Churchill’s Baltic Vision

Churchill’s Baltic vision, talk by Prof. Patrick Salmon OBE
Allen Room ​(First Floor), St Anne's Church, Soho
3 p.m.​ on 17 February​ 2026

Winston Churchill never visited the Baltic, but it held an important place in his strategic imagination. In both world wars he dreamed of inflicting a dramatic defeat on Germany via Scandinavia and the Baltic. After the Russian Revolution he hoped to defeat Bolshevism in partnership with Finnish General Mannerheim. Could any of these ambitions have been achieved? In this talk Patrick Salmon explores the strengths and limitations of ​Churchill’s Baltic vision.

Patrick Salmon is Chief Historian at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. He has published extensively on Scandinavian and Baltic history, including Scandinavia and the Great Powers 1890-1940 (1997) and Deadlock and Diversion: Scandinavia in British Strategy during the Twilight War 1939-1940 (2012). Patrick has been a member of the A-FS Council since 2017.

​£5 for members of Anglo-Nordic and Anglo-Baltic Societies. £10 for non-members.