Proclamation of the Senate of the FinlandTo the Finnish People! To General Mannerheim, to all telegraph offices, to the all public bulletin boards. Inflamed by a few unscrupulous individuals, some Finnish citizens, supported by foreign bayonets, have risen in rebellion against the Diet and Government of Finland, and by violence prevented it from carrying out its functions, thus endangering the new-found freedom of our country. The Government is compelled to use all available means to crush this treasonable movement, and for this purpose the Defence Corps, created for the maintenance of order, by authority of the Diet, have been placed under a single command, that of General G.Mannerheim. The Government orders all loyal citizens to give General Mannerheim and his troops all the assistance he may require. The misguided citizens who have risen with armed force to destroy the constitutional order must immediately desist from their criminal intentions and surrender their arms to the forces of the Government. Should they not realize the criminal nature of their actions and surrender, they must understand that their attempt is in any case doomed to failure. Government forces have already seized a large part of the country and are approaching the towns situated in the south and south-west. No resistance will avail against them in their fight to the freedom of our Fatherland against traitors.
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