The Emergence of New States in Eastern Europe after World War I: The German Impact The Emergence of New States in Eastern Europe after World War I: The German Impact Klaus Ziemer Department of Political Science University of Trier Universitätsring 15 D-54296 Trier, Germany Email:
[email protected] Abstract: After World War I, many borders in Europe were redrawn, especially in the northeast and southeast of Germany. Almost all political forces in Germany strived to restore the prewar German borders, especially towards Poland. Even Poland’s very existence was denied by many German political forces. The Baltic States were less important for Germany in this respect. Here the relationship with the Baltic Germans and trade relations prevailed. The independence of these states was in the eyes of German elite subordinated to the relations with Russia. The article presents this pattern of German policy until the Treaty of Rapallo in 1922. Keywords: East Central Europe, “German impact”, German policy in Latvia, German-Polish borders, Treaty of Rapallo, World War I 1. Introduction At the end of World War I, three multinational empires collapsed: the tsarist, then Bolshevist Russia, the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg Austria- Hungary. The political map of the Eastern part of Europe was redrawn, from the north to the south. Germany’s existence was not called into question, but it had to suffer serious territorial losses in the west (Alsace, Lorraine, Eupen- Malmédy), the north (North Schleswig) and especially in the east (territories ceded to Poland and a small strip to Czechoslovakia). Moreover, after the disintegration of the Habsburg Empire, German Austrians wanted to join the Reich, which reserved a representation for them in the Reichstag, and TalTechdoi: 10.2478/bjes-2021-0007 Journal of European Studies TalTech Journal of European Studies Tallinn University of Technology (ISSN 2674-4619), Vol.