Carry the wells full of dryness
Gasp for breath
You spirits of a dried up spring
The waterline waves at you
The waters of the lakes bid you farefell
Chorus:
That beautiful grey firmament will open
The ashes land on your shoulders like in secret
Do we feel the fire?
Do we feel anymore?
Can we hear the roar?
Grow quiet, you fruits of the earth
Think deeply, you sweet forests and ends of forests
Will it bother to answer?
Does the autumn walk in your hearts?
Chorus:
That beautiful grey firmament will open
The ashes land on your shoulders like in secret
Do we feel the fire?
Do we feel anymore?
Can we hear it roar?
So heavy in tone, from twilight to twilight
(Was not a wolf's trail)
From twilight to twilight
To a darker darkness
(Was not a wolf's trail)
From darkness to darkness
From longing to longing
(Was not a wolf's trail)
From longing to longing
And still not
A wolf's trail
A wolf's trail
Chorus:
That beautiful grey firmament will open
The ashes land on your shoulders like in secret
Do we feel the fire?
Do we feel anymore?
Can we hear the roar?
…
Viikate:
Susitaival (2007)
E8. To Stand Against the Dark, Part 2
Jan Holmén, 2 p.m. March 10th 2014
The square was was a happy riot, if it is possible to have one. It was even more packed of people than in the previous days – of course I knew that this was what the Badgers had planned for for weeks, but still it was overwhelming to see it. There were young people, old people, children even. Men and women. Fathers carried their kids over their shoulders, boys and girls pointing their fingers at things and exclaiming in wonder. And wonderful it was, the blue-and-white-clad Olympic crowd mingling with the burly union people, often in overalls, some wearing their helmets, the ”alternative” groups such as the black-clad anarchists with their ”Remember Lahti” chants, the punk rockers with spiky hairdos, the neo-Kalevalans with their vaguely medieval clothes with Finnic symbols on them. It was as if everything the Committee had tried to contain was now out in the open, under the bright winter sun.
On the other side of the square, in front of the Mannerheim statue, a grey-black wall of military police faced the crowd, the men disconcertingly still in their riot gear. One could see this was ordinary military police – young conscripted men, mostly, both tall and short unlike the elite ESP which (due to Varis's machinations, I was led to believe) recruited the tallest, strongest and brightest of each age cohort among its ranks. The ESP's raison d'etre was to protect the government and key strategic targets, as well as to act as something like the shock troops of crowd control, and so it was sort of hopeful to see the Crows, as they were called, were not yet here to face the multitude of people on the Mikkeli market square.[1]
On one side of the square, a stand built for the Olympic events had been taken over by the Badgers, and since morning it had featured speeches by opposition figures such as Saaresto from the Free Democrats, Tervo, the underground author, and Lehtinen, a young woman with a crazy hair from the New Coalition, as well as at least three different bands playing protest songs, but also more commonplace popular tunes about love and hope. On the other side, loudspeakers also originally set up for the Olympic coverage played the YLE radio – for some people, it seemed to be more important that they provided Olympic updates than news about the unfolding revolution. Revolution was what it was called now, and according to most news the Badgers were succeeding.
From time to time, though, I had to remind myself that the YLE was not the most trustworthy source to judge this by – the state radio channel's transformation to a staunch supporter of the pro-democracy movement was still being presided over by a FNA Colonel blackmailed into it all. For all I knew, Vartia could be again turned by the Committee at any time, or then just arrested and sidelined – but I had to say I was surprised how well he and the Badger infiltrators at YLE had managed the transition so far. It was pretty much a miracle the forces of law and order had not stormed the YLE buildings yet to stop the broadcasts – everyone here seemed to hope this was a sign of the Committee's weakness in the face of popular will.
The news about the formation of the Interim Council and its calls for the Committee to pull back all military units, as well as different endorsements to the Council, such as the Ostrobothnians and Social Democratic politicians were greeted with cheers. On the other hand, the the only way the Committee had answered these calls so far had been with violence. The information about the military police attacking the protesters, first in Joensuu, then in Lahti, and finally in Savonlinna (where a brutal bayonet charge and volleys of fire by the MP:s had caused a small number of conscripts who had joined the opposition to open fire on the military police in turn, leading to a pitted battle ending with several dead and tens wounded) made the people apprehensive and fearful, and some seeked confrontation with the troops lining the square, by throwing projectiles at them (even if they were mostly just snow balls) and singing taunting songs (those I could recognize were Eppu Normaali's Poliisi pamputtaa taas, Kollaa Kestää's Musti, sotakoira and Juice Leskinen's Poliisikouluun[2]
with modified words).
The military police were getting reinforcements by the hour, also in ordinary army uniforms, but then the crowd of protestors was growing all the time, too, and getting more aggressive. A frisson went through the crowds when a group of military trucks arrived at the side of the square so far in rebel control, but then it was found out it was conscripts from a provisions section who had joined the rebellion, bringing food to the people on the square. As orderly lines were created to the field kitchen, a young man in a Lutheran pastor's clothes and very Christ-like visage with his long hair and beard led the people in a small prayer to say grace together before the meal was started in earnest.
...
Somewhere on Highway 14, 2 p.m March 10th 2014
As military convoys go, this one was pretty modest. A UAZ jeep was followed by an eight-wheeled BTR-60 armored personnel carrier and two Sisu trucks in military colours. Captured from the Soviets during the Battle of Porvoo, the meticulously maintained APC had a prominent radio antenna and other features marking it out as a command vehicle. This was the personal armored vehicle of the Commander of the Military Police, and Major General Varis did not go for understatement. Whereas the UAZ and the Sisus bore the ordinary Defence Forces winter camouflage paing of matte green and off-white, the APC had a stark, angular grey-black paint job with a prominent white ”SP01” painted on its side. A regulation-size Finnish state flag was flying on top of the APC, fluttering in the breeze.
Five men sat in the APC. The driver kept his mouth shut and his eyes in the road in front of him, lest he do something untoward to raise the General's ire. The General was speaking through a radio handset to different authorities, especially the Military Police Command in Mikkeli – but of course only when the radio operator, a slighty overweight Sergeant in square glasses could get through. It appeared someone was jamming the frequencies used by the military police.
The last two men were military police officers, and they were trying hard to hide their apprehension about it all. They eyed their superior and each other, seeing the General was acting like a man possessed, speaking quickly and making snap decisions. They didn't know what the military doctor had given the man to block the pain (and to stop him from succumbing to exhaustion as he hadn't really slept recently), but it seemed that rather than dulling the pain the pills just helped him ignore the pain on his arm. The second bullet had pierced his left earlobe as he ducked, but he was scarcely paying any attention to this secondary wound (or the blood spatters on his neck).
”
...and we'll go to Mikkeli and tell those elderly fools how we snuff out this bloody rebellion, by God! You see, men, they have done nothing substantial, nothing so far to help me to fight for law and order! Just sitting on their hands, just wishing it all go away. Well it isn't going away, not if we don't do anything. And we'll hit them where it hurts. These people are cowards, pansies and deserters. They don't have the steel in them to stand against real soldiers...”
Stopping his frenzied monologue for a moment, the General looked to the two officers and extended his hand.
”
- Mäkelä, the map, if you can be so kind.”
The map of Mikkeli and surroundings was promptly handed to him.
”
- This is what counts. We secure the capital, and all the major routes here, here and here...”
He stabbed the map with his index finger.
”
- And after we have cleansed everything inside of that area and consolidated our position, we will send strong expeditionary units to all towns now suffering from the anarchy created by the damn rebels. The Specials will lead the way, eh? They are the only men we can count to stay loyal to the legal government... To stay loyal to me, more importantly. By tomorrow night, we'll be back in control, and then we won't relinquish it again. Oh no. We'll use martial law, stricter curfews, bloody field courts on the streets if we need to, to make the damned rebels see what they are up against. Had the old fools followed my advice before we would not be in this mess in the first place, you mark my words. It is the dinosaurs in Mikkeli that led this government, this nation into this debacle. It is 1988 again, and we need to keep our heads up or we drown...”
Lieutenant Colonel Mäkelä could not keep his eyes away from the General's left hand playing with the flap of his pistol holster while he kept on with his monologue. It seemed as if he would any minute now pull out the weapon.
”
...Sergeant, have all the units in Mikkeli acknowledged the orders?”, the General suddenly asked, turning to the radio man.
”
- Some of them have, General”, the man said with an unsure voice.
”
- Many are not receiving at all, and at least one jaeger unit sent a negative response, saying that they need orders from within their own chain of command...”
The General banged his right hand violently on the side wall, surprising everyone else in the vehicle and causing the driver to verve slightly. He then clenched his teeth – apparently it had hurt his left arm when he did that.
”
- The chain of command”, he said between clenched teeth”, that's the problem, isn't it? The men who should be making decisions are not making them, and that is what is paralyzing the forces of law and order in this country at this moment. A child can see it! If this goes on for any longer, the fools will condemn this nation to oblivion!”
He looked ominously into the eyes of Mäkelä sitting opposite him.
”
- We'll stop that right now."
He turned to the radio operator.
" - Get me the Air Force base in Halli."
Mäkelä thought the General looked wolfish, in the twilight of the vehicle, as he fixed his eyes on the driver.
" - Lehto,” he barked to the driver, ”step on it. Run over the UAZ if you have to. I need to meet the Committee and I need to do it NOW.”
…
The Karkialampi garrison area , Mikkeli, 2.30 p.m. March 10th 2014
The military police officer went through the garrison area with a squad of his men in tow, armed with assault rifles, checking all the buildings for men to be sent to bolster the lines of the government troops in the town centre and around the Government Buildings. And, of course, to take back the YLE broadcast centre – apparently the ESP unit occupying it had joined the rebellion. A damn ESP unit, bugger it to hell! The officer felt disgusted.
So far they had only digged out about a platoon of men, now standing as a disorganized gaggle near the vehicles the MP:s had brought along. Supply people, cooks, clerks, medics... It was all backwards and fucked up, the officer thought. The garrison had more weapons than men, he knew, and you had to have someone shooting them to make a difference...
He banged the door of a barracks building with the butt of his assault rifle, and just before he ordered his men to break it down, surprisingly a woman's voice answered on the other side.
”
- Military police, Miss. Open the door and let us in!”
Slowly, the door was opened, with a woman wearing the uniform of a Lotta Svärd Section Leader with a determined look on her face.
”
- There's nobody here but us, Lieutenant.”
The officer started to walk in past the woman but she wouldn't budge.
”
- Who's us, Section Leader?”
”
- Two sections of Lotta Svärd, Southern Mikkeli AG 96, under the command of me and Section Leader Kohonen.”
The military police officer looked at the fierce woman - and had an idea. It was desperate times, after all...
”
- Section Leader, national emergency has been declared and the National Military Police Command has just ordered all uniformed units in the capital area to arm themselves and join the defensive lines against the rebels who are trying to overthrow the legal government. It all hangs in the balance. I am under direct orders from General Varis himself to gather all the units at the garrison and make sure they are following the orders.”
He paused for a while, to study the face of the thirtyish Lotta leader.
”
- Your unit has received arms training, yes?”
”
- Some, like all Lotta Svärd do, you know that. But that does not mean...”
”
- Section Leader, my orders were for all uniformed units. Yours is that – it does not matter you are women. You have a duty towards the Fatherland. You will follow orders or face court martial!”
The Lieutenant could see the Lotta leader still hesitating. He forged on.
”
- Come on, hop to it! Get the units organized. We're going to the armory in five minutes!”
Almost surprisingly, the Section Leader saluted him, and turned back to get her girls. It had worked.
The military police officer didn't know what to think. This is justified, he told himself. This is what needs to be done. This is me taking initiative. Yes, that was it. He had applied for a post in the Special Military Police and Varis was nothing if not pragmatic. If he could help to put down the rebellion with the help of armed Lottas, well, that might be his direct ticket to the ESP. Maybe a promotion, too, for good measure!
This might be just what he needed. And the Fatherland too, of course.
…
.
The Government Buildings, Mikkeli, 2.45 p.m. March 10th 2014.
The Chairman of the National Committee for the Continuation of Government looked around the table, to the worn, wrinkled, expectant faces of the men around it. Most of them were as old as he was, or at least not much younger. As tired as he was, he knew that these men waited for him to lead them – they had grown used to it during the last three decades since the War. Three decades the most of them had served together. Served Finland, through good and worse.
The Chairman wanted to think all he had done was to serve the Finnish people. All those that had survived the nuclear holocaust the wiped away more than two thirds of his people. The nuclear holocaust that had killed his wife and children. But as of late, he had grown doubtful. Maybe it was old age. Maybe it was natural one started to look back on his decisions when his health and his memory started to fail him. When one had to struggle even with everyday things, one could just not wipe away his doubts like younger men do, and stride on towards new things and fresh challenges.
The Chairman had had enough challenges for one lifetime. Or maybe two or more lifetimes, he had recently started to think, as every time he closed his eyes he saw the same scene, the same cold horror staring him into his face.
”
- So, gentlemen”, the old General said to the threadbare Committee in front of him, ”we have discussed the matter at length and I think we have reached consensus. We have reached a decision on what we need to do. Does anyone oppose the measure?”
No hands were raised.
”
- It is settled then. We will move on as decided. Now we need to contact Major General Varis as soon as possible...”
…
Joni, Mikkeli, 3 p.m. March 10th 2014
I had never thought revolution would look like this. Singing, speeches, good news from near and far...
”
...Word has been sent from Iisalmi that the military units in the town are not obeying the orders from the Northern Command anymore, but have defected to the Interim Council in their entirety, including the new conscript troops sent to the area...”
”
...Ostrobothnian volunteers have reached Pieksämäki and been joyfully received by the strikers controlling the town and rail yard area...”
”
...Through general peaceful resistance in the Districts and military police units have withdrawn towards Lappeenranta, abandoning vehicles and weapons on their way...”
”
..Taken control of the entire State University area in Joensuu and withstood two further assaults by the military that now seems demoralized by recent...”
”
...By the British government to impose sanctions on the National Committee along the lines agreed together with the French and Swiss governments, unless their terms are met in two...”
”
...Swedish aid that is pouring to the southern coast through the ports of Hanko, Porvoo and Hamina. Vice Admiral Tikka, the Commander of the Navy, has agreed with the Swedish the units under his command will not take measures to stop the...”
Together with the guys, we took a position in the first lines against the military police holding the side of the square in front of the old houses of the provincial government. If anything, the cuts and bruises from our previous encounter with them only made us bolder. They could hurt us, sure. But we would only come back stronger! Listening to the music playing behind us, shouting our slogans at them, throwing their crey-black line of shields with snow balls, waving our black flags at their faces we felt invincible.
”
- Dogs! You damn, dirty dogs!”
Invincible... Until their officers started shouting orders and the whole line started advancing on us, truncheons held high. And we would be the first to face them. As I looked at Väänänen's face, he had gone deadly pale.
”
- Joni”, he said, ”maybe that last snow ball was too much.”
...
The Halli Air Base, 3.15 p.m. March 10th 2014
The klaxons sounded the alarm all around the air base.
The four pilots walked briskly to the fighters and started the take-off procedures, with the air mechanics helping them. The order had come down from Mikkeli and the Readiness Squadron was ordered to send aircraft towards the capital itself to support the military police units in their fight against the rebel forces that were on the brink of taking over central Mikkeli.
The Pilot thought the Committee must truly be desperate, thinking about the strike coordinates that had been given to them. He was not quite sure himself if he could go through it. But orders were orders, and these appeared to come from the legal national authority. It was the Pilot's duty as an officer in the Finnish Air Force to follow them, for better or for worse.
After receiving the go-ahead from the Halli tower, the four BAE Hawks took off into the blue winter sky in a quick succession, and then settled into a formation and assumed an easterly course.
…
Maria, Mikkeli, 3.45 p.m. March 10th 2014
I could see Noora looked more lost than ever before when we were riding with the handful of MP:s and the assorted armed soldiers from the garrison towards the market square. Nobody said nothing. Nobody was joking around like we did all the time with the girls in my unit. Now it was different. It was horrible.
And it didn't get better when we arrived at by the square. The trucks took us behind a line of military police that was starting to attack the protestors. There were so many of them, the square was so full. To shoot weapons in there, any weapons, it would be pure murder, I thought.
We climbed down from the trucks lugging around the heavy submachineguns. Madness, pure madness. To give us Suomi SMGs and order us into war! I mean sure, we could shoot with them, at least after the military police Lieutenant demonstrated it to us, but still – us, going against the protesters!
And then the Lieutenant ordered us all to form a mixed line with the soldiers to the right flank of the military police force.
”
- Ready your weapons, troops”, he said, with a queer light in his eyes, ”the bloody rebels will not get past us today!”
Suddenly, there was a roar in the air, like thunder - or jet aircraft. Everyone, on both sides, craned their heads towards the air to see the four little specs approaching the city centre from the west.
And everything stopped.
…
The Government Buildings, Mikkeli, 3.30 p.m. March 10th 2014
The door flew open violently as Major General Varis barged into the conference room. A ESP Lieutenant Colonel followed three steps behind him. The Major General was breathing heavily, the left side of his neck still partly covered with drying blood. On his left arm, blood was seeping through the field dressing, making it look like he was wearing a red armband instead of a Military Police symbol.
The Chairman didn't even turn around.
”
- You're late, Varis”, the old man said in a cold voice.
The Major General faced the table, his eyes wild.
”
- Yes I am, General Halonen!”, he said in a loud, mocking voice.
”
- I have been out there trying to keep this government in power. If you haven't noticed, General, we a have a full-blown revolution on our hands!”
A single drop of blood fell from his ear to the floor. A Signals Corporal arrived to the room, stopping cold in his tracks after seeing the wild-eyed Varis staring at him. The Corporal opened his mouth and stammered.
”
- Yes, Corporal, out with it!”, he snapped to the young man who had gone deadly pale.
”
...- Mr. Chairman, General, sirs, the Military Police commander in Joensuu reports that he has lost control of the University area and the town centre. Only a third of his men still follow his orders... The news from Jyväskylä are roughly the same. Ostrobothnian troops are still advancing...”
Varis turned trimphantly to the table.
”
- Hear that, gentlemen!”, he announced.
”
- We are losing this battle! If we don't move now, decisively, we'll lose the whole damn war!”
Another drop of blood landed on the floor. The men around the table sat in uncomfortable silence.
Varis painfully raised his left arm.
”
-They fucking tried to shoot me! Me! And they very nearly got me, too. Just a few centimeters to the right and... Those filthy rebels! Those bloody communists! They have snipers on rooftops and they won't rest until we're all dead!”
The Chairman of the National Committee for the Continuity of Government slowly turned around in his chaír and looked directly at Varis.
”
- Major General, would you be so kind as to sit down in your seat so we can move forward on the agenda.”
He pointed to an empty chair.
Varis stared General Halonen in disbelief.
”
- Agenda? What bloody agenda? With respect”, the bloody man snarled mockingly, ”fuck your agenda! We're losing control, our units mutiny, we're being hunted down on the streets, the bloody stoats are sending troops into our territory with impunity... The time for talk is over! We have to declare martial law and order a full mobilization right now!”
The old General stood up.
”
-We are not going to do such a thing, Varis.”
The room was deadly silent.
”
- It has come to our attention that you have ordered your units to shoot the protesters. Reports say that at least fourty people have already died and over, what, one hundred and fifty injured.”
”
- So what? It was – is - necessary to stop the rebels! It is war out there! Of course you old men hiding here in your hole can't see that...”
The old General looked down at the younger man, now clearly angry.
”
- You had no right! We did not authorize this! And it is our responsibility! Ours! I am sick and tired of you continually overstepping your authority and making a mockery of this Committee!”
Many of the men around the table nodded at that. Now anger flared in several old eyes.
Major General Varis looked furious now.
”
- I am sorry if you can't see it, Halonen, but this is it! This government is about to fall, and we are the last line standing before the abyss. We are the last thing standing against darkness! The line must hold!”
The old General's eyes narrowed at this. There was some angry mutter around the table, and one or two men started to get up.
”
- Varis, were you commanding troops during the War?”
The younger officer looked at his superior, eyes blazing in anger.
”
- You know I wasn't, you old fool. I can't bloody see what the meaning of...”
”
- Did you serve in the camps on the Line? Did you take part in the Battle of Porvoo? Organize mass evacuations or command a first line unit during the first year of the Reclamation, perhaps?”
”
- No, General, how could I? I was too young to...”
The old General looked at the man before him with something like a combination of fury and deep sadness in his eyes.
”
- So who are you to talk to us about darkness, Varis? To these men around this table? To me?”
Varis stood with his mouth open, at loss for words.
”
- We are the last line against the dark, you say. Those are empty words coming from you. You won't lecture these men about the dark, young man. You don't talk to me about the dark, Varis.”
Now the old General's voice was only a hard whisper.
”
- You don't know the dark, boy
.”
Cold corpse eyes in the dark, judging his every move... The old man cleared his throat and fixed his eyes again on the upstart officer before him.
”
- As of this moment, I am relieving you from your duty as the Commander of the Military Police. You are also to take a leave from your duties in the Committee, pending a formal inquiry into your actions.”
The younger officer didn't say anything. He just stared at the old General.
”
-You're dismissed , Major General.”
The old General turned around, facing the men around the table, ignoring Varis.
”
- We will negotiate”, he said to the tired old men around the table. Most of them nodded their heads.
”
- We are not going to bring more death to this nation, not after all these years. I am not ordering our own citizens killed. Instead, I am going to order all the troops to stand down and to return to their barracks forthwith. We have no other way to...”
The General was surprised to hear the loud report of a pistol. In front of him, a bullet lodged itself to the heavy wooden table. The old man turned around to see Major General Varis pointing his sidearm towards him.
”
- For treason in the line of duty...”, the younger man muttered, looking like he was detached from the world around him, somehow. This was not going the way he thought it would.
The words that then came out of the old General's mouth were surprisingly emotionless.
”
- That's it, Varis. You are stripped of your rank in the Defence Forces and your position in this Committee.”
He glanced towards the Special Military Police Lieutenant Colonel who had accompanied Varis to the room and had stood dumbstruck by the sidelines, watching the events unfold in the room.
”
- Lieutenant Colonel, this man is no longer your superior. Take, ah, Private
Varis into custody. He will stand trial for high treason and attempted murder. Get him out of my sight.”
The General glanced at the man at the table, wearing a civilian police uniform with impressive rank tabs and a horrified expression on his face.
”
- Mäkinen, accompany the Private and the Lieutenant Colonel, would you. We wouldn't want any trouble now.”
Varis had dropped his pistol to the floor and he did not raise a hand when the two men escorted him out of the door.
The men around the table looked in horror as the blood stain on the General's otherwise immaculate tunic slowly became bigger.
”
- Väistö,” the old man said to the Engineer officer.
”
- You are in charge now until Koskelo returns from the Olympics. Start the negotiations. We will not have any further bloodshed.”
As the Lieutenant General nodded he saw Halonen fall to his knees. Only then he and some other men in the room realized the need for medical assistance. The spell was broken and the men stood up to help the fallen General.
”
- Medic! Someone get a damned medic in the room!”
The old man fell slowly on his side on the floor. He could feel someone ripping open his tunic, but he didn't care about it anymore. From the corners of his eyes he could see the darkness, slowly creeping closer.
The old man smiled as he saw what it was - a pure, unadulterated darkness. A deep, clean darkness. It was a promise of peace, finally the oblivion he had long hoped for. As pure dark enveloped the old man, his dry lips formed two words.
”
- Thank you”, whispered the dying man.
…
Private Varis, Mikkeli, 3.40 p.m. March 10th 2014.
Varis walked along the empty corridor flanked by two silent men. He was not sure what was happening, but for some reason he could feel the ground slipping away from below his feet. And for some reason he felt that his feet might never touch the ground again, and briefly that filled him with unimaginable terror.
And then, suddenly, he didn't quite realize why the two men beside him were being so wordlessly hostile towards him. After all, he was the man who saved Finland.
Wasn't he?
…
.
In the air over Mikkeli, 3.45 p.m. March 10th 2014
The four Hawks closed in on central Mikkeli in perfect, tight formation. The Pilot looked ahead, towards to the market square brimming with people. It was the most people he had ever seen in one place.
It was such a shame.
His target lined up, he started to move his fingers towards the button.
And then he heard the anxious, breathless voice in his headphones.
”
- This is Halli Tower to Peregrine Flight – ABORT ATTACK! I repeat ABORT ATTACK! Peregrine Flight, the attack has been called off! Your orders are to return to base immediately!”
Removing his finger from the button, the Pilot suddenly felt an enormous weight lifted from his shoulders. And then immediately a cold shiver followed through his body. It had been so close it was almost ridiculous.
The flight of four Hawk fighters turned in a wide arc above the centre of Mikkeli, heading back towards the Finnish Air Force's main base, with the cold but bright sun caressing their sleek lines – and the unused rocket pods in the hardpoints under their wings.
The Pilot smiled all the way home.
…
Sven Blomqvist, Mikkeli, 4.10 p.m. March 10th 2014
The Swedish journalist working for the Göteborgs-Tidningen looked at the battle raging on the Mikkeli market square. The four military jets flying low above the town centre had frozen everything for a moment, but now the clashes continued. If the Finnish military government had thought it could scare the protesters by buzzing them with aircraft, it was sorely mistaken, the Swedish newspaperman thought. Now it seemed though that the military police could not advance against the press of people and men with improvised means of protection in the first line by using only clubs and truncheons, so the advance had stopped for the while.
Scanning around the crowd with his camera in hand Blomqvist suddenly saw a face he could recognize – the revered protest leader, the man they called Big H. He was unmistakable, with his tall frame and long grey hair and full beard. Blomqvist was about to turn his gaze as he realized who the man was standing with. That was... That was Holmén, the Project Minne leader, Blomqvist thought with a chill. It was like a lightbulb going on in his head. Of course! It had been Holmén all along – the link between the Swedish government and the rebel leadership! He pointed his camera towards the two men – this photo would be worth gold...
Then someone pushed him and he lost the view towards the two men. And could not locate then anymore. With the crowd pushing him, he had drifted towards the front, closer to the left side of the military police line.
And there he saw it – soldiers with weapons, and women in uniform with weapons. The female ”volunteers” the Finns called Lotta Svärd. And they had been armed! Blomqvist started snapping fotos of the women, no, girls with submachine guns as the crowd started the chant.
”
STAND DOWN! STAND DOWN! STAND DOWN! STAND DOWN””
The Swedish journalist looked around himself, uncomprehending.
…
Joni, Mikkeli, 4.20 p.m. March 10th 2014
The news spread fast among the people in the square. The Committee had ordered all the troops to stand down and return to their barracks! It was on the radio, it was everywhere. We joined the chant, and in a few minutes, the line of military police started to withdraw.
It was slow at first, and orderly. But then one, two, four and more of the men started throwing down their shields and their truncheons and just walked away. Some ran. In just minutes, the military police line collapsed on itself.
Inspired by the moment and feeling giddily victorious I grabbed a black Anarchist flag from a man next to me, just standing with a smile on his face, chanting with the others. I took the flag, took a few sprinting steps and climbed on top of a civilian police Lada that had been abandoned in the no-man's land between the two sides.
Waving the flag with a flourish I felt I was in the centre of it all.
Then I saw the girls. Pretty girls in Lotta uniforms, with submachineguns of all things in their hands. As soon I saw them, they started throwing the damn things to the ground. It was an amazing sight, and I just stared at them.
And so it took me a while to see the military police officer aiming his rifle towards me. I remember feeling so surprised when the shot rang out.
And then I fell.
…
Maria, 4.20 p.m. March 10th 2014
”
STAND DOWN, STAND DOWN, STAND DOWN...”, the people were chanting, and the military police started to lower their weapons and withdraw. We looked at Noora. She gingerly put down her weapon and then looked sternly at us.
”
- Section! Lower weapons!”
Right then, I was distracted by this young punk rocker with a spiky hair dyed black, who had climbed on top of a car and waved a black flag around with a wide, dumb smile on his face.
The military police Lieutenant who had brought us to the square looked around him, lost, and then also seemed to fix his eyes on the young man now drawing cheers from the crowd.
”
- Damn filthy Anarchist!”, the soldier exclaimed, raising his rifle and aiming it at the stupidly smiling young man.
I was just a few paces from him. The rifle was still in my hand. Quickly, unthinking, I grabbed it from that barrel and swung it towards the man, putting all my strength and pesäpallo
practice behind the hit.
It hit him in the neck and he collapsed to the ground. But not before he had pushed the trigger. I heard the shot and saw the young man, too, fall to the ground.
…
Joni, 4.25 p.m. March 10th 2014
I slipped from the roof of the Lada to hit the ground hard. And for a brief while I was thoroughly confused about what had happened. Then I felt a pain on my leg.
I opened my eyes to see a girl's face in front of me, blue eyes, a slightly open mouth and a concerned expression, all framed with long, open fair hair glowing in the bright afternoon sun.
It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
Without saying anything, she held out a hand. When I reached and grabbed it, she helped me up with surprising force.
And then she kissed me.
…
”
After considering many worthy options from the past year, the jury has decided to present the award for the Swedish Photograph of the Year to photo journalist Sven Blomqvist, of the Göteborgs-Tidningen, for his beautiful and poignant picture of the recent Finnish Revolution, called ”Two Tribes”. The photo, showing the kiss between two young people from different realities is not only an intimate document of a real historical event and the part played in it by two individual, very real people, but it also acts as a memorable and relevant document symbolising in broader terms the issues behind the Finnish Revolution and its ultimately fairly bloodless resolution in March 2014. It showcases the occupation of the press photographer, the quest to intrepidly enter life-threatening situations and locations to bring out the pictures that move us and stop us to consider all the beauty this world holds even between the uglier sides of its grim reality...”[3]
...
Is it not enough,
There open up
Golden gates to a new day
And the world still goes around
Is it not enough,
You are loved
A lot and always more
And you are trusted?
Is it not enough,
That sometimes, rarely,
Your hands will draw a line,
permanent and real?
Chorus:
... Light takes time on its journey
...The days change their faces
…
And you walk through a shining world.
Is it not enough,
Your feelings will overwhelm you
In the sight of broken beauty
Is it not enough,
They always rise before you
Shining new paths to the morning on your way?
Chorus:
…
Time rolls forward on its path
...Fierce winds cover the earth
…
And you walk through a shining world.
Sometimes your face shows a map of pain
And sometimes the web of the sun
And you know you are still here
Nothing happens tomorrow
Chorus:
...Light takes time on its journey
...The days change their faces
…
Time rolls forward on its path
…
And you walk through a shining world.
CMX:
Kuolemaantuomitut (2007)
...
Notes:
[1] The Special Military Police traces its origin to the Riots of 1988, the pro-democracy demonstrations that gained momentum after the death of Acting President Leppänen. The newly-formed Committee for the Continuity of Government sent the police and military to contain the growing riots, fearful that the events would lead to anarchy and the fall of the still tenuous structure of the reconstructed Finnish state - only to see a majority of its units disobeying orders or at least stalling and dragging their feet in their actions. Only a handful of military police units from North Karelia and South Savonia acted decisively and carried out their orders, in effect breaking the back of the protest movement while most of the military was paralysed. In effect this served to consolidate the position of the Committee for the years to come. As a result, these units were rewarded by naming them ”Special” Military Police and subsequently giving their members better rations and various perks, including the first pick of better equipment and vehicles, and so on.
The ESP units would retain their position as a part of the general military police structure, though, until 2005 when the ambitious (and well-regarded) young Lt. Colonel Varis was put in charge of the military police organization. After that, in under a decade, Varis has built the ESP up as an explicitly independent elite formation. Varis, who had quickly risen through the ranks of the military police itself, since entering the military as a conscript at age 17 in 1985, faces quiet resentment among the other service branches of the FNA military for his favoured position and the resources at his disposal, as well as for – as some see it – building a ”private army” for himself.
[Interestingly, the nickname of the ESP, ”Crows”, was already used of the military police - along with the older nickname ”Dogs” - since 1994 when the MP units were first issued the new grey-black uniforms to distinguish them from the grey (or camouflage) uniforms of the ordinary army troops, and it is then just a coincidence that their leader is called Varis (Finnish for ”crow”) - though certainly the ascension of Varis as the national military police commander cemented the fact that the term would be specifically used in connections with the elite ESP units. - JSH]
[2] ”To the Police Academy”. Originally used as a protest song already in 1988
by Leskinen himself, then a prominent opposition figure.
[3] An excerpt from a press release from the Swedish Press Photographers' Club, October 2014, concerning their yearly photo competition held since 1942.
...
The Land of Sad Songs Will Be Continued In
E9. The Popular Demand
And Concluded In
E10. The Backroads of History
(filler)