Åland crisis - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Åland crisis was one of the first issues put up for arbitration by the League of Nations

League of Nations

The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...

on its formation. The Åland Islands

Åland Islands

The Åland Islands form an archipelago in the Baltic Sea. They are situated at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia and form an autonomous, demilitarised, monolingually Swedish-speaking region of Finland...

' population's demand for self-determination

Self-determination

Self-determination is the principle in international law that nations have the right to freely choose their sovereignty and international political status with no external compulsion or external interference...

was not met and sovereignty

Sovereignty

Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...

over the islands was retained by Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

, but international guarantees were given to allow the population to pursue its own culture, relieving the threat of forced assimilation by Finnish culture as perceived by the islanders.

Background

Prior to 1809, the Åland Islands

Åland Islands

were located within the boundaries of the Swedish realm. However, in the Treaty of Fredrikshamn on September 17, 1809, Sweden had to give up control of the islands, along with Finland, to Imperial Russia. The autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland

Grand Duchy of Finland

The Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed 1809–1917 as part of the Russian Empire and was ruled by the Russian czar as Grand Prince.- History :...

was formed within the Russian Empire which included the Åland Islands. By the Treaty of Paris

Treaty of Paris (1856)

The Treaty of Paris of 1856 settled the Crimean War between Russia and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the British Empire, Second French Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The treaty, signed on March 30, 1856 at the Congress of Paris, made the Black Sea neutral territory, closing it to all...

of April 18, 1856, which ended the Crimean War

Crimean War

The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...

, Britain required Russia to withhold the construction of any new fortification

Fortification

Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...

s on the islands. This stipulation was obeyed, despite unsuccessful attempts to change the status of the demilitarised islands in 1908. However, in 1914, at the start of the First World War

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, the Russian government turned the islands into a submarine base

Submarine base

A submarine base is a military base that shelters submarines and their personnel.Examples of present-day submarine bases include HMNB Clyde, Île Longue , Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Naval Submarine Base New London, and Rybachiy Nuclear Submarine Base .The Israeli navy bases its growing submarine...

for the use of British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

and Russian submarines during the war.

Military crisis

In December 1917, fearing the effects of the Russian October Revolution

October Revolution

The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...

, the Finnish parliament proclaimed that Finland was now a sovereign state

Finland's declaration of independence

The Finnish declaration of independence was adopted by the Parliament of Finland on 6 December 1917. It declared Finland an independent and sovereign nation state rather than an autonomous Russian Grand duchy.-Revolution in Russia:...

, calling on the principles of national self-determination

Self-determination

. The very same autumn, Ålanders had organized for their own self-determination, fearing what they saw as excessive expressions of pro-Finnishness

Fennoman

The Fennomans were the most important political movement in the 19th century Grand Principality of Finland. They succeeded the fennophile interests of the 18th and early 19th century.-History:...

and anti-Swedishness in Finland. By this time, well above 90% of the islands' inhabitants considered themselves Swedish, stationed military personnel excluded, in contrast to Mainland Finland

Mainland Finland

Mainland Finland is a term used for instance in statistics to exclude the autonomous Åland Islands under Finnish sovereignty. Mainland Finland is not to be confused with Finland Proper, which is the province adjacent to Åland...

, where less than 15% were Swedish

Swedish language

Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...

-speaking. Unlike in Åland, in the previous twenty years social tensions had also worsened considerably in Finland. The Ålanders' answer was a wish for secession from the Grand Duchy of Finland

Grand Duchy of Finland

The Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed 1809–1917 as part of the Russian Empire and was ruled by the Russian czar as Grand Prince.- History :...

and the Russian Empire

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

, to which they felt little affiliation, and a request for annexation by Sweden.

Sweden's power elite was, however, preoccupied with Sweden's democratization

Democratization

Democratization is the transition to a more democratic political regime. It may be the transition from an authoritarian regime to a full democracy, a transition from an authoritarian political system to a semi-democracy or transition from a semi-authoritarian political system to a democratic...

that was recently commenced by a conservative

Conservatism

Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...

cabinet in order to quench the revolutionary

Revolutionary

A revolutionary is a person who either actively participates in, or advocates revolution. Also, when used as an adjective, the term revolutionary refers to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor.-Definition:...

currents among Swedish workers. To that effect, Sweden got a new liberal

Liberalism

Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...

prime minister, and for the first time socialists in the cabinet. Although activist

Nationalist activism

The Nationalist activism was an elitist political movement of the early 20th century in Scandinavia, Finland and the Baltic countries. The Activists advocated in brief a close cooperation with Imperial Germany, and active support of Germany's military aims — primarily directed against...

circles close to the royal court were enthusiastic towards the Ålanders' plea for Swedish support, the activists had lost their political influence in 1916, and ultimately also the ear of King Gustav V. Representatives for the Ålanders were fed sympathetic words and empty phrases. Neither the Liberals nor the Socialists leading Sweden through the last year of World War I were the slightest bit interested in anything that had to do with activist adventurous policies. And the king fully agreed with his cabinet on this point.

The Finnish Civil War

Finnish Civil War

The Finnish Civil War was a part of the national, political and social turmoil caused by World War I in Europe. The Civil War concerned control and leadership of The Grand Duchy of Finland as it achieved independence from Russia after the October Revolution in Petrograd...

starting in January 1918, initially did not change this situation. Sweden's Social Democrats

Swedish Social Democratic Party

The Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party, , contesting elections as 'the Workers' Party – the Social Democrats' , or sometimes referred to just as 'the Social Democrats' and most commonly as Sossarna ; is the oldest and largest political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1889...

had the year before purged the revolutionaries from the party, and were sympathetic but unsupportive of the socialist republic

Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic

The Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic was a short-lived Finnish socialist government, established by a revolution just prior to the Finnish Civil War and in the aftermath of the October Revolution...

in Finland. Their coalition partners in the cabinet, the Liberals, were rather inclined to sympathize with the White government in Finland, but they were traditionally neutralist and additionally rather suspicious of their Finnish counterparts. Those non-socialists in Finland who were not ardent fennoman

Fennoman

The Fennomans were the most important political movement in the 19th century Grand Principality of Finland. They succeeded the fennophile interests of the 18th and early 19th century.-History:...

s seemed to the Swedish Liberals more like the Conservatives they were used to viewing as their political enemies.

Exaggerated reports of civilian apprehension concerning the approaching combatants of the civil war resulted, however, in the dispatch of a minor naval expedition, tasked with evacuating civilians who wished it. It turned out that no civilians wished evacuation, but the naval commander proudly brokered an end to hostilities and remained on the Main Island as a peace-keeping force. It is evident that the chain of command

Chain of Command

Chain of Command may refer to:* Chain of command, in a military context, the line of authority and responsibility along which orders are passed* "Chain of Command" , the fifth episode of the first season of Beast Wars...

was considerably more inclined towards activism than the Socialist Minister of Defence, who in turn was persuaded to be considerably more supportive of intervention than his cabinet colleagues. It is less clear to what degree other cabinet members were briefed in between cabinet meetings, or even whether they had a say. Stockholm did not perceive anything of moment, and anything that happened was unintended by the government and well-intentioned by the naval officer in charge.

The White government in Vaasa

Vaasa

Vaasa is a city on the west coast of Finland. It received its charter in 1606, during the reign of Charles IX of Sweden and is named after the Royal House of Vasa...

saw it differently. They were bitter over the lack of support from Sweden against the socialist rebels, and well informed about activist desires to re-acquire the Åland Islands, since many of the Swedish military officers who volunteered to come to White Finland's support were close to the leading activists. The White government was alarmed by the entry of Swedish troops on Finland's soil, and suspicious of Sweden's Socialist Minister of Defence. A German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

naval force was urgently asked to remove the Swedish troops from Åland.

Political crisis

The leading Swedish Social Democrat, Hjalmar Branting

Hjalmar Branting

was a Swedish politician. He was the leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party , and Prime Minister during three separate periods . When Branting came to power in 1920, he was the first Social Democratic Prime Minister of Sweden...

, opted for dealing with the issue purely from the standpoint of international law

International law

Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...

. The cabinet of Finland viewed this position as a purely tactical one, and a dispute over whether the islands rightfully belonged to Sweden or Finland ensued. In 1921, again despite the fact that 90 percent of the islands' population was Swedish — and that they expressed an almost unanimous desire of being incorporated into Sweden — the League of Nations determined that the Åland Islands should remain under Finnish sovereignty, which is often attributed to the skill of its Minister to Paris, Carl Enckell

Carl Enckell

Carl Enckell was a Finnish politician, officer and a diplomat. He was the first representative of independent Finland in Saint Petersburg...

, who also was envoy to the League of Nations in charge of Finland's presentation of the Åland question.

Merit is also attributed to Finland's Envoy to Japan, professor G.J. Ramstedt

Gustaf John Ramstedt

Gustaf John Ramstedt was a Swedish-speaking Finnish linguist and diplomat.-Biography:Ramstedt was born in Ekenäs in Southern Finland....

, who managed to point out to the Japanese delegation in the League of Nations that the Åland Islands are in fact a continuous archipelago that joins it with Finland, and furthermore, that deep sea waters separate them from Sweden. Japan's own interests in controlling Pacific islands would be aided by such a precedent, and it consequently gave important support to Finland.

Aftermath

The interrelated difficulties in the relations between Sweden and Finland were resolved by the mid-1930s, when the weakened authority of the League of Nations signalled a much harsher international mood. The fear of the Åland Islands' falling under the control of Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

or the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

was very real, and that is why Sweden's Foreign Minister Sandler proposed retaining the status of the islands despite Sweden's longstanding policy of neutrality

Swedish neutrality

Swedish neutrality refers to Sweden's policy of neutrality in armed conflicts, which has been in effect since the early 19th century. The policy originated largely as a result of Sweden's involvement in the Napoleonic Wars during which over a third of the country's territory was lost, including the...

. Detailed defensive plans were made; however, in the end, Sweden opted not to participate in the defence of the islands.

Autonomy of Åland Islands

In 1920, Finland granted wide-reaching cultural and political autonomy to the Åland Islands. The League of Nations considered these measures as satisfying demands to protect the Swedish language and culture there.

During the course of the 20th century, Finnish sovereignty has been perceived as benevolent, and even beneficial, by increasing numbers of the islanders. Together with disappointment over insufficient support from Sweden in the League of Nations, Swedish disrespect for Åland's demilitarized status in the 1930s, and to some degree a feeling of shared destiny with Finland during and after World War II, this has resulted in a changed perception of Åland's relation to Finland: from "a Swedish province in Finnish possession" to "an autonomous part of Finland".

External links

Decision of the Council of The League of Nations