Command of the sea Great Britain accepted the principle in 1805; Russia, in 1824; and the United States (tacitly) in 1894. Many treaties, including the Treaty of Versailles, have dealt with the open seas, and currently the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea formalizes this freedom. Historically, many powers attempted to extend command of the sea into peacetime, imposing taxes or other restrictions on shipping using areas of open sea. For example, Venice claimed the Adriatic, and exacted a heavy toll from vessels navigating its northern waters. Genoa and France each claimed portions of the western Mediterranean. Denmark and Sweden claimed
Gulf of Bothnia Gulf of Bothnia The Gulf of Bothnia (; ) is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It is situated between Finland's west coast and Sweden's east coast. In the south of the gulf lie the Åland Islands, between the Sea of Åland and the Archipelago Sea. Bothnia is a latinization. The Swedish name "Bottenviken" was originally just "Botn(en)" with botn being Old Norse for "gulf" or "bay"; which is also the meaning of the second element "vik". The name "botn" was applied to the Gulf of Bothnia as "Helsingjabotn" in Old Norse, after Hälsingland, which at the time referred