Scandinavian colonialism
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Scandinavian colonialism is a subdivision within broader
Overview
Iceland
Some consider Norse Vikings to be the first Europeans to create colonies in the Americas. The arrival of
The
Finland
Given Finland's historical position between eastern and western colonial powers, Finland never had overseas colonies. Finland was part of the Swedish Empire for many centuries and then for a relatively brief period also as the Grand Duchy of Finland under the Russian Empire's influence.
However,
According to the anthology Finnish Colonial Encounters, Finnish people have been able to "claim innocence and non-involvement in European colonialism and colonialist practices" given their own history of being victimized by Swedish and Russian imperialism, a notion the authors refer to as "Finnish exceptionalism". The authors argue that while Finland never had overseas colonies, Finnish people were "undeniably involved in the colonial world, with Finns adopting ideologies and identities that cannot easily be disentangled from colonialism". Like some other European countries that never had overseas colonies, such as Switzerland, Finland is defined as an example of "colonial complicity" and "colonialism without colonies". Despite the absence of overseas colonies, many Finnish migrants participated in colonial projects in Africa and North America. Beginning in the 1890s, Finnish-born settlers operated in the mining industry in the Katanga Province of Belgian Congo.[4][5]
Many Finns lived in New Sweden, a Swedish colony along the Delaware River that existed between 1638 and 1655 in what is now Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and a small portion of Maryland. Although New Sweden was a Swedish colony, ethnic Finns were subjects of the Swedish Empire, and the percentage of Finnish settlers within the colony grew over time. During Swedish rule, Finns composed 22% of the colonial population. Later when the colony came under Dutch rule, the percentage of Finnish colonizers increased to over 50% of the colonial population.[6] Although the Finnish and Swedish settlers of New Sweden were on better terms with the indigenous Susquehannock nation, in contrast to the overtly genocidal actions of the English settlers, there were some defensive attacks against the New Sweden colony by Native Americans.[7][8]
Finnish settlers, particularly Forest Finns, were culturally important to the early colonization of Appalachia, Idaho, and elsewhere in the United States. Although Finns constituted only a tiny portion of Appalachian settlers, Finnish settlers from New Sweden helped bring northern European woodsman skills such as log cabin construction which formed the basis of backwoods Appalachian material culture.[9]
Greenland
Greenland did not colonize, however, it was colonized by many different Scandinavian countries. Leif Erikson of Iceland was one of the most famous of the settlers of Greenland, and brought Christianity to the country. Greenland was also later colonized by Norway and later Denmark.
Norway
Norwegians controlled the company Société du Madal in Portuguese Mozambique, which owned coconut plantations and a palm oil factory. Société du Madal used the forced labor of indigenous peoples to dig canals and drain swamps around the Zambezi to make way for plantations, in addition to operating the plantations themselves. Child laborers on Madal's properties were paid in rotgut spirits, as was common for many companies operating in Mozambique during the colonial period. Christian Thams, a key founder and major shareholder of the company, had Mozambicans in lands the company controlled pay taxes directly to the company rather than the Portuguese colonial government, a venture sometimes more profitable than agricultural operations. Even after independence, thousands of workers continued to produce coconut oil for Madal into the 21st century.[11]
As an independent state in modern days, Norway occupied
Additional former territorial claims have included
Sweden
Denmark
The Danes colonized many areas including holdings in
See also
- Danish colonial empire
- Swedish Empire
- Swedish slave trade
- Dano-Norwegian slave trade
External links
- First Finnish Settlement in America: 1638
- First Maps of Delaware, a Swedish Colony in North America
- Scandinavian Colonialism and the Rise of Modernity: Small Time Agents in a Global Arena
References
- Time Magazine. Archivedfrom the original on 24 July 2023. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
- ^ "The Norse in the North Atlantic". Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador. Archived from the original on 16 October 2023. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
- ^ "The Sami vs. Outsiders". University of Texas at Austin. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
- ^ "Finnish Colonial Encounters". University of Jyväskylä. Archived from the original on 8 March 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
- ^ "Finnish Colonial Encounters : From Anti-Imperialism to Cultural Colonialism and Complicity, edited by Raita Merivirta, Leila Koivunen, Timo Särkkä, (electronic resource)". European University Institute Library. Archived from the original on 15 August 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
- ^ Wedin, Maud (October 2012). "Highlights of Research in Scandinavia on Forest Finns" (PDF). American-Swedish Organization. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
- ^ "New Sweden: A Brief History". Pennsylvania State University. Archived from the original on 14 January 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
- doi:10.7282/T3JQ0ZJ2. Archived from the original on 5 June 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2022.)
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(help - ^ "DANIEL BOONE’S CULTURAL ANCESTORS, if not actually his genetic ones,..." Stoll, Steven. Ramp Hollow: The Ordeal of Appalachia (p. 86-88). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Kindle Edition.
- ^ "Index of /ekspedisjoner/Norvegia II". Archived from the original on 8 February 2011. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
- ISBN 978-1-78238-540-0. Archivedfrom the original on 15 August 2022. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
- ^ "Index of /personer/Christensen, Lars". Archived from the original on 21 December 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2018.