The Fight for Åland | The Finnish Islands That Wanted to Be Swedish
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- čas přidán 2. 07. 2024
- The Åland Islands lies between Sweden and Finland, and they caused great tension between these countries a hundred years ago. Let's explore this archipelago and see what all the fuss was about.
Åland is a pretty strange place in Scandinavia. It belongs to Finland, but it’s a self-governing territory with its own laws. And the people of Åland speak Swedish, and they share a lot of Swedish culture. Finland has sovereignty over the islands, but for a long time they wanted to belong to Sweden instead.
Less than 30 000 people live in Åland, on an area of roughly 1 500 square kilometers. And the main city of Åland is Mariehamn, a bustling metropolis of 11 000 people. Despite its small size, Åland has been of immense importance to the maritime traffic on the Baltic, as well as the military.
In this video I discuss the history of Åland as well as the politics leading up to the modern day. I also visit the Åland Museum of Cultural History, and the Maritime Museum which includes the four-masted steel barque Pommern. You will also see views from the western and eastern harbor of Mariehamn, as well as other areas of the city.
I didn't forget to mention the local brewery Stallhagen as well, and I also discuss the famous Champagne Schooner that sank close to the island of Föglö in the Åland archipelago. It was found with 145 intact bottles of champagne, and 5 bottles of beer - which were later auctioned off.
All this and a lot more, as I visit the Åland Islands - a strange little self-governing territory in the middle of the Baltic Sea.
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There's a legend about Finns giving the League of Nations' higher-ups a tour from Finland to Åland and then to Sweden. The captain of that vessel drove a very cramped Turku archipelago in a way that made it look like Åland was attached to Finland by islands (which it kinda is), and then took a really long and perhaps not the straightest possible route from Åland to Stockholm to make it look like there was a more noticeable gap between the Åland islands and Sweden.
Haha, that's kinda awesome if it's true. "So, let's go from Mariehamn to Stockholm. We'll pass by the town of Gävle on the way..."
Fascinating - thanks for uploading!
Thanks for checking it out :D
Thank you for this fascinating and comprehensive video about the Åland Islands.
Glad that you enjoyed it! It's a pretty fascinating place, and very nice in the summer as well
Very interesting. Thank you
Really happy to hear that! Thank you for checking out the video :D
Great tour, TSV. Thank you. Have a great day you too. Greetings from Yucatán, México.
Thank you! And I really hope I can go back to the Yucatán some day - it's really lovely over there!
@@ThreeStarVagabond You'll be welcome! There are many things to discover and talk about around here.
Hello my friend, I enjoyed your video. Thanks for share a great adventure. Greetings from Bolivia.
Thank you so much for checking it out! Hope you have a great day over there :D
I wouldn't say that the Åland islands are held hostage. It is true that when Finland became independent, the people of Åland wanted to be part of Sweden because of culture and language. However, the League of Nations decided that Åland geographically belongs to Finland, and even Sweden did not want to make a side issue out of it. In fact, the people of Åland were very disappointed with how little support Åland received from Sweden itself. So even swedes thought that it might be better idea just to let Finland have the Åland islands...
Today, however, things are different. Many people living in Åland see their own autonomy under Finland as a matter of importance, because they get a lot of tax breaks, financial support from Finland, Åland gets military support directly from Finland if Åland is under military threat, and the Finns gave them the opportunity to be a semi-independent state. If Åland had joined Sweden, Åland would probably have had less freedom than it does today, because Åland joined to Sweden would have been only a part of Sweden, and not an autonomous region. There is still a nationalist movement in Åland that wants to make Åland more independent, but nowadays many people in Åland think that it is better to remain as an Finland's autonomous region, because this benefits the people of Åland as a whole, and they also get various benefits both from Finland and at the EU level. I hope this sheds some light on the matter ☺️
There is is actually a very good study made by Åland Gallup which asks how many people living in Åland really want to be part of Finland. I surveys, 78% of Åland residents support this autonomous region, which is part of Finland. Only 9% supported the full independence from Sweden and Finland. So basically nowadays people of Åland don't even want to be part of sweden or be fully independent.
@@akuankka321876 Thanks for an excellent summary! And well, I have to admit that I used the "hostage" line 'cause it sounded good rather than that it's based in facts. But I tried to be factual about everything else in the video at least - but there's of course always so many more nuances that's hard to catch for an outsider!
@@ThreeStarVagabond No worries ☺️ I really enjoy watching your videos and they are very well edited as well, so keep up the good work! Best regards from Finland.
@@akuankka321876 Thank you so much! And I should really explore a lot more in Finland - come to think of it, it's been many years since I've been in Turku :D
@@ThreeStarVagabond we welcome you with open arms! if you plan to go to Turku in the future, I recommend visiting the Turku archipelago, as well as the many museums in Turku. The archipelago in particular is, in my opinion, perhaps the most beautiful archipelago in the world that I know. However, I recommend coming to Turku in summer, because then there are more things to do there, more places are open and the scenery is at its best. Hopefully this helped!
The majority Ålanders no longer want to be a part of Sweden since then they would lose their status as an autonomous region.
Duly noted! Yeah, that was only true way back in time, right? I guess things are pretty good for Åland as it is...
Lovely 🌹
Thank you so much! :)
Don't forget the Åland stamps. They are lovely.
Pommern used to be part of what once was the largest privately owned fleet of sailing ships in the entire world, and the owner was from Åland, I know this sounds kind of strange given the small size of the islands, but it is a fact
That's so cool! I actually loved everything about Pommern - it was such a well-preserved ship, and the information about it was really interesting. And I loved the interactive parts as well. Amazing museum all in all!
Very interesting. I have a question: are the Ålands a NATO member now and what would happen if the islands would be attacked or conquered? NATO Article 5?
That is such an interesting question, and I have no idea - but I'd guess that Article 5 applies yes
Finland will protect Åland in case of a war - which came into effect during ww2. Demilitarization only applies to time of peace.
Is Aland Swedish different from the one spoken in Sweden?
Good question! It's a different dialect but other than that it's just plain ol' Swedish
It's a Swedish dialect and a part of the so called Östsvenska mål. There are smaller variants of the dialect in the different parts of Åland too, for example in Vårdö compared to Eckerö.
The reindeer on the Coat of Arms is sticking out its tongue, I wonder why?
I just had to read up on it a bit.. And one theory is that it's just an artistic touch. Another theory is that it's a hunter's tradition to pull out the tongue of a magnificent beast and place a last piece of food on its tongue.
Famous people from Åland could be Anders Wiklöf or Erik Enge, but it depends on what you would call famous.
Fair enough! Yeah, I was just being a bit tongue in cheek, but I was actually surprised when I checked the "notable people" section on wikipedia, and didn't recognize any of the names! So it wasn't too far off :)
No tension at all …
Wait.. we actually have an Öland next to Kalmar and before Gotland. Not the same of Åland tho
The big question is where Äland is though!
@@ThreeStarVagabond alright so here we are implying the Öland next to karlmar is the same Åland which is next to Norrtälje, maybe? That's why SL always gives me confusing directions 😀.
In the map I see Åland although no name is given to the island, while Öland has a name on the map. That's fascinating. A ghost iland!
@@astridcyanistescaeruleus4126 The ways of SL...and Google...and cartographers are mysterious indeed :D
I think Aland prefers to be Alandic rather than 'belonging' to either Sweden or Finland :) I am pretty sure that they prefer demilitarisation to NATO.
Oh right... Yes, that might actually be a much more realistic way to put it. And more sensible as well. I should have used that phrasing :/
San Marino is independent.
"Sauna" is Finnish, not Swedish.
I also reacted to this, but I think what he meant was that "Bastun" is swedish for Sauna
Åland rightfully belongs to Sweden.
It belongs to Russia
Hard disagree on that! Swedens claim to Åland is about as strong as its claim to the rest of Finland, yes, it used to be a part of Sweden hundreds and hundreds of years ago, but not anymore
@@AHVENANits different since Åland speaks Swedish
@@venzraps parts of mainland Finland are mostly Swedish speaking to, so if that's the only criteria then all those parts should also belong to Sweden! 😂 Dumb reasoning
@@AHVENAN who said they shouldnt my friend?😈
You forgot the “ military “ operation Sweden did while Finland was in civil war , Sweden tried to steal the island , but Finland and Germany came to the island , and the Swedish commander got shot in the head , and Sweden left immediately. Then Sweden complained to the United Nations , and United nation reminded Sweden that the area belong to Finland . And you say occupation , what ? Do you want to come try to take it ? Remember the last time somebody tried to take our land , we became legends . We absolutely destroyed the Soviet Union. And you are thinking little Sweden has a chance ? Finland is the 2 strongest army in Europe , our equipment is more than Germany , France and England combined . We have over 900.000 reserves . All our soldiers are based upon performance. We have the strongest airforce in the north with f35, we have the largest artillery in Europe . Sweden has the smallest army in Europe . You have high amount of girls in your army , and pride flags hahaha! And the funniest thing is this , Sweden doesn’t pick soldiers based on performance, in Swedish army it’s all about school grades ! Hahahaha ! Come and try . And then when your country is on fire , call Poland again ;)
Save us from the Russians and we'll give you free IKEA furniture for life!
you forgot the part where the reason Sweden tried to take the Island was because they didn't want to risk the Soviets taking it first.
and theres no record of a commander being shot in the head thats a lie. The only casualty on the Swedish side was a Sergeant who shot himself