Editing Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (section)

====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"/>