The last ambassador

August Torma, soldier, diplomat, spy
Erscheinungsjahr 2011
ISBN: 978-90-420-3313-9
Verlag: Brill | Rodopi

Buch, Englisch, Band 29, 252 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 463 g

Reihe: On the Boundary of Two Worlds

Estonian ambassador August Torma had a protracted and unconventional relationship with the British Foreign Office. Appointed to the Court of St James’s in 1934, Torma lost his government in 1940 when the Soviet Union overran his country, but continued to live at the legation in London and visit the Foreign Office. Gradually, however, his diplomatic standing was eroded because of Soviet demands. For Torma there was the very real fear that Britain might recognise the Soviet occupation of his homeland and he continued to reiterate his faith in international law in the hope that Estonia’s stolen independence would be restored one day. He died in 1971, twenty years before the country regained its lost freedom. This book is a biography of Torma who had a remarkable life: he assisted in the creation of the Estonian state in 1918–20, worked for it during the inter-war period and struggled to keep its cause alive during and after the Second World War; it is also a study of the awkward relationship between the ambassador and the Foreign Office that lasted for more than three decades.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Europäische Länder
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Militärgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgements
List of illustrations
David J Smith and John Hiden: Foreword: August Torma and the importance of small states
Introduction
The making of an “officer-diplomat” (1895–1930)
First World War and British intervention
Estonian military representative in Kaunas
Head of Foreign Ministry’s political department
Estonian relations with Russia
Estonian-Russian prisoner and spy exchanges
Estonia on the fringes of Europe (1931–1939)
Difficulties in Baltic cooperation
Estonian minister in London
Estonia in crisis (1939–1940)
Estonian-Russian mutual assistance pact
Russian-Finnish war and Estonian neutrality
Soviet occupation begins on 17 June 1940
Keep calm and carry on (1940–1944)
The question of an Estonian government
Baltic envoys demoted
Campaign for a fair deal for small nations
Maintaining the London legation (1944–1971)
Estonian refugees
Britain accords partial recognition to Soviet annexation
The London legation’s financial problems
The KGB identifies Torma as a British agent
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index