En kamp om själar - Doria

understanding the ideological issues at stake.
The Civil War in the Porvoo region lasted from February 7 th , when the
Reds marched into the town, until April 12 th , when 400 Red troops left the
town and headed for Mäntsälä. During the war 43 Whites and 28 Reds were
killed. 506 Reds were detained in various prisoner of war camps, of which 103
died. A total of 174 people from Porvoo were casualties of the Civil War.
Participation in church life was high before, during and after the Civil War.
On an average Sunday more than 2 600 people participated in the divine
services. Participation sunk after the Civil War being about 2 200 during the
summer and
1 800 during the winter in the years after the war. Many associations were
active in the region. There were both secular and religious associations. Of the
secular associations the Workers’ Associations were the most important ones.
They counted some 840 members. The religious associations rallied around
1 350 people to their weekly meetings before the Civil War. After the war
participation was roughly the same.
Revivalist tendencies were also manifest in the Porvoo region. Several
Christian communities were active at that time in the region. They were the
Salvation Army, the Free Home Mission (Fria Inremissionsförsamlingen), the
Methodist Church and the Seventh-day Adventists.
In the final chapter the following question is raised: What kind of new
information has emerged from the study? The question is answered by an
account of four sets of circumstances, which have come up in the research.
Firstly, the study shows that the Reds in the Borgå region had blatantly
poor means of comprehending the ideological background of the Civil War.
From the point of view of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church this was the
decisive factor, which determined their choice of side in the conflict. The
Reds understood the issues of injustice, poverty and social misery but hardly
anything beyond that. The great majority of them were illiterate. In addition,
the study shows that the ideologically motivated agitators often came from
other regions. The study shows that one of the local priests, chaplain Emil
Panelius, was well aware of the implications of social misery. He had first
worked as a priest in both the Seamen’s Mission and in an emigrant church in
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