Masculinities at War: Finland 1918-1950

This article analyzes historical continuities and changes in the relationship between men and the military in Finland's history in the first half of the 20th century, by combining perspectives from studies on men with new military history. The focus is on four intertwined aspects of military masculinities: ideology, corporeality, social practices and subjective experiences. This article argues that an inter-war hegemonic ideology of military manliness and its reformulation in frontline masculinity during World War II profoundly shaped Finnish concepts of masculinity and national self-image. The hegemony of this ideology had its limits, however, and in a long, conflict-ridden encounter with male bodies, homosocial practices and men's experiences, it had to transform and adapt to the realities of the barracks and the frontline.