On 16 January, the CWD hosted a talk by Dr Kęstutis Kilinskas from Vilnius University on ‘The Baltic States between East and West: The Wars of Independence and the International System 1918-1920’

Dr Kilinskas spoke about how, after the end of the First World War and the collapse of the Russian Empire, the Baltic states started their wars of independence. Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia fought against the Red Army and irregular units of the German Freikorps. The newly created Baltic states also became a playground of the Western Powers; Estonia and Latvia were supported by Britain, Lithuania by Germany, and Poland by France. These aspects not only had a substantial influence on the course of the war and the diplomacy of the young states, but also heavily affected their domestic situation.

Kęstutis Kilinskas is an Assistant Professor of History at Vilnius University’s History Department. His doctoral dissertation and relating publications examined the process of building a post-imperial army for the nationalizing Lithuanian state, offering a political history of post-imperial military elites in the Lithuanian Republic (1918-1940). His publications have appeared in Lithuanian and English in journals such as: Lithuanian Historical Studies, Acta Historica Universitatis Klaipedensis, Archives of War, and others.