DECOLONISATION: BALTIC STATES AND AFRICA

An Essay Comparing the Post-Colonial Policies of the Baltic and African Governments

Abstract

The Baltic countries—Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania—were under the control of the USSR for almost fifty years between 1940 and 1991. This paper aims to compare the problems the Baltic states’ governments faced after regaining their independence in 1991 to the problems faced by the governments of the newly-independent states in Africa after their independence in the 20th century. The paper draws parallels between four types of government policy— economics, foreign affairs, intergovernmental cooperation and settlers’ rights. The paper argues that such similarities provide a basis for referring to the policies of the governments of the Baltic States in the 1990s as post-colonial. While this alone does not imply that the Soviet control of the Baltics was a colonisation process, it sheds light on the impact and perception of Soviet rule by the Baltic states and their citizens.