one of the castles, Cecis, built by the Brothers of the Sword during the Livonian Crusade
So let’s summarise that Baltic history a bit. A few years ago, reading up about Ukraine trying to understand recent developments there, I was astounded to find that the western half of Ukraine had been part of a Lithuanian empire. We are talking 14th Century, when Lithuania stretched from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, initially on its own, and later, through marriage, together with Poland, which became an ever more dominant partner in the coalition.
But by the 16th C Russian influence became tangible, Russian troops even conquered part of Lithuania. For a while, the Lithuanian-Polish entity fought back, even occupied Moscow in 1611-1612, but ultimately, Russia got the upper hand. It captured the eastern part of Lithuania and Poland, including Vilnius, in 1654, and gradually expanded its claims. Lithuania became a Russian satellite, Poland was partitioned between Russia, Prussia and the Austro-Hungarian empire.
another of the Livonian castles, near Vijanji
In the first World war the Germans occupied Lithuania, and allowed some limited self-rule, which formed the basis for the Lithuanian independence, declared in 1918 by one Antanas Smetona – on the back of German defeat and Russian revolutions. Independence was even formally recognised, by Russia, in 1920. Except that the capital, Vilnius, remained occupied by Poland, so that Kaunus became the temporary capital in the interwar period. But the idea that there has been a democratic country on the Baltic coast is not entirely true. A military coup in 1926 appointed Smetona as president, the man who had just lost an election, and who subsequently ruled as a dictator, eliminating more and more democratic elements. Until the Russians came back in 1940, as part of the Molotov-Ribbentrop non-aggression pact between Germany and Russia. Which the Germans broke in 1941 by invading Russia, and occupying Lithuania again, amongst others. The Russians had just executed and deported thousands of Lithuanians, now the Germans decimated the significant Jewish population of Lithuania.
Oh, and then the Russians – the Soviet Union to be clear – came back again, in 1944, and established their regime of terror. Until the Soviet Union collapsed, and Lithuania became an independent country once more, in 1991.
Unlike Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were never a nation state, until the 20th Century. They were subject to Danish and Swedish interest, but most defining was the German crusade in the 13th Century, executed by the so-called Knights of the Sword, who came to bring Christianity. I mentioned this already earlier, in connection with the Vijandi and Cecis castles. Shortly after the invasion, of 1200, the bishop of Riga, Albert von Buxhoerden, made a deal with the Danes, who occupied the north of Estonia (the built a fort, Taani Linn, which means Danish Town), whilst Germans became the ruling class in the south, and in all of Latvia, which together was referred to as Livonia. But conflicting interests, of Sweden and Danmark, of emerging Russia and of the Lithuanian-Polish entity, made that the Confederation of Livonia, collapsed again after the Livonian war (1558-1583). Estonia was invaded by Russia at the beginning of this was, but then the Swedish made a move, kicked out the Russians and ruled Estonia, until they lost it again in 1721, when Estonia was ceded to Russia. As for Latvia, parts, like Riga, became Swedish, other parts fell to Lithuania-Poland, and a small part, Courland – referred to earlier as a true colonial power – remained sort of independent. But here, too, the Russians ultimately conquered all, Courland being the last territory to be incorporated in the Russian Empire in 1775.
Latvian nationalism, some form of national consciousness, emerged in the 19th Century. During a Marxist strike and demonstration in 1905 people first called for an independent state, Latvia. This ultimately materialised into a declaration of independence in January 1918, whilst still under German occupation, during WWI. Actual independence came in November 1919, when Latvian and Estonian troops drove the Germans out of Riga and the rest of the territory.
the statue of Jaan Tonisson, esteemed Estonian statesman, prime minister and head of state several times over in the 1920s
and another statue, to early Estonian nationalist, journalist and poet Johann Voldomar Janssen, equally attractive and with a hat in common
Similarly, Estonian nationalism grew at the end of the 19th Century, initially targeting the Baltic Germans. But Russia was to have none of it, and in any case the Germans marched in early 1918. Russians fled, came back after the German surrender, and were driven out again in 1919 by Estonian troops. By February 1920 Estonia was an independent country, for the first time in history.
Like Lithuania, this lasted until June 1940, when the Russians came back. For a year, because by July 1941 the Germans had occupied all of Latvia and Estonia, like Lithuania. And like Lithuania, the Russians deported thousands of Latvians and Estonians – in cattle cars, no less -, before the Germans all but exterminated the Jewish population. And like Lithuania, Russia – the Soviet Union – was back in 1944, to replace the one terror regime with the next, until the Soviet Union collapsed, and both countries gained their final independence in 1991. And since then, we speak about ‘the Baltic States’. Part of the UN, part of NATO and part of the European Union. Yet, after Russian aggression towards Ukraine – and support for Ukraine is everywhere, here – increasingly nervous again about Russian expansion, and given their histories you do have to sympathise with that fear.
Next: the bog.
