Baltic Governorates | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1721–1918 | |||||||||||||||||||
 Coat of arms | |||||||||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Status | Governorate in the Russian Empire | ||||||||||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||||||||
| Emperor | |||||||||||||||||||
• 1721-1725 (first) | Peter I | ||||||||||||||||||
• 1894-1917 (last) | Nicholas II | ||||||||||||||||||
| Governor-General | |||||||||||||||||||
• 1710–1726 (first) | Alexander Danilovich Menshikov | ||||||||||||||||||
• 1870–1876 (office abolished) | Pyotr Romanovich Bagration | ||||||||||||||||||
| Historical era | Russian Empire | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1710 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1721 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1795 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 3 March 1918 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1897 | 94,567.57 km2 (36,512.74 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||||||||
• 1897 | 2,386,181 | ||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
| Today part of | |||||||||||||||||||
TheBaltic Governorates[a], originally theOstsee Governorates[b], were the administrative units of theRussian Empire established in the territories ofSwedish Estonia,Swedish Livonia (1721), and later theDuchy of Courland and Semigallia (1795).
The three governorates were known asBaltic Krai (Russian:Прибалтийский край) orOstsee Krai , Although they did not constitute a separate administrative entity, the three gevernorates had much in common and considerably differed from the rest of Russia..[1]
TheTreaty of Vilnius of 1561 included thePrivilegium Sigismundi Augusti by which the Polish KingSigismund II Augustus guaranteed theLivonian estates several privileges, including religious freedom with respect to theAugsburg Confession, theIndigenat (Polish:Indygenat), and continuation of the traditional German jurisdiction and administration.[2] The terms regarding religious freedom forbade any regulation of the traditional Protestant order by religious or secular authorities, and ruled that cases of disagreements be judged only by Protestant scholars. When in 1710Estonia and Livonia capitulated to Russia during theGreat Northern War, the capitulations explicitly referred to thePrivilegium Sigismundi Augusti, with the respective references being confirmed in theTreaty of Nystad (1721).[3]
Thedominions ofSwedish Estonia (in what is now northern Estonia) andSwedish Livonia (in what is now southern Estonia and northern Latvia) became the governorates ofReval andRiga when they were conquered by Russia during theGreat Northern War, and then ceded bySweden in theTreaty of Nystad in 1721. Notably, both Reval Governorate and Riga Governorate were each at the time subdivided into one province only: the province of Estonia and the province of Livonia, respectively. In the period of the so-called Regency (orNamestnichestvo), 1783–1796, the Regent's (later Governor-General's) Office in Riga was created. It consisted of two subdivisions dealing with local matters and Russian affairs.
After an administrative reform in 1796, the Reval Governorate was renamed the Estland Governorate (Russian:Эстляндская губерния), and the Riga Governorate was renamed the Livland Governorate (Russian:Лифляндская губерния). The third Baltic province, Courland, was annexed into theRussian Empire after thethird partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795.
The Baltic Governor-General (Russian:Прибалтийский генерал-губернатор) was the representative of theRussian Emperor in the provinces of Livland, Estland, and Courland. He was appointed by the Emperor and was subject to the latter as well as to the Senate. His duties were regulated by laws and instructions from central authorities. From the beginning of the 19th century, he acted as an intermediate between the ministries inSaint Petersburg and the administration of the Baltic governorates on the spot.
The Governor-General, the highest local executive official and military authority, was in charge of the internal order in the provinces and had to take care of their overall security. He was in charge of recruiting troops and had to keep an eye on the garrisons and fortifications. His civil duties included supervising the provincial administration and prisons, maintaining land roads and bridges, issuing passports, and overseeing the collection of state taxes and customs duties. He appointed and dismissed higher officials. The Office of the Baltic Governor-General was abolished at the beginning of theRussification in the Baltic Provinces in 1876.
Similar to theguberniyas of the autonomousGrand Duchy of Finland, the Baltic Governorates were not subject to the common civil and administrative laws of theRussian Empire until the end of the 19th century. However, they did not have a monetary, fiscal, and passport system of their own.[4] Like theguberniyas of theKingdom of Poland, they were treated as an integral entity, and Russian law provided them the preservation of local authorities.[5] In the Baltics, these were theLandtags. The special legislation which set rules for municipal administration and entrepreneurship according to local traditions, as well as the privileges of the local nobility, was known under the collective name ofOstsee Right (Russian:Остзейское право).
From the end of the 18th century through 1917, the names and territories of theCourland Governorate , theLivonia Governorate, and theEstonia Governorate remained unchanged. TheFebruary Revolution of 1917 was followed by an internal redistribution of Latvian and Estonian lands between the latter two. TheOctober Revolution of 1917 and theTreaty of Brest-Litovsk of 1918 created the prerequisites for the declaration of independence of these governorships from Russia as the independent states ofEstonia andLatvia.
Office abolished in 1876; administrative functions transferred to theMinistry of the Interior.
| Coat of arms | Name | Russian (Transliteration) | Historic German Name | Current Territory |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Estonia Governorate (Estland) | Эстляндская губерния (Estlyandskaya guberniya) | Estländisches Gouvernement | North Estonia |
 | Livonia Governorate (Livland) | Лифляндская губерния (Liflyandskaya guberniya) | Livländisches Gouvernement | South Estonia, North Latvia (Vidzeme) |
 | Courland Governorate (Kurland) | Курля́ндская губерния (Kurlyandskaya guberniya) | Kurländisches Gouvernement | West & South Latvia (Kurzeme,Zemgale,Selonia) |
"Прибалтийский край" .Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary (in Russian). 1906.
