The historiography of the Cold War circles usually around the great players and the major events and developments. The Baltic Sea region seemed to play only a peripheral role in this context. Nevertheless, the last 20 years saw a blossoming of national approaches to the history of this region. In the light of new research in recently opened archives, it turns out that the role of the region before and during the Cold War was more diverse and probably more important than previously expected. The impact of the Cold War even on so-called neutral countries was obviously larger than thought. The workshop aims at bringing together scholars and PhD-students working on the history of the region during the Cold War and to overcome the isolation of national historiography. Fields to be covered might be:

- International Relations in the Baltic Sea Region
- Social and Economic History of the Cold War
- Cold War Culture
- Military and Security
- Impact of the Cold War on Regional Identity
- Legacy of the Cold War in the Region

A preliminary version of the paper should be distributed to all participants in advance. During the workshop the major themes of the paper should be presented in 20 minutes. Time will be left for extensive discussion. It is the intent of the organizers of the workshop to publish the final versions of the papers afterwards. The workshop will be held at the University of Tartu, Estonia. Board and accommodation and part of the travel expenses will be covered for all paper presenters. We encourage especially PhD-students to propose papers.
The workshop is organized by the Institute of History and Archeology of the University of Tartu, Estonia, and supported by the Nordic and North/Central European Network of Cold War Researchers, the target financed project “Estonia in the Era of the Cold War” and the project “Baltic Regionalism: Constructing Political Space(s) in Northern Europe, 1800–2000”.
Please send your proposal for a paper (250-300 words) and a short CV no later than 1 May 2010, by e-mail, to the organizer Dr Olaf Mertelsmann (omertelsmann@yahoo.co.uk).