The Baltic States [antikvár]

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION A decade ago, we completed our survey of post-war Baltic history, The Bahic States: Years of Dependence, 1940-1980. The dramatic developments during the subsequent decade warrant an updated edition. Throughout most of the 1980s, Baltic history did not differ radically from the preceding period of all-Union stagnation. However, by 1987 the rumblings of change had become noticeable. Three years later, all three states declared their independence. Its practical implementation, including successful resistance to several dramatic attempts at reconstituting the earlier Soviet structure, had to await the collapse of the USSR in the aftermath of the failed coup of August 1991. The reconstruction of modern Baltic nation-states is currently progressing. The new situation in the Baltic region has evoked attention to the Kaliningrad province of Russia which, from the end of the Second World War, was one of the most obscure corners of the USSR. We have accordingly added a postscript surveying the region's postwar history. Kaliningrad is, in all likelihood, slated to become increasingly integrated into the region as a distinct entity. Considerably more material has become available on the territory since that chapter was written, and continues to do so. The curse of writing contemporary history is rapid obsolescence; however, because of the overall paucity of attention to the subject, we have elected to include the chapter as it stands. The new edition has allowed for the correction of many errors and infelicities which were noted in the earlier survey after its publication. While we have updated the appendixes listing office-holders, we have decided not to update most of the statistical data. The new circumstances have not allowed pubUcation of statistical information to be as systematic as it was earlier. Moreover, it now appears that much of the earlier data in itself may be suspect. Accordingly, a proper updated statistical survey is not feasible under current conditions and will have to await separate revision in the future. The original work was undertaken at the request of the British publisher, Christopher Hurst, as a sequel to Georg von Rauch's The XI