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Post-Imperial Clash of Different Mentalities
In spring 1991, Baltic national flags were waving in the streets of Moscow. In the capital of the Soviet empire, where anticommunist spirits were high, the devastating actions of Soviet authorities against the Baltic states had evoked sympathy toward the nations striving for freedom. Now, more than ten years later, we hear from Moscow that, according to public opinion polls, the Baltic states are the greatest enemies of Russia, together with the overthrown Taliban government in Afghanistan and Russia's hereditary rival-the United States. What on earth has happened?
The answer is quite simple. During the turmoil of 1991 a lot of people, especially those living in Russia, could not understand how different we actually are. At that moment nobody was expecting the Soviet Union to decompose so quickly or that the feeling of unity would so quickly cool down with the introduction of practices of international law (borders, citizenship, visa system, and so forth), which were unknown to most people living in the Soviet Union.
The clear self-determination of the Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian states and the rise in the awareness of national interests and identity were so different from the overwhelming confusion dominating in the former mother country that the countries developed in opposite directions. That led to a rapid decline in the sense of community, which had been created by Soviet authorities, often artificially, under the slogan "Friendship of nations."
Mutual distrust was increased even more by the phenomena accompanying disintegration of any empire-the presence of a foreign army and calls for its departure, problems related to citizenship, border disputes, and so forth. No doubt the Baltic authorities, especially the Estonian and Latvian, also added to the problems by deliberately ignoring Moscow and concentrating fully on reintegration into Europe. That was the only possible decision because without a profound upheaval of the old system the Baltic states would never have been able to achieve such political and economic development as we witness today.
Russia recovered from the revolutionary euphoria to find itself in a completely different situation. The communist system was so viable, comprehensive, and so deeply blended with Russian national characteristics that the state was unable to put an end to its totalitarian past. In contrast to...