Journalism as a means to Reconciliation. Paul Schiemann's Essays 1919-20

Abstract

Paul Schiemann was one of the most significant ethnic Germans left outside the German state by the post-First World War peace settlement. As editor of Rigasche Rundschau and an active politician in the new Latvian state, he was well placed both to comment on developments in the political life of the Baltic region and to attempt to work towards responses to them. This article focuses specifically on his journalism during the critical years 1919-20. As the Latvian state was forming against a background of considerable on-going violence and instability, Schiemann disseminated consistently a call for reconciliation between Latvia’s mutually suspicious national groups. The paper examines the compelling arguments he used.