If the Norway-Swedish union hadn't collapsed in 1905. 1918 After the fall of the Russian empire Finland broke free and desired to be independent. But the remnant of the empire and the Red Guardist, AKA the Soviets, both tried to occupy Finland. Finland was too weak to fight alone and contacted Sweden for assistance, but Sweden wanted something to gain in the war and made demands. The most basic of them was the unification under Swedish rule. Finland reluctantly agreed. (Finland did contact many countries nearby but were denied all outside support, which made Sweden the only solution)