ABSTRACT

The collapse of the Russian and German empires and the ensuing revolutionary upheavals dramatically affected the whole of northern Europe, and the repercussions of these events are still being felt today. Even the Scandinavian kingdoms with their well-established institutions and traditions were shaken by constitutional and political crises. Closer to the epicentre of revolution, the impact of change was far more profound. The new states of the Baltic had not only to define and establish international recognition of their territorial boundaries, but also to create constitutional and institutional frameworks. This was an especially daunting and difficult task for states which lacked clearly-defined historical precedents or viable existing institutions upon which to build. Finland was especially fortunate in having the latter, whilst a resurrected Poland could draw spiritual and emotional sustenance from past memories of the historic rzeczpospolita. For the Lithuanians, the lost city of Vilnius (Vilna) was a symbol of their glorious pagan medieval past, but in all other respects, the problems facing the delegates to the constituent assembly which convened in Kaunas in the summer of 1920 were not dissimilar to those encountered by their Estonian and Latvian counterparts. Lacking practical political experience, fired by nationalist and ultra-democratic sentiments, and with no acceptable local institutions which might form the basis for a new constitution, the members of these assemblies looked to the democratic republics of western Europe for inspiration.