Clayton, A. (1997). "'Really Most Tiresome': British perceptions of the new Baltic States, 1918-1930." Unpublished MA thesis, University of York.

Abstract

This study examines British perspectives on the national claims and character of Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians during their accession to political autonomy and statehood (1905-19) and through the first decade of their independent Republics (1919-30). Published memoirs and unpublished correspondence of British diplomatic, military and civilian observers are here used to illustrate the evolution of British attitudes to these ‘new nations’. Such sources reveal the personal and institutional preconceptions which governed the collection and transmission of intelligence, illustrate the extent to which national profiles influenced the conduct of British policy in the region, and suggest ways in which experience in and of the Baltic States contributed to a wider British understanding of nationalism and ‘national questions’, including Britain’s own.

British knowledge of this region was limited before 1918, whereafter observers amassed a rich intelligence, initially in connection with the Allied anti-Bolshevik strategy of military ‘Intervention’ in Russia. The international conception of the tripartite ‘Baltic States’, coeval with these Republics of 1918-40, reflected present-day realities rather than the varied experiences of Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians during centuries of servitude. This study begins with an outline of the ethnic histories upon which those States constructed political legitimacy, and which soon informed British commentary.

Differing contemporary exigencies in 1918-30, as well as divergent histories, recommend separate analyses, first of Lithuania, then of Estonia and Latvia. Anti-Bolshevik and anti-German strategic interests were among the factors which mitigated Allied commitment to the ‘self-determination’ of subject nations of Europe’s empires. Some held that economics, geopolitical location and smallness prejudiced their viability. The very novelty of little-known peoples acceding to statehood, moreover, meant that ‘first impressions’ of individuals and their traits disproportionately influenced judgement of national potential in these instances. Such personal perceptions therefore contributed importantly to British predictions, positive and negative, for the new States.

2009 update: It is intended to upload this thesis as a PDF file. If you have a particular interest in obtaining a copy, Meanwhile, the thesis is available in its component parts in MSWord format.