For the Conflict and Resolution of the Aaland Islands Dispute
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The Aaland Islands. The flower and cream of Scandinavian maritime jewellery. Few among the tourists and Viking LARPers would have guessed that this Swedish-speaking Finnish archipelago, at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia, in the Baltic Sea, was not always the serene vacation destination and European Union tax exception it is today. Kastelholm Castle stands as evidence of the Swedish Empire's occupation of the islands in the Middle Ages, and the ruin of the Bomarsund Fortress is a relic of Russian fortification in the Crimean War, with the Russians only being there to build it because of the 1809 Treaty of Fredrickshamn, signed during the Napoleonic Wars, where the islands and the rest of Finland were ceded from Sweden to Russia, from which Finland gained its independence from during the First World War. But the islands hadn't seen the end of it yet. Even after the 1918 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which ended war between Russia and the Central Powers, Russian occupation in Aaland continued in support of the socialists in the Finnish Civil War, harassing Aalanders(Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, 2025)(Hofverberg E., 2020)(Autonomy Arrangements in the World, 2019). With Finland's apathetic response to the ongoing conflict on the islands, the Aalanders sought their own solution. So, what did they do? Who did it? And how effective was it?
Today, Aaland is well known for being an autonomous region within the sovereign state of Finland. They are part of Finland, but the people speak Swedish. In 1917 following Finland declaring independence from Russia, determined to find their own solution, the Aalanders formed a committee, headed by politicians Carl Bjorkmann and Julius Sundblom(Hofverberg E., 2020). The committee arranged and held a referendum in Aaland on the issue of reunification with Sweden. This culminated into an open letter to Sweden, which described "the authorisation of more than 96 percent of all resident Aaland men and women," and was delivered in 1919(Autonomy Arrangements in the World, 2019). Following this, both Sweden and Finland had officially claimed Aaland. The Finnish government said they were geographically linked to it and Sweden pointed out the Aalanders wishes to remain Swedish(Walters F P, 1952). The Finnish government proposed an autonomy act in 1920 that would grant the Aalanders limited rights of home rule which they hoped would appease them, but Aaland representatives declined this(Council Document B7. 21/68/106, 1921) and the dispute was brought up to the League of Nations(Walters F P, 1952).
After the First World War ended, the Swedish government tried to put the Aaland Island Dispute on the agenda at the Paris Peace Conference basing their concern for the Finnish islands on the right to self-determination(Walters F P, 1952). This strained relations with Finland, which it saw as a threat to their sovereignty in the region. This prompted the British government to refer the dispute to the newly-established League of Nations(O'Brien P, 2012). A meeting was held in London, where Sweden suggested a referendum to settle the question, which Finland opposed, especially as they felt they had been generous in granting the islands autonomy earlier that year and as they viewed the matter as an internal affair which did fall under the jurisdiction of international law(Walters F P, 1952). To gather information and provide the League with recommendations for a solution, a Commission of International Jurists(UN Archives Geneva, n.d.), made up of three diplomats from neutral countries was formed. With French Ferdinand Larnaude as president, he worked with Swiss and Dutch lawyers Max Huber and Antonius Struycken to present a report to the League of Nations(UN Archives, n.d.), which found that Finland's refusal to hold a referendum was valid, and that its argument that the right to self-determination cannot be applied to the case of the Aaland islands was reasonable, as at the time, self-determination was more of a principle rather than a right, not mentioned in the Covenant of the League of Nations. It also eliminated some analogies used against Finland that compared the Aalanders' struggle with self -determination with Finland's independence from Russia, pointing out that while Finland was oppressed and persecuted by Russia, no policy of oppression was enacted upon the Aalanders because of their Swedish heritage(Council Document B7. 21/68/106, 1921). However, it also recognised the Aalanders' sincere and universal desire to reunite with Sweden, and recognised, as a minority, their right to be treated fairly. Nonetheless, they saw no reason for separation from Finland, given the government's readiness to work with the Aalanders in preserving their social and ethnic character, and that taking the islands away after the fact would be unjust(Council Document B7. 21/68/106, 1921). They delivered their verdict in 1921, which ruled that the islands would remain a part of Finland, but the Finnish government became responsible for the preservation of the Aalanders' Swedish language, culture, and customs. They also expanded upon the 1920 Aaland Autonomy Act 1856 Treaty of Paris to not just keep the islands demilitarised, but also neutral(Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, n.d.). While this seemed like the end of the Aaland Islands Dispute, the menace of war throwing its shadow over the Baltic in the Second World War would threaten the peace the League of Nations ruling brought about(Walters F P, 1952).
Despite demilitarisation agreements, the threat of the islands being invaded, especially given its strategic position in the Baltic Sea prompted both Sweden and Finland to ask the League of Nations for permission to refortify Aaland. They requested the consent of all the signatories from the 1921 ruling, but progress was halted by the Soviet Union, who had signed the original demilitarisation treaty in 1856 after the Crimean War. They postponed talks for four months, not trusting Finland or Sweden to stay neutral if they went to war with Germany. But before the League could meet again, Germany invaded Poland in 1939, and it would never meet again, thus cutting short the last chapter of the Aaland Islands Dispute(Walters F P, 1952). More than fifty years later, when Finland joined the European Union in 1993, a special protocol had to be adopted for the Aaland Islands with respect to EU law(Hofverberg E, 2020), as to not contradict their Autonomy Act, which had been updated twice since its original passing by the Finnish Parliament(Autonomy Arrangements in the World, 2019)(finlex.fi, n.d.). The first article of the protocol permitted exceptions on the freedom to acquire and hold real estate, with that freedom being reserved for those with Aaland regional citizenship, which can be gained after five years of permanent residence, and the right to establish a business and provide services, under the same conditions. The second article exempts Aaland from taxes on domestically produced goods, allowing for tax-free sales between the Aaland and other EU member states(EUR-Lex, n.d.).
The Aaland Islands Dispute was a political conflict between Finland and Sweden over the possession of the Aaland Islands, an archipelago that has seen conflict since the Middle Ages for its valuable position in the Baltic Sea. It was first inhabited by Swedes, who passed on their culture and language to the island's present-day inhabitants. The islands were transferred to Russia after the Napoleonic Wars until they then became part of Finland when it gained independence during the First World War. In fear of losing their identity, the Aalanders held a referendum and appealed to the Swedish government, who tried to put the issue on the agenda at the Paris Peace Conference, supporting the Aalanders' push for self-determination, which angered Finland, given they had already passed the Aaland Autonomy Act, with reunification interpreted as annexation. To avoid escalation, the British intervened and the conflict was referred to the League of Nations, who, after establishing a Commission to investigate, resolved that the islands would remain with Finland, but guarantees had to be put into place to protect the Aalanders' Swedish identity and the island's military neutrality. Later, leading up to the Second World War, Finland and Sweden expressed their desire to fortify the islands in anticipation of invasion, but talks were held back by the Soviet Union, who were afraid the islands would be used against them. But before talks could resume, the Second World War started and the reopening of the Aaland Islands Dispute was forgotten until Finland's membership into the European Union, whose laws had to be adjusted in the special case of the Aaland Islands. Ultimately, the peace on the Aaland Islands today could have only been achieved through two hundred years of peace treaties and the efforts of the League of Nations in peaceful conflict settlement.
