Prior to 1876, the Baltic provinces were ruled by a semi-autonomous administration headed by a governor-general whose rôle was more properly that of a viceroy. German was as much an official language as Russian and no restrictions prevented its use in courts. German schools and a German university were widely attended. Since that date, however, the Letto-Lithuanian populations have been deprived of the liberal régime they formerly enjoyed and an official “Russification” has been directed against them. Most of the Lutheran schools were closed by order of the government and the teaching of German in schools restricted or prohibited. But to this day the three Baltic provinces of Kurland, Livland and Estland are considered by German writers as a domain of German culture and Protestant faith controlled by Russian political and ecclesiastical power.
In the province of Kurland the Germans boast 51,000 resident kinsmen. As a rule this section of the population is confined to the cities. Riga, Reval, Libau, Dorpat and Mitau contain notable percentages of Germans among their citizens. The first-named city counts 65,332 of these westerners in its population, or over 25 per cent of the total.[91]
The Letts have settled mainly in the Kurland peninsula and southern Livonia. They are also found in the governments of Kovno, Petrograd and Mohilev. Lithuanians occupy the governments of Kovno, Vilna, Suvalki and Grodno. No definite boundaries between the two peoples can be determined because their intercourse is constant. The only difference between the two languages is found in the greater departure of Lettic from the old Vedic forms.
North of the Letto-Lithuanian group the Esthonians, who are Finns and speak a Finnish language, occupy a lake-covered area similar to Finland. In both a granite tableland is the scene of human activity. In spite of the drawbacks of their natural environment the Esthonians depend chiefly on agriculture for sustenance. This industry has attained a high stage of perfection in their hands and few peoples know how to make their soil yield a higher return than do these virile northerners.
The number of Esthonians is estimated at about one million,[92] distributed as follows: Esthonia, 365,959; Livonia, 518,594; Government of St. Petersburg, 64,116; Government of Pskov, 25,458; other parts of Russia, 12,855. Large colonies of Russians, Germans and Swedes are settled in the Esthonian province. The census of 1897 showed Russians, 18,000; Germans, 16,000; Swedes, 5,800.
The number of Jews settled in the province is not high. The German and Russian elements compose the nobility. The former owned and farmed 52 per cent of the land in 1878. Since that time, however, facilities have been accorded to the peasants of the province, mostly Esthonians, to purchase farms and the proportion of native land holdings is gradually increasing.
Confusion of racial minglings complicates the problem of assigning fixed ethnic place to the Esthonians. That they belong to the Finnish family is unquestionable. Linguistically they belong to the Turkish-speaking peoples. Long-headedness prevails among them.[93] These are also the characteristics of the Livs or Livonians, a Finnish tribe formerly living in Esthonia and north Livonia, now nearly extinct, but still holding a narrow strip of forest land along the Baltic at the northern extremity of Kurland. These Livs are now classed with the Baltic Finns and probably number less than 2,000 individuals. Their language has been almost entirely replaced by a Lettish dialect.
The beginning of their history finds the Esthonians pirates of the Baltic. Danish kings found it hard to subdue them and after two centuries of struggle sold the Danish crown’s rights to the Knights of the Sword in 1346. From this time on German influence was to become paramount in the province. The condition of Esthonians in relation to their Teutonic masters was that of serfs. By the terms of the treaty of Nystad in 1721 Esthonia was ceded to Peter the Great by the Swedes, who then exercised control of the land. Since then it has remained a Russian province. Lutheranism, the religion of its people, however, has been the foundation of much sympathy for German institutions throughout the province. To combat this feeling, as well as to eradicate national aspirations, Russian authorities have resorted to those harsh and repressive measures which both church and government have often enforced throughout the Czar’s country.
The Esthonians are noted for their practical turn of mind. A favorite pastime among them consists of conversing in verse. They cling tenaciously to their language, the study of which is actively maintained throughout the land. Two main dialects are in use. A northern form, known as the Reval Esthonian, is recognized as the literary language. Writers have succeeded in maintaining its perfection and beauty. Through their efforts literature that instills vigor into the national consciousness has sprung into being around the legends and folk-tales of the region.
With the exception of the Finns all the peoples of northwestern Russia are being gradually absorbed by the Slavic mass. The Slav’s ability to fuse with alien peoples is a conspicuous historical fact. In the Baltic provinces he seldom holds aloof as does his German rival. A growing spirit of liberalism in Russia, and the gradual loss of influence of the German nobility, ever ready to stir the opposition of Baltic peoples against Russian institutions, are two factors which have promoted the consolidation of Russian power in its northwesternmost territory. The Slav’s achievement in Baltic regions, during the past three centuries, has consisted in steadily replacing the Teutonic stratum by a layer of his own kinsmen. Swedes and Germans have either fallen back or become lost in the midst of Slavic populations. The movement can hardly be called a migration, but it is a westerly expansion of most persistent and irresistible character although never aggressively manifested. As a consequence Russia’s northwestern boundary with a reconstituted Poland may be foreseen.