Swedish People's League in the Baltic Sea Provinces ( sv, Svenska Folkförbundet i Östersjöprovinserna; et, Rootsi Rahvaliit) was a
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
in
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
, representing interests of the
Swedish minority population.
History
The party was founded in 1917, and began publishing ''Kustbon'' the following year. In March 1919, the party held its congress.
Due to the small size of the Swedish minority, the party was unable to have any impact running alone. In the
1929 elections it formed an alliance with the
German-Baltic Party
The German-Baltic Party ( et, Saksa-Balti erakond; german: Deutsch-baltische Partei in Estland, DbPE) was a political party in Estonia representing the German minority.
History
The party was established on 27 November 1918 under the name Germa ...
, which resulted in a 20% increase in their combined vote share.
[Vincent E McHale (1983) ''Political parties of Europe'', Greenwood Press, p387 ] At the time the party was led by
Hans Pöhl
Hans Pöhl (15 August 1876, Suur-Nõmmküla – 22 January 1930 Tallinn) was an Estonian politician. He was one of the leader of Estonian Swedes.
He was a member of the I, III and IV Riigikogu
IV Riigikogu was the fourth legislature of the Es ...
, a former members of the
Christian People's Party. After Pöhl died in 1930, Mathias Westerblom took over as party leader.
[
The party had its offices at Riddaregatan (Rüütli) 9, ]Tallinn
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...
, attached to Swedish Saint Michael Parish and the Swedish-language school.
In 1935 the publication ''Kustbon'' was banned, as political organizations were no longer allowed to issue publications. ''Nya Kustbon'' was founded in its place, as a non-party publication.
See also
*Estonian Swedes
The Estonian Swedes, or Estonia-Swedes ( sv, estlandssvenskar, colloquially ''aibofolke'', "island people"; et, eestirootslased), or "Coastal Swedes" ( et, rannarootslased) are a Swedish-speaking minority traditionally residing in the coastal ...
* Swedish People's Party of Finland
*Political parties of minorities
An ethnic party is a political party that overtly presents itself as the champion of one ethnic group or sets of ethnic groups. Ethnic parties make such representation central to their voter mobilization strategy. An alternate designation is 'Pol ...
References
{{Political parties in Estonia
Defunct political parties in Estonia
Political parties established in 1917
1917 establishments in Estonia
Political parties of minorities in Estonia
Swedish diaspora