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The Baltic states, or Baltic countries, is a term which usually refers to three countries to the East of the Baltic Sea: It ought to be noted that although the present-day Baltic countries are republics, the term Baltic Republics refers to the same territories under Soviet occupation.
The term state is here used as a synonym of sovereign country, as distinct from non_sovereign states of the kind to be found in federations and confederations.
Balticum is the geographic term used in local languages, German for the territory of the Baltic states and historical East Prussia. In a historical context it includes the lands of:
Despite the common name, it's often indicated that the three Baltic countries have little else in common than their location. Estonia aspires in direction of the Finnic brethren and the Nordic countries while Lithuania focuses on its connection to Poland and Central Europe.
Prior to World War II, Soviet Union, a fourth Baltic state. For example in the Molotov_Ribbentrop Pact of 1939, Nazi Germany agreed to mention Finland as one of the Baltic States, thereby indirectly relinquishing Finland to the Soviet sphere of interest. Since then, the Finnish view that Finland is one of the Nordic countries has become generally accepted.
Geography
In a Cold War context, the Baltic countries were considered to be part of Eastern Europe, but culturally and historically it's more apropriate to view all of the Baltic Sea countries as the center of Northern Europe, where the historical impact of the Hanseatic League, the Russian Empire, and the German Empire have been of crucial importance. For Latvia, and especially for Estonia, present-day and historical connections to Finland, Sweden and Denmark have also been important.
Sometimes the Baltic States are designated as Northeastern Europe.
The term Baltic states differs from the term Baltic sea countries which refers to all the countries bordering the Baltic.
Nearby is Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast, the northern part of historical East Prussia.
Some political scientists consider Lithuania as part of Central Europe, because it shares few common influences with the other two countries, for example, Swedish and German ones.
History The common history of the Baltic States began when the Sword Brethren brought Christianity and feudalism to the region. These countries subsequently became a battlefield between Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Russia and Germany.
By around 1582 almost the whole territory of the Baltic countries (other than northern Estonia) was under the overlordship of the Polish_Lithuanian Commonwealth.
In the 18th and 19th century the Baltic provinces (Curonia, Estonia and Ingria) and Lithuania in the 19th century, albeit with names and borders different from the present-day countries, were part of the Russian Empire.
The Baltic States gained (or regained in case of Lithuania) their sovereignty as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the aftermath of World War I. They declared independence in 1918, fought independence wars against German troops and Bolshevist Russia and were recognized as independent countries in 1920.
In 1940, under the terms of the Soviet-German Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact dividing Eastern Europe into spheres of interest, the Soviet Union annexed Estonia, Latvia, and later Lithuania. In 1941, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union and occupied the Baltic region. By late 1944, the Soviet Army, driving the German occupants back West, reached the region again, and re-established control by early 1945. The Baltic States were established as the Estonian SSR, the Latvian SSR and the Lithuanian SSR as constituent parts of the Soviet Union.
The three Baltic states declared their independence in 1990 and their independence was recognized by the Soviet Union on September 6, 1991.
Rather than new states, they declared themselves to be in fact restorations of the pre-war republics that had existed between the first and second world wars. This further emphasized their contention (adhered to worldwide, but contested for propaganda purposes by some Russian governments) that Soviet domination during the Cold War period had been an illegal occupation.
The Baltic states are today liberal democracies, parliamentary republics, and very quickly growing market economies.
In 2002 the Baltic states took the first steps towards the realization of their long standing political goal (and their principal objective since leaving the Soviet Union), integration with Western Europe, by applying to become members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU). Membership of NATO was duly achieved on 29 March 2004 and accession to the EU took place on 1 May 2004.
Culture Although the three nations have much in common in their history and culture they belong to two distinct language families. They also belong to different Christian denominations: - Latvia and Estonia are mostly Lutheran protestant (except for Russian minorities in these countries which are Catholic.
Due to a long period of Germanic domination, starting in the middle ages, German language has an important role. Its role has somewhat diminished after World War II but it remains one of three main foreign languages taught in schools (the other two being English and Swedish and Russian spheres of influence. Following the period of Soviet domination, ethnic Russians today make up a sizable minority in the Baltic states, particularly Estonia and Latvia.
See also
External links - Open directory (http://dmoz.org/Regional/Europe/Regions/Baltics/)
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