ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the roots of the strains of anomie in the societal structure of the Baltic States and seeks to analyze why the communities of the countryside, despite their critical role in the Baltic Revolutions of 1987–90 appear to be the losers. It focuses on the development of Baltic civil societies in transition and has used the evidence of both quantitative and qualitative data in support of suppositions made. In all the Baltic States there is an observable contrast between political liberalization spearheaded by the 'Revolution' and the subsequent limited success of the nations to build balanced communities. There is a particularly large disparity between the contribution of the countryside to the Baltic revolutions and the current low influence of the voice of rural communities. It is quite possible that in forty years of occupation each Baltic State developed its own type of civil culture, based on a fusion of traditional culture and Soviet standards.
