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The Baltic RepublicsGeography & History of the Eastern Baltic Sea Region

Jacques BazenLecturer International EconomicsSchool of Business, Building & Technology

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The Baltics

The Baltic region takes its name from the sea that it is close to: the Baltic Sea (Germanic languages: Ostsee, Eastern Sea)

Balt seems to come from Byel, meaning White (Maybe white from the ice in winter).

There is also a White Sea, but that is somewhere else

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Map

Eastern Baltic Sea Region,The focus of this presentation

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Geography of the Baltics

The Eastern Baltic States are flat and consist of very old rocks (Devonic / Silurian / Ordovician)

In the North there is a fault line, the Baltic Klint. The “waterfall” in Narva is a consequence of this

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“Baltic Klint” – Cliffs & Waterfalls

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Eastern Baltics – soil fertility

Because of its rather fertile soils, the Eastern Baltic area has always been of interest among great powers around it.

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Eastern Baltics – mining

Estonia has large shale oil deposits and also some uranium (closed town of Sillamäe)

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Eastern Baltics – mining

Lithuania and Kaliningrad have large deposits of amber. Lithuania also exploits gips and limestone deposits.

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Eastern Baltics - climate

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History of the Eastern Baltics

In ancient times, people who we call now to be from “Baltic tribes”, settled in the Eastern Baltics. Little is known about them, written accounts are scarce.

In the Middle Ages these were the last pagans in Europe to become Christianized.

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History of the Eastern Baltics

Northern Crusades by theTeutonic Order

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Northern Crusades

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Germanic influence

The largest cities in the Eastern Baltics are of Germanic origin (Scandinavian / German). Original inhabitants mainly lived in rural areas (Tallinn = “Danish city” in Estonian).

Because of the fertile lands, a lot of agricultural products (mostly grains) could be exported. Cities became large and wealthy. The Hansa League was very important for this.

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Hansa network

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On the map

Tallinn

Riga

KaunasTilsit

KönigsbergDanzig

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Germanic cities in the Eastern Baltics

Reval (now Tallinn)

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Germanic cities in the Eastern Baltics

Riga

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Germanic cities in the Eastern Baltics

Kaunas

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Germanic cities in the Eastern Baltics

Tilsit (now Sovietsk)

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Germanic cities in the Eastern Baltics

Königsberg (now Kaliningrad)

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Germanic cities in the Eastern Baltics

Danzig (now Gdansk)

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On the map

Tallinn

Riga

KaunasTilsit

KönigsbergDanzig

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Early modern period

Emergence of Poland – Lithuania (16th – 17th Century)

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Early modern period

Influence of Sweden in the and 17th and 18th century

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Early modern period

Influence of Russia – since the 18th century

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Early modern period

Influence of Russia – since the 18th century

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Modern times

After World War I, at the Versailles peace treaty, the decision was made to separate Germany and Russia with buffer states in between.

Buffer states

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Modern times

The three Baltic states got their independence from Russia (1918 – 1940)

As a consequence of the Molotov – Ribbentrop pact, the Soviet Union occupies the Baltic states again, while Germany occupies Poland

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Modern times

During the second World War, the Baltics states were occupied by Germany.

Baltic soldiers fought on both Nazi & Soviet side… controversy even today.

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Modern times

Result: After the second World War, the Baltic States were occupied and annexed by the Soviet Union.

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Modern times

German Eastern Prussia was divided by the Soviet Union and Poland

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Modern times

Russification of the Baltics/Eastern Europe is still a very controversial subject today

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Modern Times

In the early 1990s, the Baltic states become independent once again.

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Modern Times

Don’t make the mistake of assuming there is something like a “Baltic states culture”!

The people of each country see themselves as distinctly different from the other.

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Surface & People

17 Million

7 Million

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Large cities, empty countries

Country PopulationMetropolitan

area Population %

Estonia 1315819 Tallinn 542983 41

Latvia 1985600 Riga 1018295 51

Lithuania 2921920 Vilnius 807607 28

Kaliningrad Oblast 941873 Kaliningrad 431402 46

The Netherlands 16912640 Amsterdam 1590520 9

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Estonia

Culture: Scandinavian, with German influence. Language group: Uralic (Related to Finnish and Hungarian)

Protestant heritage and work ethic. Liberal society and culture, aimed at human rights.

Don’t feel themselves specificallyBaltic.

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Latvia

Culture: Baltic, with German influence.

Language group: Indo European

Strong influence of German settlers/nobility on the development of the country/culture. Identify themselves as descendants of Baltic tribes (Mainly Latgaliansand Curonians).

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Lithuanian

Culture: Baltic, influence from Poland

Language group: Indo European

Roman-Catholic heritage. Strong heritage of the past Polish – Lithuanian commonwealth. The glorious days of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. “Lithuania as small surviving part of an empire”.

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Modern Times

The Baltic Republics are Western oriented:

Negotiations with the EU lead to accession of the Baltic States to the EU in 2004 and adoption of the Euro. The new republics also become members of NATO.

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Modern Times

Ethnic tensions within the Baltic Republics remain: There are many ethnic Russians.

WWII is in many cases still fiercely debated…

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Economy of the Baltic Republics

All three Baltic Republics and also in a lesser extent Kaliningrad are small countries with open economies. They have to… the home market is simply too small.

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Economy of the Baltics

Kaliningrad is a special economic zone in Russia aimed at boosting foreign investments. Unfortunately it is not successful enough. Main reasons are political: visa regime and high prices

Unemployment is far above the Russian average.

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Economy of the Baltics

Industry in the Baltic Republics is concentrated around Riga.

Service sector is the most important source of income for all the republics, especially the fast development of tourism and ICT-services.

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Finally

It is most important to be here, look around and learn from what you see and hear…

Enjoy your stay in the Baltics!