The Baltic states. Three peas in a pod?
The Baltic states. Three peas in a pod?

Summary/Abstract: From the outside, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are usually viewed as one – “the Baltics”. However, their fates have only been intertwined during the last century. Prior to the end of the First World War, Lithuania had been closely connected with Poland, while Estonians and Latvians had been under Baltic German domination for seven centuries, no matter whether the ruling power was Sweden, Poland or Russia. Lithuanian and Latvian are the two surviving Baltic languages, whereas Estonian belongs to a completely different language family, together with Finnish and Hungarian. Lithuanians are Catholic, while Estonians and Latvians are mostly Lutheran, though the latter are among the world’s least religious societies. Of the Baltic states, Latvia is the most “Baltic”, with two Baltic neighbours, while Estonia usually looks northwards towards Finland, and Lithuania westwards towards Poland. The Latvians, understandably, have always been the greatest proponents of Baltic solidarity.

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