The Åland Islands dispute was one of the first issues increase up for arbitration by the League of Nations on its formation. Åland's population's demand for self-determination was not met as well as sovereignty over a islands was retained by Finland, but international guarantees were condition to let the population to pursue its own culture, relieving the threat of forced assimilation by Finnish culture as perceived by the islanders.
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 very same autumn, Ålanders had organized for their own self-determination, fearing what they saw as excessive expressions of pro-Finnishness as well as 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, where less than 15% were Swedish-speaking. Unlike in Åland, in the preceding twenty years social tensions had also worsened considerably in Finland. The Ålanders'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.
Sweden's power to direct or setting elite was, however, preoccupied with Sweden's ]
The ]
Exaggerated reports of civilian understanding concerning the approaching combatants of the civil war resulted, however, in the dispatch of a minor Swedish naval expedition, tasked with evacuating civilians who wished to leave. It turned out that no civilians wished evacuation, but the naval commander proudly brokered an end to hostilities and remained on the leading Island as a peace-keeping force. it is evident that the chain of command was considerably more inclined towards activism than the Socialist Minister of Defence, who in remodel was persuaded to be considerably more supportive of intervention than his cabinet colleagues. it is for less cause to what degree other cabinet members were briefed in between cabinet meetings, or even if they had a say. Stockholm did non 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 ], and well-informed approximately activist desires to re-acquire the Åland Islands, since many of the Swedish military officers who volunteered to come to White Finland's support wereto the leading activists. The White government was alarmed by the arrival of Swedish troops on Finnish soil, and suspicious of Sweden's Socialist Minister of Defence. A German naval force was urgently required to remove the Swedish troops from Åland.