With an arsenal of 700 howitzers, 700 heavy mortars and 100 multiple rocket launchers, Finland has the largest artillery capability in western Europe.

After Finland's declaration of independence on 6 December 1917, the Civil Guards were proclaimed the troops of the government on 25 January 1918 and then Lieutenant General of the Russian Imperial Army Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim was appointed as Commander-in-Chief of these forces the next day.

In the war, the Whites were victorious in large part thanks to the leadership of General Mannerheim and the lead by example offensive mindedness of 1,800 German-trained Finnish Jägers, who brought with them German tactical doctrine and military culture.

After winning the Civil War, the Finnish peacetime army was organized as three divisions and a brigade by professional German officers.

The White Guard (Suojeluskunta) played a key role in interwar Finnish defence policy, as they essentially served as local/territorial militia forces, and some had higher readiness and training for quick mobilization.

[11] The new government instituted conscription after the Civil War and also introduced a mobilization system and compulsory refresher courses for reservists.

The requirement of one year of compulsory service was greater than that imposed by any other Scandinavian country in the 1920s and the 1930s, but political opposition to defence spending left the military badly equipped to resist an attack by the Soviet Union, the only security threat in Finnish eyes.

When the Soviets invaded in November 1939, the Finns, led by Marshal Mannerheim, defeated the Red Army on numerous occasions, including at the crucial Battle of Suomussalmi.

Thanks to Nazi-German aid, the army was much better equipped, and the period of conscription was increased to two years, making possible the formation of sixteen infantry divisions.

As a Swedish report stated: "The reason why the FDF chose to maintain this model while its Nordic neighbors jumped on the expeditionary bandwagon is not hard to see.

But to almost everyone's surprise, it succeeded in this degrading task, too, building up armed forces that were highly capable and were energetically supported by civil society—while at the same time managing to maintain dialogue with Moscow.

That's quite a big army in modern Europe,",[15] with similar views being expressed elsewhere as well, often referring to the fact that Finland has kept its conscript-based armed force or other readiness-related units, contrasting with other European countries that now have to re-arm, such as Germany[16] as an example.

[17][18][19][20] The demobilization and regrouping of the Finnish Defence Forces were carried out in late 1944 under the supervision of the Soviet-dominated Allied Control Commission.

The fact that the conditions of the peace treaty did not include prohibitions on reserves or mobilization made it possible to contemplate an adequate defence establishment within the prescribed limits.

From 1968 onwards, the Finnish government adopted the doctrine of territorial defence, which requires the use of large land areas to delay and wear out a potential aggressor.

From the mid-1960s onwards, the Finnish Defence Forces also began to specifically prepare to defeat a strategic strike, the kind which the Soviet Union employed successfully to topple the government of Czechoslovakia in 1968.

While the concept of total, territorial defence was not dropped, military planning has moved towards the capability to prevent and frustrate a strategic attack toward the vital regions of the country.

The Air Force has made the decision to acquire the Lockheed Martin F-35A to replace all McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets for €10 billion.

Under the brigades, there were 12 military districts, which were responsible for carrying out the draft, training and crisis-time activation of reservists and for planning and executing territorial defence of their areas.

In addition, all reservists are liable for activation in a situation where the military threat against Finland has seriously increased, in full or partial mobilization or in a large-scale disaster or a virulent epidemic.

The males who do not belong to the reserve may only be activated in case of full mobilization, and those rank-and-file personnel who have fulfilled 50 years of age only with a specific parliamentary decision.

In addition to lodging, food, clothes and health care the conscripts receive between 5 and 11.70 euros per day, depending on the time they have served.

Voluntary females in military service receive a small additional benefit, because they are expected to provide their own underwear and other personal items.

Finnish law requires that men who do not want to serve the defence of the country in any capacity (so-called total objectors) be sentenced to a prison term of 173 days.

Unlike in many other countries, women are allowed to serve in all combat arms including front-line infantry and special forces.

In early March 2012, Finland decided to purchase advanced Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (AGM-158 JASSM) from the United States.

Instead, each authority regularly trains for crises and has been allocated a combination of normal and emergency powers it needs to keep functioning in any conceivable situation.

The role of the Navy is to repel all attacks carried out against Finnish coasts and to safeguard the territorial integrity during peacetime and the "gray" phase of the conflict.

The maritime defence relies on combined use of coastal artillery, missile systems and naval mines to wear down the attacker.

As the readiness of the Air Force and the Navy is high even during the peacetime, the career personnel have a much more visible role in the wartime duties of these defence branches.