Vytis Tours Presents
The Baltic States

The Finno-Ugric people migrated from the east and reached the shores of the Baltic around 3000 BC. During the following millennia they assimilated with the native people of the Kunda culture as well as North-Germanic and East-Slavonic people. In the 12th century AD, the local tribes developed into a more or less unified nation who called themselves “Maarahvas”.
For centuries, Scandinavians, Germans, Poles, and Russians invaded the land. The Christianization was undertaken by German crusaders in the beginning of the 13th century and completed by 1220. During the middle ages, Estonia was an important link in the East-West Trade routes, and the towns of Tallinn, Tartu, Viljandi, and Parnu were members of the Hanseatic League. Estonia became a part of the Russian Empire in 1710. The name “Estonians” came to use in the middle of the 19th century along with the national awakening and the birth of Estonian nationhood. Between the two World Wars (1918 – 1940), Estonia was an independent republic. The Estonians finally regained their independence in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The word “Lithuania” was first mentioned in the Quedlinburg annals in 1009 A.D. In the 13th century the Lithuanian state was established. In the 15th century, the Lithuanian Grand Duchy became one of the most powerful medieval states of Eastern Europe. It covered the territory to the Black Sea in the south and almost to Moscow in the east. In 1569, a pact was concluded between Lithuania and Poland establishing a united state of Rzczpospolita. In 1795, after the final partition of Rzecpospolita, Lithuania was incorporated into Russia. For more than one century Lithuanians fought against tsarist oppression. In 1918, after the Bolshevik revolution, Lithuania proclaimed its independence and the restoration of Statehood. In 1940, Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union. After 50 years, Lithuania once again proclaimed its independence in 1990.

The various Latvian tribes functioned under local self-government until the end of the 13th century when the territory was conquered by the German Teutonic Knights. Latvia was subject to sporadic invasions by the Poles and the Swedes until the 18th century when Russia, under Peter the Great, emerged as a major European power. By 1795, the entire Latvian territory was under Russian control. The Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 heralded the end of Russian suzerainty and Latvia could assert its independence for the first time in over 600 years. In 1940, the Russians again took over, and Latvia was incorporated into the Soviet Union. Latvia’s independence was finally secured in August 1991, when the attempted coup in Moscow Failed.