Kom verder. Saxion. The Baltic Republics Geography & History of the Eastern Baltic Sea Region Jacques Bazen Lecturer International Economics School of Business, Building & Technology
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Kom verder. Saxion.
The Baltic RepublicsGeography & History of the Eastern Baltic Sea Region
Jacques BazenLecturer International EconomicsSchool of Business, Building & Technology
Kom verder. Saxion.
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.
Kom verder. Saxion.
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.
Kom verder. Saxion.
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!
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