United Baltic Duchy - Historical Background

Historical Background

During World War I, German Armies had occupied the Courland Governorate of Russian Empire by the autumn of 1915. The front was settled along a line stretched between Riga, Daugavpils and Baranovichi.

Following the February Revolution in Russia, the Autonomous Governorate of Estonia was created on 12 April 1917 (30 March Old Style) from the former Russian Governorate of Estonia and northern Governorate of Livonia. After the October Revolution, the elected Estonian Provincial Assembly declared itself the sovereign power in Estonia on 28 November 1917 and on 24 February 1918, a day before the arrival of German troops the Estonian Declaration of Independence was issued. The Western Allies recognized the Republic of Estonia de facto in May 1918.

The Latvian National Council was proclaimed on 16 November 1917. On 30 November 1917, the Council declared an autonomous Latvian province within ethnographic boundaries, and a formal independent Latvian republic was declared on 15 January 1918.

After the Russian revolution, German troops had started advancing from Courland, and by the end of February 1918 the German military administered the territories of the former Russian Governorate of Livonia and Autonomous Governorate of Estonia that had declared independence. With the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on 3 March 1918, Bolshevist Russia accepted the loss of the Courland Governorate, and by agreements concluded in Berlin on 27 August 1918, the loss of the Autonomous Governorate of Estonia and the Governorate of Livonia.