thumb|A plaque marking the birthplace (1914) of the Jäger Movement at the Ostrobothnia House in Helsinki.
The Jäger Movement (, ) was a Finnish political and military movement whose aim was to liberate the Grand Duchy of Finland from the Russian Empire and create an independent Finnish state. The movement grew out of the that had emerged during the periods of Russification. From 1915, a total of 1,894 Finnish volunteers received military training in Germany, and the soldiers came to play a central role in the Finnish Civil War of 1918.
Background
The Russian manifesto of 17 November 1914, which outlined a comprehensive programme for the Russification of Finland, became the catalyst for the movement. Both Finnish- and Swedish-speaking students were represented, and the participants formed a to lead the effort.
It was considered necessary to form a national army, but military training could not be obtained in Finland. Individual Finns attempted as early as 1914 to organise training in Sweden, but the Swedish government did not want to involve the country in World War I. In January 1915, however, Germany was prepared to train 200 Finnish recruits for future operations in their homeland.
The operation was directed by the intelligence service of the Imperial German Navy, while the training was carried out by the Royal Prussian Army. A central role was played by , who from Berlin facilitated contacts between the Finnish activists and the German military leadership.
Imprisoned Jägers
Russia learned of the Jäger battalion in the autumn of 1915 and a number of soldiers and supporters were arrested. The prisoners were taken to the in Petrograd and came to be known as the (). They were released following the February Revolution of 1917.
Front service and return
Towards the end of the summer of 1916, the battalion was sent to a sector near the Gulf of Riga, where it was deployed in front-line service against Russia. and the main force landed in Vaasa on 25 February 1918, where they were received by Gustaf Mannerheim. The soldiers went on to form the officer corps and training cadre of the new Finnish army.
A total of 1,261 soldiers took part in the civil war on the White side, of whom 128 were killed and 238 wounded.
After the war
Not all Jägers fought in the 1918 war on the White side; some sympathised ideologically with the Reds due to their working-class backgrounds. A total of 441 Jägers returned to Finland only after the end of the civil war.