Abstract
This paper deals with anthropological and psychological explanations of war as a sacrificial ritual enhancing individual or group cohesion during the Finnish Civil war 1917–1918. Analysis of both bourgeois and Social Democrat press and party archives show how fantasies of a bloody solution appeared as early as the summer of 1917. Sacrifice of young men was seen as a national renewal, removing the suffocating atmosphere of the political stalemate and mutual suspicions. Individual self‐sacrifice was praised as a proof to build a nation, not due to its instrumental value. Both parties were able to deny the consequences of their war preparations and aired relief as the war began. The war was experienced as a purity crusade of younger generations against the vices of elder men, whose egoism had endangered the national existence.
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