22000 Kevin, you have here a Scandinavian military alliance (made possible if the British Navy and its carriers can crush the German invasion of Norway and later create a allied military front stretching from Norway to Finland). This depends of course on a weak reed--the French being better prepared and with better generals for the war and thus no easy victory for Hitler.
Second you have the disparate issue of the Great Game, Czarist Russia's scheme for keeping the British out of Central Asia and seizing Himalayan outposts preliminary to swooping into India (there was a clique within Soviet intelligence that was also intrigued with this idea in the interwar period, believing there was a secret Buddhist wisdom center that would be a key to the domination of Asia).
What is the connection? Mannerheim, the military leader of Finland in World War Two, had, as a Czarist military officer, been a master spy of the Great Game, partly under cover as an ethnologist and reporting to the Czar himself.
How to link these two disparate themes, which both connect in so many ways with your POD speculations above? Read Mannerheim's Wikipedia bio
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Gustaf_Emil_Mannerheim Pay special attention to the section "Service in the Imperial Russian Army" (see below). You'll be amazed at the weird possibilities.
Service in the Imperial Russian Army[from Wikipedia]
Mannerheim served in the Imperial Chevalier Guard until 1904. In 1896, he took part in the coronation of Emperor Nicholas II, standing for four hours in his full-dress Imperial Chevalier Guard uniform at the bottom of the steps leading up to the imperial throne.
[29] Mannerheim always considered the coronation a high-point of his life, recalling with pride his role in what he called an "indescribably magnificent" coronation.
[29] An expert rider and trained horseman, Mannerheim bought horses for the Russian army as one of his official duties. In 1903, he was put in charge of the model squadron in the Imperial Chevalier Guard and became a member of the equestrian training board of the cavalry regiments.
[30]
After his coronation, Nicholas II of Russia leaves Dormition Cathedral. The Chevalier Guard Lieutenant marching in front to the Tsar's left (to the viewer's right) is Mannerheim.
Mannerheim volunteered for active service with the
Imperial Russian Army in the
Russo-Japanese War in 1904. He was transferred to the 52nd Nezhin Dragoon Regiment in
Manchuria, with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. During a reconnaissance patrol on the plains of Manchuria, he first saw action in a skirmish and had his horse shot out from under him.
[29] He was promoted to Colonel for bravery in the
Battle of Mukden in 1905
[31] and briefly commanded an irregular unit of
Hong Huzi, a local militia, on an exploratory mission into Inner Mongolia.
[32] During the war, Mannerheim also managed to lead a group of local thugs and crooks with whom he sought the back of the enemy to defeat them.
[33]
Mannerheim, who had a long career in the Imperial Russian army,
also rose to become a courtier of Emperor of all the Russias Nicholas II.[33] When Mannerheim returned to Saint Petersburg, he was asked to undertake a journey through Turkestan to Beijing as a secret intelligence officer. The Russian General Staff wanted accurate, on-the-ground intelligence about the reforms and activities by the Qing dynasty, as well as the military feasibility of invading Western China: a possible move in their struggle with Britain for control of inner Asia.[34][35] Disguised as an ethnographic collector, he joined the French archeologist Paul Pelliot's expedition at Samarkand in Russian Turkestan (now Uzbekistan). They started from the terminus of the Trans-Caspian Railway in Andijan in July 1906, but Mannerheim quarreled with Pelliot,[34] so he made the greater part of the expedition on his own.[36]
Gustaf Mannerheim's route across Asia from Saint Petersburg to Peking, 1906–1908.[37]
With a small caravan, including a Cossack guide, Chinese interpreter, and Uyghur cook, Mannerheim first trekked to Khotan in search of British and Japanese spies. After returning to Kashgar, he headed north into the Tian Shan range, surveying passes and gauging the stances of the tribes towards the Han Chinese. Mannerheim arrived in the provincial capital of Urumqi, and then headed east into Gansu province. At the sacred Buddhist mountain of Mount Wutai in Shanxi province, Mannerheim met the 13th Dalai Lama of Tibet. He showed the Dalai Lama how to use a pistol.[38]
He followed the Great Wall of China, and investigated a mysterious tribe known as Yugurs.[39] From Lanzhou, the provincial capital, Mannerheim headed south into Tibetan territory and visited the lamasery of Labrang, where he was stoned by xenophobic monks.[40] During his trip to Tibet in 1908 Mannerheim became the third European who had met with the Dalai Lama.[41] Mannerheim arrived in Beijing in July 1908, returning to Saint Petersburg via Japan and the Trans-Siberian Express. His report gave a detailed account of Chinese modernization, covering education, military reforms, colonization of ethnic borderlands, mining and industry, railway construction, the influence of Japan, and opium smoking.[40] He also discussed the possibility of a Russian invasion of Xinjiang, and Xinjiang's possible role as a bargaining chip in a putative future war with China.[42] His trip through Asia left him with a lifelong love of Asian art, which he thereafter collected.[38]
After returning to Russia in 1909 from the expedition, Mannerheim presented its results to the emperor to which Nicholas II listened with interest. There are many artifacts still on display in the museum.[33] After that, Mannerheim was appointed to command the 13th Vladimir Uhlan Regiment in the Congress Kingdom of Poland. The following year, he was promoted to major general and was posted as the commander of the Life Guard Uhlan Regiment of His Imperial Majesty in Warsaw. Next Mannerheim became part of the Imperial entourage and was appointed to command a cavalry brigade.[43]
At the beginning of
World War I, Mannerheim served as commander of the Separate Guards Cavalry Brigade (the 23rd Army Corps), and fought on the
Austro-Hungarian and
Romanian fronts. In December 1914, after distinguishing himself in combat against the
Austro-Hungarian forces, Mannerheim was awarded the
Order of St. George, 4th class. In March 1915, Mannerheim was appointed to command the 12th Cavalry Division.
[44]
Mannerheim received leave to visit Finland and Saint Petersburg in early 1917 and witnessed the outbreak of the
February Revolution. After returning to the front, he was promoted to
lieutenant general in April 1917 (the promotion was backdated to February 1915), and took command of the 6th Cavalry Corps in the summer of 1917. However, Mannerheim fell out of favour with the
new government, who regarded him as not supporting the revolution, and was relieved of his duties. He retired and returned to Finland.
[43] Mannerheim kept a large portrait of Emperor Nicholas II in the living room of his house in Helsinki right up to his death, and when asked after the overthrow of the
House of Romanov why he kept the portrait up, he always answered: "He was my emperor".
[38]
