Neo Westphalian Europe Part 50: Republic of Lithuania

Lithuania is the last of the Baltic States that played such an integral role in the break up of the Soviet Union. Again they surprisingly chose not to learn the lessons against being part of a giant supranational union, like the one the Soviets created, and squandered their newfound freedom by joining the European Union and NATO.

Again the Baltics will probably be a region that realises the mistakes of this move as the European Union unravels. To make progress into a more stable future the world needs to realise it can no longer be trapped in a dualistic view of the world; “Their union is bad, our union is good”. ALL unions are bad, as they inherently destroy the sovereignty of peoples and steal resources back to imperial centres.

The Lithuanian story is similar to the neighbouring countries however it has a longer history of being an independent nation, as it was for a long time the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and was independent of the neighbouring medieval states. Much of its existence saw it in tension and conflicts with the neighbouring Teutonic and Livonian knighthoods. This was because it was one of the last pagan regions to hold out to converting to the Pope, so numerous crusades were launched against it.

Eventually the Lithuanians gave Samogitia to the Knights in exchange for peace and converted. During this time they were even able to expand territorially into Ruthenian regions. A number of centuries of conflict, with Samogitia passing back and forward between the foes, then ensued. During this period the nation also alternated between being Eastern Orthodox and Western Papist. Over time the Western influence lead to increasing ties with Catholic Poland.

Eventually, as Ruthenians became more interested in forming a Russian nation centred in Moscow, this pushed Lithuania into even deeper alliance with Poland for defence. This ended with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which formed in the 1500’s. This was destroyed, and a large portion of it became part of the Russian Empire, in the 1700’s.

Finally, as with all the Baltics, true independence came in the chaos following the First World War.  After declaring independence in 1918 they were invaded by the Soviets. Their war against the Soviets ended when the Poles invaded them yet again and a Lithuanian Polish war broke out. This finally ended in 1920 in full independence.

World War Two ended this independence and once again they were under Soviet rule. Finally in 1990, as the rest of the Baltics declared independence, Lithuania followed suit. It was a more violent process in Lithuania with several attacks by the Soviets over the next few years. By mid 1991 they were officially free but Soviet troops did not fully withdraw until 1993.

As with the other Baltic States this independence was short lived however, as they once again fell under foreign rule, this time from the EU. Now it is likely that the dream for a truly independent Lithuania will once again be realised, as it frees itself from Brussels in the coming years. It will of course probably lose Samogitia as it does so however. This will leave a rump Lithuania made up of the Lithuania Minor, Aukstaitija, Suvalkija and Dzukija Regions, all currently a part of Lithuania.

The Lithuanian flag is another in the Tricolour style of flags, which became popular in European Republican movements after the French Revolution. An older flag of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which is red with a knight on it, is still used as the war flag and State flag of Lithuania. The civil flag however is the tricolour, which was adopted in 1905 by Lithuanian nationalists.

The colours were taken from the traditional dress often worn in the region. It was decided to use this new Tricolour to differentiate the new push for a republic, from the old Duchy, as that state included regions that now belonged to other countries. The flag was officially adopted as the national flag in 1918, when independence was declared. The flag was no longer used during the Soviet occupation after world war two. During the independence movement in the 1990’s it made a come back and was restored when Lithuania became independent again.

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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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Neo Westphalian Europe Part 47: Republic of Estonia

The Republic of Estonia is one of the Baltic States, where much conflict in the Scandinavian region has occurred over the years. It was originally owned by the Danes but then passed to the Swedish Empire. Eventually the Russians, as part of the Russian Swedish conflicts, captured it. Ironically it was attempts by the Russian Empire to engage in Russification of the area, which lead to an increase in an Estonian identity and a nascent nationalist movement began to take shape.

Estonia finally managed to declare independence for itself in 1918, as a sovereign nation in its own right, in the tumultuous aftermath of World War 1. The newly formed Soviet forces briefly occupied them after the Germans withdrew from the area but they were able to win a war for full independence by 1920. During World War 2 they were reoccupied by the Soviets and became a part of the Soviet Empire for a large part of the rest of the century.

It was in Estonia that the final collapse of the Soviet Empire was to be triggered, half a century later. At the height of the economic and political chaos, which swept the Soviet Union in the late 1980’s, the National Front of Estonia was able to mount a successful nationalist movement that eventually saw Estonia once again declaring its independence. The great statesman Gorbachev chose to take the correct action and allowed Estonia to more or less peacefully secede, although some clashes did occur.

Once Estonia was able to prove that a state could safely remove itself from the Soviet grip a wave of secessions took place, across the failing Soviet Union. It is an enormous irony that many of the people who hailed this moment as historic and who viewed the Estonian nationalists of the National Front as great heroes, for having dissolved this giant Imperial Union, are the same who are now currently declaring Nationalist movements trying to end the European Union as some horrible thing.

These people put down the French National Front, for trying the same move to independence in France, from Brussels, as Estonia achieved with its nationalist movement against Moscow. They also get outraged at the British, for their similar and somewhat successful Brexit move. It is a great irony of modern day anti Imperialist movements, that they seem more than happy to say ‘the other guys empire is totally evil; our empire is totally good’. Instead of realizing the deeper truth that ALL Empires are inherently evil, abusive and exploitative in their structure. All empires should be destroyed and thwarted.

The United Nations declares that the right to self-determination of sovereign peoples should be recognized around the world. Ironically this ideal comes from the Liberal rebellions of the 1800’s, which gave us the universal rights of man and other great concepts from the French and American Revolutions. Empire is the anathema of these ideas. Therefore British and French nationalists should be viewed as every bit heroic, in trying to end the Transatlantic Empire, as Estonian and Latvians were in ending the Soviet Empire.

It is strange then, that after fighting for their independence from the Soviets, Estonian politicians lead their populations astray and forced them into the European Union and NATO empires, thus once again ending their true sovereignty. As the EU disintegrates therefore it should not be hard to imagine that Estonian nationalists, of the original groups who helped win freedom from the Soviets, will once again come to the fore and liberate Estonia from the clutches of the madmen in Brussels.

Because of its recent history, in finding its own national identity, the borders of Estonia are fairly stable and other than removing the overlaying bureaucracy of Brussels from their nation there should be no territorial changes to this country.

This will leave an Estonia made up of Harju, Hiiu, Ida-Viru, Jogeva, Jarva, Laane, Laane-Viru, Polva, Parnu, Rapla, Saare, Tartu, Valga, Viljandi and Voru Counties, all currently a part of Estonia.

The flag of Estonia came from a student movement that began in the 1880’s, which was experiencing a reawakening of Estonian culture. The Estonian University Student Association adopted the blue black white tricolor. When the wider nationalist movement gained strength in 1918 it adopted this flag as well. It became the national flag after they gained independence in 1920. During the Soviet occupation the flag was banned however when they restored themselves as a nation, in 1991, the flag was restored along with the nation.

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