Moments of Liberation in Baltic History

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Brief Description

This roundtable discusses four episodes of liberation in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania during their modern histories: 1) the liberation of the peasants from the socio-economic, political and cultural hegemony of the landowning elites through the emergence of national movements in the 19th century; 2) national liberation from the Russian Empire and imperial German occupation in 1917-1920 with the establishment of independent statehood; 3) how liberation was portrayed, experienced, and remembered in contradictory ways by warring powers and local communities fractured by occupation, displacement and genocide during WWII; 4) liberation from Communist rule and the Soviet Union through the Singing Revolution and the restoration of independence in 1991. In all four cases, the events will be analyzed from a comparative perspective. The panelists are members of the Board of Directors of the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies.

Sub Unit

• History: 1945-1990

Chair

• Liisi Esse, Stanford U

Roundtable Members

• Olavi Arens, Georgia Southern U

• Violeta Davoliute, Lithuanian Culture Research Institute (Lithuania)

• Joerg Hackmann, U of Szczecin (Poland)

• Andres Kasekamp, U of Toronto (Canada)