British Policy towards the Incorporation of the Baltic States into the USSR: A Dilemma of de facto and de jure Recognition

Abstract

Abstract Multiple viewpoints have been expressed regarding the British attitude towards the Soviet annexation of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The vast majority of writers maintain that the United Kingdom extended only de facto recognition to this incorporation. A small minority of commentators, however, hold otherwise and argue that Britain recognised the annexation de jure. To address this controversy, which has previously received almost no consideration, this article traces the development of the British policy towards the incorporation of the Baltic republics into the USSR, giving wide scope to the statements of the British government and to the views of Members of Parliament. Careful attention is also given to judicial practice. This legal and historical analysis helps to identify the meaning of de facto and de jure recognition used by Britain in the Baltic case, as well as clarifies a number of other relevant questions (for example, whether a territorial annexation may constitute a separate object of recognition, and whether a military occupant may be equated with a government recognised de facto). After determining the correct approach to this academic debate, the article suggests how its findings may contribute to studies contrasting the position of the UK with respect to the Baltic annexation with that of other countries.