Four months ago, I mentioned the Kaliningrad Question in connection to my past correspondences with Bogumil from ARPLAN. At the time, I was talking about how the Russian government was going hysterical about an alleged “Germanization” of the Kaliningrad Oblast, which was previously called East Prussia prior to 1945. I stated that there was no basis in such claims, concluding that it was all Russian wartime propaganda. Recently, I decided to revisit the claims again, this time doing a bit of digging to find out more. As with all propaganda, there had to be a half-truth or two lying around somewhere.
Back in May, the Polish government announced its decision to no longer refer to Kaliningrad by its official name on European maps. Instead of Kaliningrad, Polish maps will refer to it as Królewiec, which is the Polish word for “Königsberg.” Somehow, the Russian government accused this as Germanization, when in actuality the Polish have been referring to Königsberg as Królewiec for centuries.
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland is reverting to using its historical name for Kaliningrad, the Russian city and administrative region that sits on its border.
From now on, it will be designated on Polish maps as Królewiec, based on the recommendation of the government commission for geographic names abroad.
The Kremlin has reacted angrily: spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called it a “process bordering on insanity,” going beyond Russophobia.
The official Polish justification for renaming Kaliningrad was because its namesake, Mikhail Kalinin, was one of the Soviet officials behind the Katyn Forest Massacre. Yet something tells me that it cannot be the only motive at play. Since the German-speaking world gave up on its eastern territories in exchange for German Reunification, the only ones who could lay claim to that sliver of East Prussia are Poland and Lithuania. I am extremely convinced that the Polish would like to add the remains of East Prussia under its control.
In the old days, there was once a belief among the Liberal Capitalists that West Germany would serve as the bulwark against Russia. It did not matter whether this “Russia” was Czarist Russia, Soviet Russia, Post-Soviet Russia or some conception of Russia. After all, that was one of the justifications behind NATO, the military-industrial power protecting the European Union. Nowadays, that title has since been transferred to Poland, which is seeking to become an economic and military powerhouse in Eastern Europe. As NATO’s think tank, the Atlantic Council, can attest, this involves putting Poland at the center of any Jeffersonian foreign policies against Russia.
Now, announcing a decision to rename an important city does not necessarily imply a nation’s interest in annexing it. Poland has yet to actually exert territorial claims over the Kaliningrad Oblast. It remains to be seen as to whether that might happen. Even if one is not convinced that Poland might do something in the Kaliningrad Oblast, let it be known that there is a notable sentiment within that country’s politics that would like to redraw its own borders.
There was a Russian research paper from 2020 that spoke about an interest among Poland, Hungary, and Romania to expand their territories into parts of Western Ukraine. The research paper in question was written in Russian, a language that I cannot translate. A reasonable case can be made about Hungary, as there are political forces in Budapest that would like to expand its borders, as mentioned in the aforementioned article from the Atlantic Council. A logical conclusion would be the Carpathian Mountains, a region that Hungary historically claimed as its own. I doubt Hungary would be inclined to claim more than that mountain range. While I do not have any information on Romania, I am still looking to find anything reliable on Poland.
This brings me to my own conclusions because the Kaliningrad Question has no definitive resolution, even as the Special Military Operation approaches its second year in 2024. Remember, announcing a decision to rename a major port city does not guarantee that a nation is going to someday annex that port city. It is a whole different story if the nation in question decides to announce territorial claims and more so if there are actual confrontations between the claimant and Russia. Last time I checked, Poland and Lithuania are the only ones that could plausibly lay claim to the Kaliningrad Oblast, except neither have done so officially. The German-speaking world gave up its claims in exchange for German Reunification back in 1990, so nobody over there is interested in the matter. I also find outrageous the idea of letting the Kaliningrad Oblast become an independent city-state, as some commentators suggested.
Even so, with Sweden and Finland inside NATO’s sphere of influence, the Kaliningrad Oblast is becoming increasingly untenable for Post-Soviet Russia. It has gotten to the point where there are some people who appear inclined to speak favorably of an independent Kaliningrad Oblast, given the unwillingness of Germany, Poland, and Lithuania to assume control of the area. The Special Military Operation in Ukraine will bring the Kaliningrad Question into the forefront of political discussion, as it is only a matter of time before the people in Kaliningrad start identifying themselves with the region, East Prussia, first and Post-Soviet Russia second. It remains to be seen if their youth, who have almost no opportunities outside of the military, will start reevaluating the region in Prussian terms.
A solution to the Kaliningrad Question was considered open to speculation thirty years ago. Ten or twenty years ago, it was wishful thinking. Nowadays, it seems like a riddle that has yet to find its proper solution. I would not be too surprised, based on the current trajectory as far as I am concerned, that a solution may be found among the younger generations, the ones who have no memories of Kaliningrad as a Soviet-era city.
Categories: Politics
The Fourth Estate 
Leave a comment