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ern estonia and poland which annexed the newly created duchy of livonia and granted the duchy of courland and semigallia a vassal state of poland lithuania to the last master of the livonian order gotthard kettler the secularized land was divided among the remaining knights who formed the basis of baltic nobility 15 the duchy of courland and semigallia existed as a german speaking country until 1795 while the northern part of duchy of livonia was conquered by sweden which controlled parts of estonia between 1561 and 1710 and swedish livonia between 1621 and 1710 having signed an agreement with the local baltic german nobles not to undermine their political rights and autonomy the academia gustaviana now university of tartu was founded in 1632 by king gustavus adolphus of sweden it remained the only institution of higher education in the former livonian territories and became the intellectual focus of the baltic germans 16 at the end of the 17th century sweden introduced the land reduction in its baltic provinces and properties held by german nobility became the property of the crown that effectively turned serfs into free peasants however it would be overturned when russia conquered these territories in 1710 and restored the rights of german landowners under the treaty of nystad citation needed russia s baltic governorates 1710 1917 edit main article baltic governorates russian baltic governorates distribution of baltic germans in the russian empire in 1897 15 20 german 10 15 german 5 10 german 3 5 german 1 3 german 0 1 german ethnographic map of lithuanians littauer and latvians letten in 1847 by heinrich berghaus the green spots in memel klaipėda libau liepāja windau ventspils goldingen kuldiga mitau jelgava volmar valmiera and riga show german populations dukes of courland s rundāle palace the many manors in estonia and latvia testify to the former splendor of the baltic german landowning class pictured the von stackelberg family s manor in vääna estonia the von lieven family s mežotne palace in latvia between 1710 and 1795 following russia s success in the great northern war and the three partitions of poland the areas inhabited by baltic germans eventually became baltic governorates of the russian empire courland governorate governorate of livonia and governorate of estonia autonomy edit ethnic composition latvia 1863 1935 up until the end of the 19th century many now latvian settlements had dominant german populations the baltic provinces remained autonomous and were self governed by the local baltic nobility until the imperial reforms of the 1880s local government was in the hands of the landtag of each province in which only members of the matriculated baltic nobility held membership and cities were ruled by german burgomasters citation needed between 1710 and approximately 1880 the baltic german ruling class enjoyed great autonomy from the imperial government and achieved great political influence in the imperial court starting from the 18th century the baltic german nobility also assumed some leading posts in the russian imperial government citation needed germans other than the local estate owners mainly lived in the cities such as riga reval dorpat pernau and mitau as late as the mid 19th century the population of many of these cities still had a german majority with estonian latvian or jewish minorities by 1867 riga s population was 42 9 german 17 until the late 19th century most of the professional and learned classes in the region the literati were germans german political and cultural autonomy ceased in the 1880s when russification replaced german administration and schooling with the usage of russian after 1885 provincial governors usually were russians rise of native peoples edit years of peace under russian rule brought increasing prosperity and many new manor houses were built on country estates but economic exploitation worsened the situation of the native population for examples see list of palaces and manor houses in latvia and list of palaces and manor houses in estonia citation needed the native latvian and estonian population enjoyed fewer rights under the baltic german nobility compared with farmers in germany or sweden in contrast to the baltic germans estonians and latvians had restricted civil rights and resided mostly in rural areas as serfs tradesmen or as servants in manors and urban homes they had no rights to leave their masters and no surnames this was in keeping with the social scheme of things in russian empire it lasted until the 19th century when emancipation from serfdom brought those inhabitants increased civil freedoms and some political rights citation needed in 1804 livonian peasant law was introduced by the imperial government aimed at improving conditions for serfs serfdom was abolished in all baltic provinces between 1816 and 1820 about half a century earlier than in russia proper for some time there was no outward tension between the german speakers and indigenous residents earlier if any latvian or estonian who managed to rise above his class was expected to germanize and to forget his roots by the mid 19th century german urban classes began to feel increasing competition from the natives who after the first latvian national awakening and estonian national awakening produced their own middle class and moved to german and jewish dominated towns and cities in increasing numbers the revolution of 1905 led to attacks against the baltic german landowners the burning of manors and the torture and even killing of members of the nobility during the 1905 revolution groups of rebels burned over 400 manor houses and german owned buildings and killed 82 germans in response cossack punitive expeditions aided by german nobles and officers burned down hundreds of farms arrested and deported thousands and summarily executed at least 2 000 people reaction to 1905 revolution included a scheme by karl baron von manteuffel szoege and silvio broedrich kurmahlen to pacify the countryside by settling up to 20 000 ethnic german farmers mostly from volhynia in courland 18 world war i edit main articles ober ost and united baltic duchy world war i brought the end of the alliance of the baltic germans and the russian tsarist government german heritage led to their being viewed as the enemy by russians they were also seen as traitors by the german empire if they remained loyal to russia their loyalty to the state was questioned and rumours of a german fifth column increased with the defeats of the imperial army led by baltic german general paul von rennenkampf all german schools and societies were closed in the estonian governorate and germans were ordered to leave the courland governorate for inner russia citation needed courland was conquered by germany in 1915 and included into the military ober ost administration after the russian surrender at the treaty of brest litovsk in 1918 the german empire occupied the remaining baltic provinces citation needed the ober ost military administration began plans for german colonization of courland on april 20 1917 the commander in chief of the eastern front announced that a third of arable land there should be reserved for settlement by german war veterans this was approved by courland s german nobility on september 22 1917 6 united baltic duchy edit livonian and estonian nobles delivered a note of independence to soviet representatives in stockholm on january 28 1918 announcing their intention to break away from russia under the rights granted to them by the treaty of nystad of 1721 in response the bolsheviks who controlled estonia arrested 567 leading germans and deported them to russia after the signing of the treaty of brest litovsk they were allowed to return under the peace treaty germany gained control over courland riga saaremaa ösel livonia and estonia 19 in the spring of 1918 baltic germans announced the restoration of the independent duchy of courland and semigallia and pursued plans for uniting it with the kingdom of prussia on april 12 1918 baltic german representatives from all baltic provinces met in riga and called on the german emperor to annex the baltic lands citation needed 20 subsequently a plan for a united baltic duchy ruled by duke adolf friedrich of mecklenburg instead of outright annexation was developed its regency council met on november 9 1918 but collapsed with the german empire citation needed 21 independent baltic states edit main articles latvian war of independence and baltische landeswehr the baltic germans rule and class privileges came to the end with the demise of the russian empire due to the bolshevik revolution of october 1917 and the independence of estonia and latvia in 1918 1919 baltic germans suffered greatly under bolshevik regimes in estonia and latvia while the bolshevik regimes were short lived they pursued the red terror against germans often killing them purely because of their nationality 22 self published source after the collapse of the german empire baltic germans in estonia began forming volunteer units to defend against the bolshevik threat on november 27 1918 this was authorized by the estonian government and the volunteer baltic battalion freiwilligen baltenbataillon was formed under the command of colonel constantin von weiss de during the estonian and latvian wars of independence from 1918 to 1920 many baltic germans voluntarily enlisted in the newly formed estonian and latvian armies to help secure the independence of these countries from russia these baltic german military units became known as the baltische landeswehr in latvia and baltenregiment de in estonia the state archives of estonia and latvia keep individual military records of each person who fought in this war baltische landeswehr units took riga on may 22 1919 which was followed by white terror in which up to 2 000 people mostly latvians were shot as suspected bolshevik supporters baltic german outlying estates were frequent targets of local bolsheviks as portrayed in the film coup de grâce and the combination of local bolsheviks and nationalists following independence brought about land nationalisations and a displacement of baltic germans from positions of authority baltic germans of the livonian governorate found themselves in two new countries both of which introduced sweeping agrarian reforms aimed at the large land owners an absolute majority of whom were germans as a result of the russian revolution of 1917 and the subsequent russian civil war many baltic germans fled to germany after 1919 many baltic germans felt obliged to depart the newly independent states for germany but many stayed as ordinary citizens 23 in 1925 there were 70 964 germans in latvia 3 6 and 62 144 in 1935 3 2 of population riga remained by far the largest german center with 38 523 germans residing there in 1935 while tallinn then had 6 575 germans 6 while the german landed class soon lost most of their lands after the agrarian reforms they continued to work in their professions and to lead their companies german cultural autonomy was respected 24 the committee of the german baltic parties in latvia and deutsch baltische partei in estland in estonia participated in elections and won seats at the same time as both young states built their institutions this often reduced the status of their minorities in latvia children of mixed marriages were registered as latvians while in estonia they took the nationality of their fathers who increasingly were estonians this quickly reduced the number of german children german place names were eliminated from public use german congregations lost their churches tallinn cathedral was given to an estonian congregation in 1927 after the 1923 referendum st james s cathedral in riga was lost and riga cathedral taken away after another referendum in 1931 decrease in the proportion of baltic germans in the largest latvian cities agrarian reforms edit main article latvian land reform of 1920 at the start of independence baltic germans owned 58 of land in estonia and 48 in latvia radical agrarian reforms were implemented in both countries to break german power and to distribute land to the veterans of independence wars and landless peasants this largely destroyed the landed class of german noble families and their economic base on october 10 1919 the estonian parliament expropriated 1 065 estates 96 6 of all estates the law of march 1 1926 set the compensation to the former owners of arable land at about 3 of its market value and no compensation at all for the forests this almost instantly bankrupted the german noble class even if they were allowed to keep some 50 hectares of their lands 6 on september 16 1920 the constitutional assembly of latvia nationalized 1 300 estates comprising 3 7 million hectares of land former german owners were allowed to keep 50 hectares of land and farm equipment in 1924 the saeima decided that no compensation would be paid to former owners in 1929 the saeima voted that veterans of the baltische landeswehr could not receive any land 6 estonia edit in estonia there was only one german party which from 1926 was led by axel de vries de editor of revaler bote their leading parliamentarian was werner hasselblatt 1890 1958 germans never received ministerial posts in governments the three largest minorities germans swedes and russians sometimes formed election coalitions the deutsch baltische partei in estland was established to defend the interests of german landowners who wanted to receive compensation for their nationalized lands and properties after land nationalization they received no compensation but could keep plots up to 50 hectares which was not enough to support their manor houses germans were banned from governmental and military positions citation needed many germans sold their properties and emigrated to scandinavia or western europe most of the grand manor houses were taken over by schools hospitals local administration and museums estonia s baltic german population was smaller than latvia s so as estonians continued to fill professional positions such as law and medicine there was less of a leadership role for the baltic germans baron wilhelm wrangell leader of the baltic german cultural association between 1933 and 1938 was included in the estonian council of state after 1937 as a token representative of minorities the last leader of baltic german cultural administration was hellmuth weiss on february 12 1925 estonia adopted the cultural autonomy and national minorities act which provided for some cultural autonomy of germans despite this the german community in estonia continued to decline as the majority of young people chose to emigrate by 1934 there were 16 346 baltic germans in estonia 1 5 of the total population 22 estonia allowed german schools to teach in the german language these schools were overseen by the gesellschaft deutsche schulhilfe which was part of the union of ger...