The Formation of the Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian Nations in the Russian Empire in the Late 19th — Early 20th Century: a View from the 21st Century

On the April, 18th, 2025, a conference on the history of the peoples and countries of the Baltic States was held at the State Historical library in Moscow, involving scholars from various scientific institutes and universities of Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad, as well as the library staff members. The conference was devoted to the 200th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding Latvian and Russian scientist and public figure Krišjānis Valdemārs, as well as to the anniversaries of eight public, political and cultural figures of the Latvians, Estonians and Lithuanians. In the papers, the significance of their activities was described in the context of the formation of the modern Baltic nations. Other topics were dealt with the Soviet-Estonian relations in the 1920s, with Rainis’ participation in the establishment of Soviet-Latvian cultural contacts; with the political activities of Lithuanian leader Antanas Smetona, with the history of the delimitation of the borders of the Baltic States in the 20th century, and the role of monumental art in the formation of historical memory in Latvia in the 19th and 20th centuries.