Åland Islands dispute

In December 1917, fearing the effects of the Russian October Revolution, the Finnish parliament proclaimed that Finland was now a sovereign state, calling on the principles of national self-determination.

The Ålanders' answer was a wish for secession from the Grand Duchy of Finland and the Russian Empire, to which they felt little affiliation, and a request for annexation by Sweden.

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.

It turned out that no civilians wished evacuation, but the naval commander proudly brokered an end to hostilities and remained on Fasta Åland as a peace-keeping force.

The leading Swedish Social Democrat, Hjalmar Branting, opted for dealing with the issue purely from the standpoint of international law.

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

Ramstedt, who was an important foreign influencer in Japan, 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.

[4] 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.