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The Estonia-Swedes (Swedish: Estlandssvenskar) are a group of ethnic Swedes residing in the coastal areas and islands of what is now western and northern Estonia. The beginning of the continuous settlement of Estonia-Swedes in these areas dates back to the 13th and 14th centuries when their Swedish-speaking ancestors arrived from Scandinavia. Most of Estonia's Swedish-speaking minority fled to Sweden during World War II, and only a small number of them are permanently resident in Estonia today.

History

Early History

There has been a Swedish population in Estonia for more than 700 years. The first written mention of the Swedish population in Estonia comes from 1294, in the laws of the town of Haapsalu. Further early mentions of Swedes in Estonia came in 1341 and 1345 (when an Estonian monastery in Padise sold "the Laoküla Estate" and Suur-Pakri Island to a group of Swedes). During the 13th through 15th centuries, large numbers of Swedes arrived in coastal Estonia from Finland, which was under Swedish control (and would remain so for hundreds of years), often colonising Church-owned land.

Swedish Estonia

In 1561, Sweden established the Dominion of Swedish Estonia, which it would hold until 1710 (formally until 1721, when the territory was ceded to Russia under the Treaty of Nystad). The Estonia-Swedes prospered during this period. Swedish, along with German and Estonian, was one of the official languages.

Russian Rule

After the Teutonic Order lost much of its power in the 16th century and the Dominion of Swedish Estonia was lost to Russia following the Great Northern War, conditions worsened for Swedes in Estonia: the lands they had settled were often confiscated from the Church and given to local nobility, and taxes increased. This situation remained the same during Russian rule, and the Estonia-Swedes suffered for hundreds of years (the Agrarian reforms which liberated the land of Estonian serfs in 1816, did not apply to Swedes).

Forced Emmigrations

At certain times during Russian Estonia period, groups of Estonian-Swedes were forced to leave Estonia for other parts of the Russian Empire. Most notably, Empress Catherine II of Russia forced the 1000 Swedes of Hiiumaa (known as Dagö in Swedish), to move to the Ukraine in 1781, where they established the community of Gammalsvenskby.

Conditions Improve

The Estonian-Swedes' positions improved during the 1850s and 1860s, due to further agrarian reforms, but discrimination remained during the rest of the period of Tsarist rule in Estonia. After the First World War and the Russian Revolution, the independent Republic of Estonia was created in 1918. The new Estonian Constitution granted the following rights to national minority groups: control over their language of education, the right to form institutions for their national and social rights, the right to use their native language in official capacities where they formed majorities of the population, and the choice of nationality. Swedes, Baltic Germans, Russians, and Jews all had ministers in the new national government. Svenska Folkförbundet, a Swedish political organization (which published a newspaper of the same name), was formed. In 1925, a new law giving more cultural autonomy was passed, although the Russians and Swedes in Estonia did not take advantage of these new freedoms, mainly for economic reasons.

World War Two

In 1939, the Soviet Union forced Estonia to sign a treaty concerning military bases. Many of the islands upon which Estonia-Swedes lived were confiscated, bases were built on them, and their inhabitants were forced to leave their homes. A year later, Estonia was occupied by, and annexed into, the Soviet Union, and their voice in government was lost. Estonian-Swedish men were conscripted into the Red Army, and, during the German occupation, into the Heer. Most of the remaining Estonia-Swedes fled to Sweden prior to the second invasion of Estonia by the Red Army in 1944.

Today

Today, small groups of remaining Estonian-Swedes are regrouping and reestablishing their heritage, by studying Swedish language and culture. They are led by the Estonian-Swedish Council, which is backed by the Estonian government. In 2000, Swedes were the 21st largest ethnic group in Estonia, numbering only 300.

Areas of Population and Demographics

Population figures during the early centuries of Swedish settlement are not available. At the end of the Teutonic period, there were probably around 1,000 Estonia-Swedish families (with some 1,500 Swedes in Tallinn), giving a total population of roughly 5-7 thousand, some 2-3% of the population of what is now Estonia at the time.

The 1922 census gives Estonia a total population of 1,107,000 of which Estonia-Swedes made up only .7%, some 7,850 people, who made up majorities in some places (such as Ruhnu, Vormsi, Riguldi). By the time of the Second World War, the population was nearly 10,000, and roughly 9,000 of these people fled to Sweden. Towns with large pre-war Swedish populations include Haapsalu and Tallinn.

The numbers of Swedes in Estonia continued to fall: there were 435 in 1970, and only 297 in 1989, when they placed 26th on the list of Estonia's minority groups (before the Second World War, they were third in number).

In Ukraine

In the Ukraine, the village of Gammalsvenskby, founded by Estonian-Swedish refugees, had considerable Swedish population until August 1, 1929, when 885 of the villagers fled for Sweden. There are a few hundred people of Estonian-Swedish descent in Gammalsvenskby today.

Language

There was no one Estonian-Swedish dialect, but several. The Estonian-Swedish dialects are subdivisions of the Eastern varieties of Standard Swedish. Ruhnu, had its own dialect, the Vormsi-Noarootsi-Riguldi dialect was spoken on those islands, there was also a Pakri-Vihterpalu variety. The dialect of Hiiumaa is still spoken by a few in Gammalsvenskby (which is called Gammölsvänskbi in the Hiiumaa/Gammmalsvenskby dialect).

References

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ===Swedish Estonia===
 [[Image:Sweden in 1658.PNG|thumb|left|150px|The Swedish Empire in 1658, including the Dominion of Swedish Estonia.]]
-In [[1561]], Sweden established the [[Dominion]] of [[Swedish Estonia]], which it would hold until [[1710]] (formally until [[1721]]), when the territory was ceded to Russia under the [[Treaty of Nystad]]. The Estonia-Swedes prospered during this period. Swedish, along with [[German language|German]] and [[Estonian language|Estonian]], was one of the official languages.
+In [[1561]], Sweden established the [[Dominion]] of [[Swedish Estonia]], which it would hold until [[1710]] (formally until [[1721]], when the territory was ceded to Russia under the [[Treaty of Nystad]]). The Estonia-Swedes prospered during this period. Swedish, along with [[German language|German]] and [[Estonian language|Estonian]], was one of the official languages.
 ===Russian Rule===