HITLERI VÕIMULETULEK SAKSAMAAL JA BALTI RIIGID 1933. AASTAL – VÄLISPOLIITILINE ASPEKT
HITLER’S RISE TO POWER IN GERMANY AND THE BALTIC STATES IN 1933 – THE FOREIGN POLICY ASPECT

Summary/Abstract: Germany’s political viewpoint in regard to the Baltic states during the first half of the twentieth century can be divided into three phases. The first in these was the imperial German posture, which can, in turn, be divided into the pre-World War I and war-time periods. The war-time politics consisted in opposing the independence of the Baltic states. This was evidenced by the occupation of the Baltic states during the First World War. The end of the empire came with the success of the November Revolution in Germany. The Weimar Republic (1919–1933) brought with it a new phase in Germany’s political posture toward the Baltic states: acceptance of their independence. The third phase in the relationship between the Baltic states and Germany began in 1933 and can again be divided into two periods: the first from Hitler’s rise to power to the signing of the Anglo–German Naval Agreement in 1935, the second from the Naval Agreement to the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. The first period was characterized by a hostile stance toward the Baltic states, which manifested itself in the national-socialist ideology and the activities of Alfred Rosenberg and those aligned with him as well as in covert attempts to support forces that had adopted national-socialist views in the three Baltic states. The second period was characterized by seemingly improved relations and a pretended acceptance of the independence of the Baltic states. Speaking of the year 1933, central to the article is the question of how the rise to power of the national socialists in Germany influenced the foreign and domestic policy of the Baltic states. In connection with the Baltic states and the year 1933, the current article examines primarily questions related to foreign policy: Hitler’s and Rosenberg’s view of the question of the Baltic states, the idea of neutralizing the Baltic states, the question of the Four Power Pact, the question of preventive war, the former Chief Magistrate of Stockholm Carl Lindhagen’s proposal for collaboration among the countries bordering the Baltic Sea, the revival of the attempt to forge a Baltic alliance. The rise to power of the national socialists in Germany in 1933 was accompanied by a diplomatic revolution in Europe, as evidenced by numerous agreements, declarations and ideas. In 1933 there was, however, no clear understanding as to whether Hitler as Germany’s leader would begin to carry out the ideas presented in Mein Kampf or whether these would remain political rhetoric intended to attract the masses at the start of a political battle. It is clear that statements of leading national socialists concerning the Baltic states in 1933 were contradictory: on the one hand was Hitler’s vision, based on Mein Kampf, of Germany’s Ostpolitik, on the other hand Alfred Rosenberg’s statements concerning the possible collaboration of the states around the Baltic Sea under the aegis of Germany.

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