Russian East Karelia was never part of the Swedish Empire or the Grand Duchy of Finland, and was at the time mostly inhabited by Karelians.

The lackluster training and the low morale of his conscripted troops made any advance impossible, and only the eventual withdrawal of the defending Red Finns, allowed the White Finns to advance a small distance, until the troops mutinied again, as the scope of the operation had passed the state border.

By 10 April, Malm's group had advanced as far as the coastal town of Kem on the White Sea which was controlled by the Finnish Red Guard.

[1] Malm was unable to capture the town and retreated to Uhtua, where he began defending western White Sea Karelia.

In the end, the proposal to join East Karelia to Finland received support in the White Karelian villages around Uhtua.

The arrival of British reinforcements and an Allied plan for them to link up with anti-Bolshevik units in Siberia prompted Trotsky, now at peace with the Germans, to send 3,000 Red troops northwards.

Conversely, British forces in the region instilled a sense of nationalism to fight against the Finnish effort to annex East Karelia.

Two years later, after the last of the British expeditionary forces had left Russia and Bolshevik control was established, a group of Karelian irredentia supported by Finnish volunteers began an uprising in an attempt to form their own state.