British public opinion towards Baltic popular movements (1988-1991)

• In Event: Baltic Geopolitics Network panel: Re-emergence of the Baltic states in great power strategy after 1991

Abstract

In 1988, Mikhail Gorbachev, the leader of the Soviet Union, supported by the West, undertook sweeping political and economic reforms, trying to remodel the Soviet Union as a socialist democratic state. Britain, under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, fully supported such reforms. However, Baltic popular movements, which also sprang up in 1988, complicated matters both for Gorbachev and for Britain. On one hand, Britain considered support to Gorbachev to be of utmost importance. On the other hand, Britain, being one of the leading democratic nations in the world, could not ignore the plight of the Baltic people. The British political leadership prioritized interests over moral obligations, but how did the British public reacted to the developments in the Baltic?

One of the best ways to measure public opinion is through the newspapers. Britain was the first country in the world to introduce press to the broader public, and newspapers remain quite popular in Britain, despite other technological innovations such as radio or television. The Daily Telegraph and The Guardian are both independent, but professional newspapers, intended for the middle class audience. The Telegraph is Tory leaning, while The Guardian editorial office has many Labour sympathizers. Detailed narrative analysis of these papers will allow to catch a glimpse of the attitudes of the most numerous, but also politically divided British social class.

The discourse analysis will focus on the images applied to the Baltic popular movements in the British press. I will concentrate on 3 main aspects:

1. How British press was trying to present the Baltic popular movements to the British public – either positive, negative or neutral. Special focus will be on terms used to describe the popular movements (for example – nationalist) and whatever these terms have positive or negative connotations in the broader context.

2. Did British press managed to register fundamental change in the popular movements themselves (for instance – popular movements went from supporting Perestroika to supporting independence)

3. Whatever British newspapers supported, opposed or refused to evaluate governmental policy towards the Baltic republics and the Soviet Union as a whole.

Author

• Jokubas Pukenas, Vilnius University