As the new leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev believed it was necessary to institute broad reforms that would revitalize the Soviet economy and increase productivity. His famous policies of Perestroika (“restructuring”) and Glasnost (“openness”) expanded political freedoms, decreased press and creative censorship, increased government transparency, and expanded democratic elements in local governments. Contrary […]
Tag: Baltic States
The Baltic Independence Movement
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Prior to 1991, the Baltic States had long suffered from precarious sovereignty. In the early years of the 20th century, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania had gained recognition as independent nation states by the Soviet Union, only to lose it in 1939 after the signing of the Molotov Ribbentropp Pact. Over the course of World War … Continue reading The Baltic Independence Movement →
The Singing Revolution
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It all started in 1987, Estonians began mass protests in the capital city of Tallinn against the Russian occupation of their country. One of the protests included gathering of 10,000 people in the Tallinn Song Festival where they sang a … Continue reading →
The Baltic Way
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Since being forced to join the Soviet Union as Republics during World War II, the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania had desired independence. These states had their independence during the early 20th century for about 20 years but were forced to be under Soviet rule once again because of the power of the … Continue reading The Baltic Way
Territory & WWII
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By signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on March 3, 1918 the Soviet Russia gave up its territorial claims to the Baltic region, Ukraine, and other parts of Eastern Europe to formally end its participation in World War I. As previously stated in my second blog post, this allowed for the Bolshevik leadership to focus on … Continue reading Territory & WWII
