By the Decree adopted on December 18 (31) by the Council of People’s Commissars, the Republic of Finland was recognized as an independent state. The recognition of the independence of the Republic of Finland was nothing more but a tactical move of the Bolsheviks since they did not intend to separate Finnish space from Russia. In January 1918, the Bolsheviks provoked a real civil war in Finland. In fact, the Finnish national government was fighting against the Red Army of the Soviet Russia. The signing of the Brest-Litovsk Peace on March 3, 1918, and the victory of the Finnish democratic forces over the “Red Revolutionists” on May 5, hindered Finland’s sovietisation. Negotiations between Soviet Russia and Finland regarding the overcoming the state of war, in connection with the 1918 civil war, took place in Tartu. The two countries have committed themselves to maintain good neighborly relations in the future. On June 8, 1920, the Central Executive Committee of Russia adopted the decision concerning «the Formation of the Karelian Labor Commune» (Карельская Трудовая Коммуна), in opposition to «Finland of Capitalists». The Red Karelia (opposed to the white Karelia in Finland) was supposed to become a «courageous example and urge the proletariat of the neighboring capitalist countries to follow the path of the revolution.» In 1923, the Bolsheviks gave a new name to the entity that served as the basis for the Scandinavian sovietisation. The new name was the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.