Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - VIII. The Baltic problem
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
102 PROBLEMS CONFRONTING RUSSIA
school which the Russian peasantry have not had, and
which guarantees for success in life.
At present the Baltic stock of Teutonic descent stand face
to face with the Letts and Esths on the common ground of
equality. There can be no question of superiority of the
one race over the other, they are all willing to unite in their
very devotion for their common Baltic home, and to work
together for its welfare. As in the case of Switzerland,
where the Teutonic, French, and Italian element keep their
own national individuality, but form together one political
unit, it would be quite possible for the Letts, the Esths, and
the Baltic stock of Teutonic origin to remain true to their
respective distinctive racial features. During the existence
of the Livonian State, and afterwards up to the present
time, no attempt was made to denationalise the Letts and
the Esths. This may be taken as a pledge for racial tolerance
in the future.
In judging the past of the Baltic Provinces it is not fair
to apply modern moral standards to bygone centuries. The
condition of the Letts have caused a certain amount of
censure to be attached to the nobility of the Baltic Provinces,
on the supposition of their having impaired Lettish progress
in bygone times. That may be a very regrettable fact, but
it is really difficult to see how it could have been otherwise,
judging by the standard of that time. After all, the Letts
were conquered by the Livonian Order, their aristocracy
voluntarily assimilated itself with the invaders, who, with
all due respect for the Lettish state of efficiency, had the
advantage over them in Christian culture and civilisation,
and their lower orders remaining peasants were not
denationalised. While the old Prussians who inhabited
Eastern Prussia were Germanised by the Germans to the
extent that even their language has disappeared, the Letts
were allowed to remain faithful to their ethnographical
particularity. The modern Lettish national movement was,
therefore, in the first place possible owing to Baltic racial
tolerance.
Attempts to Russify the Baltic Provinces have, on the
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
