The title of Field Marshal was fairly common in the armies of the great powers. The Finnish field marshals of the Swedish army, e.g. the heroes of the Thirty Years’ War, were outstanding in the Finnish war history at the beginning of the 20th century. In the old Swedish hierarchy the marshal stood next to the King in rank, together with the drots (a Swedish title of high rank). The title of field marshal became familiar to the Finns from J.L. Runeberg’s poetical work Vänrikki Stoolin tarinat The shorter and more informal form "marski" was used of Mannerheim among the folk.

When Mannerheim’s 75th birthday was approaching, a lot of consideration was given to how he could be shown the respect and appreciation he enjoyed. The idea of entitling him Marshal of Finland came up, as there were no ranks above the rank of Field Marshal in the Finnish army. In autumn 1940, a similar suggestion had been put forward to the President of the Republic by Professor Georg von Wendt, an ex-senator and MP. It was backed by the leaders of the defence battles of the Winter War, in which the nation had so loyally stood together, and inspired by the title of Reichsmarschall, awarded to Field Marshal Göring in Germany in summer 1940 after the defeat of France.