Afterword: Self-Determination and Recognition in the Baltic States, 1917–1922; pp. 330–352

Abstract

This afterword outlines the current state of research of self-determination and recognition in the Baltic region during the First World War and its aftermath. Examining the subtle transformations in the meaning of the concept of self-determination in this period reveals that a fundamental consensus emerged among the Allied and Associated Powers concerning the illegitimacy of territorial acquisition and annexations. However, there were also differences regarding theories of the state and understandings of federalism that informed their views on self-determination. Moreover, national independence was not seen by Baltic national leaders as a primary goal before the start of the First World War, until it came to be advocated by two warring Great Powers: Imperial Germany and Soviet Russia.

Keywords

• baltic states; first world war; self-determination; recognition; woodrow wilson; the brest-litovsk moment; imperial german conception of self-determination; the bolshevik conception of self-determination