This background was reflected in his role as a military and political leader of Finland, and seems to continue to affect the present and future of Finland as well.

Mannerheim did not approve of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, but he understood Russian mentality and appreciated Russia as one of the great powers. He was not particularly enthusiastic about the German intervention in the War of Independence, because he wanted to convince the Finns that the process of gaining independence lay primarily in their own hands.

The extreme tragedy of the Civil War that divided the nation into "reds" and "whites" found expression in the strongly controversial emotions about Mannerheim. Confronting a threat from outside, when the Soviet Union was attacking Finland in late autumn 1939, Mannerheim succeeded in uniting the nation in a courageous battle against the enemy far superior in force.