Call for Papers 2026
Competition for naval control of the Baltic Sea has been a critical component of military dominance in northeastern Europe since the emergence of the first naval fleets among the Great Powers of the Baltic Sea region in the sixteenth century. Control of the Baltic's eastern shore represented Russia's aspiration for a "window to Europe," while access to the Baltic Sea similarly ranked among Poland's foremost strategic objectives following the restoration of its statehood in 1918. In 2024, the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO significantly strengthened the Alliance’s position in the region, although the Baltic Sea remains contested due to Russia’s continued presence around Kaliningrad, Kronstadt and Saint Petersburg.
The Baltic Sea has functioned simultaneously as both connector and divider, shaping the region's military and economic dynamics. Troops have been transported across its waters, and maritime transport remains essential for supplying land operations, moving strategic goods, and sustaining the economies of coastal states. At the same time, the sea has acted as a barrier and a source of military threat. Its distinctive natural conditions—including shallowness, indented coastline, narrow straits, and winter ice cover—have influenced military planning, the selection of harbour sites, and the design of coastal defences. Powerful naval fortresses were constructed to protect key cities and ports and to repel hostile squadrons. Fortifications such as Klaipėda Castle and Nerja Fort, the Peter the Great Naval Fortress on the coast and islands of Estonia and Finland, the Karosta Sea Forts of Latvia, Suomenlinna in Helsinki, and Älvsborg Fortress in Sweden were all constructed prior to the First World War. Later, the bases of the Soviet Baltic Fleet and powerful coastal defence batteries built in 1940–1941 in occupied Estonia and Latvia, as well as on the Finnish Hanko Peninsula, derived from the same strategic concept.
Control over sea passage corridors has been crucial for maintaining supply lines and achieving naval dominance. The Baltic Sea is separated from the North Sea by the narrow Øresund Strait between Denmark and Sweden, whose passage tolls provided Denmark with one of its most significant revenue sources for over four centuries. The Copenhagen Convention of 1857 guaranteed freedom of navigation through the strait, yet the German Empire built the Kiel Canal, allowing German warships to move between the North Sea and the Baltic without passing through Danish waters. The strategic importance of the major islands – including Bornholm, Gotland, the Åland Islands and the West Estonian archipelago – led both to the construction of formidable fortifications and to landing operations aimed to conquer them.
Although naval battles on the Baltic Sea did not reach the scale of clashes of great fleets in the Mediterranean, North Sea, Atlantic or Pacific, naval warfare has nonetheless been a defining feature of the region. Large troop concentrations have been transported across the Baltic Sea, securing victories and altering the course of conflicts. Imperial Germany's Operation Albion in autumn 1917 involved the largest assembly of battleships and cruisers in Baltic history, accompanied by a substantial infantry landing. The Baltic Sea has also been the site of major evacuation operations, the largest occurring during the Second World War, when hundreds of thousands of civilians, military personnel, and prisoners were evacuated – first in 1941 from the advancing Wehrmacht, and later in 1944–1945 from the advancing Red Army.
The largest naval fleet based on the Baltic Sea during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries was the Baltic Fleet of Russia and later the Soviet Union, which represented a persistent strategic threat to other coastal states. Its strength challenged both German and British fleets during the World Wars and the interwar period. The Baltic Fleet’s air force played a significant role in the Second World War, operating over the Baltic states, Finland, and, by 1945, further south. Its bases remained in the occupied Baltic states until the eventual withdrawal of Russian forces.
In the 1950s, the Baltic Fleet’s main base was relocated westward from Tallinn to Baltiysk in East Prussia, conquered by the Red Army during the Second World War. With the advent of the missile age, construction of most large warships in the Soviet Union was halted, and Saaremaa did not develop into the massive heavy coastal artillery fortress originally planned. The nuclear era, however, brought a training centre for nuclear submariners to Paldiski. By contrast, the slogan "The Baltic Sea – a sea of peace" reflected Soviet propaganda and cultural diplomacy, which, despite the Soviet Union's military dominance, sought to project an image of the Baltic Sea region as an area of peaceful cooperation and stability.
We welcome papers addressing: Military strategy and planning
🔸The place of the Baltic Sea in the military planning of the great powers, including naval strategy during the Anglo-German naval arms race and the Cold War.
🔸Military and naval cooperation in the Baltic Sea region.
Wars and operations
🔸Wars of independence and the naval strategies of the newly established states in the interwar period (Memel/Klaipėda, Gdynia, Åland autonomy, etc.).
🔸Military operations on the Baltic Sea, including joint operations, amphibious landings, and attempted landings, e.g., Swedish-Russian wars, British and French fleet operations during the Crimean War, Russian Baltic Fleet in the First Schleswig War (1848–1850), the First World War, bombardment of Westerplatte (1939), mine warfare in the Second World War, Red Army occupation of Bornholm (1945), and others.
Naval forces and tactics
🔸Development of naval forces on the Baltic Sea in the 19th–20th centuries.
🔸Naval warfare tactics, including mine warfare.
🔸Fleets operating on the Baltic Sea, from those of Britain, Sweden, and Denmark to the Kriegsmarine and the Baltic Fleet, as well as the navies of Poland, Finland, and the Baltic states.
Coastal defence and geography
🔸Development of coastal defence and fortifications and their role in regional security.
🔸Strategic role of islands and straits in warfare.
🔸Influence of natural conditions of the Baltic Sea on the region's defence, military planning and the conduct of operations.
Logistics and transport
🔸Maritime transport, logistics in military conflicts, evacuations, securing sea lanes, naval blockades.
🔸NATO mine countermeasure operations on the Baltic Sea — objectives and results.
Individuals and leadership
🔸The role of individuals in the history of naval warfare in the Baltic Sea region during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Abstracts of up to 2,000 characters, along with a presenter’s biography of up to one page, should be submitted to conference@esm.ee by 30 June 2026. ▪️The conference will be held in English.
▪️The length of papers is up to 20 minutes, followed by discussion.
▪️Articles based on the papers will be published in the Estonian Yearbook of Military History.
▪️The organisers will cover the accommodation costs of the presenters.
The organisers of the conference are the Estonian War Museum – General Laidoner Museum, the Baltic Defence College and the Estonian Military Academy in partnership with the Latvian War Museum (Riga) and the Vytautas the Great War Museum (Kaunas).
We welcome papers addressing: Military strategy and planning
🔸The place of the Baltic Sea in the military planning of the great powers, including naval strategy during the Anglo-German naval arms race and the Cold War.
🔸Military and naval cooperation in the Baltic Sea region.
Wars and operations
🔸Wars of independence and the naval strategies of the newly established states in the interwar period (Memel/Klaipėda, Gdynia, Åland autonomy, etc.).
🔸Military operations on the Baltic Sea, including joint operations, amphibious landings, and attempted landings, e.g., Swedish-Russian wars, British and French fleet operations during the Crimean War, Russian Baltic Fleet in the First Schleswig War (1848–1850), the First World War, bombardment of Westerplatte (1939), mine warfare in the Second World War, Red Army occupation of Bornholm (1945), and others.
Naval forces and tactics
🔸Development of naval forces on the Baltic Sea in the 19th–20th centuries.
🔸Naval warfare tactics, including mine warfare.
🔸Fleets operating on the Baltic Sea, from those of Britain, Sweden, and Denmark to the Kriegsmarine and the Baltic Fleet, as well as the navies of Poland, Finland, and the Baltic states.
Coastal defence and geography
🔸Development of coastal defence and fortifications and their role in regional security.
🔸Strategic role of islands and straits in warfare.
🔸Influence of natural conditions of the Baltic Sea on the region's defence, military planning and the conduct of operations.
Logistics and transport
🔸Maritime transport, logistics in military conflicts, evacuations, securing sea lanes, naval blockades.
🔸NATO mine countermeasure operations on the Baltic Sea — objectives and results.
Individuals and leadership
🔸The role of individuals in the history of naval warfare in the Baltic Sea region during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Abstracts of up to 2,000 characters, along with a presenter’s biography of up to one page, should be submitted to conference@esm.ee by 30 June 2026. ▪️The conference will be held in English.
▪️The length of papers is up to 20 minutes, followed by discussion.
▪️Articles based on the papers will be published in the Estonian Yearbook of Military History.
▪️The organisers will cover the accommodation costs of the presenters.
The organisers of the conference are the Estonian War Museum – General Laidoner Museum, the Baltic Defence College and the Estonian Military Academy in partnership with the Latvian War Museum (Riga) and the Vytautas the Great War Museum (Kaunas).