He spent a great deal of his time in Switzerland, most of it in the Sanatorium of Val-Mont (from 1948 on). Now and again, he visited the Kirkniemi mansion which he had purchased with the sum of money he had been given as a present on his 75th birthday. Officially he was entitled to an ADC, but Lieutenant Colonel Lindeman did not accompany him abroad.
Mannerheim did not stop showing concern for the precarious position of Finland even in his retirement days. He wrote his memoirs in order to remind the Western Powers of the special character of the Finnish wars and the difficult position of Finland.
There were wild rumours of Mannerheim’s actions in 1948 and 1949, when the establishment of NATO was being discussed. Some said that he had gone abroad to set up a refuge government of Finland there. Others rumoured that he had made contact with the staffs of the western powers in order to make preparations for snatching Finland out of the Russian interest sphere with the assistance of the western powers. It is true, that mentally Mannerheim no doubt wanted to move in this direction, but there are no signs of his scheming and plotting with the western military staffs. One of the strongest reasons for these suspicions was the fact that he was often accompanied by the Chief of General Staff, Heinrichs, and the reconnoitering officer, Paasonen. There exists, however, a natural explanation to their presence. Heinrichs and Paasonen helped Mannerheim in his literary task, writing the memoirs.
COURSE OF LIFE | FAMILY | TIME OF GROWTH | MILITARY CAREER | WAR OF INDEPENDENCE | REGENT 1918-1919 | CIVILIAN | DEFENCE COUNCIL | COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF 1939-1946 | PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC 1944-1946 | RETIREMENT | SPECIAL TOPICS | SEARCH