Anglo-Soviet Relations in the Context of the Baltic Problem, 1918–1922

Abstract

The paper deals with the main trends in relations between Great Britain and Soviet Russia in the context of the ‘Baltic problem’, which emerged on the international agenda right after the collapse of the Russian Empire, in the process of the Bolsheviks assuming power and conducting a war against the Whites, the troops of the Entente, and the armies of the new independent states. The author focuses on subsequent stages in the decision-making process, and actual steps taken by London and Moscow with regard to the three new east Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, taking the latter as a special case. In conclusion, a transition can be traced from the first attempts by Britain to guarantee mere self-governing status for the countries in question, to full recognition of their independence, supported by the Bolshevik government, which, however, opposed the emergence of the Baltic League (or Federation) under the indirect patronage of Britain supported by the League of Nations.