Page 39 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Estonia Latvia & Lithuania

THE HIST OR Y OF EST ONIA , LA T VIA AND LITHU ANIA 37

lived colonies in Africa and the Caribbean.
The Swedish occupation, regarded as the
gentlest Livonia ever endured, was marked by
a benign governance. The Germans, mean-
while, continued to hold sway in Livonia,
socially and culturally. When an alterna tive to
Latin was needed in the churches, German
was the obvi ous choice. The universities at
Siege of Narva by the Russians in 1558 during the Livonian Wars Rīga and Tartu taught exclusively in German.
German merchants were granted special
own land was lost, the privileges of the rights by the Swedish rulers, Charles XI
pea santry were curbed and serfdom was (r.1660–97) and Charles XII (r.1697–1718),
firmly established in Lithuania. to ensure the continuity of commerce.
After the German barons’ estates were
The Swedes and the Russians expropriated by the Swedish crown, they
Sweden and Russia fought two major wars turned to Russia for help. In 1700, Charles XII
to ensure control over the Baltic Sea and defeated Peter the Great of Russia at Narva,
the surrounding land. In the Livonian Wars marking the beginning of the Great Northern
(1558–83), Poland and Lithuania were War (1700–21). The loss at Narva inspired the
involved in resisting the armies of Russia’s Tsar to create a modern army and, in 1709,
Ivan the Terrible (r.1533–84), in view of the using a bitter winter to his advantage, he
destruction he had wrought in Livonia. The defeated the Swedes at the Battle of Poltava.
immediate aftermath of the war resulted in In 1710, Tallinn and Rīga were occupied and
most of Estonia coming under Swedish soon Estonia and Latvia were brought
rule, while Latvia endured a Polish under Russian control.
occupation and Lithuania’s full union with
Poland was formalized. Southern and
Eastern Latvia, commonly known as
Courland and Latgale respectively, became
duchies owing allegiance to Poland.
War soon broke out again, this time
between the Poles and the Swedes, and in
1621, the Swedes seized Rīga and northern
Latvia. The Duchy of Courland stayed in Polish
hands, although the dukes almost became
rulers in their own right. The most prominent
of them, Duke Jakob Kettler (r.1642–82),
brought the duchy to the pinnacle of its
wealth and power, even establishing short- Battle of Poltava, a work by M Lomonosov (1711–65)

1520
Lutheranism
established in 1572 First reference 1642–82 Courland flourishes
Estonia, and a to a synagogue 1600–29 Polish- under Duke Jakob Kettler
year later in Latvia in Vilnius Swedish War
1500 1550 1600 1650 1700
1536 First 1700–21 Great Northern
record of 1558–83 War between Sweden
Jewish merchants Livonian Wars and Russia
in Rīga between Sweden
and Russia
King Charles XII of Sweden (1682–1718)