight of Salo and never had time to shoot Mannerheim either.<ref name="porvali">[http://www.mikkoporvali.fi/index.php?page=1038&lang=1 Mikko Porvali : Murhayritys joka jäi tekemättä] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030132313/http://www.mikkoporvali.fi/index.php?page=1038&lang=1 |date=30 October 2023 }} (in Finnish)</ref>

On 6 April, Weckman, the operation leader, threatened to kill Salo if he had not assassinated either Mannerheim or [[Bruno Jalander]], the Minister of War and Uusimaa County Governor, within a week.<ref>[https://digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi/sanomalehti/binding/1157235?page=5 Murhahankkeet kenraali Mannerheimia ja sotaministeri Jalanderia vastaan], ''[[Aamulehti]]'' July 24, 1920, no. 167, p. 5. (in Finnish)</ref> This attempt was also unsuccessful, as Mannerheim and Jalander did not come to the Helsinki Conservation Party celebration after the authorities received a tip. Salo returned his pistol and escaped afterwards. Weckman and Suokas tried to escape to the [[Soviet Union]] with their two assistants but were arrested on the Helsinki-[[Vyborg]] train the night of 21 April. Salo was arrested in [[Espoo]] on 23 April.<ref name="porvali"/>