The Baltic Germans dominated the political, cultural and social life of what are now Latvia and Estonia for generations. They were not only prominent landowners and writers but also soldiers and administrators in the Swedish and Tsarist empires. Baltic Germans also played an important role in the White resistance to the Russian Revolution, and the post-First World War turbulence in the Baltic and more widely, before they were caught up in the great mangle of twentieth century population movements. To discuss this epic history and its legacy today, the Baltic Geopolitics Programme of the Centre for Geopolitics at Cambridge will bring together two distinguished historians of the region.
Speakers:
Max Egremont is a well-known novelist, biographer and historian. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and author of ‘Forgotten land: Journeys among the ghosts of East Prussia’ (2011) and ‘The glass wall: Lives on the Baltic frontier’ (2021), which is primarily about the Baltic Germans.
Jörg Hackmann teaches at the Universities of Szczecin and Greifswald. He has written widely on the history of the region and the question of dual loyalties.
Chair: Brendan Simms is the Director of the Centre for Geopolitics at University of Cambridge.
