Andrew Huebner will deliver a lecture “Yanks in the Land of the Midsummer: American Foreign Aid and the Estonian War for Independence, 1919–1921”

On 24 September at 16:15, Andrew Huebner, Lecturer at the Estonian Military Academy, will deliver a lecture in Jakobi 2–224 on the early development of relations between the United States and Estonia during the Estonian War for Independence, entitled “Yanks in the Land of the Midsummer: American Foreign Aid and the Estonian War for Independence, 1919–1921.”

The United States and Estonia have long been steadfast partners throughout the 20th century, a relationship forged in the tumultuous early days of 1919. Yet what started the key relationship between a young nation and a large superpower? The answer in part lies in the controversial cornerstone of American diplomacy: foreign aid.

This presentation will focus on U.S. foreign aid, primarily through the American Relief Administration, to Estonia from 1919 to 1921 during the Estonian War for Independence. It will show how Americans came to support the Estonian government as well how, for better or worse, the United States tried reshaping the Baltic states. What can American foreign aid tell us about the foundations of U.S.-Baltic relations, the development of Northeastern Europe, and perhaps its future?

Andrew Huebner is a Lecturer at the Estonian Military Academy. He earned his PhD from the University of North Texas, where his doctoral dissertation examined the activities of the American Relief Administration in the Baltic states between 1918 and 1920.

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The event is part of International History Seminars, and is guided by the motto: “national history cannot be understood without the framework of international history” (Hans Rothfels, “Zeitgeschichte als Aufgabe,” Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte 1, 1953).