
The Invasion of Åland was a 1918 military campaign of
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
in
Åland
Åland ( , ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland. Receiving its autonomy by a 1920 decision of the League of Nations, it is the smallest region of Finland by both area () and population (30,54 ...
,
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
. The islands, still hosting
Soviet Russia
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...
n troops, were first invaded by
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
in late February and then by the
German Empire
The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...
in early March. The conflict was also related to the
Finnish Civil War
The Finnish Civil War was a civil war in Finland in 1918 fought for the leadership and control of the country between Whites (Finland), White Finland and the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (Red Finland) during the country's transition fr ...
including minor fighting between the
Finnish Whites and the
Finnish Reds.
As Germany took control over Åland in March 1918, Russian troops were captured and the Swedish troops left the islands by the end of the Finnish Civil War in May. The Germans stayed in Åland until September 1918. The
Åland Islands dispute was then turned over to the
Paris Peace Conference in 1919 and the
League of Nations
The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...
in 1920. The
Åland convention
Åland ( , ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland. Receiving its autonomy by a 1920 decision of the League of Nations, it is the smallest region of Finland by both area () and population (30,54 ...
was finally signed in 1921 re-establishing the
demilitarised status of Åland as an autonomous part of Finland.
Background
The Åland Islands are located in the northern
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...
between Sweden and Finland. The population is
Swedish-speaking, but after the 1809
Treaty of Fredrikshamn
The Treaty of Fredrikshamn, or the Treaty of Hamina, was a peace treaty concluded between Sweden and Imperial Russia on 17 September 1809. The treaty concluded the Finnish War and was signed in the Finnish town of Fredrikshamn ( Hamina). Russia ...
the islands were ceded to the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
together with a vast majority of the Finnish-speaking areas of Sweden, becoming the
Grand Duchy of Finland
The Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed from 1809 to 1917 as an Autonomous region, autonomous state within the Russian Empire.
Originating in the 16th century as a titular grand duchy held by the Monarc ...
, an autonomous part of the Russian Empire. In the 1856
Treaty of Paris, settling the
Crimean War
The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...
, the Åland Islands were demilitarised. As World War I broke out in 1914, the Russian Empire turned the islands into a submarine base for the use of British and Russian navies.
Some time in 1915 the Russians destroyed
Lågskär lighthouse to prevent the Germans from using it as a landmark. In 1915-16 the Germans had already made plans and were training to land on Åland. On the night of 25 and 26 July 1916 at 23:30 the German airship LZ 58 (naval designation L 25) attacked the port of
Mariehamn
Mariehamn ( , ; ; ) is the capital of Åland, an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government and Parliament of Åland, and 40% of the population of Åland live in the city. It is mostly surrounded b ...
. 8 explosive bombs were dropped on the boats of the Russian 5th submarine squadron. One of the bombs dropped on the quay next to the submarine mothership ''Svjatitel Nikolai'', and ''Salo'', resulting in the death of 7 Russian sailors and a horse.
The Russian government also started building fortifications, in agreement with their allies
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
, in order to prevent the German invasion. Åland Islands were fortified with 10 coastal
artillery batteries, several garrisons, docks, and three airfields. The coastal batteries were at Sålis, Kungsö, Frebbenby, Mellantorp,
Korsö, Herrö, Storklobb,
Kökar, Hamnö-Saggö and Boxö. The cannons were 105 mm-215 mm, the batteries had open or blasted into the rock concrete bunkers with other equipment. The batteries also sometimes had loading docks, rails for transport, power plants for headlights and other types of equipment. The air fields where at Granboda,
Föglö, with support stations at Torpvik,
Eckerö and Gersbäck,
Saltvik. There were also several coast guard stations and the docks were used for
torpedo boats
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...
, submarines and more. There were telegraph stations at
Prästö, Lotsberget and
Lemland, there were also many radio posts around Åland. There were also 24,000 meters of barbed wire and 6,500 meters of trenches, there were also about 1,893 mines placed around Åland. There were also several areas with towed artillery, for example Ingby. With a total of 7,000-8,000 Russian soldiers.
[ Sweden, however, considered the structures too heavy for just defending the islands. The government feared a possible attack from Åland, and so the neutral Sweden felt pressured to join the Allied Powers. It did not however do so.][
]
Outbreak of the Finnish Civil War
As Finland gained its independence from Russia in December 1917, a movement was launched in Åland to join the islands to Sweden. The Swedish government had an audience with a delegation from Åland who wanted annexation by Sweden. After the Finnish Civil War started in late January 1918, the Swedish foreign minister Johannes Hellner and the king Gustaf V had an audience with a delegation from Åland on 8 February. According to the delegation, a referendum had been held in Åland and a vast majority of 95% was willing to join Sweden. The delegation called for action on the cause and asked help from the Swedish government against the alleged arbitrary and disorder of the Russian troops. The Swedish newspapers also pressed for action for humanitarian reasons.[ Since the beginning of the war, the government had already evacuated more than 1,000 Swedish citizens from the Finnish mainland via the west coast town of ]Pori
Pori (; ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Satakunta. It is located on the west coast of the country, on the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Pori is approximately , while the Pori sub-region, sub-region has a population of a ...
.[
The Finnish Civil War expanded to Åland on 10 February, as a squad of 460 White Guard members, led by the captain Johan Fabritius from the Vakka-Suomi region, landed on the islands. The group had fled three days earlier from the town of Uusikaupunki and crossed the ice of the ]Archipelago Sea
The Archipelago Sea (, ) is a part of the Baltic Sea between the Gulf of Bothnia, the Gulf of Finland and the Sea of Åland, within Finnish territorial waters. By some definitions it contains the List of archipelagos by number of islands, larges ...
. After reaching Åland, the Whites had some minor clashes with troops supporting Lenin's Russian Government. On 12 February they took Sottunga telephone exchange
A telephone exchange, telephone switch, or central office is a central component of a telecommunications system in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or in large enterprises. It facilitates the establishment of communication circuits ...
, capturing 4 Russians. On 14 February, they took the Prästö telegraph station in Sund, capturing 20 Russian soldiers. The Russians, however, were not much interested in resistance. They were mostly waiting to return home.[
]
The Swedish invasion
On 13 February, Swedish government finally decided to send troops to Åland. The driving force of the Swedish Åland politics was the Social Democratic
Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...
Minister for Naval Affairs Erik Palmstierna, who was a retired naval officer. Two days later, a naval detachment of the icebreaker '' Isbrytaren I'', the coastal defense ship HSwMS ''Thor'' and the troopship '' SS Runeberg'' docked at Eckerö in the Swedish side of the islands. A small military unit landed in Åland in order to protect the people from alleged misconduct of the Russian troops as well as from the violent threat of the Finnish sides of the Civil War. The Whites incorrectly assumed the Swedes had come to join them. Encouraged by this, the Whites took the artillery batteries in Boxö and Saggö, but instead of supporting them, the Swedes started negotiations with the Russians.[
]
The negotiation was stopped on 17 February, as 150-men Red Guard unit from Turku
Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...
arrived in Åland with the icebreaker '' Murtaja''. Their intention was to help the Russians in the presumed fight against the Swedes and the Whites. On the same day, the Whites attacked and took the village of Godby in Finström and Gölby in Jomala, but the Soviets troops were able to keep the village of Gölby and the artillery fort of Sålis. Two days later, the Reds made a counterattack against Godby but were pushed back. The Battles of Godby ended with 2 killed Whites and 3 killed Reds (one of which died in a Swedish ambush at Finström). 8 captured Reds were later executed. It remained the only Finnish Civil War battle fought in Åland.[
As the situation in Åland had now escalated to open violence, the Swedes intervened in the situation with a counterfeit order by the White Army commander C. G. E. Mannerheim calling the Whites to retreat from Åland. In reality, General Mannerheim wanted the Whites to take control of all the islands and then launch an offensive against ]Turku
Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...
, the Red capital of Southwest Finland. As the Whites did not know Mannerheim's real intentions, they followed the false order and left Åland on 20 February.[ As White Finland learned of the Swedish actions, they issued a strict objection. The Swedish government now had to convince others that their purpose was not to annex the islands, but only to protect the Swedish-speaking people of Åland.][
On 19 February, HSwMS ''Sverige'' and ''Oscar II'' carrying a company from the Vaxholm Coastal Artillery Regiment arrived at Åland to press the Soviets in leaving the islands.] The Central Committee of the Baltic Fleet still tried to avoid the armed conflict and on 22 February the political representative Vatslav Vorovsky stated the Soviets troops were willing to leave Åland. The order of disarmament was given a day after and the Finnish icebreaker '' Murtaja'' took 300 Russian Bolsheviks
The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...
and the Finnish Red Guard fighters to Turku. On 24 February, the 500-man battalion of the Royal Göta Life Guards, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel G. E. Ros, landed at Eckerö,[ and on 27 February, the Swedes took control of ]Mariehamn
Mariehamn ( , ; ; ) is the capital of Åland, an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government and Parliament of Åland, and 40% of the population of Åland live in the city. It is mostly surrounded b ...
, the capital of Åland, . By the 2 March, the Swedes controlled all the islands, although there were still up to 1,200 disarmed Russian soldiers present.[
]
The German invasion
The armistice between Russia and Germany lapsed on 18 February 1918 and the ''Operation Faustschlag
The Operation Faustschlag or (), also known as the Eleven Days' War, was a Central Powers offensive in World War I. It was the last major offensive on the Eastern Front.
Russian forces were unable to put up any serious resistance due to the ...
'' was soon launched by the Germans. This included the invasion of Åland, as the Germans did not know whether Sweden would remain neutral or join the Allies. The Germans had their interests in Finland because of the access to the Arctic Sea and the country's presence near the Murmansk railway and the Bolshevik capital of Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
. To justify the invasion, Germany ordered a request of military assistance from their allies in Finland. The White Senate message requesting the German invasion of Åland reached Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
on 22 February.[ The German intention was to gather troops to Åland and then land the Finnish mainland in the west coast town of Rauma. As the ice in the ]Bothnian Bay
The Bothnian Bay or Bay of Bothnia (; ) is the northernmost part of the Gulf of Bothnia, which is in turn the northern part of the Baltic Sea. The land holding the bay is still rising after the weight of ice-age glaciers has been removed, and ...
was too thick, the landing was finally made in Hanko, Southern Finland, by the Baltic Sea Division in the first days of April.[
On 28 February, a naval unit of the ]dreadnought battleship
The dreadnought was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an effect when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her were referred to as "dreadnoughts", ...
s and and the troopship Giessen, commanded by the admiral Hugo Meurer, left Danzig to Åland. The ships were carrying the ''Großherzoglich Mecklenburgisches Jäger-Bataillon Nr. 14'', under the command of the major August Schenck zu Schweinsberg. The convoy was slowed down by the heavy ice, but finally the ''Aalands-Detachement'' reached Eckerö on 5 March. The following day, the Swedes were forced to make a deal with the Germans.[ According to the agreement, Sweden and Germany now shared the Åland Islands. The Swedes had a hold on the capital Mariehamn and the villages of Jomala, ]Geta
Geta may refer to:
Places
*Geta (woreda), a woreda in Ethiopia's Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region
*Geta, Åland, a municipality in Finland
*Geta, Nepal, a town in Attariya Municipality, Kailali District, Seti Zone, Nepal
*Get� ...
and Finström. Both were allowed to use the port of Eckerö. A post of the Finnish military governor was established and filled by the naval officer Hjalmar von Bonsdorff as the representative of the White Senate.[
The Germans captured up to 1,000–1,200 Soviet soldiers which were shipped to ]Liepāja
Liepāja () (formerly: Libau) is a Administrative divisions of Latvia, state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest city in the Courland region and the third-largest in the country after Riga and Daugavpils. It is an ...
. 250 Ukrainian, Polish, Latvian and Estonian soldiers of the Soviet army were placed to an internment camp in Sweden. These soldiers were later handed over to Germans and transported to Sassnitz in Northern Germany.[ In Mariehamn, the Germans took several Russian warships and the Finnish steamer '' SS Baltic''.][
On 10 March, the Finnish Reds proposed negotiations with the Germans over their potential threat against Turku, the Red capital of Southwest Finland. The Germans agreed to meet the Red delegation in Åland if they would bring the POWs kept in Turku.] In 1918 the Russians exchanged more than 65,000 wounded and invalid German POWs via Finland. The Red delegation including the socialist philosopher Georg Boldt and the Turku militia leader William Lundberg, together with 260 POWs, travelled across the ice by horse-drawn sleigh. On 15 March, Boldt and Lundberg had a meeting with the Germans. However, the Reds were told that since the Germans were invited by the Whites, they could not discuss their intentions. Boldt and Lundberg were then escorted back to the mainland.
In late March, the Germans launched a campaign in the Turku archipelago to secure the left wing of the forthcoming Baltic Sea Division landing in Hanko. The plan was to reach Turku from Åland via the islands of Houtskär
Houtskär (; ) is an island group and former municipality of Finland. On 1 January 2009, it was consolidated with Iniö, Korpo, Nagu and Pargas to form the municipality of Pargas (briefly named Väståboland).
It is located in the Archipelago Se ...
, Korpo
Korpo (; ) is an island located in the Turku archipelago. It is a former municipality of Finland. On 1 January 2009, it was consolidated with Houtskär, Iniö, Nagu and Pargas to form the new town of Väståboland. As of 1 January 2012, Vä ...
, Nagu
Nagu (; ) is a List of former municipalities of Finland, former municipality and parish of Finland. On 1 January 2009, it was consolidated with Houtskär, Iniö, Korpo and Pargas (former municipality), Pargas to form the new town of Väståbol ...
and Pargas
Pargas () is a town and municipality of Finland, in the Archipelago Sea, the biggest archipelago in the world by the number of islands, 50,000. The big limestone mine in Pargas is the base of the main industry and except for the central parts, t ...
. Houtskär was taken by the Finnish Whites on 25 March and Korpo on 28 March, but the Reds stopped the German troops in the Battle of Nagu on 4 April. The Germans then left the archipelago and focused on the march from Hanko to Helsinki
Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...
.
Aftermath
Sweden pulled most of its troops from Åland on 14 March, but the ship ''Oscar II'' and one small military unit stayed until the end of the Finnish Civil War. The last Swedes retreated on 26 May 1918.[ The Germans stayed in the Åland Islands until September 1918. After the war, Sweden was still willing to take the Åland Islands and wanted to solve the dispute in the ]Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...
, but the question was not included.[ A new referendum was held in 1919 and now 9,900 of the 10,000 voters wanted to join Sweden.][ A year later, Great Britain took the case to the newly founded ]League of Nations
The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...
. In June 1921, Åland was declared as a demilitarised and autonomous territory of Finland.[
]
Casualties
During their seven-month military campaign in Åland, the Germans lost six men. Three of them were killed on 9 March as the icebreaker '' Hindenburg'' struck a mine off Eckerö and sank. Two sailors drowned on 11 April when ''Rheinland'' grounded between the islands of Lågskär and Flötjan. ''Rheinland'' was later re-floated in July, but she had been badly damaged in the grounding, and the German naval command determined that she was not worth repairing. In addition to the casualties in Åland, seven Germans were killed in the Battle of Nagu in the Turku Archipelago.
There was one Swedish soldier who died. He was an infantry sergeant who committed suicide in April. Three Whites were killed in the Battle of Godby, two in the Battle of Korpo and one in the Battle of Nagu.
The number of Russian Bolshevik soldiers killed is not clear but at least two soldiers died in the clashes with the Finnish Whites. One Soviet and one Finnish Red were shot by the Whites in late March when they were captured near the island of Vårdö. The order was given by the Finnish military governor Hjalmar von Bonsdorff and the execution was carried out by the Whites occupying the Turku Archipelago. In addition to the 3 Reds killed in the Battle of Godby, 8 captured Reds were shot by the Whites in the ice of Färjsundet Strait. At least 26 also died in the Battle of Nagu and 7 in the Battle of Korpo.
See also
* Riga expedition (1905)
* Swedish intervention in Persia
*World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
*Finnish Civil War
The Finnish Civil War was a civil war in Finland in 1918 fought for the leadership and control of the country between Whites (Finland), White Finland and the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (Red Finland) during the country's transition fr ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Invasion of Åland
Conflicts in 1918
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1918 in Finland
White movement
Naval battles involving Sweden
Battles involving Sweden
Swedish military occupations