The Åland Islands Question in the League of Nations: The Ideal Minority Case?

This paper argues that the Aland Islands case, which was one of the first critical test cases brought before the at the time newly established intergovernmental organization called the League of Nations, has contributed considerably in shaping our modern understanding of what is a minority, emphasizing racial or national minorities. It has shaped our understanding of what is a minority issue, framed as an issue concerning the preservation of cultural identity, as a question concerning peace and security and, finally, as a matter of the right of self-determination. It is further argued that the Aland Islands case formulated the basic guidelines for how such a minority issue can be solved – emphasizing the international character of the dispute while balancing with the principle of respect for national sovereignty and internal affairs. In the title of this paper the term ‘ideal’ is used in the sense of ‘typical’ and ‘paradigmatic’ since most of the arguments forwarded by the parties as well as the very method of dispute solution have created a paradigm in the field of minority protection.