Introduction

The Baltic republics have been the most important center of nationalist activity in the Soviet Union throughout the Gorbachev era. While “anti-Soviet" nationalist activity had a long history in the Baltic republics, the national movements only began to gain momentum in 1988 with the creation of the Popular Fronts. Far from being contingent upon Baltic sovereignty, the assertion of greater republican autonomy was viewed as a means that would contribute to the attainment of this more general end. As with the fronts, the willingness of the republican parties to make radical demands was tempered by the numbers of resident non-nationals living in the republic. Yet the move toward separatist politics in each of the Baltic republics as well as the perceived need to remain politically competitive gave birth to a trend that no Baltic Communist Party was able to avoid—the declaration of independence by the republican Party and its division into independent and Moscow-loyal factions.