The Quality of Self-Government in the Åland Islands

The system of self-government in the Åland Islands is a compromise put into effect after a potential conflict between Sweden and Finland in the aftermath of World War I. The international peace negotiations in Paris could not solve this escalating conflict, so the League of Nations in Geneva took over the negotiation process in order to find a reasonable solution acceptable to both Finland and Sweden. The conflict was settled between these two countries, but the people in Åland were deeply disappointed when their demand for a merger with Sweden was ignored by most member states in the League on Nations. A deep rift and lack of trust thus dominated the relationship between Finland and Åland in the years to come. Finland offered Åland self-government in 1920, and Sweden demanded guarantees for the unilingual Swedish language status of the islands.