The Baltic Provinces consisted of the historic regions of Courland, Livonia, Estonia, and Ingermanland, and border on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. They were conquered by Russia in the 18th century, mostly during Nordic War and became the independent countries of Latvia in 1918.
Baltic noblemen were efficient managers of their estates, often having been trained in natural sciences or agronomy at Tartu University.
Rising national and cultural enthusiasm among the Baltic Germans was interrupted with the outbreak of World War I. Although almost all Baltic Germans of military age served as Russian officers, the Russian authorities became increasingly suspicious of possible collaboration between Baltic Germans and the enemy.
An autonomous Baltic German state consisting of the three provinces in union with Prussia or the dukedom of Mecklenburg was proposed, but the German authorities were divided and no formal ties were established before the defeat of Germany in November 1918.
As far as the bourgeoisie of the three Balticprovinces was concerned, independence became a vital necessity only with the success of the October Revolution.
The provinces were used by both the tzarist generals like Yudenich and by the British to attack and harass the Red Army.
The communist movement in the in the three Baltic states, as well as in Poland, Finland, and throughout Europe was further weakened due to errors and mistakes in the leadership of the Comintern.
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