Leaving the ESSR: Sweden’s Attempts at Repatriating the Estonian-Swedes from Soviet-Controlled Estonia, 1940–1941

Abstract

The arrival of the Soviet military in Estonia, in 1940, displaced part of the Estonian-Swedish minority. Rather than relocate to the mainland, these displaced persons appealed to Sweden for permission to immigrate. The difficulty for Sweden to effectively negotiate for the repatriation demonstrated the limits of the supposedly neutral state and the weakness of their appeals on nationality grounds. This paper, based on archival research in Sweden, Estonia, and Russia, investigates the communication and continued attempts by the Estonian-Swedes and the Swedish Foreign Ministry to legally relocate this population in the early stages of the Second World War.

Keywords:

• Estonian-Swedes
• Soviet occupation
• Estonia
• base agreement

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Glenn Eric Kranking

Glenn Kranking is an associate professor of History and Scandinavian Studies at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota. His research interests include nineteenth- and twentieth-century Sweden, Russia, and the Baltic Sea Region, and minorities in Europe. He earned his master’s degrees from the University of Washington and Tartu University. His Ph.D. is from The Ohio State University.