Inter-War Right-Wing Movements in the Baltic States and Their Religious Affiliation

Abstract

The article discusses the different religious affiliations of three inter-war right-wing movements in the Baltic States. The Lithuanian Iron Wolf remained indifferent to the religious i ssues, the Estonian Veterans' League stressed the value of the Christian faith and formed links with the Lutheran Church, while the Latvian Thundercross favoured the ideas of the pre-Christian r evivalism and closely collaborated with the Dievturi movement. The difference in religious choice is explained by (1) the different character of the Estonian (radical right) and the Latvian (extreme right) movements and (2) the formalisation of the pre-Christian revivalism ideology according to the Protestant pattern. Although the doctrine differed greatly, the style of thought and manner of pre sentation made the Latvian pre-Christian revivalism more open to the right-wing political thought -a feature commonly found with the Protestant Churches of Europe.