Duchy of Courland and Semigallia

The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia is a country north of the Kingdom of Lithuania and South of Latvia. It used to be known as the United Baltic Duchy until Estonia and the rest of Latvia broke free from the German Empire and aligned themselves with the Russian State.

History
By 1916, the Eastern Front of the Weltkrieg had stabilized and stable German rule could be introduced to the former Russian governorates of Grodno, Kovno, Vilna and Courland under the administrative name of Ober Ost. While the former three governorates were primarily inhabitated by Poles, Lithuanians, Jews and White Ruthenians, Courland was home to a large Baltic German population which had resided and ruled there ever since the Livonian Crusade of the 13th century.

The Baltic Germans wholeheartly began to cooperate with the Ober Ost administration, as they had suffered under the autocratic rule of the late Tsarist Regime. The Germans on the other hand supported cultural, political and economic initiatives of the Baltic Germans. By September 1917, local Baltic Germans began forming provincial councils.

In early 1918, the Imperial German Army advanced further north into the Governorates of Livland and Reval, as the Russians tried to delay the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. After that, even more Baltic Germans found themselves under German rule - However, many more ethnic Latvians and Estonians as well, which would become a problem later that year.

On 8 March 1918, the local Baltic German-dominated Assembly of Courland declared the restoration of the old Duchy of Courland, which was formally recognised by Kaiser Wilhelm II on 15 March 1918. On 12 April 1918, a Provincial Assembly composed of 35 Baltic Germans, 13 Estonians, and 11 Latvians passed a resolution calling upon the German Emperor to recognize the Baltic provinces as a monarchy and make them a German protectorate; The idea of a so-called "United Baltic Duchy" was born.

The capital of the new state was to be Riga. It was to be a confederation of seven cantons: 'Kurland' (Courland), Riga, 'Lettgallen' (Latgale), 'Südlivland' (South Livonia), 'Nordlivland' (North Livonia), 'Ösel' (Saaremaa), and 'Estland' (Estonia).

The first head of state of the United Baltic Duchy was to be Duke Adolf Friedrich von Mecklenburg, not as a sovereign monarch, but as a subordinate to the German Kaiser, similar to other princes of the German Empire. Adolf Friedrich agreed, but was not able to ascend to the throne immediately. Therefore, an appointed Regency Council consisting of four Baltic Germans, three Estonians and three Latvians was elected on 5 November 1918 and governed the Duchy in the name of the absent Duke.

Baltic Turmoil
However, despite cooperation of the new monarchy with the local Latvian and Estonian elite, most of the native Baltic population was not very keen to remain under foreign rule and wanted to finally establish their own independent nations. In mid-November 1918, during a time when Germany transferred thousands of troops to the west to prepare for the great offensive against the French, British and Belgians, Estonian resistance forces called "Omakaitse" assaulted Reval, Tartu, Haapsalu and other major cities, flying the blue-black-white tricolor of the National Awakening, which triggered the Estonian War of Independence. The Provisional Government headed by Jaan Poska, which already had proclaimed the independence of Estonia before the Germans had occupied the region, once again gathered in Reval.

For the Latvians, the things did not went as lucky. The Latvian nation was divided among geographical lines, as the German-Soviet frontline stretched right through Latgale, and also among political lines, as many Latvians were supporters of the Bolshevik "Iskolat" (the Executive Committee of the Soviet of Workers, Soldiers, and the Landless in Latvia), which was not willing to cooperate with the more moderate nationalists. Additionally, Courland and Livonia were under much tighter German control than Estonia, and therefore a Latvian declaration of independence never came to be, leaving the Latvians in a very defeatist mood throughout the 1920s.

The sudden unrest in Estonia however caught the Germans off guard, as they had focused too much on the west. To prevent the situation getting out of control and causing nationalist revolts all over occupied Eastern Europe, the Ober Ost administration decided to transfer one of their most powerful and prestigious troops, the Baltic Sea Division, led by Rüdiger von der Goltz, which had cut their teeth during the Finnish Civil War in early 1918, from Helsinki to Estonia. Von der Goltz would be responsible for setting up the Baltische Landeswehr (Baltic Territorial Army), the United Baltic Duchy's first own armed forces, in the following months. Thanks to von der Goltz's expertise, the Estonian insurgency had been crushed by early 1919, with the Estonian provisional government fleeing to Sweden.

Post-Weltkrieg
With German rule in the Baltics secured, a period of peace began to set in. Adolf Friedrich arrived in Riga after the end of the turmoil and was finally crowned as Duke of the United Baltic Duchy. However, despite being now the official head of state, the true power remained in the hands of the influential Baltische Landeswehr - and therefore in the hands of von der Goltz, who remained in the Baltics on behalf of Germany to reform the Baltische Landeswehr into a permanent, organized and professional standing army.

After the end of the war, it became clear that the incorporation of the United Baltic Duchy as a completely integrated federal state into the German Empire had been nothing more than a nationalist's wet dream; The economy was in shambles, many young Baltic Germans moved into Germany proper because of missing perspectives and plans to colonise the Baltics had to be ditched, similar to the Polish Frontier Strip project, as almost nobody was willing to give up their secure home in Germany after a devastating war for a backwards swath of land near the Russian border. Therefore, while the Duchy was de jure included as a territory with a special autonomous, almost ceremonial status into the German Empire, it would remain independent all but on paper, enjoying de facto independence over its internal affairs and not participating in German elections. As part of Germany, it also joined the economic Mitteleuropa alliance as well as the Reichspakt.

Different than the other German Oststaaten (Lithuania, Poland, White Ruthenia and Ukraine), the United Baltic Duchy never got a modern constitution and was governed the same way as the Russian Baltic governorates over the last 200 years, with a complicated and almost ancient administrative structure. Following a succession of several conservative governments controlled by the reactionary Baltic Knighthoods, the most long lasting one being one led by Freiherr Adolf Pilar von Pilchau (1851-1925), the pressure for reform building up within the United Baltic Duchy eventually became too hard to bear. A strengthening Baltic German middle class, traditionally reluctantly allied with the conservative nobility, started to sway to the other side, even considering an alliance with reformist and Baltic nationalist groups if it meant that any reform to the byzantine, antiquated system is introduced.

Even many members of the traditionalist Baltic Knighthoods themselves began considering a change of direction. Not all were convinced by the arguments put forward by the growing liberal undercurrent, however. Some saw this kowtowing to the interests of Latvians, Estonians and liberals as a betrayal of the inherent, Teutonic identity of the Baltic Germans, these ideas attracting them to the clandestine Baltic Brotherhood, a millenarian Christian fundamentalist, Baltic German supremacist, pan-German nationalist secret order composed of younger members of the Baltic German nobility, which operates in secret circles and grows its power in the Duchy by infiltrating the noble classes, especially appealing to younger, more disillusioned and ambitious nobles.

Eventually, the Duke himself had to intervene. Though by no means a liberal reformist, Adolf Friedrich was pragmatic enough to understand that a blind march towards reaction will spell no good for his realm. Using the powers of royal prerogative, he dismissed the previous Chairman of the Land Colleges and cooperated with the liberal reformist Baltic German Democratic Party (DbDP), appointing Friedrich von Samson-Himmelstjerna as replacement. A large plurality of seats in the newly assembled Landtag were also held by the DbDP or their allies - the native representative Democratic Centre and fellow liberal DbFP. Thanks to tenuous alliances with moderate conservatives in the Reform Party and because of the advice of the sickly Paul Schiemann, probably the most prominent Baltic German liberal of non-aristocratic background, Chairman von Samson-Himmelstjerna has managed to avoid Dualism in the Duchy, for now.

Estonian and Latvian Problems
According to the poorly defined byzantine laws of the Duchy, the ethnic Estonian and Latvian populations are de facto second class-citizens who do not enjoy full citizen rights. While the liberal Samson-Himmelstjerna government is opting to change that in the near future, nationalist leaders of the respective ethnic groups still despise the Ducal government and aim to establish native rule to their ancient homelands one day.

Ever since their defeat by the Landeswehr, the Estonian Government in Exile has remained in Stockholm. However, in 1920, Jaan Poska died, which was a severe hit for the Estonian National Movement, as it lacked prominent, charismatic and popular leaders. This would change in 1930, when cooling relations between Germany on one side and Russia on the other allowed Estonian emigres across the Baltic to contact each other yet again. An Estonian National Congress was organized in Petrograd in 1930, which elected a new National Committee of the Estonian government-in-exile, led by Artur Sirk, a veteran of the War of Independence. The Congress concluded that it shall maintain a hostile stance towards the United Baltic Duchy for the foreseeable future and support any rebellion in native Estonian territory under any circumstances.

Under Sirk’s orders, Estonian war veterans and fresh recruits from Estonia and from the emigrant population have refounded the Omakaitse, preparing to cross the Gulf of Finland and return to Reval one day once more. Radio messages from Helsinki and Petrograd are reaching the local Estonian population, calling for resistance and a fight for independence. However, the Estonian Executive Committee is far from uniform. Voices are starting to rise up complaining about Sirk’s authoritarian attitude - using his power among the Omakaitse and the state of the emigre movement, he consistently shuts down dissent among his peers over his actions, while the Omakaitse itself is turning more and more to a disciplined personal guard than an all-Estonian fighting force. Fears are abound that if Estonia breaks free with Sirk in control, its future will be far from democratic.

The Latvian National Movement has undergone major developments as well, even though it is still politically divided between lefts and moderates. After the fall of the Bolshevik Regime, many Latvian communists fled to the West, establishing themselves in the Commune of France at first and later in the Union of Britain, which already had a pre-established Latvian community. Many of them were working class and thus swiftly swept up by the anarchist, syndicalist and communist movement even before the Weltkrieg. Britain was also chosen because it was the country of choice of the man rapidly turning out to be the leader of the Latvian socialist exiles, Jēkabs Peterss, one of the former founders of the Soviet Secret Service, the Cheka. Peterss spent the decade after his return to Britain rebuilding the scattered Latvian Social Democracy in exile and ultimately participated in a new revolution, a British one. Respected among Syndicalist authorities, Peterss managed to rally French and British support for the Latvian cause and is occupied with instructing a small armed force of exiles named the “Revolutionary Latvian Legion”, formed and trained under the wing of the British Army. Should the opportunity arise, he is ready to lead his forces back into his homeland to restore the freedom of the Latvian people...

While the Latvian leftists are closely cooperating with the Syndicalist International, the moderates have found their closest ally in the Russian Republic. Based in the town of Daugavpils, the Russians have set up an autonomous zone in the Latgale region in the late 1920s, which has become a safe haven for Latvian nationalism. The relatively liberal constitution of the Russian Republic allows Latvian culture there to flourish - the Latvian community has their own schools, newspapers, cultural gatherings and events, and, in the Dvinsk governorate, even their own political representatives.

However, there are also those Latvian nationalists who are non-compromisial on their desire to see a free Latvia, not one autonomous within Russia. These hardliners are gathered around the Latvian Central Council, a successor to the Latvian Provisional National Council which operates in Petrograd. The council has a long history and was already established in 1917, even surviving the Red Terror in Petrograd during the short Bolshevik period. The Council is internationally one of the most legitimate Latvian representive bodies, as they were involved in the publishing of the January 30 Declaration of 1918, which, while not a declaration of independence in any practical terms, but at least a proclamation which advocated for the creation of an independent, democratic Latvian republic.

The council, known for its anti-German rhetoric, is openly supported by Russia and responsible for funding guerilla forces in the United Baltic Duchy, known as the "Forest Brothers". Formed out of experienced Estonian and Latvian forces from Siberia during the Russian Civil War, the Forest Brothers operate out of the vast forests of Central Livonia and Eastern Estonia and are responsible for various sabotage acts. Their commanding officer, the ethnic Latvian former Tsarist veteran Jānis Kurelis enjoys huge influence among the rebel forces. As a military man, Kurelis rarely expresses his political opinions aside for the general idea of liberation of Latvia. He is, however, particularly sympathetic to the political thought of the Latvian nationalist lawyer Kārlis Ulmanis, and though Ulmanis bears little influence upon Latvian politics, the two men have contact with one another and Kurelis cites his thoughts often - which call for a Second National Awakening to rid Latvia of all foreign influences. This Awakening must come in politics as well - the Latvian state must follow its own unique political path, not the liberal democracy or Syndicalism of the West.

For now, Estonian and Latvian nationalism is mostly limited to smoke-filled backrooms in Scandinavia, Russia and the Syndicalist bloc and the Baltische Landeswehr is still able to crush most of the native Forest Brothers resistance. However, dark times are on the horizon, and eventually the Estonian and Latvian nations will have to prove themselves if they do not to vanish in the annals of history....

Second Weltkrieg
The Russian State invaded Estonia and Northern Latvia and brought the Nationalist Movements of Latvia and Estonia to power which resulted in the Baltic German Populations of the two countries to retreat to Courland and Semigallia. Adolf Fredrik was killed with his daughter which resulted in a succession crisis that resulted in August Wilhelm who was previously king of Poland to become the new Duke as his his role as King was given to Januz Radzwill who is now known as Janus I.

After Second Weltkrieg
After the Second Weltkrieg, the Duchy was a disaster as Wilhelm tried to fix the problems of the Duchy and help the Baltic Germans of both Latvia and Estonia settle in their current state. The Nobles constantly rioted to get the King to invade Latvia and Estonia so they can get their old lands back, but August told them no as he feared it could cause German aggression.

After the fixing of the Economy, August Wilhelm married Mary Fuller, a former American Actress who retreated to Courland after the chaos of the Second American civil war in Europe. They have no children which results in August's son from his previous marriage Prince Alexander Ferdinand Albrecht Achilles Wilhelm Joseph Viktor Carl Feodor is the Crown Prince of the Duchy. The Succession crisis of the Duchy was solved with the fixing of the Economy, but that unfortunately was not able to stop Baltic German Nobles and Peasants from rioting against them.

Government
The Government is a Constitutional Monarchy ruled by a Duke who rules as a Ceremonial Monarch who is in charge of the Military. Other than the Monarch the country is ruled by the Baltic Knighthoods, around which all governmental actions within the Duchy revolve themselves. The Baltic Knighthoods have the power to elect a Prime Minister who is appointed by the Duke as the Prime Minister creates a cabinet to represent the Duchy. The Baltic Knighthoods are the only legal political faction of the Duchy and they are motivated in getting back the lands stolen by the Russian State.

Military
The Military of Courland and Semigallia is nothing more than a bunch of Infantry Divisions under the command of the Baltic Knighthoods and it was that way since the end of the Untied Baltic Duchy and the treachery of the Estonian and Latvian Branches of the Army.

Economy
The Economy of the Duchy is a crap economy and it was that way since the fall of the United Baltic Duchy. The Economy has recovered a bit from that state, but it is still damaged by angry Baltic German insurrectionists who want their lands in Latvia and Estonia Back.

Foreign Relations
Great Relations with the Reichspakt since they are in an economic alliance, however they are unable to contribute much due to the disaster of loosing Latvia and Estonia. They have really bad relations with the Russian State for ruining their country and putting the Duchy into a crappy state and they don't recognize Estonia and Latvia as the Duchy wants to incorporate the two back into the Duchy itself and reform the United Baltic Duchy.