Noren Compare And Contrast Essay

The process of political, economic, and social modernization in Scandinavia and the Baltic states from the early 19th century to 1939 has both similarities and differences; similarities in the sense that moves toward modernization were taken, and differences in the sense that the processes themselves as well as the outcomes of each vary. In the beginning of the 19th century, Scandinavia’s political sphere was control largely by monarchies. At the beginning of this century, Sweden and Denmark were the “great” governing powers; the Swedish King had governing power over both Sweden and Norway, and Denmark ruled itself with a strong monarch. As the 19th century progressed, Sweden’s overarching power began to lessen and the government underwent constitutional reforms; the Norwegians protested Swedish rule and demanded their own government; liberal reforms in Denmark resulted in local …show more content…
Administratively speaking, Russification sought to integrate the Baltic states into the Russian ways of administration (government, law, institutions) and culture (language, religion, education), but ironically led to the rise of Baltic national movements and the breakage of power from German elites. Following Russification was the Revolution of 1905; the Revolution was the beginning of convergence of Baltic history and resulted in a more politically automate region as well as a more politically conscious peoples. Finally in 1918 all three states declared independence, neutrality, and democratic governments. Yet as WWI comes to an end, the Baltic states lack of political experiences and civic culture in addition to the great deal of instability in the number of cabinets, the democratic government began to shift to authoritarian; Lithuania was the first of the three to shift in 1926 with the other two in 1934, all following an authoritarian