scholarly journals The Attitude of the United States to the Baltic Region in 1918–1922: The Example of Latvia

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-92
Author(s):  
Ēriks Jēkabsons

Abstract The article discusses the attitude of the USA towards the newborn independent Baltic States in 1918–1922 using the most devastated of them—Latvia—as an example. Relations between Latvia and the United States in 1918–1922 reflect Latvia’s intense foreign policy efforts to ensure its political and social development through relations with one of the world’s most influential and powerful economies in spite of the United States’ reserved behavior. In addition, this unique era in Latvia and the Baltic States as a whole (influenced by the Soviet Russian and German factors, war and its aftermath, and the ethnically diverse and complicated social situation) illustrates the specifics of US policy towards Eastern Europe and Russia.

Significance The deployment of Russia's latest tactical missile in Kaliningrad adds to the destabilising risks in a region encompassing the Baltic states, Poland and Belarus. The Polish defence ministry has asked the United States to deploy an armoured division there on a permanent basis. Impacts The July 11-12 NATO summit may offer clearer direction on East European strategy if members can reach agreement. Nordic states will shape their defence policies with a view to Russia's Baltic build-up. Moscow's view of whether reinforcing Kaliningrad is sufficient will dictate future policy towards Belarus.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-16
Author(s):  
IGOR TSEPENDA

This article analyses a range of problems faced by the NATO member states in the Baltic region in connection with Russian aggression in Ukraine. It is indicated that the Russian Federation boosts its military presence in the Kaliningrad Oblast: it deploys advanced missile systems and armored fighting vehicles to the region, increases its military contingent and rearms its Navy in the Baltic Sea. It is stressed that Russia has violated the 1987 Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-range and Shorter-range Missiles (the INF Treaty) and in recent years has been conducting large-scale military exercises. It is pointed out that amid the growing threat from Russia, the countries of the Baltic region have to reconsider their military strategies, to join their efforts in order to prevent any possible aggression. The NATO member states, the United States of America in particular, take part in the military drills in the region. Sweden’s military cooperation with NATO and the United States of America – a controversial issue in Swedish political circles – is discussed. The question of enhancing military interaction between the members of NATO – Germany and Norway, the Unites States and Poland – is addressed too. The advantages of building collective missile defense capability in the Baltic region and taking other steps to restrain Russia’s aggressive actions are indicated.


2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 80-87
Author(s):  
Volodymur Yushkevych

The article covers one of the problematic aspects of US-Soviet relations in the first post-war years - the issue of «the controversial refugees», appeared due to non-recognition by the United States of Soviet annexation of the Baltic States and the conduct of forced repatriation by the USSR. American diplomacy during the presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt adhered to the «non-recognition policy», concluded in the Stimson Doctrine (January 7, 1932) and the Welles Declaration (July 23, 1940). However, declared foreign policy acts did not lead to a decrease of the level of official relations with the aggressor state. At the same time, the official Washington did not consider the Balts as citizens of the USSR and retained the diplomatic missions of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in the United States. Under the administration of President Harry Truman, the course of non-recognition of the «voluntary entry of the three Baltic republics into the USSR» continued.It was researched that after the end of the Second World War, refugees and displaced persons from the Baltic-occupied Soviet Union were located in Austria, Italy, France and Switzerland. The large contingent was within the limits of the American occupation zone in Germany, the vast majority were immigrants from Lithuania. The attention was paid to the factors that led to the mass exodus of Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians from 1943 to 1944. It is outlined the special place of American diaspora civic organizations in collecting of financial assistance and coordination of their activities with the US State Department. It is also defined the role of representatives of the Catholic and Protestant national churches.The researched paper contains an analysis of correspondence between the leaders of the American diplomatic missions of Lithuania (Povilas Žadeikis), Latvia (Alfrēds Bīlmanis) and Estonia (Johannes Kaiv) with the US Department of State. Baltic diplomats constantly emphasized the need to confront the Soviet propaganda machine with regard to the denial of the «voluntary Sovietization of the Baltic» and the practice of sweeping accusation of refugees in «betrayal» and «cooperation with the Germans». In turn, they pointed to the need to extend the jurisdiction and mandate of international organizations on Baltic refugees, to determine their legal status and to prevent their recognition as the Soviet citizens in some European countries.The article deals with the documental potential of the diplomatic correspondence of the US foreign policy department. Attention is drawn to the analysis of this issue in the research works of foreign historians.During the first post-war years in matter of refugees’ problem and displaced persons, it was found that American diplomacy was in search of consensus between humanitarian reasons for ensuring human rights to asylum and the fulfillment of allied obligations in course of the activities of Soviet repatriation missions. However, «Baltic refugees» were a separate category, which Americans tried not to extradite from their occupied territory to the USSR cause of their non-recognition policy of Soviet annexation of Baltic states.


2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 82-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Ann Heiss

In the 1950s and early 1960s, the United States sought to challenge the Soviet Union's credibility as a champion of decolonization by casting Soviet control of Central Asia, the Baltic republics, and Eastern Europe in imperial terms, or what U.S. officials came to call “Red Colonialism.” Waged in large measure at the United Nations (UN) and other international forums, the Red Colonialism campaign sought to contrast the evolutionary nature of Western colonialism with the seeming permanence of Soviet domination. The campaign underscored the U.S. government's preoccupation with the Soviet threat at a time when much of the developing world was focused on other matters, such as national self-determination, racial equality, and economic development. This article looks at the genesis and nature of the Red Colonialism campaign and explains why a variety of factors ultimately prevented it from gaining much traction at the UN.


2020 ◽  
Vol 196 (2) ◽  
pp. 320-338
Author(s):  
Mikołaj Kugler

The article discusses how the United States of America has contributed to the security of Central and Eastern Europe, both politically and militarily, since the end of the Cold War, using Poland’s example. It shows that the United States committed itself to the security of both Poland and the region, following the collapse of communism in Poland in 1989, albeit to a varying degree in different countries. America played a pivotal role in NATO enlargement in the 1990s, and in extending security assurances to Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, as well as to other countries in the subsequent years. It has continued to assist Poland with its defence reform, thus enhancing its military capabilities. It was also instrumental in strengthening NATO’s eastern flank after 2014, a salient point on Poland’s security agenda since it acceded to the Alliance. It is argued that American political and military involvement in Poland’s security has been both substantial and beneficial, and there is a real need for continued political and military cooperation with the USA and its presence in the region. In the article, the determinants of Poland’s post-Cold War security policy are outlined. Next, the roles that both countries have played in each other’s policies are explained. After that, the US contribution to Poland’s security, both in the political and military spheres, is presented. Finally, an attempt is made to evaluate American involvement, and the author’s perspective on the future of the Poland-US cooperation is offered.


Author(s):  
Olavi Arens

The following paper deals with US policy toward the Baltic states at two different time periods (1918–20 and 1989–91) and by two very different presidents (Woodrow F. Wilson and George H. W. Bush). The first period represented the time that saw the emergence of the United States on the world stage. Woodrow Wilson seemingly advocated self-determination as was understood by a number of his advisers at the Peace Conference, but eventually decided to support the unity of Russia as part of an anti-Bolshevik policy. During the second period, George H. W. Bush negotiated a settlement to end another conflict, the Cold War. While self-determination of the Baltic states (on the basis of the US non-recognition policy) was not of prime importance for the US, it nevertheless was brought up at very summit meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev and came to be linked to the resolution of economic issues between the two major powers. Ultimately the restoration of independence was decided by developments in the Soviet Union, but US policy made the Baltic question an international issue and helped resolve it peacefully.


2004 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
James E. Goggin

Interest in the fate of the German psychoanalysts who had to flee Hitler's Germany and find refuge in a new nation, such as the United States, has increased. The ‘émigré research’ shows that several themes recur: (1) the theme of ‘loss’ of one's culture, homeland, language, and family; and (2) the ambiva-lent welcome these émigrés received in their new country. We describe the political-social-cultural context that existed in the United States during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. Documentary evidence found in the FBI files of three émigré psychoanalysts, Clara Happel, Martin Grotjahn, and Otto Fenichel, are then presented in combination with other source material. This provides a provisional impression of how each of these three individuals experienced their emigration. As such, it gives us elements of a history. The FBI documents suggest that the American atmosphere of political insecurity and fear-based ethnocentric nationalism may have reinforced their old fears of National Socialism, and contributed to their inclination to inhibit or seal off parts of them-selves and their personal histories in order to adapt to their new home and become Americanized. They abandoned the rich social, cultural, political tradition that was part of European psychoanalysis. Finally, we look at these elements of a history in order to ask a larger question about the appropriate balance between a liberal democratic government's right to protect itself from internal and external threats on the one hand, or crossover into the blatant invasion of civil rights and due process on the other.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 32-54
Author(s):  
Silvia Spitta

Sandra Ramos (b. 1969) is one of the few artists to reflect critically on both sides of the Cuban di-lemma, fully embodying the etymological origins of the word in ancient Greek: di-, meaning twice, and lemma, denoting a form of argument involving a choice between equally unfavorable alternatives. Throughout her works she shines a light on the dilemmas faced by Cubans whether in Cuba or the United States, underlining the bad personal and political choices people face in both countries. During the hard 1990s, while still in Havana, the artist focused on the traumatic one-way journey into exile by thousands, as well as the experience of profound abandonment experienced by those who were left behind on the island. Today she lives in Miami and operates a studio there as well as one in Havana. Her initial disorientation in the USA has morphed into an acerbic representation and critique of the current administration and a deep concern with the environmental collapse we face. A buffoonlike Trumpito has joined el Bobo de Abela and Liborio in her gallery of comic characters derived from the rich Cuban graphic arts tradition where she was formed. While Cuba is now represented as a rotten cake with menacing flies hovering over it ready to pounce, a bombastic Trumpito marches across the world stage, trampling everything underfoot, a dollar sign for a face.


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