Duchy of Courland and Zemgale (1918)
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Duchy of Courland and Semgallia Kurzemes un Zemgales hercogiste (Latvian) 1918 |
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| Official languages | German and Latvian | ||||
| Capital | Riga | ||||
| Form of government | Duchy | ||||
| Government system | Constitutional monarchy | ||||
| founding |
March 3, 1918 Peace Treaty of Brest-Litovsk |
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| resolution |
September 22, 1918 Foundation of the United Baltic Duchy |
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| Time zone | UTC +2 | ||||
| currency | German East Mark and German East Ruble | ||||
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The Duchy of Courland and Zemgale ( Latvian Kurzemes un Zemgales hercogiste ) was the unsuccessful attempt to establish a satellite state of the German Empire at the end of the First World War in the Baltic States . It was proclaimed on March 8, 1918 in the Russian Governorate of Courland , which was occupied by German troops, by a regional council made up of Baltic Germans and offered the crown of the once autonomous duchy of Kaiser Wilhelm II , despite the existence of a formerly sovereign ruling family in this duchy , the descendants of Ernst Johann von Biron . Although the Reichstag , the self-determination supported the Baltic peoples, the German High Command continued the Angliederungspolitik the Baltics continued to the Reich, citing the German Balts.
In October 1918, Chancellor Max von Baden suggested replacing the military administration in the Baltic States with a civil authority. After the November Revolution of 1918, Latvia proclaimed its independence and on December 7th the German military authority handed over the administration to the Latvian government under Kārlis Ulmanis .
background
During the First World War, German soldiers occupied the Russian Governorate of Courland in autumn 1915. The eastern front then extended along the line from Riga via Daugavpils to Baranavichy .
The Latvian National Council was proclaimed on November 16, 1917. On November 30, the Latvian National Council proclaimed an autonomous province within the Latvian ethnographic borders and a formal, independent Latvian Republic was proclaimed on January 15, 1918.
After the Russian Revolution , German troops began to advance from Courland and by the end of February 1918, the Russian governorates of Livonia and Estonia , which had previously declared their independence, were also occupied and came under German military administration. With the peace treaty of Brest-Litovsk of March 3, 1918, the Russian Federal Soviet Socialist Republic accepted the loss of Courland, and with the Berlin agreements of August 27, 1918, Livonia and Estonia were ceded by Russia.
As a parallel political movement under German military administration, the Baltic Germans began forming provincial councils between September 1917 and March 1918. The Duchy of Courland and Zemgale was proclaimed on March 8, 1918 by the district administrator formed by the Baltic Germans and the crown of the duchy was offered to the German Emperor Wilhelm II .
In October 1918, Chancellor Max von Baden suggested replacing the military administration in the Baltic States with a civil authority. The new policy was announced in a telegram from the Foreign Office to the military administration in the Baltic States: The Reich Government is in agreement on the fundamental change in our policy towards the Baltic countries, namely to make policy primarily with the Baltic peoples.
On November 18, 1918, Latvia proclaimed its independence and on December 7, the German military authorities handed over the administration to the Latvian government under Kārlis Ulmanis .
recognition
Kaiser Wilhelm recognized the founding of the Duchy of Courland and Semgallia as German vassals by writing the following to the Curonian Regional Council on March 8, 1918:
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We Wilhelm, by the grace of God the German Emperor, King of Prussia, etc. hereby instruct our Chancellor, Count von Hertling, to declare to the Courland Regional Council that we respond to the request conveyed to us by his representatives and to the report of our Chancellor on behalf of the German Reiches recognize the Duchy of Courland as a free and independent state and are prepared to conclude those state treaties with Courland in the name of the German Reich that guarantee close economic and military ties between the two countries. At the same time we instruct our Reich Chancellor to prepare the conclusion of these treaties. We have carried out this mandate in a document and have it affixed with our imperial seal.
- Given at Berlin, March 15, 1918
- Wilhelm
- Count of Hertling.
resolution
The Duchy of Courland and Zemgale was replaced by the United Baltic Duchy on September 22, 1918 . However, neither of these two states was recognized by any other country with the exception of the German Reich.
The United Baltic Duchy was nominally recognized as a sovereign state by the German Emperor Wilhelm II on September 22, 1918, six months after the Soviet Union had formally assigned all claims to the former Baltic provinces to the German Empire in the Brest-Litovsk peace treaty. After the First World War, Courland became part of the newly formed Latvia on November 18, 1918.
Other similar states
During the First World War, the German Reich founded several puppet governments on the territory of the former Russian Empire . However, these states were neither fully independent nor sovereign.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kevin O'Connor, The History of the Baltic States , p. 78, ISBN 0-313-32355-0 .
- ^ A b c d e John Hiden, The Baltic States and Weimar Ostpolitik
Web links
- Duchy of Courland and Zemgale (1918) on crwflags.com.