Talvela was also active in Finnish far-right politics, being involved in both the founding of the Academic Karelia Society and in the Lapua Movement.

[1] While in Germany, the Finnish volunteers formed the 27th Royal Prussian Jäger Battalion, fighting for the Imperial German Army on the Eastern Front of World War I.

[2] During this time, Talvela saw combat in battles in the regions of Misa and Gulf of Riga, but was sent to Sweden and Finland for "special tasks" in 1917.

[1][4] He was also involved behind-the-scenes in the founding of the Academic Karelia Society, a student association that was also the first Finnish radical nationalistic movement.

In 1926, he graduated from the Finnish War College, taking on the duties of commander of the Savo Jäger Regiment in 1926–1927.

From 1937 to 1939, Talvela worked as the deputy director of Suomen selluloosayhdistys [fi], the association of Finnish cellulose producers.

[4][8] The Finnish position in the Tolvajärvi region was in severe danger, and upon arriving in his area of operations Talvela's first task was to halt the retreat of Infantry Regiment 16.

In February, Talvela was given command of the III Corps on the Karelian Isthmus in the area of Vuoksi and Lake Sukhodolskoye.

[1] During the Interim Peace, in 1940, Talvela took part in the Finno-German negotiations regarding weapons shipments and the movement of German troops through Finland.

[14] The Finns' refusal to advance further from Svir caused strain in the Finno-German relations, as German forces were able to reach a point some 80 kilometers to the southwest of the Finnish positions.

Having been promoted to lieutenant general in 1942,[1] he was given command of the Aunus Group,[17] which was in charge of the Finnish forces along the Svir.

Blick ignored the orders, pulling VI Corps back, causing significant strain in the two commanders' personal relations.

[20] Talvela left the army in September 1944, returning to his job as the director of Pohjolan Liikenne which he had taken during the Interim Peace.

[1] As a result of the time he had spent in Germany during the war, he found working in Finland difficult,[21] and lived in Rio de Janeiro selling cellulose between 1946 and 1949.

Talvela received his final promotion to the rank of general of the infantry (Finnish: jalkaväenkenraali) in 1966.

[1] He secretly had a fifth child born out of wedlock, Swedish writer Gunilla Boëthius in 1945; this wasn't discovered until long after his death.