United Baltic Duchy Vereinigtes Baltisches Herzogtum (German) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1918 | |||||||||||
 Proposed territories for the United Baltic Duchy | |||||||||||
| Status | Proposedclient state of theGerman Empire | ||||||||||
| Capital | Riga | ||||||||||
| Common languages | |||||||||||
| Demonym | Baltic German | ||||||||||
| Government | Semi-constitutional monarchy undermilitary occupation | ||||||||||
| Head of Regency Council | |||||||||||
• 1918 | Adolf Pilar von Pilchau | ||||||||||
| Historical era | World War I | ||||||||||
• Proposal to create aprotectorate (duchy) | 12 April 1918 | ||||||||||
• Duchy throne offered toWilhelm II | 12 April 1918 | ||||||||||
• Regency Council established | 5 November 1918 | ||||||||||
| 11 November 1918 | |||||||||||
• Regency Council disbanded | 28 November 1918 | ||||||||||
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TheUnited Baltic Duchy,[1][a], was a short-livedclient state of theGerman Empire duringWorld War I, proclaimed by leaders of the localBaltic German nobility but never fully realized.[2]
The attempt to establish the state on the territory of what is nowLatvia andEstonia was made in 1918, during theGerman occupation of the formerCourland,Livonia andEstonia governorates of theRussian Empire, which had ceased to exist after theBolshevik coup in 1917. The unsuccessful proclamation of a pro-German duchy was first made in April 1918, after theRepublic of Estonia had already formallydeclared full independence.
The proposed ideas for the new state included the creation of aDuchy of Courland and Semigallia, and of a Duchy of Estonia and Livonia, which would be inpersonal union with theKingdom of Prussia.[3] Some historians have claimed that the state received formal recognition from the German Empire;[citation needed] however, Germany was defeated, the EmperorWilhelm II abdicated, the Empire capitulated, and theWorld War ended just a few weeks later, in November 1918, making the planned German Baltic client state irrelevant as well.
DuringWorld War I, theImperial German Army had occupied theCourland Governorate of theRussian Empire by the autumn of 1915. The front then stabilised along theRiga–Daugavpils–Baranovichi Line.
After theFebruary Revolution of 1917 in Russia, theRussian Provisional Government granted limitedautonomy to theGovernorate of Estonia and on 12 April [O.S. 30 March] 1917 amalgamated the Governorate of Estonia with the northern (ethnic Estonian) portion of theGovernorate of Livonia. After theOctober Revolution later that year, the electedEstonian Provincial Assembly declared itself the sovereign power in Estonia on 28 November 1917. On 24 February 1918, a day before the arrival of German troops, theEstonian Salvation Committee of the Provincial Assembly issued theEstonian Declaration of Independence. The WesternAllies recognised theRepublic of Estoniade facto in May 1918.[4]
The term 'Grand Duchy ofLivonia' refers to the Livonia region, which made up most of the proposed United Baltic Duchy.
TheLatvian Provisional National Council was constituted on the basis of the law ofself-government, which the Russian Provisional Government granted to Latvia on 5 July 1917.[5] TheLatvian Provisional National Council first met on 16 November 1917 inValka. On 30 November, the Council declared an autonomous Latvian province within ethnographic boundaries.[4]
In early 1918, German troops started advancing from Courland, and by the end of February 1918, theGerman military administered the territories of Estonia that haddeclared independence and the RussianGovernorate of Livonia. In theTreaty of Brest-Litovsk on 3 March 1918,Soviet Russia accepted the loss of theCourland Governorate and, in agreements concluded inBerlin on 27 August 1918, the loss of the Autonomous Governorate of Estonia and the Governorate of Livonia.[4]
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As a parallel political movement under the German military administration,Baltic Germans began forming provincial councils between September 1917 and March 1918.
On 8 March 1918, the local Baltic German-dominatedKurländischer Landesrat declared the restoration ofDuchy of Courland (Herzogtum Kurland), which was formally recognised by German EmperorWilhelm II on 15 March 1918.
On 12 April 1918, a newly created "(United) Assembly of Baltic Lands" (Baltische Landesrat), composed of 35Baltic Germans, 13Estonians, and 11Latvians, passed a resolution calling upon the German Emperor to recognise the Baltic provinces as a monarchy, and to make them a Germanprotectorate.[7] The Assembly decided to beg the King of Prussia and Emperor of GermanyKaiser to accept the throne of the "Grand Duchy of Livonia".[8]
The Baltic duchy was nominally recognised as a sovereign state[citation needed] by Wilhelm II only on 22 September 1918,[citation needed] half a year afterSoviet Russia had formally relinquished all authority over formerRussian ImperialBaltic governorates to Germany in theTreaty of Brest-Litovsk. On 5 November 1918, a temporary Regency Council (Regentschaftsrat) for the planned state, led by BaronAdolf Pilar von Pilchau, was formed on a joint basis from both local Land Councils.
The new state was to have its capital inRiga and was to be a confederation of sevencantons:Kurland (Courland), Riga,Lettgallen (Latgale),Südlivland (SouthLivonia),Nordlivland (North Livonia),Ösel (Saaremaa) andEstland (Estonia), the first four cantons correspondings to today's Latvia and the last three corresponding to today's Estonia.
The first head of state of the United Baltic Duchy was to beDuke Adolf Friedrich of Mecklenburg, not as a sovereign monarch, but as a subordinate to the GermanKaiser, similar to otherprinces or kings of the German Empire. However, Adolf Friedrich never assumed office. The appointed Regency Council, consisting of four Baltic Germans, three Estonians and three Latvians, functioned until 28 November 1918 without any international recognition (except from Germany[citation needed]).
In October 1918, theChancellor 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 theGerman 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".[4]
On 18 November 1918, Latvia proclaimed its independence.August Winnig, the last representative of the German government, signed an agreement with representatives of theEstonian Provisional Government on handing over power in Estonian territory on 19 November.[9] In Latvia, the German military authorities formally handed over power to the Latvian national government, headed byKārlis Ulmanis on 7 December 1918.[4]
The Finnic nation of Estonia and the Baltic nation of Latvia were established as republics.
Later an alternative proposal was advanced for a United Baltic Duchy underDuke Adolf Friedrich of Mecklenburg
The ... Latvian National Council was constituted on the basis of the law of self-government granted to Latvia on July 5, 1917, by Prince Lvov, head of the Russia Provisional Government.
Later an alternative proposal was advanced for a United Baltic Duchy underDuke Adolf Friedrich of Mecklenburg
ThisLandesrat on 12 April 1918, decided to beg theKing of Prussia andEmperor of GermanyKaiserWilhelm II to accept the throne of the "Grand Duchy of Livonia".
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56°56′56″N24°06′23″E / 56.94889°N 24.10639°E /56.94889; 24.10639
