Interwar Years
In the 1920s and 1930s Oesch advanced rapidly in the Finnish Defence Forces. He studied in French military academies in 1923-1926 and, once he had returned Finland, Oesch commanded the newly created general staff academy Sotakorkeakoulu in 1926-1929. In 1930 Oesch was promoted to Major General and appointed the Chief of the General Staff—assignment he was to hold almost a decade.
As Chief of the General Staff Oesch was one of the most influential men in the Finnish Defence Forces. He was a driving force behind the mobilization reform effected in the early 1930s (the new mobilization plans were mainly drafted by the then Lieutenant Colonel Aksel Airo). Oesch also served briefly as a deputy Minister of Interior Affairs in March 1932, during the crisis caused by the Mäntsälä rebellion. He was promoted to Lieutenant General in 1936.
Read more about this topic: Karl Lennart Oesch
Famous quotes containing the word years:
“It has been years since I have seen anyone who could even look as if he were in love. No one’s face lights up any more except for political conversation.”
—Margaret Anderson (1886–1973)