---
title: 'Tääll'' ovat jo taattomme taistelleet (Here Our Fathers Have Already Fought): Finnish poster before the Winter War'
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/finland-taattomme-taistelleet-1939/
description: A Finnish soldier in a steel helmet, rifle at his side, stands beside a plain printed sheet in heavy black type that reads that 'our fathers have already…
section: Collection
---

[Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)

[![Tääll' ovat jo taattomme taistelleet (Here Our Fathers Have Already Fought): Finnish poster before the Winter War](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/finland-taattomme-taistelleet-1939.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/finland-taattomme-taistelleet-1939.jpg)

# Tääll' ovat jo taattomme taistelleet (Here Our Fathers Have Already Fought): Finnish poster before the Winter War

A Finnish soldier in a steel helmet, rifle at his side, stands beside a plain printed sheet in heavy black type that reads that 'our fathers have already fought here, protected freedom with their blood'. The sentence borrows the standing of earlier generations' fighting for the present soldier and sets 'freedom' beside it, with no named enemy, place or request.

## Text on the object

Original (Finnish) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
Tääll' ovat jo
taattomme taistellee[t]
verellään vapautta
varjelleet!
```

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

```
Here our fathers have already fought, have defended freedom with their blood!
```

The final t of 'taistelleet' is hidden behind the soldier's helmet in the photograph and is supplied from the SA-kuva title, which spells the sentence 'taistelleet' and 'varjelleet'. 'Taattomme' is an archaic poetic word for 'our fathers'. Translation is machine translation by Claude, not fluent-reader verified.

[← Kansanlaina on maamme varmuusvahti! (The People's Loan Is Our Country's Safeguard!): Finnish loan board on a truck](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/finland-kansanlaina-varmuusvahti-1939/) [Varokaa! Vakoilija! (Beware! Spy!): Finnish Winter War poster →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/finland-varokaa-vakoilijaa-1939/)

## Using the same techniques

- [Bronze sestertius of Gaius (Caligula), reverse S P Q R P P OB CIVES SERVATOS in an oak wreath](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sestertius-caligula-ob-cives-servatos-0037/) (Roman Empire · 0037 · Testimonial, Transfer)
- [Gold coin of Kanishka: King of Kings legend, king at the altar, deity Oesho](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/gold-dinar-kanishka-king-of-kings-0130/) (Kushan Empire · 0130 · Transfer)
- [Gold solidus of Justinian I, reverse VICTORIA AVGGG with Victory holding a Christogram staff](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/solidus-justinian-i-victoria-avggg-0538/) (Byzantine Empire · 0538 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Bayeux Tapestry, scene 23: UBI HAROLD SACRAMENTVM FECIT VVILLELMO DVCI](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bayeux-tapestry-harold-oath-to-william-1070/) (Kingdom of England · 1070 · Transfer, Card stacking)
- [Mughal gold coin of Jahangir, dated 1028 AH, with a bull inside a ring of sun rays](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/jahangir-gold-zodiac-coin-sun-rays-1619/) (Mughal Empire · 1619 · Transfer)
- [Frontispiece to Eikon Basilike, The Pourtraicture of His Sacred Majestie in his Solitudes and Sufferings (Hollar, 1649)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/eikon-basilike-frontispiece-hollar-1649/) (Dutch Republic · 1649 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Consult of the doctors on the grave illness of the Grand Sultan (Consult vande medicijnen inde swaere siekte vanden grooten Sultaen)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/consult-of-the-doctors-sick-sultan-antwerp-1683/) (Spanish Netherlands · 1683 · Transfer, Bandwagon)
- [The Highlanders Medley, or The Duke Triumphant (A Loyal Song)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/highlanders-medley-duke-triumphant-1746/) (Great Britain · 1746 · Name-calling, Transfer)