Research reveals Ruhnu islanders sought annexation to Sweden after Estonian independence

Newly uncovered archival documents show that in 1920, the Swedish-speaking community of Ruhnu island petitioned the King of Sweden to incorporate the island into Sweden. When that failed, the islanders skillfully exploited the Estonia-Latvia territorial dispute to secure special privileges from the young Estonian state, according to historian Mart Kuldkepp's research.

In 1920, the Swedish-speaking inhabitants of Ruhnu, a small Estonian island in the Gulf of Riga, sent a formal petition to the King of Sweden requesting that the island be incorporated into Sweden. The letters, discovered in Sweden's National Archives and previously unused by researchers, form the basis of a new study by historian Mart Kuldkepp, published by the science portal Novaator.

«In general it was known that Estonia and Latvia had disagreements about who exactly Ruhnu should belong to. I decided to study this story in more detail, but not only from the perspective of Estonia and Latvia, also from the perspective of the Ruhnu residents themselves, and how they tried to defend and advance their own interests in that situation,» Kuldkepp explained.

A community that played its hand wisely

Ruhnu was unlike any other coastal Swedish community in the region. It was the only entirely Swedish-speaking settlement on Estonian territory and had belonged to Livonia for centuries. Its extreme geographic isolation reinforced a fierce sense of independence, in winter, pack ice made the island virtually unreachable, meaning even major political news arrived long after the fact.

This isolation had a direct political consequence: tsarist Russia had never managed to project meaningful administrative authority over the island. Tax collection, military conscription, and regulatory oversight were all patchy at best. As a result, the islanders had developed a deeply held conviction that they possessed historic Swedish-era privileges that continued to bind their way of life.

«Among them there was an idea of their Swedish right. They believed they lived according to old Swedish laws, that a Swedish king had once granted them privileges,» Kuldkepp noted.

Estonia's independence as a threat, not a liberation

For most Estonians, independence in 1918 represented a new era of opportunity. For Ruhnu's few hundred inhabitants, the Estonian Republic's arrival meant the opposite. The new state began enforcing taxation, restricting free timber from state forests, and generally imposing the administrative structures that had previously been absent.

«They were used to isolation, doing what they wanted, with nobody interfering much. But then the Estonian Republic appeared and started establishing state authority on the island. They were told: now you must pay taxes too, you can no longer take timber from the state forest for free, your customary way of life must change,» Kuldkepp described.

The historian characterises the islanders' reaction as a form of privilege blindness, the perception that losing a long-held advantage constitutes an injustice.

Leveraging the Estonia-Latvia dispute

Rather than simply protesting, the Ruhnu community identified a tactical opening. Estonia and Latvia were engaged in a genuine territorial dispute over the island, and the islanders understood exactly what leverage that gave them.

«They were always able to say: if we don't like it in the Estonian Republic, perhaps we will vote for Latvia,» Kuldkepp noted. This forced Tallinn into a conciliatory posture.

Even Estonian officials acknowledged the islanders' political acumen. Eduard Laman, head of the Foreign Ministry's information bureau, later wrote that while the Ruhnu people gave the impression of naivety, they in fact acted with considerable calculation.

Sweden's cautious response

Stockholm received the 1920 petition but responded with restraint. Swedish authorities had no desire to become embroiled in Baltic affairs or risk a future confrontation with Russia. Once Sweden formally recognised Estonian independence, annexation became moot, and the islanders pivoted their strategy accordingly.

Their second petition, focused not on changing sovereignty but on preserving their historic privileges within Estonia, proved successful. Sweden drew Tallinn's attention to the islanders' wishes, and concrete concessions followed: the right to free timber from state forests, the ability to complete military service on the island itself, and several other exemptions.

Both sides could claim victory. «For the Ruhnu residents it allowed them to say they had achieved what they sought. And for the Estonian state, to treat all these measures as administrative decisions that could be changed if necessary,» Kuldkepp explained.

History bought with seal fat

Among the most remarkable episodes Kuldkepp uncovered is a 1919 expedition in which the Estonian state purchased seal fat produced on the island and in return supplied the islanders with weapons, thereby formally incorporating the island into the republic.

«This part of the Estonian Republic was in effect purchased and incorporated into the state by giving the locals something in return,» the historian said. «I know of no other case in the early years of the Estonian Republic where the loyalty of a local population was essentially bought.»

Small communities as historical actors

Kuldkepp argues that the broader significance of the Ruhnu story lies in what it reveals about the historical agency of small communities. Historians often portray such groups merely as passive objects of decisions made by larger states, but Ruhnu's experience tells a different story.

«This story shows that a community of a few hundred people had subjectivity. They managed to push through their interests in the conditions they faced,» he emphasised.

Although Ruhnu never became part of Sweden and did not achieve autonomy comparable to the Åland Islands, the community made near-maximum use of the window of opportunity available to it. That window lasted only a few years, but the islanders, Kuldkepp concludes, navigated it with impressive effectiveness.