Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhy is there a Swedish-speaking village in rural Ukraine?
The village of Gammalsvenskby or "Old Swedish Town" in southern Ukraine is in Swedish news following reports that it is currently surrounded by Russian troops. But why is it there in the first place?https://www.thelocal.se/20220317/why-is-there-a-swedish-speaking-village-in-rural-ukraine/
King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia visit Gammalsvenskby on a state visit to Ukraine in 2008. Photo: Henrik Montgomery/TT/Scanpix
The history of Gammalsvenskby or Gammölsvänskbi in the local dialect can be traced back to the end of the Great Northern War. In 1721, this war between Sweden and Russia which marks the end of Swedens time as a great European power. It is referred to in Swedish as stormaktstiden or the period of great power, and it ended with Sweden losing a great deal of territory in the Baltic region to Russia, including swathes of land in present-day Latvia, Estonia and Russia.
One of these losses was the island of Hiiumaa (known as Dagö or Day Island in Swedish) in present-day Estonia. This island, having been part of Swedish-speaking Estonia since 1563, had a sizeable Swedish-speaking population, who were resettled by Imperialist Russia in 1780 to what was then referred to as Novorussiya, an area of former Russian territory which became part of Ukraine in 1918.
These resettlers as many as 1,200 trekked from Hiiumaa in Estonia to the banks of the Dnieper river in southern Ukraine in a journey taking nine months. At least a quarter of them died on the way, and many more were wiped out by dysentery in their first year in Ukraine. By 1794 just fourteen years after relocating only 224 people remained in Gammalsvenskby.
However, Gammalsvenskbys population slowly increased in the following years, partly due to the arrival of Black Sea Germans, ethnic Germans who were encouraged to settle on the north coast of the Black Sea by Alexander I of Russia in the late 18th and early 19th century. In German, this area of Ukraine was referred to as Schwedengebiet or Sweden District.
snip
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
6 replies, 1872 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (30)
ReplyReply to this post
6 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Why is there a Swedish-speaking village in rural Ukraine? (Original Post)
Celerity
Mar 2022
OP
Mike Nelson
(9,966 posts)1. Well...
... I have to say... Cheers to Sweden for NOT invading Estonia, Ukraine, or Russia because people speak Swedish there.
jaxexpat
(6,849 posts)2. Very cool factoid. Thanks, Celerity.
Raine
(30,540 posts)3. Very interesting ... thanks for posting this! 👍 nt
malaise
(269,157 posts)4. Cool
One just has to read about or look at the changing borders of Europe over 1,000 years.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100216489508
Celerity
(43,499 posts)5. Germany was a hot mess for hundreds of years, so many microstates
John1956PA
(2,656 posts)6. James Michener's novel "Poland" has a chapter on Sweden's warfare in what is now Poland/Ukraine. nt