Vientirauha

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Vientirauha, Finnish for “export peace,” was a paramilitary group formed in Finland in 1920 to break strikes. At its peak it had about 34,000 members and was led by Martti Pihkala. In the early 1920s employers did not want unions to negotiate for workers, so they created Vientirauha to end strikes. Key organizers included Einar Ahlman of Kymin Oy and Gösta Serlachius of GA Serlachius Oy. After a study trip to the United States, Serlachius helped plan the group, with guidance from Rudolf Waldén, Jacob von Julin, Gösta Serlachius and Carl Rosenlew. The first meeting on February 28, 1920 formed the “National Flying Work Corps,” soon renamed Vientirauha.

The organization operated quickly and with few formal rules, but they tried to hire workers who opposed the strike. Pihkala led the operation, and the group was often called the Pihkala Guard. Initially funded by the paper industry, by the mid-1920s major employers’ unions joined. They could break strikes in places that did not require special skills; for areas needing expertise, a short‑lived parallel group called Teknisen Työn Turva was created.

Strike-breakers were recruited through the White Guard or a network of recruiters; many came from farms or wealthy cottages, with Southern Ostrobothnia as a key recruitment area. Some members were Jägers or aligned with the White side in the Finnish Civil War, and Vihtori Kosola became well known in Southern Ostrobothnia. Workers often viewed Vientirauha as Soviet-backed intimidation, while strikers saw it as a threat to their livelihoods. The strikes of the 1920s were lengthy, such as the nationwide port strike of 1928–1929, which employers tried to end with Vientirauha.

Vientirauha’s activities ended in 1940 with the Betrothal of January during the Winter War, when employers and workers’ organizations reached an agreement.