 From 1918 – 1940 , when Estonia was independent , the small Swedish community was well treated . Municipalities with a Swedish majority , mainly found along the coast , used Swedish as the administrative language and Swedish @-@ Estonian culture saw an upswing . However , most Swedish @-@ speaking people fled to Sweden before the end of World War II , that is , before the invasion of Estonia by the Soviet army in 1944 . Only a handful of older speakers remain . 
