[en] In 1920, the birth of the three Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) was an unexpected outcome of the French victory. Given the weakness of these new states, together with the ambitions of their powerful neighbours, French opinion feared that north-eastern Europe would be "balkanised". Yet at the beginning of the 1930s, the political, economic and cultural dynamism of these young Baltic democracies contradicted these predictions. Baltic stability seemed to become increasingly linked to maintaining a European order, which France was trying to establish with the more or less direct co-operation of the other powers. The aim of this study is therefore to show how a bilateral relationship between one power and several previously unknown small states was progressively established, through French perceptions of foreign strategy, and through questioning by French opinion of the potential and future of the French 'republican model'. Yet perhaps there was not enough time to remove the severe handicaps which were delaying the Franco-Baltic dialogue, notably in the economic field. The Baltic case is thus a good example of the thought process which developed in French opinion regarding both the positive or negative role of these "small states", and their future in international relations.

[fr] En 1920, la naissance des trois Etats Baltes (Estonie, Lettonie, Lituanie) est un résultat inattendu de la victoire française. Compte-tenu de leur faiblesse et des ambitions des puissances voisines, l'opinion française craint de voir l'Europe du Nord-Est se " balkaniser ". Or en 1932, le dynamisme des jeunes démocraties baltes a contredit ces prévisions. L'équilibre baltique semble devenir indissociable du maintien d'un ordre européen que la puissance française cherche à établir avec la coopération plus ou moins directe des autres puissances. L'ambition de cet étude est donc de montrer comment une relation bilatérale entre une puissance et des petits États inconnus a pu progressivement s'instaurer à travers les perceptions françaises des stratégies étrangères et des interrogations sur le modèle républicain français. Mais le temps n'a t-il pas manqué pour faire disparaître tous les handicaps lourds qui ont freiné le dialogue franco-balte, en particulier dans le domaine économique ?