Neo Westphalian Europe Part 49: Republic of Samogitia

The Samogitian republic is another territory forged out of Europe’s many border tensions. The Samogitians are a tribe of the Lithuanians, however they gained a distinct culture in their own right after spending years on the border between the Lithuanian state and the Teutonic Knights. During the numerous conflicts between these forces they passed back and forward between the two rulers.

Whilst under Teutonic control they were subject to a different style of feudal system and thus developed a more unique life style from the rest of Lithuania, which has left them with a nascent independence movement brewing in its own right. Despite this it was ironically in Samogitia that the initial drive for Lithuanian independence was born, in the 19^th Century.

The region had passed from the Polish-Lithuanian state and was now a part of the Russian Empire. A policy of Russification had attempted to erase Lithuanian language and culture. It is clear however deeper threads of Nationalism will always once again bubble to the surface. This is another reason why the current attempt to create a single world empire, which erases all these national identities, will never work. The Samogitians began to produce Lithuanian language writings again and smuggled them throughout Lithuania, giving the population an identity again.

During the 1831 Polish uprising, against the Russian Empire, there was a move to create an independent Samogitia that was separate of both Poland and Lithuania. This however ended when the revolution failed. Later rebellions saw the Samogitians join the Lithuanian side as they pushed for independence. Eventually, as with all the Baltic States, they finally found independence as part of Lithuania in the chaos that preceded World War 1.

This independence ended after World War Two and the region was once again under Soviet rule. Finally in 1990 they gained full independence again, as the Soviet Union fell apart. At that time Samogitia moved with Lithuania for a unified state. However a decade later, in the 2000’s, an independent Samogitian movement began to assert itself in the region. By 2009 the region had its own Samogitian Party. It is likely that as the map of Europe redraws itself, over the coming years, this will be yet another new nation that arises during the “Springtime of Nations”.

This will leave a new nation made up of the Samogitia Region, currently a part of Lithuania.

The flag of the Samogitia independence movement is based on the current flag of the Samogitia region. This flag has the bear of the Samogitia coat of arms on it, which was revived in the 1990s. The current regional flag of Samogitia however flies a medieval style pennant. The flag that is flown by some separatists is updated to the more modern style of flag and includes the two bears facing a sun. It is also fully red and has no white in it, unlike the current regional flag. This flag also depicts the bears without a collar indicating that they are not in captivity.

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Neo Westphalian Europe Part 48: Republic of Latvia

Latvia is another Baltic republic, whose history is very similar to that of Estonia. Instead of the Swedish Empire however, it spent a great deal of its time under the control of the Polish-Lithuanian state. Finally it passed into the possession of the Russian Empire.

At the end of World War 1 it declared its independence like neighbouring Estonia. As with Estonia it spent the next three years fighting off German and Russian forces, until it won a stable independent nation by 1920. During World War Two the new nation was forced to surrender to the Soviets and it became a part of the Soviet Union. After the independence of Estonia began to unravel the Soviet Union, Latvia was able to follow suit, in late 1991, and regain its full independence.

Unfortunately Latvia then made the same mistake as Estonia and gave away its newfound independence back to the European Union and NATO, based out of Brussels. Again it is amazing that so many peoples, who fought so hard to escape the grips of the supra national Soviet Union, would give up their rights yet again to the European Union. As the Brussels Empire melts down and collapses, just as the Moscow one did before it, it would seem that Baltic Nationalists will once again be on the forefront in helping to destroy such ridiculous imperial structures.

Because of its recent history, in claiming its territorial rights, it is not expected that any changes to its current borders are likely. This will leave a fully independent Latvia made up of the Courland, Semigallia, Vidzeme and Latgalia Regions, currently in Latvia.

The Latvian flag has a similar history to the Estonian. A student movement began in the 1870s, which sought to restore Latvian nationalism in the Russian Empire. Students found evidence of a flag that had been used by Latvian tribes in the 1200’s, making it one of the oldest flags in use in Europe. Nationalists then used the flag until in 1918 it was adopted by the newly independent state. The flag was replaced during Soviet times but was restored as the state flag of Latvia in 1990, as part of Perestroika, before once again becoming the national flag after independence was restored in 1991.

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