The United Kingdom has a long history in the Western Baltic, the triangle bounded by Denmark, Northern Germany and southern Sweden. Long before the UK even existed, English and Scottish merchants were active there. From the seventeenth to the early nineteenth centuries, and again in the early twentieth century, the Royal Navy and then the RAF repeatedly intervened in the area. Close commercial and dynastic ties have existed alongside moments of extreme violence, such as the bombardment of Copenhagen during the Napoleonic Wars, and the traumatic air-raid on Luebeck in the Second World War. Today, as the UK continues to deliver security through NATO and searches for a new role after Brexit, we ask where Britain has come from in this region and where it is going. This event, which brings together a distinguished panel of speakers from the worlds of politics and academe, forms part of a broader series on Britain and the Baltic.
Panel:
Chair: Rt Hon Charles Clarke, former Home Secretary
H.E. Nicola Clase, Swedish Ambassador to Finland
Dr Angela Huang, Head of Research Centre for Hanseatic and Baltic History, Luebeck
Dr Henrik Breitenbauch, Head of Centre of Military Studies, University of Copenhagen
Watch the video here: https://sms.cam.ac.uk/media/3337830