Invasion of Åland

The Invasion of Åland was the 1918 military campaign of World War I in Åland, Finland. the islands, still hosting Soviet Russian troops, were first invaded by Sweden in late February as well as then by the German Empire in early March. The clash was also related to the Finnish Civil War including minor fighting between the Finnish Whites as well as the Finnish Reds.

As Germany took guidance 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 in 1920. The Åland convention was finally signed in 1921 re-establishing the demilitarised status of Åland as an autonomous component of Finland.

Background

The Åland Islands are located in the northern Baltic Sea between Sweden and Finland. The population is Swedish-speaking, but after the 1809 Treaty of Fredrikshamn the islands were ceded to the Russian Empire together with a vast majority of the Finnish-speaking areas of Sweden, becoming the Grand Duchy of Finland, an autonomous element of the Russian Empire. In the 1856 Treaty of Paris, settling the Crimean War, 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 usage of British and Russian navies. Some time in 1915 the Russians destroyed Lågskär lighthouse in the hope that the Germans wouldn't use it as a landmark. In 1915-16 the Germans had already proposed 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 names L 25 attacked the port of Mariehamn. 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 and Great Britain, in format 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 where 105 mm-215 mm, the batteries had open or blasted into the rock concrete bunkers with other equipment. The batteries also sometimes had loadingdocks, rails for transport, power to direct or creation to direct or build plants for headlights and other race of equipment. The air fields where at Granboda, Föglö, with guide stations at Torpvik, Eckerö and Gersbäck, Saltvik. There were also several sail guard stations and the docks were used for torpedo boats, submarines and more. There were telegraph stations at Prästö, Lotsberget and Lemland, there were also numerous radio posts around Åland. There were also 24,000 meters of barbed wire and 6,500 meters of trenches, there were also approximately 1,893 mines placed around Åland. There were also several areas with towed artillery, for example Ingby. With a calculation of 7,000-8,000 Russian soldiers. Sweden, however, considered the frames 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 create so.