Authors

John Freeman¹;  ¹ University of Warsaw, Poland

Discussion

The Baltic Sea region has classically been seen as a periphery of early modern colonialism, particularly according to Wallerstein’s work on the economic world system. Nevertheless, Baltic peripherality has been challenged by those who highlight the importance of Baltic agency in trade, iron production and ship construction. Baltic polities also attempted to be involved in colonial ventures, most notably Denmark, Brandenburg-Prussia, Sweden and the Duchy of Courland. The presence of near-contemporary Baltic attempts to expand in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans has led to some calls to recognise a Baltic style of early modern colonialism. Although, the paradigm may be argued as a new historical framework, it is certainly not the case that the Baltic Sea has acted as a unifier of narratives on colonialism in the region. The extent of colonial history, as well as effects subsequent to the early modern colonial period, such as Soviet hegemony, independence struggles and post-colonial migration, have produced differing Baltic colonial narratives. The talk will briefly investigate the case studies of Germany, Latvia, Poland and Denmark to compare how historiographical, public and museum debates handle the issue of early modern colonialism in the Baltic Sea region.