1st Edition

Intermarium The Land Between the Black and Baltic Seas

By Marek Jan Chodakiewicz Copyright 2012
    576 Pages
    by Routledge

    576 Pages
    by Routledge

    History and collective memories influence a nation, its culture, and institutions; hence, its domestic politics and foreign policy. That is the case in the Intermarium, the land between the Baltic and Black Seas in Eastern Europe. The area is the last unabashed rampart of Western Civilization in the East, and a point of convergence of disparate cultures.

    As the inheritor of the freedom and rights stemming from the legacy of the Polish-Lithuanian/Ruthenian Commonwealth, the Intermarium is culturally and ideologically compatible with American national interests. It is also a gateway to both East and West. Since the Intermarium is the most stable part of the post-Soviet area, Marek Jan Chodakiewicz argues that the United States should focus on solidifying its influence there. The ongoing political and economic success of the Intermarium states under American sponsorship undermines the totalitarian enemies of freedom all over the world. As such, the area can act as a springboard to addressing the rest of the successor states, including those in the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Russian Federation.

    By reintroducing the concept of the Intermarium into intellectual discourse the author highlights the autonomous and independent nature of the area. This is a brilliant and innovative addition to European Studies and to the study of world cultures.

    Contents

    Introduction

    Background

    Sources and Method

    Part I. Intermarium: A Brief History

    1. The Origins

    2. Medieval Ruthenia and the Mongols

    3. The Balts, the Germans, and the Poles

    4. The Commonwealth

    5. The Partitions

    6. World War I and the Revolution

    7. Interwar

    8. World War II and Liberation

    Part II. The Armageddon and Its Aftermath (1939–1992)

    9. An Overview

    10. The First Soviet Occupation (1939–1941)

    11. The Nazi Occupation (1941–1944)

    12. The Second Soviet Occupation (1944–1992)

    13. Transformation

    14. The Liberation

    Part III. Post-Soviet Continuities and Discontinuities:Domestic and Foreign Challenges

    15. An Overview

    16. Contemporary Politics

    17. The Baltics

    18. Southern and Central Intermarium

    19. Lifting the "Velvet Curtain": Geopolitics andForeign Policy in the Intermarium

    20. The Majorities and the Minorities

    Part IV. Chain of Memory

    21. An Overview

    22. Landscapes and Impressions

    23. False Consciousness

    24. A Sample of Individual Recollections

    25. National Stereotypes

    26. Koniuchy: A Case Study

    Conclusion

    Appendix I: The Death Toll in the Intermarium during the Twentieth Century

    Appendix II: Maps

    Bibliography

    Index

    Biography

    Marek Jan Chodakiewicz