Cover -- Contents -- Preface -- Introduction -- Mediation and Intervention in the Back of Beyond: Small States in the Eastern Baltic and France's Strategic Calculations, 1936-1940 -- Introduction -- France's relations with the Baltic states and Finland in the 1920s and early 1930s -- 1936-38: Neutrality, the Baltic Sea, and Good Relations with the USSR -- 1938-39: The Åland Question and Negotiations with the Soviet Union -- A 'Soviet Monroe Doctrine' in the East? -- September to December 1939: Finland and the Baltic States in Relation to France -- Conclusion -- Belgian Diplomacy in Exile and the Baltic States 1940-45 -- The Evolution of the Baltic States' Neutrality in 1939 -- The Nazi-Soviet Pact of August 1939 and its Consequences -- Political Evolution in Lithuania -- Political Developments in Estonia and Latvia -- The Soviet Annexation of Latvia and Estonia in June- August 1940 -- The German Occupation of the Baltic States (1941-44) -- The Initiatives of Exiled Baltic Diplomats -- The Prospect of a Soviet Reconquest of the Baltic States in 1943-44 -- Conclusion -- Minister T.M. Kivimäki in the Center of Europe - for the Periphery of Europe -- Low Level of Information -- Taking a Stand - Kivimäki's Proposals -- Conclusion -- Wartime Diplomacy in London: How Britain Came to Partially Recognize the Soviet Annexation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania -- Needs and Realities in Estonian Air Defense: The Interwar Years -- Creating the Estonian Air Force -- The International Context: Developments in Airpower and Theory after World War I -- The Estonian Air Force in the 1920s -- The Concepts of the Chief of Estonian Air Defense -- Concepts for an Aerial Observers Network -- Small State Capabilities: Needs and Realities, 1930s. -- Conclusion -- The Baltic Region in the Soviet-German War, 1941-1945 -- Introduction -- Competing Aims and Strategies: German.

Competing Aims and Strategies: Soviet -- A Chronology of Wartime Military Operations -- The 1st Period of War: The German Barbarossa Offensive, 22 June - 25 August 1941 -- The Traditional View -- 'Forgotten' Battles -- Military Operations in or Adjacent to the Baltic Region -- The 2nd Period of the War: The Operational Lull in the Baltic Region, August 1942-February 1944 -- The 3rd Period of the War: The Soviet Winter Offensive (Piercing the Panther Line), February-April 1944 -- The Traditional View -- 'Forgotten' Battles -- Military Operations Within or Adjacent to the Baltic Region -- The 3rd Period of War: The Soviet Summer Offensive (Piecing the Panther Line and Exploiting the Belorussian Offensive), July-August 1944 -- 'Forgotten' Battles -- Military Operations in the Baltic Region during the Summer Campaign of 1944 -- The 3rd Period of the War: The Soviet Baltic Offensive, 14 September-24 November 1944 -- The Traditional View -- 'Forgotten' Battles -- Military Operations in the Baltic Region during the Fall Campaign of 1944 -- The 3rd Period of War: Soviet Offensives in Courland, 23 December 1944-3 April 1945 -- The Traditional View -- 'Forgotten' Battles -- Military Operations in the Baltic Region during the Winter and Spring Campaigns in 1945 -- Conclusions and Unanswered Questions -- First Air Fleet Operations in the Baltic Region, June-December 1941 -- State of the Luftwaffe in 1941 -- The Soviet Army and Air Force in 1941 -- German View of the Red Air Force in the Baltics -- The German Plan -- The First Air Fleet -- The Campaign Begins: The Advance into Latvia and Estonia. Phase One: 22 June to 8 July -- Phase 2 - 8 July - 7 August, Battle in Estonia, Advance on Leningrad -- Phase 3 - 8 August-Mid-September -- Conquest of Estonia, Advance to Leningrad.

Phase 4, September -October - Conquest of the Baltic Islands and Encirclement of Leningrad -- Culmination Point Reached -- Conclusion -- The 15th Division of the Latvian Legion in the Fight on the Velikaya River (1 March-14 April 1944): A Case Study in Maintaining Fighting Power -- Formation of the 15th Waffen SS Division, Latvian Legion -- The First Stage of the Battle (March 1-25 March 1944) -- The Second Stage (26 March - 31 March 1944) -- The Third Stage (1 April 1944 - 14 April 1944) -- Conclusions -- County Level Operational Groups as Part of the Soviet Strategy to Re-occupy Estonia during the Second World War -- Historiography -- The Evacuees -- Tutorial Centers -- Recruiting and Assembling Members into Operational Groups -- Conclusion -- Exodus and Intelligence Operations: the Swedish Military and Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, 1943-45 -- Swedish Intelligence during World War Two -- Problems for the Historian -- The Swedish Intelligence Interest in the Baltic Countries -- The Intelligence Operations Begin -- The Use of Baltic Refugees -- The Operations are Ended -- The Results from the Intelligence Operations -- Between Aspiration a nd Adaptation: German War Propaganda in Occupied Estonia from 1941 till 1942 -- Introduction -- Pre-Conditions for German War Propaganda -- Administering Propaganda and Mass Media under German Military Rule, July 1941 until January 1942 -- Propaganda under German Civilian Administration in Estonia in 1942 -- Conclusion -- The Reception of German War Propaganda in Estonia, 1941-1944 -- Introduction -- From Summer 1941 to Winter 1941-1942 -- From the Winter 1941-1942 to the Autumn 1942 -- From Autumn 1942 to 1944 -- General Challenges of German Propaganda during World War II -- Conclusions -- The Relationship of the Military and Civilian Authorities in Estonia during the German Occupation of 1941-1944.

The General System of the German Occupation -- The Institutions of Occupation -- The Army -- The SS and Police -- The Civil Administration and Economic Issues in Estonia -- Relationship between Different German Authorities -- Conclusion -- Second Front in the West: Estonia, the Baltic Question and the Struggle for British Public Opinion, 1941-44 -- Introduction -- Estonia's Second Front -- Soviet Annexation of the Baltic States and Britain, 1940 -- The British Censorship System and the Soviet Union -- British Official Views of the Baltic Position in 1941 -- Methods of the Estonian Minister -- The Manchester Guardian Controversy in 1943 -- Maintaining Allied Unity, 1944 -- Conclusion -- List of Contributors.