Åland Expedition (1918)

Before the First World War, the Aland Islands were part of the Russian Empire , they had coastal fortifications and military garrisons. In October 1917, the October Revolution took place in Russia, and on December 6, 1917, Finland declared independence . In January 1918, a civil war broke out in Finland.

In early February, in the city of Usikaupunki (near Turku ), a large detachment of Shyutkor troops (about 600 people) gathered. Due to a lack of weapons and poor knowledge of the situation, they could not make their way to the whites in Pohoys Satakunta , and the commanders decided to transfer the detachment to the Åland Islands, where it was possible to disarm the Russian troops, embark on ships and head north. Based on the fact that as a result of the actions of the Shutskor on the Åland Islands, a popular uprising will break out, the Finns in Stockholm began to collect weapons and equipment to transfer them to the Usikaupunkinsky Shutskor.

On February 13, the Shyutkor troops, under the command of Captain Fabricius, landed on the Alands and quickly disarmed both individual Russian units and several garrison of coastal fortifications. Hero-chartered steamboat, chartered by the Finns, came out from Stockholm to Aland with volunteers, weapons and ammunition. However, at the very beginning of the journey, the ship was stopped by the Swedish authorities, as the Swedish government decided to send its own expeditionary force to the Åland Islands “to stop violence against residents”.

On February 15, three Swedish warships anchored near Eckerö . A Swedish officer landed on the shore to convince both warring parties to leave the Åland Islands. It turned out that by this moment a truce had been concluded between the Shyutskor and the Russian troops for the exchange of prisoners of war; in the light of new circumstances, the truce was extended.

Soon, the white Finns received a message that the Murtai icebreaker with the Red Guards on board was heading from Turku towards the islands. Captain Fabricius considered the agreement violated, and on February 17, the Shyutskor attacked the garrison in Godby , forcing the Russian unit to lay down their arms. On February 19, the Shyutkorites managed to repulse the attack of the Red Guards and the Russian units that arrived from Turku.

In Stockholm, these events were considered aggression against the population of the Aland Islands and began to exert strong pressure on the Shyutkorites. Having no connection with the Headquarters, Captain Fabricius, having received false information from the Swedes, signed a “cooperation agreement” on February 21, according to which the Schückorites had to surrender all weapons to the Swedes, leave the Aland Islands, travel to Stockholm by Swedish ships and return to Finland through Haparanda , where the Shyutzkor could get his weapons back. The Russians also had to leave the Aland Islands, but had 5 weeks to do so, while they were given the opportunity to transfer military depots to Turku.

On February 22, the Swedish occupation corps landed on the Åland Islands.

Soon, German intervention began in Finland , and on March 5 advanced German units landed on the Åland Islands, disarming the last remaining Russian troops there. The Swedes disappeared reason to be present on the islands, but they did not even think of withdrawing troops. To confirm that the Åland Islands remain part of Finland, Mannerheim sent Colonel von Bonsdorf as military governor there.

Swedish troops left the Åland Islands on May 16, 1918.

• K. G. Mannerheim Memoirs - Moscow: Vagrius, 1999. ISBN 5-264-00049-2