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The term Baltic states refers to the countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Formerly republics in the Soviet Union, each became independent in 1991. Unlike most other former Soviet states, they established liberal democracies and market economies, and they are unequivocally pro-Western in their orientation. In 2004, all three states joined the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

These countries are frequently grouped together because of their geographic proximity on the southern shores of the Baltic Sea, their common history under Soviet rule, and their small size. Lithuania, about the size of West Virginia and with a population of 3.4 million people, is the largest of the three. Latvia has 2.3 million people; Estonia’s population is only 1.3 million. However, the titular peoples of the Baltic states are ethnically distinct and have different national histories. Lithuanians and Latvians speak Indo-European Baltic languages, but they are not mutually intelligible. Estonians speak a FinnoUrgic language that is closely related to Finnish. Lithuanians, as part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1795), ruled over most of the region in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and are overwhelmingly Catholic. Estonia and large parts of Latvia are primarily Lutheran, a reflection of their connections to the Hanseatic League and the Danish and Swedish empires. By the early nineteenth century, however, all three peoples fell under Russian domination.

Baltic States During The World Wars

After World War I (1914–1918), all three Baltic states declared themselves independent and successfully fought independence wars against both Germans and Bolshevik (Soviet) authorities. Although they tried to establish democratic governments in the interwar period, these did not take root. Political paralysis led to a coup in Lithuania in 1926, and economic problems led to the rise of extreme nationalist groups in Estonia and Latvia. These groups, aided by paramilitary forces, in these two states seized power in bloodless coups in 1934, overturning weak but democratically elected governments. Foreign threats, emanating from Germany, Poland, and the Soviet Union, also were invoked by some to justify the creation of more powerful governments.

Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania lost their independence in June 1940 as a consequence of Soviet invasion. Afterward, the Soviets rigged elections in all three countries, after which communist authorities in each government formally applied to join the Soviet Union. They became republics within the formally federal Soviet state. However, this takeover was deemed illegitimate both internationally and by large segments of the local population. In 1941, all were conquered by invading German forces, and most of their sizeable Jewish populations (especially in Lithuania and Latvia) perished in the Holocaust. In 1944, when Soviet authorities (re)invaded as they pushed the Germans back, many Balts fought against the Red Army; some were still combating Soviet authorities into the early 1950s.

Rise And Fall Of Soviet Rule

Soviet rule was harsh in the Baltic states, particularly in Estonia and Latvia, where tens of thousands of people were deported to other parts of the Soviet Union. In turn, large numbers of ethnic Russians emigrated to the region, particularly to Latvia and Estonia. For example, by 1989 ethnic Estonians comprised only 61 percent of Estonia’s population; ethnic Latvians were a bare majority, 52 percent, in their republic. Many feared that they would lose their culture and language because of Soviet (Russian) control. However, thanks to their previous development and relatively skilled population, the Baltic republics were the most prosperous region in the Soviet Union.

When Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev launched his reforms of glasnost and democratization in the late 1980s, it allowed people to discuss their history and form independent political groups. Peoples in the Baltic states began to demand an accounting for the past and political changes for the future. They pointed to their forceful and (in their view) illegal incorporation into the Soviet Union, threats to their language and culture, and environmental damage caused by Soviet rule. In an unprecedented display of civic activism under the Soviet Union, more than two million people from all three countries formed a 400-mile (640-kilometer) human chain in August 1989 to mark the sixtieth anniversary of the Nazi-Soviet Pact, which had facilitated the Soviet takeover.

By spring 1990, in order to win local elections, even local communist leaders were agitating for independence from the Soviet Union. Over the course of the next year, these states issued declarations of sovereignty and eventually independence, and independence referendums were overwhelming approved by voters. There was, however, some violence in Latvia and Lithuania in January 1991, which was instigated by Soviet troops stationed in the Baltics. The example of the Baltics would encourage other Soviet peoples to demand their independence as well, making the Baltic republics crucial actors in the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Ultimately, Gorbachev refused to endorse major military operations to squash the independence movements. By September 1991, Moscow recognized their independence, which Baltic leaders asserted was a rightful restoration of their status as sovereign states.

Independent Baltic States

Since gaining independence, the Baltic states rank as the most successful of the former Soviet states in terms of consolidating democratic governments and creating vibrant, market oriented economies. After protracted negotiations, Russian troops pulled out of the region in 1994. By the mid-1990s, all three states had well-functioning parliamentary democracies, with tensions over citizenship and language status for Russian-speaking minorities resolved, due largely to international mediation and pressure. After a period of economic hardship in the early 1990s, governments in the Baltic states implemented market-based economic reforms and reoriented their economies westward. By the late 1990s, their economies began to rebound, with Estonia, thanks to its ties to Finland, becoming a high-tech leader for all the postcommunist world. In 2004, all three joined the EU and NATO, which they considered important both for economic reasons and for protection against any political or military threat from Russia.

Bibliography:

Lane,Thomas. Lithuania: Stepping Westward. New York: Routledge, 2001.
Lieven, Anatol. The Baltic Revolution: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and the Path to Independence. New Haven, Conn.:Yale University Press, 1993.
Misiunas, Romuald, and Rein Taagepera. The Baltic States:Years of Dependence 1940–1990. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993.
O’Connor, Kevin. The History of the Baltic States. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 2003.
Pabriks, Artis, and Aldis Purs. Latvia:The Challenges of Change. New York: Routledge, 2001.
Smith, David. Estonia: Independence and European Integration. New York: Routledge, 2001.