The Baltic States. The National Self-Determination of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania

Transcription

1 THE BALTIC STATES

2 Also by Graham Smith PLANNED DEVELOPMENT IN THE SOCIALIST WORLD THE NATIONALITIES QUESTION IN THE SOVIET UNION FEDERALISM: THE MULTIETHNIC CHALLENGE HUMAN GEOGRAPHY: SOCIETY, SPACE AND SOCIAL SCIENCE (WITH D. GREGORY AND R. MARTIN) THE NATIONALITIES QUESTION IN THE POST-SOVIET STATES

3 The Baltic States The National Self-Determination of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania Edited by Graham Smith Fellow of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge and Lecturer in Geography, University of Cambridge

4 Selection, editorial matter and Introduction Graham Smith 1994, 1996 Chapters 1-8 Macmillan Press Ltd 1994, 1996 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London WIP 9HE. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. First edition 1994 Reprinted (with alterations) 1996 Published by MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world ISBN ISBN (ebook) DOI / A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library I Published in the United States of America 1996 by ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC., Scholarly and Reference Division 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y ISBN (cloth) ISBN (paperback)

5 Contents List of Figures List of Tables List of Contributors Preface Preface to the 1996 Reprint Introduction: The Baltic Nations and National Self-Determination Graham Smith Part I From National Awakening to Incorporation 2 Nationalism and Socialism in Historical Perspective James D. White 2 Interwar Statehood: Symbol and Reality Nicholas Hope 3 Incorporation: The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact 4 David Kirby The Baltic States as Soviet Republics: Tensions and Contradictions Aleksandras Shtromas Part II From National Reawakening to Statehood The Resurgence of Nationalism Graham Smith The Political Leadership Andrus Park Economic Restructuring Michael Bradshaw, Phil Hanson and Denis Shaw Statehood, Ethnic Relations and Citizenship Graham Smith, Aadne Aasland and Richard Mole Index vii VIII IX xi xu v

6 List of Figures 1 The post-1991 Baltic States xm 2 The Baltic States, Ethnic composition of the interwar Baltic States, Ethnodemographic trends in the Baltic Republics, Latvia's referendum, Regional autonomy in the Baltic States 200 vii

7 List of Tables l.1 Population and social structure of the interwar and post-cold War Baltic States Linguistic affiliations of the eponymous nationalities, The popularity of Estonia's politicians The Baltic States and the USSR: employment by sector, Structure of gross industrial output in Estonia, Latvia and USSR, The Baltic States and the USSR: industrial production, 194~ The Baltic States and the USSR: industrial production, 198~ Agricultural production in the Baltic States, 194~ Selected quality of life indicators in the USSR and the Baltic Republics, 1988 and Selected quality of life indicators for the Baltic capitals and the USSR, The distribution of inter-republican trade, Commodity structure of exports for the Baltic States, Commodity structure of imports for the Baltic States, Nationality composition of the cities in the 1993 survey Russian response to citizenship laws Citizenship requirements Statehood and the language issue Intended citizenship applicants among the Russian communities 197 viii

8 List of Contributors Aadne Aasland, Institute of Russian and East European Studies, University of Glasgow. Michael Bradshaw, School of Geography and Centre for Russian and East European Studies, University of Birmingham. Phil Hanson, Centre for Russian and East European Studies, University of Birmingham. Nicholas Hope, Faculty of Modem History, University of Glasgow. David Kirby, School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University of London. Richard Mole, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge. Andrus Park, sometime Faculty of Philosophy, Politics and Law, Estonian Academy of Sciences, Tallinn. Denis Shaw, School of Geography and Centre for Russian and East European Studies, University of Birmingham. Aleksandras Shtromas, Department of History and Political Science, Hillsdale College, Michigan. Graham Smith, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge and the Post-Soviet States Research Programme, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. James D. White, Faculty of Modern History and Institute of Russian and East European Studies, University of Glasgow. ix

9 Preface Few events in the latter half of the twentieth century can be so momentous as the geopolitical disintegration of the Soviet Union. Not only did it bring to an end state socialism in the first country to embrace a socialist route to modernity but it also brought into being fifteen nation-states, including the rebirth of the three Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Despite their small size, with a combined population of only 8.8 million, these three republics emerged to play a key part in contributing to the end of the USSR. While initially displaying a willingness to engage in Mikhail Gorbachev's plans for economic and political reform, the Baltic peoples quickly became the pacesetters in the struggle to achieve greater national self-determination. Following the August 1991 coup in Moscow they again rejoined the international community of sovereign states. The underlying rationale of this book is that it is only possible to understand fully the prominent contribution of the Baltic peoples to this geopolitical transformation by locating the Baltic States within the wider context of their twentieth-century struggle for national self-determination. Part I of this book therefore examines the Baltic nations from their national awakening in the nineteenth century through to securing their independent statehood during the interwar years and finally their incorporation into the Soviet Union. In Part II we explore their transition towards the re-establishment of independent statehood and the problems linked to their political rebirth as sovereign states in the 1990s. Although the Baltic States have shared a remarkably similar fate throughout the twentieth century, we have also attempted to signal the marked differences which exist between them, in their national cultures, economies and social structures, providing what we hope is a more balanced comparative examination of these societies. The major acknowledgement which an editor of a volume such as this needs to make is to the contributors. All of them responded with enthusiasm to the project, and I am particularly grateful for their willingness to follow editorial guidelines, which, we hope, provide the coherence in approach and balanced coverage that was intended. I am also grateful to Ian Agnew for his usual high standard of cartographic artistry and to Clare Andrews, editor at Macmillan, for her steady guidance. xi Graham Smith Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge June 1993

10 Preface to the 1996 Reprint I have taken the opportunity to make some minor corrections to the 1994 hardback edition and to update Chapter Eight. This edition is dedicated to the memory of Andrus Park, one of the contributors, whose untimely death leaves Baltic studies that much poorer. Graham Smith August 1995 xii

11 RUSSIA S eul a1e LITHUANIA BELARUS (pari ol Russia) - - 1n1erneuon11 boundlfl81 POLAND 0 km 100 Figure 1 The Post-1991 Baltic States xiii