| Duchy of Courland and Semigallia Herzogtum Kurland und Semgallen (de) Kurzemes un Zemgales hercogiste (lv) |
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| Proposed Client state of the German Empire | |||||
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| Capital | Riga | ||||
| Language(s) | German, Latvian¹ | ||||
| Religion | Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Russian Orthodox | ||||
| Government | Principality | ||||
| Historical era | World War I | ||||
| - Treaty of Brest-Litovsk | March 3, 1918 | ||||
| - Recognised by Kaiser Wilhelm |
March 8, 1918 |
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| - Baltic Union est.² | September 22, 1918 | ||||
| - Latvia established | November 18, 1918 | ||||
| Currency | Ostmark, Ostruble, Papiermark, Ruble | ||||
| 1. Also Livonian and Latgalian. 2. The Duchy of Courland was absorbed by the United Baltic Duchy , however neither of the states were recognized universally, other than by the German Empire. |
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The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia was a proposed Client state of the German Empire. It was proclaimed on March 8, 1918, in German-occupied Courland Governorate by a Landesrat composed of Baltic Germans, who offered the crown of the Duchy to Kaiser Wilhelm II, despite the existence of a former sovereign reigning family on that duchy. Although the German Reichstag supported the national self-determination for the Baltic peoples, the German High Command continued the policy of attaching the Baltic to the Reich by relying on Baltic Germans.[1]
In October 1918, the Chancellor of Germany Prince Maximilian of Baden proposed to have the military administration in the Baltic replaced by civilian authority. After the German Revolution on November 18, 1918, Latvia proclaimed independence and on December 7, 1918, the German military handed over authority to the Latvian national government headed by Kārlis Ulmanis [2]
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During World War I, German Armies had occupied the Courland Governorate of Russian Empire by the autumn of 1915. The front was settled along a line stretched between Riga, Daugavpils and Baranovitch.
The Latvian National Council was proclaimed on November 16, 1917. On November 30, 1917 the Latvian National Council proclaimed an autonomous Latvian province within ethnographic boundaries, and a formal independent Latvian republic was declared on January 15, 1918.[2]
After the Russian Revolution, German troops started advancing from Courland, and by the end of February 1918 the territories of the former Russian Governorate of Livonia and Autonomous Governorate of Estonia that had declared independence were also occupied and fell under the German military administration. With the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on March 3, 1918 Bolshevist Russia accepted the loss of the Courland Governorate and by agreements concluded in Berlin on August 27, 1918 the Autonomous Governorate of Estonia and the Governorate of Livonia were severed from Russia.[2]
As a parallel political movement under the German military administration, Baltic Germans began a process of forming provincial councils between September 1917 and March 1918. The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia was proclaimed on March 8, 1918 by Landesrat composed of Baltic Germans who offered the crown of the Duchy to Kaiser Wilhelm II
On October 1918 the Chancellor of Germany Prince Maximilian of Baden proposed to have the military administration in the Baltic replaced by civilian authority. The new policy was stated in a telegram from the German Foreign Office to the military administration of the Baltic: The government of the Reich is unanimous in respect of the fundamental change in our policy towards the Baltic countries, namely that in the first instance policy is to be made with the Baltic peoples.[2]
On November 18, 1918 Latvia proclaimed independence. On December 7, 1918 the German Military handed over authority to the Latvian national government headed by Kārlis Ulmanis [2]
Kaiser Wilhelm recognised the creation of Courland, as a German vassal by writing to Courland's Landesrat on March 8, 1918 (in German):
The United Baltic Duchy was nominally recognized as a sovereign state by the Kaiser only on September 22, 1918, half a year after Soviet Russia had formally relinquished all authority over its former Imperial Baltic provinces to the German Empire in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. After World War I, Courland became a part of the newly formed nation of Latvia, November 18, 1918.