ABSTRACT
Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania celebrate the turn of the millennium as democratic independent European nations aspiring to join the European Union and NATO. Just ten years ago, their situation looked quite different. Only very courageous dreamers could have imagined that these countries would ever re-establish their lost statehood. What was wrong with Soviet rule in Latvia? How did Latvians organise their independence movement? Why did they succeed? These are a few of the questions addressed in this chapter.
