Baltic states

The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea are sometimes referred to as the "Baltic nations", less often and in historical circumstances also as the "Baltic republics", the "Baltic lands", or simply the Baltics.
All three Baltic countries are classified as high-income economies by the World Bank and maintain a very high Human Development Index. The three governments engage in intergovernmental and parliamentary cooperation. There is also frequent cooperation in foreign and security policy, defence, energy, and transportation.

Etymology

The term Baltic stems from the name of the Baltic Sea – a hydronym dating back to at least 3rd century B.C. and possibly earlier. There are several theories about its origin, most of which trace it to the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European root *bhel meaning 'white, fair'. This meaning is retained in the two modern Baltic languages, where baltas in Lithuanian and balts in Latvian mean "white". However, the modern names of the region and the sea that originate from this root, were not used in either of the two languages prior to the 19th century.
Since the Middle Ages, the Baltic Sea has appeared on maps in Germanic languages as the equivalent of 'East Sea':,,,, etc. Indeed, the sea lies mostly to the east of Germany, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. The term was also used historically to refer to the overseas provinces of Sweden and, subsequently, the Baltic governorates of the Russian Empire. Terms related to modern name Baltic appear in ancient texts, but had fallen into disuse until reappearing as the adjective Baltisch in German, from which it was adopted in other languages. During the 19th century, Baltic started to supersede Ostsee as the name for the region. This change was a result of the Baltic German elite adopting terms derived from Baltisch to refer to themselves. Its Russian derivative Pribaltiyskiy was first used in 1859.
The term Baltic countries or Baltic Sea countries has also sometimes been used in the context of countries neighbouring the Baltic Sea, the Baltic Region, including prior to 20th century. After World War I, the new sovereign states that emerged on the east coast of the Baltic Sea – Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Finland – became known as the Baltic states. Since World War II, the term has been used to group the three countries Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

History

History before the 20th century

Although the modern Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania – share a geographical region and certain historical experiences, their pre-modern paths diverged sharply. Geography, ethnic composition, and the sequence of foreign conquests all shaped distinct political and cultural developments.
From the early Middle Ages, the territories of present-day Estonia and Latvia were inhabited by a mosaic of Finnic and Baltic tribal societies, including the Estonians, Livs, Curonians, Semigallians, Latgalians, and Selonians. Farther south, in the lands that would later form Lithuania, related Baltic tribes such as the Aukštaitians, Samogitians, Yotvingians, and Skalvians inhabited the region's forests and river valleys. These groups shared linguistic and cultural ties with their northern neighbours but developed distinct local identities and systems of governance. Their settlements, typically fortified hillforts surrounded by agricultural lands, served as both defensive centers and hubs of trade connecting the Baltic coast to inland routes leading toward Rus' and central Europe.
In the 12th and 13th centuries, the northern and western parts of the region – modern Estonia and Latvia – became targets of Christianization and conquest. German crusaders, supported by papal sanction and local bishoprics, launched the Livonian Crusade to subdue the pagan populations. The Livonian Brothers of the Sword, later absorbed into the Teutonic Order, established a series of strongholds and ecclesiastical territories that brought Estonia and much of Latvia under foreign domination. These crusading states introduced Western feudal structures, imposed Christianity, and subordinated native peoples within a hierarchy led by German military and clerical elites. Urban centers such as Riga, Tallinn, and Cēsis grew under German law and became prosperous members of the Hanseatic League, facilitating trade in grain, furs, timber, and wax between the Baltic and western Europe. However, political power remained concentrated in the hands of German-speaking landowners and clergy. The indigenous Estonian and Latvian populations were largely reduced to serfdom, forming a rural majority excluded from civic governance.
Lithuania followed a markedly different course. The Lithuanian tribes, situated further inland and less accessible to seaborne crusaders, remained outside the control of the Livonian and Teutonic Orders. Their inland position, fragmented political structure, and ability to mount coordinated resistance allowed them to avoid subjugation and later unite under native leadership. In the 13th century, these tribes coalesced under native rulers, most notably Mindaugas, who was crowned king in 1253 and established the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Unlike its northern neighbours, which were absorbed into foreign feudal systems, Lithuania retained its indigenous leadership and gradually consolidated a centralized authority. Through a combination of military campaigns, strategic marriages, and pragmatic alliances, the Grand Duchy expanded rapidly during the 14th and 15th centuries, extending over much of present-day Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of western Russia. This expansion brought together diverse peoples and faiths under Lithuanian rule, creating one of the largest and most multi-ethnic states in medieval Europe. The ruling elite adopted aspects of Western and Eastern political traditions, maintaining their native faith longer than most of Europe before the official Christianization of Lithuania in 1387 under Grand Duke Jogaila.
As Lithuania grew, it entered into a close dynastic relationship with Poland through Jogaila’s marriage to Queen Jadwiga, leading to the Polish–Lithuanian union. While this partnership increased Lithuania's influence in central and eastern Europe, it also gradually integrated it into the political orbit of Poland. Nevertheless, Lithuania preserved its own institutions – its code of laws, administrative structures, and language of governance – long after the formal establishment of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569. During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Commonwealth became a major power in central and eastern Europe, repelling Muscovite advances and influencing affairs across the region. However, the political liberties of the nobility and the growing power of magnate families gradually weakened central authority, leaving the state vulnerable to internal factionalism and external pressure.
Meanwhile, Estonia and parts of Latvia experienced alternating control among Denmark, Sweden, and Poland–Lithuania before gradually falling under Swedish and later Russian rule. Swedish administration in the 17th century brought significant changes, including attempts at land reform, greater centralization, and the introduction of compulsory education and Lutheran parish schools, which had a lasting cultural impact. Riga and Tallinn became key cities of the Swedish Baltic dominion until the Great Northern War, after which Russian forces secured the region. Despite these shifts in sovereignty, the Baltic German nobility maintained their privileges across successive regimes, ensuring continuity in local governance and landownership.
The outcome of the Great Northern War brought Estonia and most of Latvia under the Russian Empire rule, while the partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth ended Lithuania's independence as well. By the 19th century, all three Baltic lands were incorporated into the Russian Empire, though social structures differed – the Baltic provinces of Estonia and Latvia retained influential German landowners and slight autonomy, whereas Lithuania was more integrated into the empire and subjected to attempted Russification policies alongside Poland due to repeated uprisings.
Despite these differences, each region experienced the stirrings of national revival in the 19th century, as Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians sought to preserve their languages and cultures within imperial frameworks – laying the groundwork for the eventual emergence of modern national states in the 20th century.

Independent countries 1918–1940

As World War I came to a close, Lithuania declared independence and Latvia formed a provisional government. Estonia had already obtained autonomy from Russia after the 1917 February Revolution, and declared independence in February 1918, but was subsequently occupied by the German Empire until November 1918. Estonia fought a successful war of independence against Soviet Russia in 1918–1920. Latvia and Lithuania followed a similar process, until the completion of the Latvian War of Independence and Lithuanian Wars of Independence in 1920.
During the interwar period the three countries as well as Finland and Poland were sometimes collectively referred to as limitrophe states, as they together formed a "rim" along the western border of Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union. They were also part of what Georges Clemenceau considered a strategic cordon sanitaire, the entire territory from Finland in the north to Romania in the south, between Western and Central Europe and potential Bolshevik territorial ambitions.
All three Baltic countries experienced a period of general stability and rapid economic growth of the period, some commenters avoid the label "authoritarian"; others, however, condemn such an "apologetic" attitude, for example in later assessments of Kārlis Ulmanis.