The proposed
United Baltic Duchy also known as the
Grand Duchy of Livonia was a state imagined by the Baltic German nobility after the Russian revolution and German occupation of the Courland, Livonian and Estonian governorates of the Russian Empire.
The idea included the creation of a
Duchy of Courland and a Duchy of Estonia and Livonia that would be in personal union with the Crown of Prussia under the
German Empire's
occupied territory
Ober Ost before the end of
World War I covering the territories of the
Medieval Livonia what are now
Latvia and
Estonia.
Historical background
During
World War I, German Armies had occupied the
Courland Governorate of
Russian Empire by the autumn of 1915. The front was settled along a line stretched between
Riga,
Daugavpils and
Baranovitch.
Following the
February Revolution in Russia, the
Autonomous Governorate of Estonia was created on April 12 1917 (March 30 Old Style) from the former Russian
Governorate of Estonia and northern
Governorate of Livonia. After the
October Revolution, the elected
Estonian Provincial Assembly declared itself the sovereign power in Estonia on November 28, 1917 and on February 24, 1918, a day before the arrival of German troops the
Estonian Declaration of Independence was issued. The Western
Allies recognized the
Republic of Estonia de facto in May 1918.
The
Latvian National Council was proclaimed on November 16, 1917. On November 30, 1917, the Council declared an autonomous Latvian province within ethnographic boundaries, and a formal independent Latvian republic was declared on January 15, 1918.
After the
Russian revolution, German troops had started advancing from Courland, and by the end of February 1918 the German military administered the territories of the former Russian
Governorate of Livonia and
Autonomous Governorate of Estonia that had declared independence. With the
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on March 3, 1918,
Bolshevist Russia accepted the loss of the
Courland Governorate, and by agreements concluded in
Berlin on August 27, 1918, the loss of the Autonomous Governorate of Estonia and the Governorate of Livonia.
Attempt to create the United Baltic Duchy
As a parallel political movement under the German military administration,
Baltic Germans began forming provincial councils between September 1917 and March 1918. On April 12, 1918, a Provincial Assembly composed of 35
Baltic Germans, 13 Estonians and 11 Latvians passed a resolution calling upon the German Emperor to recognize the Baltic provinces as a monarchy and make them a German protectorate.
On March 8 and April 12, 1918, the local
Baltic German-dominated
Kurländische Landesrat and the
Vereinigter Landesrat of
Livland,
Estland,
Riga, and
Ösel had declared themselves independent states, known as the
Duchy of Courland (
Herzogtum Kurland) and
Baltic State duchy (
Baltischer Staat), respectively. Both states proclaimed themselves to be in personal union with the
Kingdom of Prussia, although the German government never responded to acknowledge that claim.
The Baltic lands were nominally recognized as a sovereign state by emperor
Wilhelm II only on September 22, 1918, half a year after
Soviet Russia had formally relinquished all authority over its former
Imperial Baltic provinces to Germany in the
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. On November 5, 1918, a temporary Regency Council (
Regentschaftsrat) for the new state led by Baron
Adolf Pilar von Pilchau was formed on a joint basis from the two local Land Councils.
The capital of the new state was to be Riga. It was to be a confederation of seven
cantons:
Kurland (
Courland), Riga,
Lettgallen (
Latgale),
Südlivland (South
Livonia),
Nordlivland (North Livonia),
Ösel (
Saaremaa), and
Estland (Estonia), the four first cantons thus covering the territory corresponding to today's Latvia and the latter three corresponding to today's Estonia.
“Poland & The New Baltic States” map from a British
atlas in 1920, showing still-undefined borders in the situation after the treaties of
Brest and
Versailles and before the
Peace of Riga. The proposed United Baltic Duchy was to be located at the future territory of Latvia and Estonia covering the territory of the medieval
Livonian ConfederationThe first
head of state of the United Baltic Duchy was to be
Adolf Friedrich, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, not as a
sovereign monarch, but as a subordinate to the German Kaiser, similar to other dukes and grand dukes of the
German Empire. But Adolf Friedrich never assumed office. The appointed Regency Council consisting of four
Baltic Germans, three
Estonians and three
Latvians functioned until November 28, 1918, without any international recognition, except from Germany.
In October 1918, the
Chancellor of Germany Prince Maximilian of Baden proposed to have the military administration in the Baltic replaced by civilian authority. The new policy was stated in a
telegram from the German Foreign Office to the military administration of the Baltic:
The government of the Reich is unanimous in respect of the fundamental change in our policy towards the Baltic countries, namely that in the first instance policy is to be made with the Baltic peoples. Independent Latvia
On November 18, 1918, Latvia proclaimed independence. Power was transferred the next day from the German military administration to the
Estonian Government headed by
Konstantin Päts. In Latvia, the Germans formally handed over authority to the Latvian national government headed by
Kārlis Ulmanis on December 7, 1918.
The
Baltische Landeswehr was formed by the government of the United Baltic Duchy as its national defense force. Upon taking command of the
Baltische Landeswehr, Major
Alfred Fletcher, with the backing of the
Baltic German land barons, began dismissing native
Latvian elements and replacing them with
Baltic Germans and
Reichsdeutsch troops. Concurrently, German officers assumed most of the command positions. In his book
Vanguard of Nazism: The Free Corps Movement in Postwar Germany, 1918-1923, author
Robert G.L. Waite notes: “By mid-February 1919, Latvians composed less than one fifth of their own army.”
Britain backed down after recognizing the gravity of the military situation, and the White Russian units and the Freikorps moved on and captured Riga on May 22, 1919.
After the
capture of Riga, the
Freikorps were accused of killing 300 Latvians in
Mitau, 200 in
Tukkum, 125 in
Daugavgriva, and over 3,000 in Riga. After taking part in the capture of Riga, in June 1919 General von der Goltz ordered his troops not to advance east against the Red Army, as the
Allies had been expecting, but north, against the Estonians. On June 19 the Iron Division and
Landeswehr units launched an attack to capture areas around
Cēsis (Wenden), the
Baltische Landeswehr continued its advance towards the Estonian coast preparatory for a push on
Petrograd. However, the
Baltische Landeswehr was defeated by the 3rd
Estonian Division (led by
Ernst Põdder) and North Latvian Brigade in the
Battle of Cēsis, 19-23 June 1919.
On the morning of June 23 the Germans began a general retreat toward Riga. The Allies again insisted that the Germans withdraw their remaining troops from Latvia, and intervened to impose a ceasefire between the Estonians and the Freikorps when the Estonians were about to march into Riga. Meanwhile, an
Allied mission composed of
British troops under General Sir
Hubert de la Poer Gough had arrived in the
Baltic to clear the Germans from the region and organize native armies for the
Baltic states.
The defeat of Germany in World War I in November 1918, followed by the defeat in 1919 of the
Baltische Landeswehr and German
Freikorps units of General
Rüdiger von der Goltz in Latvia by the 3rd
Estonian Division and North Latvian Brigade, rendered the United Baltic Duchy irrelevant.
Aftermath
To ensure its return to Latvian control, the
Baltische Landeswehr was placed under British authority. After taking command of the
Baltische Landeswehr in mid-July 1919,
Lieutenant-Colonel Harold Alexander (the future Alexander of Tunis), gradually dismissed the Baltic German elements. The Baltic nations of Estonia and Latvia were established as republics.
See also
