The Genesis of Estonia’s and Latvia’s Bilateral Relations with the Holy See and the Problem of National Identity-Building after World War I

The article deals with the relations between the Holy See and two Baltic states — Estonia and Latvia — in the period of their independence consolidation. The research is based on sources found in the Vatican archives. The Holy See was interested in promoting Catholicism in the new states whose territory had formerly belonged to the Russian Empire. Estonian and Latvian political leadership, for their part, wanted to get recognition of their independence from the Vatican and establish good relations with it. This was a politically driven — rather than a religiously motivated — position: the young Baltic states wanted to consolidate their international status, achieve internal stabilization and strengthen their national identities. The desire to weaken Russian and German influence also played an important role

Aesthetics · Art · Consolidation (business · Economic history · Empire · Estonian · Holy See · Identity (music · Independence (probability theory · Latvian · Lithuanian · National identity · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Position (finance · Sociology · War of independence · Historical Geopolitical and Social Dynamics · History · Law · Philosophy