On January 27, 1918, the Finnish government ordered the disarming of all remaining Russian garrisons by the forces of the White Guard, and on the same day the Reds proclaimed revolution, leading to a bloody civil war.

Units of it formed the main forces of the Lapua Movement's abortive coup d'état (the Mäntsälä Rebellion) in 1932, however only a small fraction of the Guard participated and the majority of it stayed loyal to the government.

Similar militias operated in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, lands that, like Finland, came under Russian sovereignty until the collapse of Tsarist Russia in 1917.

[1] During the strike Finnish police forces were effectively disbanded, as they had been closely associated with the occupying Russian authorities.

Municipal, mostly unarmed, security guards were spontaneously organised by individuals associated with the constitutional and Social Democratic parties.

At first all political groups were able to work together, but towards 1906 the civil guards of large towns had become divided along party lines.

The first violent clash between Red and White Guards occurred in July 1906 in Helsinki, but after the return of Finnish autonomy the moderate Social Democrats and the whole constitutional party withdrew from military activities.

However, the radicalized Red Guard of Helsinki did not disband, despite an order from the Social Democratic leadership to do so, and took part in the mutiny at Viapori fortress alongside revolutionary, anti-imperial Russian soldiers.

Again, the Russian-associated Finnish police were effectively disbanded, while the largely undisciplined Russian troops engaged in violence, mostly towards their own officers.

Inside the Social Democratic party, the official leadership was derailed while the executive committee of the Red Guards and the labour unions gained more power.

The Senate, led by Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, proposed a Declaration of Independence, which the Parliament adopted on December 6, 1917.

On January 13, 1918, the non-socialist majority gave authorization to the Senate (Finnish cabinet) to organize a police force of the White Guard.

Soon the Senate asked General Mannerheim to form a new Finnish army on the basis on the White Guard militia.

In southern Karelia the White and Red Guards clashed in small-scale engagements as both sides attempted to secure the railway to St. Petersburg.

During the night of January 27–28, 1918, the White Guards started to disarm and arrest the Russian garrisons in Ostrobothnia.

During the night the executive committee of the Red Guards declared the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic in Helsinki.

From 1921 until the organisation's demise, this post was occupied by General Lauri Malmberg who took command in the aftermath of the White Guard Affair.

The aim of the White Guard was no longer to provide ready fighting units but to act as a voluntary training organisation for reservists.

Only the Guard chapters immediately adjacent to the eastern border had responsibility for starting the initial defence against invasion.

After the Continuation War, the Finnish White Guards were disbanded in November 1944, as demanded by the Soviet Union.

This contribution proved important, as Guard members were the best trained and equipped personnel in an army which lacked even basic supplies.

The Soviet Union considered that the White Guard and Lotta Svärd were fascist organizations, and they were disbanded.

The disbanding of the White Guard effectively ended all Finnish voluntary military training for the next several decades.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Finland unilaterally renounced the military articles of the Paris Peace Treaty of 1947.

More accurate basis was given by the Act on Voluntary Defence Work of 2007, which will make the Association a nominally independent public organization under political state control.

Some political groups have criticized formation of these units, saying that they are too close to White Guards that were abolished as fascist organization in 1944.

However, unlike the White Guard, local defense troops are not a separate organization, but fully in the control of the Finnish Defence Forces.

The first ad hoc symbols were a white armband and a small, three-branched shoot from a spruce branch, placed into the hat.