The Red Guards (, ; ) were the paramilitary units of the Finnish labour movement in the early 1900s. The first Red Guards were established during the 1905 general strike, but disbanded a year later. After the Russian 1917 February revolution the Red Guards were re-established and in the 1918 Finnish Civil War they formed the army of Red Finland. The combined strength of the Red Guard was about 30,000 at the beginning of the Civil War, peaking at between 90,000 and 120,000 during the course of the conflict. The number included more than 2,000 members of the Women's Guards. In May 1918, up to 80,000 Reds were captured by the victorious Whites, 12,000 to 14,000 of them died in the prison camps due to execution, disease and malnutrition. A majority of the Reds were finally pardoned in late 1918. Approximately 10,000 to 13,000 Reds managed to flee to Soviet Russia. Some of them fought in the Russian Civil War until 1920 against the Finnish Whites invading East Karelia. The Murmansk Legion was a British-organized military unit composed of the Red Guard members from Northern Finland who had fled to Russia in the early stages of the Finnish Civil War. 1905 general strike and Sveaborg rebellion Establishment The Red Guards came about during a general strike in November 1905. The strike began in reaction to the Russification of Finland and was a joint effort between the Social Democratic labour movement and the political right. The strike lasted only a week, but in the final days differing views created a deep gap between the two parties. The National Guard, which was established for law enforcement as the police began to participate, was likewise split into the working-class Red Guards and the bourgeoisie-aligned Protection Corps. Some minor incidents followed, especially in the capital Helsinki, but violent clashes were avoided. Although the general strike was over, both guards remained active. In 1906, the number of Red Guard members was estimated at 25,000. Hakaniemi riot Violence between the two sides finally burst out on 2 August 1906 during the Sveaborg rebellion, a revolt of the Russian Bolshevik sailors in the Sveaborg Fortress in Helsinki. As the mutiny started, the Helsinki Red Guard, led by Johan Kock, joined the rebellion by conducting sabotage in the mainland. In the final day of the revolt, Johan Kock declared a general strike on his own, without permission from