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Latvia: The Mouse that Roared (OK Sang!) |
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By John Freivalds
Published- TBD
Duluth News Tribune
The year 1959 saw the premiere of a hilarious movie The Mouse That Roared starring Peter Sellers about a tiny fictious country, The Duchy of Fenwick, which went from irrelevance to world attention because it was rumored to have ”the bomb.”
My native country, Latvia, is lost in the grand scheme of geopolitics (40% the size of Iowa and three Latvia’s can easily fit into Minnesota). It lies across the Baltic Sea from Sweden and Riga , its capital, has been around since the year 1208. Latvia is part of NATO which has been its protection against Russia, its huge aggressive neighbor. But with the threat of a new administration coming in that is saying it will not support NATO or Ukraine in its war against Russia, we wonder what is our plan B?
Although Latvia has drawn up a Nation Defense Concept that defines its national defense strategy and guidelines for national defense, there is no mention of “the bomb.” So, given that Latvia will not employ the bomb to defend itself against Russia what else can we do? Build a bomb like North Korea and become a roaring mouse?
How do we get world attention (and protection) to help us stave off the threat of an avaricious neighbor? Latvia gained international recognition when it broke from Russia in 1991 by forming a 300-mile-long human chain with Estonia and Lithuania of people singing songs in support of freedom; it was classic Mahatma Gandhi’s nonviolent revolution. It worked. The Russians did not know what to do -- shoot the singers?
Russia, under Putin, is huge (twice the size of the US), and yet neurotic as hell. But Putin wants to reincorporate the fifteen countries that left Russia in 1991 to become part of the “motherland” once again. Here he disavows Henry Kissinger’s sage advice ”No foreign policy - no matter how ingenious - has any chance of success if it is born in the minds of a few and carried out in the hearts of none.”
Putin particularly dislikes the Baltic States and calls Latvia swinish because we demand that our native language is taught in public schools, not Russian; Putin claims this is cultural genocide. Worse, Latvia has become the new home to approximately 5,000 Russian journalists who have fled Putin’s Russia to avoid prison and assassination. Some have sent up broadcasting studios to beam news into Russia. And now Latvia is lobbying to become a member of the UN Security Council!
Putin needs to show Russians progress in his aggression, and it will not come from Ukraine. So, Latvia is getting cyberattacks from Russia, constant military flyovers near our borders, scads of misinformation in the press meddling in local elections, and lately migrants dumped at our doorstep by Putin. Attacking the Baltics would help his image in Russia. But the Baltic countries are part of NATO. European members of NATO would jump in to counter Russia but what of the US? So, if Russia invades us again would people in Fort Smith, Arkansas and Bemidji Minnesota now suffering from Ukraine war fatigue, would they fight to drive the Russians out?
Latvia is seeking world opinion by having thirty-six embassies and honorary consulates and having huge song festivals throughout the US as it did in St. Paul this last summer. And now wanting to seek a spot on the UN Security Council.
And as a last resort we can form a long chain of people singing freedom songs along the interstates to get attention.
Here is what the people are saying!
Hi...I'm Jim Heffernan, retired Duluth News Tribune journalist and current monthly columnist.
I enjoyed your "Mouse That Roared" column. Mention of Latvia brought back memories that I believe you'll find interesting.
When I was a child in elementary school shortly after World War II, in second or third grade (1947-'48) suddenly our class at Duluth's Lincoln School was joined by way older kids than we were at the time. These new students were probably 12 or 13 as opposed to our ages of seven or eight. The kid seated next to me was a foot taller than me.
We were told they were Latvian "DPs". Displaced persons. It was not a pejorative, but a statement of fact. They somehow made it to Duluth after being displaced after the war, and had to be taught English. They were quick learners. The "bigger" kids moved through the grades quite rapidly -- a month or so in my class, then moved ahead to a higher grade.
Of course at that age I had never heard of Latvia before. But it sure caught my lifetime attention then. I lost track of most of them; I'm sure the older ones graduated from high school here several years ahead of me (1957). One girl, who was my age, continued through the grades and graduated with us. For the record, her name was Maija Klinsons. Very sweet and largely Americanized by the time we were in high school. Another girl, Mara Adamsons, who was among the group at our school after the war, was a senior at UMD when I started there as a freshman in 1957.
With your strong association with Latvia I'm sure you are aware of these DPs, but I thought you might be interested in a first-hand report of those days. I have never visited Latvia, but did make it to Estonia a few years ago on a Baltic cruise. Prominent Duluth businessman Paul Vesterstein, a cordial acquaintance, made it to Duluth from Estonia after the war. He ended up being drawn into fighting for both sides in the conflict as a young man. He's well into his 90s now and I haven't heard from him for some time. He imported Estonian pianos here.
Well that's it. Interesting history, I trust you'll agree.
Jim Heffernan