The Attitude of the United States to the Baltic Region in 1918–1922: The Example of Latvia

Jēkabsons, Ēriks

doi:10.2478/bjes-2021-0006

Abstract

The article discusses the attitude of the USA towards the newborn independent Baltic States in 1918–1922 using the most devastated of them—Latvia—as an example. Relations between Latvia and the United States in 1918–1922 reflect Latvia’s intense foreign policy efforts to ensure its political and social development through relations with one of the world’s most influential and powerful economies in spite of the United States’ reserved behavior. In addition, this unique era in Latvia and the Baltic States as a whole (influenced by the Soviet Russian and German factors, war and its aftermath, and the ethnically diverse and complicated social situation) illustrates the specifics of US policy towards Eastern Europe and Russia.

References

Agreement of “Konzums” and Commission (1919), Latvijas Nacionālā arhīva Latvijas Valsts vēstures arhīvs [National Archives of Latvia, State Historical Archives of Latvia], F 1307, inv 1, f 650, pp. 51–52.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Farnsworth, B. (1967), William C. Bullitt and the Soviet Union, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Floto, I. (1980), Colonel House in Paris. A Study of American Policy at the Paris Peace Conference 1919, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Foglesong, D. S. (1995a), America’s Secret War against Bolshevism: US Intervention in the Russian Civil War, 1917–1920, Chapel Hill & London: University of North Carolina Press.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Foglesong, D. S. (1995b), ‘The United States, self-determination and the struggle against Bolshevism in the Eastern Baltic region, 1918–1920,’ Journal of Baltic Studies, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 107–144. https://doi.org/10.1080/0162977950000003110.1080/01629779500000031
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Jēkabsons, Ē. (2010), ‘Amerikānis Džozefs Stēlins Latvijas armijā Neatkarības kara laikā’ [American Joseph Stehlin in Latvian army during the War of Independence], Tēvijas Sargs, no. 6, pp. 30–31.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Jēkabsons, Ē. (2014), ‘Die Tätigkeit der amerikanischen Mission in Lettland unter der Leitung von Warwick Greene: Liepāja, April bis Mai 1919,’ Forschungen zur Baltischen Geschichte, vol. 9, pp. 152–176.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Jēkabsons, Ē. (2015), ‘Zaudētie 450 000 dolāru: Neveiksmīgais Latvijas valdības darījums ar firmu “U.S.A. International Corporation” 1920. gadā’ [Lost 450,000 dollars: unfortunate deal with the company U.S.A. International Corporation], Latvijas Arhīvi, no. 3/4, pp. 97–136.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Jēkabsons, Ē. (2018a), Latvijas un Amerikas Savienoto Valstu attiecības 1918–1922 [Relations of Latvia and USA, 1918–1922], Rīga: Latvijas Vēstures Institūta Apgāds. https://doi.org/10.22364/lviz.108.0810.22364/lviz.108.08
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Jēkabsons, Ē. (2018b), ‘The Latvian War of Independence 1918–1920 and the United States,’ in L. Fleishman & A. Weiner (ed.) War, Revolution, and Governance: The Baltic Countries in the Twentieth Century, Boston: Academic Studies Press, pp. 17–29. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781618116215-00310.1515/9781618116215-003
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Kennan, G. F. (1956), Soviet–American Relations, 1917–1920. Russia Leaves the War, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Medijainen, E. (2012), ‘The US de jure recognition of the Baltic states,’ Trames, vol. 16(66/61), no. 4, pp. 305–322. https://doi.org/10.3176/tr.2012.4.0110.3176/tr.2012.4.01
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Osborne, L. (1919), L. Osborne to Secretary of State (1919.24.01), Hoover Institution and Archives, American Relief Administration, European Unit, Box 337-18.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Papers Relating to the Foreign Policy of the United States (1931), 1918. Russia, vol. I, Washington.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Rimscha, H. von (1966), ‘Die baltische Mission des amerikanischer Oberstleutnants Warwick Greene im Jahre 1919,’ in R. Endress (ed.) West-östliche Perspektiven. Wirtschaft – Soziologie – Wissenschaft – Politik, Festschrift für Prof. Dr. Erik v. Sivers zu seinem 65. Geburtstag. Stuttgart: Forkel Verlag, pp. 99–117.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Sēja, L. (1921), Reports, National Archives of Latvia, State Historical Archives of Latvia, F 293, inv 1, f 453, pp. 1–39.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Tarulis, A. (1965), American-Baltic Relations, 1918–1922: The Struggle over Recognition, Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Walworth, A. (1986), Wilson and His Peacemakers: American Diplomacy at the Paris Peace Conference, New York & London: W. W. Norton & Company.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article

The Attitude of the United States to the Baltic Region in 1918–1922: The Example of Latvia

Abstract

Paradigm

My account