The Baltic countries (Baltic) include three former Soviet republics that are not part of the CIS - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. All of them are unitary republics. In 2004, all three Baltic states joined NATO and the European Union.
Baltic countries
Table 38

feature geographical location Baltic countries is the presence of access to the Baltic Sea and the neighboring position with the Russian Federation. In the south, the Baltic countries border on Belarus (Latvia and Lithuania) and Poland (Lithuania). The countries of the region have a very important political and geographical position and an advantageous economic and geographical position.
The countries of the region are very poor mineral resources. Among the fuel resources, peat is ubiquitous. The richest among the Baltic countries is Estonia, which has reserves of oil shale (Kohtla-Järve) and phosphorites (Maardu). Limestone reserves stand out in Latvia (Brocene). Mineral water springs are famous: Baldone and Valmiera in Latvia, Druskininkai, Birštonas and Pabirže in Lithuania. in Estonia - Häädemeeste. The main wealth of the Baltic States is fish and recreational resources.
In terms of population, the Baltic countries are among the small countries of Europe (see Table 38). The population is distributed relatively evenly, and only on the coast the population density increases slightly.
In all countries of the region dominated modern type reproduction, and everywhere the death rate exceeds the birth rate. The natural population decline is especially high in Latvia (-5% o) and in Estonia (-4% o).
The gender composition, as in most European countries, is dominated by the female population. In terms of the age composition of the population, the Baltic countries can be classified as “aging nations”: in Estonia and Latvia, the share of pensioners exceeds the share of children, and only in Lithuania these figures are equal.
All the Baltic countries have a multinational composition of the population, and only in Lithuania the Lithuanians make up the absolute majority of the population - 82%, while in Latvia the Latvians account for only 55% of the population of the republic. In addition to the indigenous peoples, a lot of the so-called Russian-speaking population lives in the Baltic states: Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, and Poles in Lithuania. The largest share of Russians is in Latvia (30%) and Estonia (28%), however, it is in these countries that the problem of observing the rights of the Russian-speaking population is most acute.
Estonians and Latvians are Protestants by religion, while Lithuanians and Poles are Catholics. The majority of the believing Russian-speaking population consider themselves Orthodox.
The Baltics are characterized by a high level of urbanization: from 67% in Lithuania to 72% in Estonia, but there are no millionaire cities. The largest city in each republic is its capital. Among other cities, it should be noted in Estonia - Tartu, in Latvia - Daugavpils, Jurmala and Liepaja, in Lithuania - Kaunas, Klaipeda and Siauliai.
The structure of employment of the population of the Baltic countries
Table 39

The Baltic countries are provided with highly qualified labor resources. Most of the population in the countries of the region is employed in the non-manufacturing sector (see Table 39).
Emigration of the population prevails in all the Baltic countries: the Russian-speaking population leaves for Russia, Estonians - for Finland, Latvians and Lithuanians - for Germany and the USA.
After the collapse of the USSR, the structure of the economy and the specialization of the Baltic countries changed significantly: the predominance of the manufacturing industry was replaced by the predominance of the service sector, and some branches of precision and transport engineering, light industry, in which the Baltic countries specialized, practically disappeared. At the same time, the importance of agriculture and the food industry increased.
The power industry is of secondary importance in the region (moreover, 83% of Lithuanian electricity is provided by the largest in Europe Ignalina
NPP), ferrous metallurgy, represented by the only center of conversion metallurgy in Liepaja (Latvia).
The branches of industrial specialization of the modern Baltic include: Precision engineering, especially the electrical industry - the production of radio equipment in Estonia (Tallinn), Latvia (Riga) and Lithuania (Kaunas), televisions (Siauliai) and refrigerators (Vilnius) in Lithuania; machine tool building in Lithuania (Vilnius) and ship repair in Latvia (Riga) and Lithuania (Klaipeda). developed in Soviet time in Latvia, transport engineering (production of electric trains and minibuses) has practically ceased to exist; Chemical industry: production of mineral fertilizers (Maardu and Kohtla-Järve in Estonia, Ventspils in Latvia and Jonava in Lithuania), production of chemical fibers (Daugavpils in Latvia and Vilnius in Lithuania), perfume industry (Riga in Latvia) and household chemicals (Tallinn in Estonia and Daugavpils in Latvia); Timber industry, especially furniture and pulp and paper (Tallinn, Tartu and Narva in Estonia, Riga and Jurmala in Latvia, Vilnius and Klaipeda in Lithuania); Light industry: textile (Tallinn and Narva in Estonia, Riga in Latvia, Kaunas and Panevezys in Lithuania), clothing (Tallinn and Riga), knitwear (Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius) and shoe industry (Vilnius and Siachulyai in Lithuania); The food industry, in which a special role is played by dairy and fish (Tallinn, Tartu, Pärnu, Riga, Liepaja, Klaipeda, Vilnius).
The Baltic countries are characterized by the development of intensive agriculture with a predominance of animal husbandry, where dairy cattle breeding and pig breeding play a leading role. Almost half of the cultivated area is occupied by fodder crops. Rye, barley, potatoes, vegetables, flax are grown everywhere, in Latvia and Lithuania - sugar beets. In terms of agricultural production, Lithuania stands out among the Baltic countries.
The Baltic countries are characterized by a high level of development of the transport system: where road, rail, pipeline and maritime modes of transport stand out. The largest seaports in the region are Tallinn and Pärnu - in Estonia; Riga, Ventspils (oil tanker), Liepaja - in Latvia and Klaipeda - in Lithuania. Estonia has a ferry connection with Finland (Tallinn - Helsinki), and Lithuania - with Germany (Klaipeda - Mukran).
Among the branches of the non-productive sphere, recreational economy is of particular importance. The main tourist and recreational centers of the Baltic States are Tallinn, Tartu and Pärnu - in Estonia;
Riga, Jurmala, Tukums and Baldone - in Latvia; Vilnius, Kaunas, Palanga, Trakai, Druskininkai and Birštonas are in Lithuania.
The main foreign economic partners of the Baltic states are the countries of Western Europe (especially Finland, Sweden and Germany), as well as Russia, and the reorientation of foreign trade towards the countries of the West is clearly observed.
The Baltic countries export appliances, radio and electrical equipment, communications equipment, perfumes, household chemicals, forestry, light, dairy and fishing industries.
Imports are dominated by fuel (oil, gas, coal), industrial raw materials (ferrous and non-ferrous metals, apatite, cotton), vehicles, consumer goods.
Questions and tasks Give the economic and geographical characteristics of the Baltic States. What are the factors that determine the specialization of the economy of the Baltic countries. Describe the problems of development of the region. Give the economic and geographical characteristics of Estonia. Give the economic and geographical characteristics of Latvia. Give the economic and geographical characteristics of Lithuania.

More recently, Russia and the Baltic countries were part of the same state. Now everyone follows their own historical path. Nevertheless, we are concerned about the economic, political and social realities of neighboring states. Let's figure out which countries are part of the Baltics, learn about their population, history, and also follow their path to independence.

Baltic countries: list

Some of our fellow citizens have a reasonable question: “The Baltics are what countries?” To some, this question may seem silly, but in fact, not everything is so simple.

When the Baltic countries are mentioned, they primarily mean Latvia with its capital in Riga, Lithuania with its capital in Vilnius and Estonia with its capital in Tallinn. That is, post-Soviet state formations located on the eastern coast of the Baltic. Many other states (Russia, Poland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland) also have access to the Baltic Sea, but they are not included in the Baltic countries. But sometimes the Kaliningrad region of the Russian Federation belongs to this region.

Where is the Baltic located?

Which Baltic countries and their adjacent territories are located on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. The area of ​​the largest of them - Lithuania is 65.3 thousand km². Estonia has the smallest territory - 45.2 thousand square meters. km. The area of ​​Latvia is 64.6 thousand km².

All Baltic countries have a land border with the Russian Federation. In addition, Lithuania neighbors Poland and Belarus, with which Latvia also borders, and Estonia has a maritime border with Finland.

The Baltic countries are located from north to south in this order: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania. Moreover, Latvia has a border with two other states, but they do not adjoin each other.

Population of the Baltics

Now let's find out what categories the population of the Baltic countries consists of according to various demographic characteristics.

First of all, let's find out the number of inhabitants who inhabit the states, the list of which is presented below:

• Lithuania - 2.9 million people;
• Latvia - 2.0 million people;
• Estonia - 1.3 million people

Thus, we see that Lithuania has the largest population, and Estonia has the smallest.

With the help of simple mathematical calculations, comparing the area of ​​​​the territory and the number of inhabitants of these countries, we can conclude that Lithuania has the highest population density, and Latvia and Estonia are approximately equal in this indicator, with a slight advantage of Latvia.

The titular and largest nationalities in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are, respectively, Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians. The first two ethnic groups belong to the Baltic group of the Indo-European language family, and the Estonians belong to the Baltic-Finnish group of the Finno-Ugric language tree. The most numerous national minority in Latvia and Estonia are Russians. In Lithuania, they occupy the second largest place after the Poles.

History of the Baltics

Since ancient times, the Baltics have been inhabited by various Baltic and Finno-Ugric tribes: Aukshtaits, Zheimats, Latgalians, Curonians, Livs, Ests. In the struggle with neighboring countries, only Lithuania managed to formalize its own statehood, which later, on the terms of the union, became part of the Commonwealth. The ancestors of modern Latvians and Estonians fell immediately under the rule of the German Livonian Order of the Crusader Knights, and then, the territory in which they lived, due to the Livonian and Northern war were divided between the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Denmark, Sweden and the Commonwealth. In addition, a vassal duchy, Courland, was formed from part of the former order lands, which existed until 1795. ruling class here was the German nobility. By that time, the Baltic states were almost completely part of the Russian Empire.

All lands were divided into Livonia, Courland and Estlyad provinces. The province of Vilna stood apart, populated mainly by Slavs and having no access to the Baltic Sea.

After the death of the Russian Empire, as a result of the February and October uprisings of 1917, the Baltic countries also gained independence. The list of events that preceded this result is too long to enumerate, and it will be superfluous for our review. The main thing to understand is that during the years 1918-1920 independent states were organized - the Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian republics. They ceased to exist in 1939-1940, when they were annexed to the USSR as Soviet republics as a result of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. This is how the Lithuanian SSR, the Latvian SSR and the Estonian SSR were formed. Until the beginning of the 1990s, these state formations were part of the USSR, but among certain circles of the intelligentsia there was a constant hope for independence.

Declaration of Independence of Estonia

Now let's talk about a period of history closer to us, namely, about that period of time when the independence of the Baltic countries was proclaimed.

Estonia was the first to take the path of secession from the USSR. Active protests against the Soviet central government began in 1987. Already in November 1988, the Supreme Council of the ESSR issued the first Declaration of Sovereignty among the Soviet republics. This event did not yet mean secession from the USSR, but this act proclaimed the priority of republican laws over all-Union laws. It was Estonia that launched the phenomenon, which later became known as the “parade of sovereignties”.

At the end of March 1990, the law “On the state status of Estonia” was issued, and on May 8, 1990, its independence was declared, and the country returned to its old name - the Republic of Estonia. Lithuania and Latvia adopted similar acts even earlier.

In March 1991, a consultative referendum was held in which the majority of citizens who voted voted for secession from the USSR. But in fact, independence was restored only with the beginning of the August coup - August 20, 1991. It was then that the resolution on the independence of Estonia was adopted. In September, the government of the USSR officially recognized the branch, and on the 17th of the same month, the Republic of Estonia became a full member of the UN. Thus, the independence of the country was fully restored.

Formation of independence of Lithuania

The initiator of the restoration of independence of Lithuania was public organization Sąjūdis, founded in 1988. On May 26, 1989, the Supreme Council of the Lithuanian SSR proclaimed the act "On the State Sovereignty of Lithuania". This meant that in the event of a conflict between republican and all-Union legislation, priority was given to the former. Lithuania became the second republic of the USSR to pick up the baton from Estonia in the “parade of sovereignties”.

Already in March 1990, an act was adopted to restore the independence of Lithuania, which became the first Soviet republic, which announced its withdrawal from the Union. From that moment on, it became officially known as the Republic of Lithuania.

It is natural that central authorities Soviet Union recognized this act as invalid and demanded its annulment. With the help of individual units of the army, the government of the USSR tried to regain control over the republic. In its actions, it also relied on those who disagreed with the policy of secession of citizens within Lithuania itself. An armed confrontation began, during which 15 people were killed. But the army did not dare to attack the parliament building.

After the August coup in September 1991, the USSR fully recognized the independence of Lithuania, and on September 17 it became part of the UN.

Independence of Latvia

In the Latvian SSR, the movement for independence was initiated by the organization " Popular Front Latvia”, which was established in 1988. On July 29, 1989, the Supreme Soviet of the Republic, following the parliaments of Estonia and Lithuania, proclaimed the third Declaration of Sovereignty in the USSR.

At the very beginning of May 1990, the Republican Armed Forces adopted the Declaration on the Restoration of State Independence. That is, in fact, Latvia, following Lithuania, announced its withdrawal from the USSR. But in reality it happened only a year and a half later. On May 3, 1991, a referendum-type poll was held, in which the majority of respondents voted for the independence of the republic. During the coup of the GKChP on August 21, 1991, Latvia actually managed to achieve independence. On September 6, 1991, she, like the rest of the countries that make up the Baltic states, was recognized by the Soviet government as independent.

The period of independence of the Baltic countries

After the restoration of their state independence, all the Baltic countries chose a Western course of economic and political development. At the same time, the Soviet past in these states was constantly condemned, and relations with the Russian Federation remained quite tense. The Russian population of these countries is limited in rights.

In 2004, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were admitted to the European Union and the NATO military-political bloc.

Economy of the Baltic States

At the moment, the Baltic countries have the highest standard of living among all post-Soviet states. Moreover, this happens despite the fact that a significant part of the infrastructure left after the Soviet era was destroyed or stopped functioning for other reasons, and after the global economic crisis of 2008, the economy of the Baltic countries is going through hard times.

The highest standard of living of the population among the Baltic countries is in Estonia, and the lowest is in Latvia.

Differences between the Baltic countries

Despite the territorial proximity and common history, one should not forget that the Baltic countries are separate states with their own national characteristics.

For example, in Lithuania, unlike other Baltic states, there is a very large Polish community, which is second in number only to the titular nation, but in Estonia and Latvia, on the contrary, Russians predominate among national minorities. In addition, all persons residing on its territory at the time of independence received citizenship in Lithuania. But in Latvia and Estonia, only the descendants of those people who lived in the republics before joining the USSR had such a right.

In addition, it should be said that Estonia, unlike other Baltic countries, is quite strongly oriented towards the Scandinavian states.

General conclusions

All those who carefully read this material will no longer ask: "The Baltics - what countries are these?" These are states that had a rather complicated history filled with struggle for independence and national identity. Naturally, this could not but leave its mark on the peoples of the Baltics themselves. It was this struggle that had a key influence on the current political choice of the Baltic states, as well as on the mentality of the peoples who inhabit them.

Now the Baltic states include three countries - Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, which gained sovereignty in the process of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Each of these states positions itself, respectively, as the nation states of Latvians, Lithuanians and Estonians. Nationalism in the Baltic countries has been elevated to the level of state policy, which explains the numerous examples of discrimination against the Russian and Russian-speaking population. Meanwhile, if you look into it, it turns out that the Baltic countries are typical "remake states" with the absence of their own political and tradition. No, of course, the states in the Baltic States existed before, but they were not created by Latvians or Estonians.

What was the Baltic before its lands were included in the Russian Empire? Until the 13th century, when the German knights, the crusaders, began to conquer the Baltic states, it was a continuous “zone of tribes”. Here lived the Baltic and Finno-Ugric tribes, who did not have their own statehood and professed paganism. So, modern Latvians as a people appeared as a result of the merger of the Baltic (Latgals, Semigallians, villages, Curonians) and Finno-Ugric (Livs) tribes. At the same time, it should be taken into account that the Baltic tribes themselves were not the indigenous population of the Baltic states - they migrated from the south and pushed the local Finno-Ugric population to the north of modern Latvia. It was the lack of their own statehood that became one of the main reasons for the conquest of the Baltic and Finno-Ugric peoples of the Baltic states by more powerful neighbors.

Starting from the XIII-XIV centuries. the peoples of the Baltic States found themselves between two fires - from the southwest they were pressed and subjugated by the German knightly orders, from the northeast - by the Russian principalities. The "core" of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was also by no means the ancestors of modern Lithuanians, but the Litvins - "Western Russians", Slavs, the ancestors of modern Belarusians. The adoption of the Catholic religion and developed cultural ties with neighboring Poland ensured the difference between the Litvins and the population of Russia. And in the German knightly states, and in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the situation of the Baltic tribes was far from joyful. They were subjected to religious, linguistic and social discrimination.

Even worse was the situation of the Finno-Ugric tribes, who later became the basis for the formation of the Estonian nation. In Estonia, as well as in neighboring Livonia and Courland, all the main levers of management and economy were also in the hands of the Baltic Germans. Until the middle of the 19th century, the Russian Empire did not even use such a name as “Estonians” - all immigrants from Finland, the Vyborg province and a number of other Baltic territories united under the name “Chukhons”, and there were no special differences between Estonians, Izhors, Veps, Finns. The standard of living of the "Chukhons" was even lower than that of the Latvians and Lithuanians. A significant part of the villagers rushed in search of work to St. Petersburg, Riga and others. big cities. A large number of Estonians rushed even to other regions of the Russian Empire - this is how Estonian settlements appeared in the North Caucasus, in the Crimea, in Siberia and on Far East. They left "to the ends of the world" not from a good life. It is interesting that there were practically no Estonians and Latvians in the Baltic cities - they called themselves "villages", opposing the townspeople - the Germans.

Until the 19th century, the bulk of the population of the Baltic cities were ethnic Germans, as well as Poles, Jews, but not the Baltics. In fact, the "old" (pre-revolutionary) Baltic was completely built by the Germans. The Baltic cities were German cities - with German architecture, culture, system municipal government. In order public entities, in the Duchy of Courland, in the Commonwealth, the Baltic peoples would never become equal with the title Germans, Poles or Litvins. For the German nobility who ruled in the Baltics, Latvians and Estonians were second-class people, almost “barbarians”, there could be no question of any equal rights. The nobility and merchants of the Duchy of Courland consisted entirely of Baltic Germans. For centuries, the German minority dominated the Latvian peasants, who made up the bulk of the population of the duchy. The Latvian peasants were enslaved and, in their own way, social position were equated by the Courland statute with the ancient Roman slaves.

Freedom came to the Latvian peasants almost half a century earlier than to the Russian serfs - the decree on the abolition of serfdom in Courland was signed by Emperor Alexander I in 1817. On August 30, the liberation of the peasants was solemnly announced in Mitau. Two years later, in 1819, the peasants of Livonia were also liberated. This is how the Latvians received their long-awaited freedom, which was the beginning of the gradual formation of a class of free Latvian farmers. If not for the will Russian emperor, then who knows how many more decades Latvians would have spent in the state of serfs of their German masters. The incredible mercy shown by Alexander I towards the peasants of Courland and Livonia had a tremendous impact on the further economic development of these lands. By the way, it was not by chance that Latgale turned into the most economically backward part of Latvia - the liberation from serfdom came to the Latgalian peasants much later, and this circumstance affected the development of agriculture and trade. crafts in the region.

The liberation of the serfs of Livonia and Courland allowed them to quickly turn into prosperous farmers, living much better than the peasants of Northern and Central Russia. An impetus was given to the further economic development of Latvia. But even after the liberation of the peasants, the main resources of Livonia and Courland remained in the hands of the Baltic Germans, who organically blended into the Russian aristocracy and merchant class. From the environment of the Ostsee nobility came a large number of prominent military and political figures of the Russian Empire - generals and admirals, diplomats, ministers. On the other hand, the position of the Latvians proper or Estonians remained humiliated - and not at all because of the Russians, who are now accused of occupying the Baltic states, but because of the Baltic nobility, who exploited the population of the region.

Now in all the Baltic countries they like to talk about the “horrors of the Soviet occupation”, but they prefer to keep quiet about the fact that it was the Latvians, Lithuanians and Estonians who supported the revolution, which gave them the long-awaited deliverance from the domination of the Baltic Germans. If the German aristocracy of the Baltics for the most part supported the white movement, then entire divisions of Latvian riflemen fought on the side of the Reds. Ethnic Latvians, Lithuanians, Estonians played a very important role in establishing Soviet power in Russia, with the highest percentage of them in the Red Army and state security agencies.

When modern Baltic politicians talk about the "Soviet occupation", they forget that tens of thousands of "Latvian riflemen" fought throughout Russia for the establishment of this same Soviet power, and then continued to serve in the bodies of the Cheka-OGPU-NKVD, in the Red Army, and not in the lowest positions. As you can see, no one ethnically oppressed Latvians or Estonians in Soviet Russia, moreover, in the first post-revolutionary years, the Latvian formations were considered privileged, it was they who guarded the Soviet leadership and performed the most responsible tasks, including the suppression of numerous anti-Soviet speeches in the Russian province . I must say that not feeling ethnic kinship and cultural affinity with the Russian peasants, the shooters cracked down on the rebels rather harshly, for which they were valued by the Soviet leadership.

In the interwar period (from 1920 to 1940) there were several worlds in Latvia – Latvian, German, Russian and Jewish, which tried to intersect with each other to a minimum. It is clear that the position of the Germans in independent Latvia was better than the position of the Russians or the Jews, but certain nuances still took place. So, despite the fact that the Germans and Latvians were Lutherans or Catholics, there were separate German and Latvian Catholic and Protestant churches, separate schools. That is, two peoples with seemingly similar cultural values ​​tried to distance themselves from each other as much as possible. For the Latvians, the Germans were occupiers and descendants of the exploiters - feudal lords, for the Germans, the Latvians were almost “forest barbarians”. Moreover, as a result of the agrarian reform, the Baltic landowners lost their lands, transferred to the Latvian farmers.

Among the Baltic Germans, at first, pro-monarchist sentiments dominated - they hoped for the restoration of the Russian Empire and the return of Latvia to its composition, and then, in the 1930s, German Nazism began to spread very quickly - it is enough to recall that Alfred Rosenberg himself was from the Baltics - one of the key Nazi ideologues. The Baltic Germans associated the restoration of their political and economic dominance with the spread of German power to the Baltics. They considered it extremely unfair that the cities of Estonia and Latvia built by the Germans ended up in the hands of the "village" - Estonians and Latvians.

In fact, if it were not for the "Soviet occupation", then the Baltic states would have been under the rule of the Nazis, would have been annexed to Germany, and the local Latvian, Estonian, Lithuanian population waiting for the position of second-class people with subsequent rapid assimilation. Although the repatriation of Germans from Latvia to Germany began in 1939, and by 1940 almost all the Baltic Germans living in the country had left it, in any case they would have returned again if Latvia had been part of the Third Reich.

Adolf Hitler himself treated the population of "Ostland" very dismissively and for a long time prevented the implementation of the plans of a number of German military leaders to form Latvian, Estonian and Lithuanian formations as part of the SS troops. On the territory of the Baltic States, the German administration was instructed to prohibit any encroachments of the local population towards autonomy and self-determination, the creation of higher educational institutions with instruction in Lithuanian, Latvian or Estonian was categorically forbidden. At the same time, it was allowed to create handicraft and technical schools, which testified to only one thing - in the German Baltic states, only the fate of the service personnel awaited the Latvians, Lithuanians and Estonians.

That is, in fact Soviet troops saved the Latvians from returning to the position of a disenfranchised majority under the German masters. However, given the number of immigrants from the Baltic republics who served in the Nazi police and the SS, one can be sure that for many of them serving the invaders as collaborators was not a significant problem.

Now, in the Baltic countries, the policemen who served Hitler are whitewashed, while the merits of those Latvians, Lithuanians and Estonians who took the path of fighting Nazism, served in the Red Army, and fought as part of partisan detachments are hushed up and denied. Modern Baltic politicians also forget about the huge contribution made by Russia, and then the Soviet Union, to the development of culture, writing, and science in the Baltic republics. In the USSR, many books were translated into Latvian, Lithuanian, Estonian, writers from the Baltic republics got the opportunity to publish their works, which were then also translated into other languages ​​of the Soviet Union and printed in huge numbers.

It was during the Soviet period that a powerful and developed system of education was created in the Baltic republics - both secondary and higher, and all Latvians, Lithuanians, Estonians were educated at mother tongue, used their writing without experiencing any discrimination in subsequent employment. Needless to say, people from the Baltic republics in the Soviet Union got the opportunity for career growth not only within their native regions, but within the entire huge country in general - they became high-ranking party leaders, military leaders and naval commanders, made a career from science, culture, sports, etc. All this became possible thanks to the huge contribution of the Russian people to the development of the Baltics. How much the Russians have done for the Baltics is never forgotten by sensible Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians. It is no coincidence that one of the main tasks of the modern Baltic regimes was the eradication of any adequate information about the life of the Baltic republics in the Soviet era. After all, the main task is to forever tear the Baltic states away from Russia and Russian influence, to educate the younger generations of Latvians, Estonians and Lithuanians in the spirit of total Russophobia and admiration for the West.

Recently, less than a week ago, while discussing an article, a discussion arose between me and a comrade: did Russia have colonies? My opponent fiercely defended the thesis that the Russian Empire, and then the USSR, are colonial powers and bear the guilt of colonialism (we must give him his due, he did not blame the common people, emphasizing the responsibility of the authorities). As is clear, I contradicted him and argued that my country did not have colonies. As a result, as usual, the argument ended in nothing - we both remained on our own. However, the question of whether Russia was a typical colonial empire or not seemed to me not idle, and I decided to dig a little deeper: after all, we all have rather superficial knowledge on this topic. And of course, I was wondering - my opponent had to base his conclusions on something.

The search was successful. But the volume of the found materials turned out to be quite large, and therefore I decided to divide it into several articles. And what you are reading now is the first of them.

Actually, let's start with the fact that the choice of the lands of our state (both current and former) for the role of supposedly colonial appendages is not particularly great. They usually try to include:
1) the Baltics;
2) Central Asia;
3) Caucasus (Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, etc.).

Sometimes they try to add Poland to this list. However, as it turned out, some residents of the Republic of Kazakhstan have claims against us for our "colonial policy." Although I still don’t understand how a country that voluntarily became part of the Empire can be considered a colony (the same applies to Georgia). But let's get down to business.

I decided to start from the Baltics - after all, most of all claims against us now come from there (including the preparation of millions, if not billions, of lawsuits for "occupation").

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION

Until 1917, the territory of modern Latvia and Estonia was called the Baltic, Baltic or Ostsee provinces. Lithuania, in fact, has a rather indirect relation to the Baltic states, because, according to the imperial division, it was included in the North-Western Territory (West-
provinces).

Most of Latvia and Estonia became part of the Russian Empire in 1721, following the war with Sweden and the peace of Nystadt. On the territory of modern Northern Estonia, the Revel Governorate was formed (since 1783 it was renamed Estland), the territory of modern Southern Estonia, together with modern Northern Latvia, was included in the Livonian Governorate. In 1796, a new province was included in the Baltic States - Courland, formed after the partition of Poland in 1795. Later, the administration of the provinces was entrusted to governors acting on behalf of the emperor and having vice-governors with them (in Riga, Reval, Mitava). Except for a brief interval, from May 1801 to 1876, the provinces were also united under a governor-general whose seat was in Riga.

So what were these lands in the Empire? Colonies? Or new provinces-regions, which were to develop as part of a single and indivisible state? For this it is necessary to consider the cultural and industrial development of the new provinces.

CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE BALTICS AS A PART OF RI

1739: The first Bible was published in Estonian;
- 1802: Derpt University was reopened (founded in 1632);
- 1821: The Peasant Weekly (Est. "Marahwa Näddala-Leht") begins to appear, ed. Otto Masinga;
- 1838: The Society of Estonian Scholars was founded in Derpt (Tartu);
- 1843: Pastor Eduard Aarens' Estonian grammar published, replacing the Germano-Latin model used before;
- 1870: the first Estonian theater was founded - "Vanemuine" (Est. "Vanemuine").

By the end of 1902, there were 664 state and private educational institutions in the province of Estland, in which 28,464 people studied. The percentage of illiterates among the “recruits accepted for service” (I suspect that they were in the army) was as follows: in 1900 - 6.8%, in 1901 - 1.3%, in 1902 - 6.0%.

In Livonia in 1890 there were 1959 educational institutions with 137,285 students. There were 48,443 children who were educated at home under the supervision of ministers of the clergy; in total, thus, there were 185,728 students. In the same year, of the recruits accepted for service, there were 83 illiterate, and literate and semi-literate - 2458 people.

In Courland by 1910 there were "8 secondary educational institutions (over 3 thousand students), 13 special secondary schools (over 460 students), 790 lower (36.9 thousand students)", from which contemporaries quite naturally concluded that "education in province was better than the average Russian.

In addition to education, medicine was also at a high level in the Ostsee region. So, the following number of hospitals accounted for each province:
- in Courland - 33 hospitals for 1300 beds (1910);
- to Estonia - 18 hospitals for 906 beds + 40 pharmacies (1902);
- in Livonia - 8 hospitals (in each county, from 20 to 60 beds) + 2 hospitals in Riga for 882 beds + a prison hospital (1890).
In addition, there was a psychiatric clinic at the medical faculty of the university in Dorpat, and a mental hospital with 362 beds near Riga. And 8 more almshouses in Riga + several in each county town.

Is it any wonder that the population of the region grew at a rapid pace. Below is a summary table of population growth in the three provinces under consideration.

As we can see, in terms of the level of cultural development, the provinces that made up the Ostsee region (the Baltic states) were far from being colonies, and comparing their status with the position of India (a British colony) is at least ridiculous, if not stupid. In any case, I don't remember that a textbook on Hindi grammar was published in India, and Indian philosophers formed scientific societies. Moreover, if we consider in detail educational establishments provinces, it turns out that there were also schools for the deaf and dumb (!) - as many as 3 pieces, in Livonia. Would prudish British gentlemen invest in such a dubious - from the point of view of profit - business? Rhetorical question.

But maybe all of the above is a screen? And the Empire developed these territories - just to make it easier to plunder them? Perhaps the very posing of this question will seem nonsense to you - but this nonsense has an explanation: I received approximately the same answer in that very dialogue when I asked “Why then did they develop culture and the economy in these “colonies”?” - "In order to make them more convenient to operate." So let's check what was in the Baltics - the infrastructure for pumping out resources or something else?

INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE BALTICS AS A PART OF RI

To begin with, a small chronology of events that had important consequences for this region:
- 1802: a reform was carried out in Estonia that softened serfdom: peasants received rights to movable property, courts were created to resolve peasant issues;
- 1816: serfdom was abolished in Estonia;
- 1817: serfdom abolished in Courland;
- 1819: serfdom was abolished in Livonia;
- 1849: the Agrarian Law was adopted in Estonia: peasants received the right to rent and buy land from landowners:
- 1863: Estonian peasants received identity documents and the right to freedom of movement;
- 1865 and 1866: "the right to own land for all" was adopted by law first in Courland, then in Livonia;
- OK. 1900: almost all the land cultivated by the peasants became their property.

Initially, the Baltic provinces specialized in agriculture. So, being part of the Swedish kingdom, Livonia and Estonia were called the "granary of Sweden." However, with their inclusion in the Empire, the situation began to gradually change - the manufacturing industry received active development, and by the beginning of the 20th century Courland, Livonia and Estonia were among the most industrially developed regions of Russia. For example, in 1912 there were about 200 factories and plants (flour-grinding, vodka, sawmills, leather, brick, flax-spinning and others) and about 500 handicraft enterprises on the territory of Courland. In the Estland province, there were 564 factories and plants in 1902, with 16,926 workers and production worth 40,655,471 rubles.

According to the calculations of P.V. Gulyan, in 1913, approximately 5% of all Russian products were produced in Latvia, while the proportion of local residents in the country's population was about 1.6%. By the beginning of World War I, the share of industrial production in the entire economy of the region was 52%. The leading place in its structure was occupied by heavy industry, primarily mechanical engineering and metalworking. Riga was considered the center not only of the car and automobile industry, but also of the production of aviation equipment (since 1911, the construction aircraft began at the famous Russo-Balt plant, later at the Motor plant, which produced the first aircraft engines in Russia). Significant development was achieved by the chemical (mainly rubber), woodworking and paper industries. There were also large textile enterprises and a developed food industry.

Estonia was less developed industrially (one of the main reasons for this situation is the economic crisis of 1901-1903). According to a number of estimates, on the eve of WWI, Estonia accounted for about 2.8% of all industrial output in Russia - with only 1.5% of industrial workers.

In Latvia from 1900 to 1912 the volume of industrial production increased by 62%. Such branches of industry as chemical, food, light and metalworking were especially distinguished by high growth rates. The table below shows the general structure of the Baltic industry in 1912-1913.

Another indicator of the importance of the Baltic provinces for Russia and their integration into the Empire (and, accordingly, vice versa) is the indicator of product sales. Unfortunately, data could only be found for Latvia - although, in general, it was the most industrially developed of all three "Baltic sisters". The data is presented below.

SUMMING UP

So what can be said based on the available data? And what, in its position and significance The Baltics were not a colony of the Empire. It was one of the most powerful industrial centers of Russia, without which the normal functioning of the state was hardly possible. But the opposite is also true: without Russia, without those economic ties that existed between the Empire and the three provinces for centuries, the normal development and existence of the Baltic states would be a painful and problematic process. Actually, the events that followed the secession from the Empire and the independence of the provinces confirmed this fact. But more about this next time, when we consider the short period of independence of the Baltic states and its development as part of the Red Empire - the USSR ...

Sources:
1) Baltic and middle Asia as part of the Russian Empire and the USSR: myths of modern textbooks of post-Soviet countries and the reality of socio-economic calculations / A.I. Kolpakidi, A.P. Myakshev, I.V. Nikiforov, V.V. Simindey, A.Yu. Shadrin.
2) http://kurlandia.ru/
3) http://ru.wikipedia.org/
4) http://istmat.info/

April 15, 2013 marks the 218th anniversary of the signing by the Russian Empress Catherine II of the manifesto, according to which Courland and Lithuania joined the Russian Empire. Thus, the entire territory of modern Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia was under the rule of the Russian state.

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Russia and Zhamoi - this was the official name of the state that existed from the 13th century to 1795. Now on its territory are Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine. According to the most common version, Lithuanian state It was founded around 1240 by Prince Mindovg, who united the Lithuanian tribes and gradually began to annex the fragmented Russian principalities.

This policy was continued by the descendants of Mindovg, especially the Grand Dukes Gediminas (1316 - 1341), Olgerd (1345 - 1377) and Vitovt (1392 - 1430). Under them, Lithuania annexed the lands of White, Black and Red Russia, and also conquered the mother of Russian cities - Kyiv from the Tatars.

The official language of the Grand Duchy was Russian (this is how it was called in the documents, Ukrainian and Belarusian nationalists call it, respectively, "Old Ukrainian" and "Old Belarusian"). Since 1385, several unions have been concluded between Lithuania and Poland. The Lithuanian gentry began to adopt Polish language, Polish culture, to move from Orthodoxy to Catholicism. The local population was subjected to harassment on religious grounds.

A few centuries earlier than in Muscovite Russia, in Lithuania (following the example of the possessions of the Livonian Order) serfdom was introduced: Orthodox Russian peasants became the personal property of the Polonized gentry, who converted to Catholicism. Religious uprisings flared in Lithuania, and the remaining Orthodox gentry appealed to Russia. In 1558, the Livonian War began.

During the Livonian War, suffering tangible defeats from the Russian troops, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1569 went to the signing of the Union of Lublin: Ukraine completely departed from the Principality of Poland, and the lands of Lithuania and Belarus that remained in the Principality of Lithuania and Belarus were part of the confederate Commonwealth with Poland, obeying foreign policy of Poland.

The results of the Livonian War of 1558-1583 consolidated the position of the Baltic States for a century and a half before the start of the Northern War of 1700-1721.

The accession of the Baltic States to Russia during the Northern War coincided with the implementation of the Petrine reforms. Then Livonia and Estonia became part of Russian Empire. Peter I himself tried in a non-military way to establish relations with the local German nobility, the descendants of the German knights. Estonia and Vidzem were the first to be annexed - following the results of the war in 1721. And only 54 years later, following the results of the third section of the Commonwealth, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Duchy of Courland and Semigalle became part of the Russian Empire. It happened on April 15, 1795.

After joining Russia, the Baltic nobility without any restrictions received the rights and privileges of the Russian nobility. Moreover, the Baltic Germans (mainly the descendants of German knights from the Livonian and Courland provinces) were, if not more influential, then at least no less influential than the Russians, nationality in the Empire. Numerous dignitaries of the Empire were of Baltic origin. Catherine the Great carried out a number of administrative reforms regarding the administration of provinces, the rights of cities, where the independence of governors increased, but the actual power, in the realities of the time, was in the hands of the local, Baltic nobility.

By 1917, the Baltic lands were divided into Estland (center in Reval - now Tallinn), Livonia (center - Riga), Courland (center in Mitava - now Yelgava) and Vilna province (center in Vilna - now Vilnius). The provinces were characterized by a large mixture of population: by the beginning of the 20th century, about four million people lived in the provinces, about half of them were Lutherans, about a quarter were Catholics, and about 16% were Orthodox.

The provinces were inhabited by Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Germans, Russians, Poles, in the Vilna province there was a relatively high proportion of the Jewish population. In the Russian Empire, the population of the Baltic provinces has never been subjected to any kind of discrimination. On the contrary, in the Estland and Livland provinces, serfdom was abolished, for example, much earlier than in the rest of Russia, already in 1819. Provided that the local population knew the Russian language, there were no restrictions on admission to the civil service.

The imperial government actively developed the local industry. Riga shared with Kyiv the right to be the third most important administrative, cultural and industrial center of the Empire after St. Petersburg and Moscow. With great respect, the tsarist government treated local customs and legal orders.

Modern historical science of the Baltic States tries to describe the period of Russian rule as a kind of total disaster for the peoples of the Baltic countries. However, numerous historical facts convincingly prove the fallacy of this theory.

http://baltija.eu/news/read/30694