[2][3] Today it is particularly remembered for its bloody aftermath as the Whites executed hundreds of capitulated Reds and took 11,000 prisoners who ended up in the Kalevankangas camp.

Tampere had played a key role in the 1905 general strike and the town was a stronghold for the trade unions and the Social Democratic Party.

[5] As the Civil War started in late January 1918, the Reds targeted the important railway junction of Haapamäki, 100 kilometres north of Tampere.

The frontline was soon established 50–60 kilometres north of Tampere and Tavastia Front became the major theatre of the war.

The Whites reached Tampere on 23 March and besieged the city with 17,000 men in the largest military operation of the war.

Related battles were fought in the areas of Ylöjärvi, Pirkkala, Messukylä, Aitolahti, Lempäälä, Vesilahti, and Tottijärvi, as well as further west on the Satakunta Front in Karkku and Hämeenkyrö.

[5] On 23 March, the Whites approached Tampere from the northeast and clashed with the Red defence in Vehmainen, 10 kilometres east of the city.

White artillery started firing on the town, and the Reds were forced to evacuate the eastern working-class district of Tammela.

After taking Ylöjärvi, the Whites instantly continued the attack on the western side of town in Epilä and south in Hatanpää, but suffered heavy losses and were pushed back.

The Red Guards of Turku and Yläne attempted a simultaneous breakthrough along the southbound Helsinki railway.

[3] The Swedes were dressed in white snow-camouflage battledresses, making them an easy target as there was hardly snow at all.

The Red leader Hugo Salmela died after a hand grenade accidentally exploded in his headquarters.

According to the French journalist Henry Laporte, Lehtimäki drove in his car back and forth through the Red lines to encourage his men.

The artillery fire killed at least 20 civilians, some of them neutral or White supporters, and destroyed the working-class neighbourhoods of Tammela and Kyttälä almost completely.

A White unit led by jäger Gunnar Melin took the Näsilinna Palace on the Näsinkallio hill along Hallituskatu, only to lose it again in the evening, as the main force was stuck on the east side of Tammerkoski.

According to a legend, the City Hall lasted this long as the Tampere Women's Red Guard refused to capitulate.

In the evening, a large group of Reds managed to flee across the ice of lakes Pyhäjärvi and Näsijärvi.

[5] Notable persons who died in the Battle of Tampere were the Swedish historian Olof Palme,[14] Members of the Parliament Ernst Saari[15] and Juho Lehmus,[16] editor and translator Matti Kivekäs,[17] the poet Juhani Siljo,[18] the Russian officer Georgij Bulatsel[7] and the Olympic athletes David Kolehmainen[19] and Kalle Viljamaa.

The controversial statue was first suggested to the Koskipuisto park in 1939 but was finally erected on a hill eight kilometres from Tampere in 1956.

[21] Due to its remote location, the statue has often been vandalized during the years by local anarchists and other left-wing radicals.

[23] The statue is often called Rummin-Jussi, after the nickname of the infamous White executioner Johannes From, who was responsible for executing more than 70 Reds.