Between Sweden and Russia: The Baltic Rimland

Abstract

Periphery and Center The three Baltic nations, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have for centuries been situated at the periphery of the multi-national states and empires of the Baltic area: Denmark, the Teutonic Order and the German Hansa, Sweden, Poland-Lithuania, and Russia. Simultaneously, these three Baltic nations belong to the center of Europe, in geographical as well as in cultural and confessional respect. With the exception of Lithuania in the Middle Ages, for the most part of the latest millenium these nations have been politically subordinated to the bigger or militarily stronger neighbors, which have regarded them as a periphery or rimland. My point of departure is that the Baltic nations constitute today a rimland or border area between the small, weak and neutral Sweden on the one hand, and the superpower Soviet Russia on the other hand. I will regard these nations not as a periphery of secondary interest to Swedish-Russian relations, but as a middle ground or center, whose needs and aspirations should be heeded by Swedes and Russians alike. Thus there is a normative background to this paper. However, this is not meant to be an excuse for wishful thinking or manipulation of facts. It is merely a reminder of the fact that one has to start any analysis from a definitive perspective. From the 16th century until the beginning of the 18th century, Sweden, Poland-Lithuania and Russia competed for control of the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. During the course of the 17th century, Poland-Lithuania receded into the background, and after the Great Nordic War, Russia reigned supreme. According to the LithuanianAmerican historian Bronis J. Kaslas, this meant that: ' 1 All the bright hopes of an expanding economy, a satisfying intellectual life, and general improvement under Swedish rule, disappeared as if they had never been spawned/' This Baltic historian considers the struggle between Sweden and Russia for the eastern shore