Courland Governorate | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Governorate of the Russian Empire | |||||||||
1795–1918 | |||||||||
Location in the Russian Empire | |||||||||
Capital | Mitau | ||||||||
Population | |||||||||
• 1897 | 674,034 | ||||||||
History | |||||||||
• Partition of Poland | 28 March 1795 | ||||||||
1918 | |||||||||
• Treaty of Brest-Litovsk | 1918 | ||||||||
Subdivisions or uyezds of Courland Governorate | |||||||||
Political subdivisions | 9 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Today part of | Latvia Lithuania |
History of Latvia |
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Chronology |
Latviaportal |
Courland Governorate, [lower-alpha 1] also known as the Province of Courland or Governorate of Kurland, [1] [2] and known from 1795 to 1796 as the Viceroyalty of Courland, [lower-alpha 2] was an administrative-territorial unit ( guberniya ) and one of the Baltic governorates of the Russian Empire. Its area roughly corresponded to parts of modern-day Latvia.
The governorate was created in 1795 out of the territory of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, which was incorporated into the Russian Empire as the Viceroyalty of Courland with its capital at Mitau (now Jelgava) following the third partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
After a failed post-World War I attempt to create a United Baltic Duchy as a client state of the German Empire, Courland and Livonia were united to form the Republic of Latvia on 18 November 1918.
The governorate was bounded in the north by the Baltic Sea, the Gulf of Riga and the Governorate of Livonia; west by the Baltic Sea; south by the Vilna Governorate and Prussia and east by the Vitebsk Governorate and Minsk Governorate. The population in 1846 was estimated at 553,300. [1]
It was situated between 55°41' and 57°451⁄2' N. Of its total border of 1,260 versts (1,344 km), the sea border is 320 versts (341 km). The border with Prussia is only 6 versts (6.4 km) long and lacks natural boundaries.
The surface area of the province is 26,112 square versts (29,716 km2).
After the annexation to the Russian Empire, the Kurzeme Governorate united the lands of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia and the Piltene district, both of which retained their previous administrative divisions.
After the administrative reform of 1819, the area of Pilten was incorporated into the territory of the province as the district of Windau (Hauptmannschaft Windau) and the district of Hasenpoth (Hauptmannschaft Hasenpoth). After the reform of 1819, the castle lord of Kandava moved to Talsi. The area of Palanga up to the Prussian border was also added to the Kurzeme province from the Vilna Governorate. The province was divided into ten districts, or Hauptmannschaft, whose administrative authorities were located in the towns of the same name, with the exception of Talsi and Ilūkste, which had only the rights of towns. Each district had its own court with a local police force. Until 1864, every two districts were merged into Oberhauptmannschaft, which contained the Oberhauptmann and the Evangelical Lutheran Church dean's districts under the authority of the Oberhofgericht (Court of the Governor's Court).
The counties of the governorate were:
County | County Town | Arms of County Town | Area | Population (1897 census) [3] | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name in German | Name in Russian | ||||
Bauske | Баускій | Bauske (Bausk) | 2,097.4 km2 (809.8 sq mi) | 50,547 | |
Windau | Виндавскій | Windau (Vindau) | 3,136.4 km2 (1,211.0 sq mi) | 48,275 | |
Hasenpoth | Газенпотскій | Harsenpoth (Gazenpot) | 2,506 km2 (968 sq mi) | 53,209 | |
Goldingen | Гольдингенскій | Goldingen | 3,276.4 km2 (1,265.0 sq mi) | 66,335 | |
Grobin | Гробинскій | Grobin | 4,685.4 km2 (1,809.0 sq mi) | 110,878 | |
Illukst | Иллукстскій | Illukst | 2,249.7 km2 (868.6 sq mi) | 66,461 | |
Doblen | Митавскій (Добленскій) | Mitau (Mitava) | 2,847.2 km2 (1,099.3 sq mi) | 101,310 | |
Talsen | Тальсенскій | Talsen | 3,151.1 km2 (1,216.6 sq mi) | 61,148 | |
Tukkum | Туккумскій | Tukkum | 2,262.6 km2 (873.6 sq mi) | 51,076 | |
Friedrichstadt | Фридрихштадтскій | Friedrichstadt (Fridrikhshtadt) | 3,504.2 km2 (1,353.0 sq mi) | 64,795 |
The highest court is the Courts of Kurland (Kurländisches Oberhofgericht), the courts of appeal are the Higher Hauptmanns Courts (Oberhauptmannsgericht), The courts of first instance are the Hauptmannsgericht, the county courts (kreisgericht) for the peasantry, and the lowest level of the court system for the peasantry are the parish courts (Gemeindegericht). [4]
The province of Courland was governed by a governor appointed by the emperor. The representative body of local government was the Landtag (Kurländischer Landtag), which consisted of parish commissioners (Kirchspielsbevollmächtigter, Konvokant) elected by the parishes (Landtagskirchspiel, Parochie) by parish assemblies (Kirchspielsversammlung), In the parish meetings (Kirchspielsversammlung) all large landowners of the parish could participate, the executive body - a noble committee headed by a land commissioner (Landesbevollmächtige) was elected to conduct its sessions.
The residence of the governors was in Jelgava Castle, where the governorate's administrative offices were also located. During the existence of the Baltic Governorate (1801-1876, 1906–1909), the governors of Kurzeme were subordinate to the governor-general of the Baltic Provinces (German: Generalgouverneur der Ostseeprovinzen)., who resided in the Riga Castle. [5]
Until Russification, almost all governors of Courland were German-Baltic noblemen. Until then, the language of administration in the highest authorities and courts of the province was German, but in the parish courts, according to the Courland peasant laws, the records were also kept in Latvian. [6]
In the 19th century the province was predominantly agrarian. In 1817, serfdom was abolished in the province and peasants were granted personal freedom, but all land remained the property of landlords. In 1863 the peasants received the right to buy land as personal property, and a class of land owning peasants began to form. The land owning peasants, along with the German landlords, were the main suppliers of commercial agricultural products. The main crops grown in the province were rye, wheat, barley, peas, oats, and potatoes. Horticulture and gardening are well developed.
Industry of the province is mostly manufacturing. In 1912 there were about 200 factories and plants (mills, vodka mills, sawmills, tanneries, brick mills, flax-spinning factories, etc.) and about 500 cottage industries.
Railway construction was developing on the territory of the province. The Riga - Mitava railroad was built in 1867 and in 1871-76 a section of the Libava - Romena railroad. All in all the length of the railway lines in the province was over 560 versts.
Education in the province was better than the Russian average. In the 1910s there were 8 secondary schools (over 3 thousand students), 13 special secondary schools (over 460 students), 790 lower secondary schools (36.9 thousand students) in the province. In the province in 1913 there were 33 hospitals with 1,300 beds. [7]
Language | Number | percentage (%) | males | females |
---|---|---|---|---|
Latvian | 507 511 | 75.29 | 240 672 | 266 839 |
German | 51 017 | 7.56 | 23 372 | 27 645 |
Yiddish | 37 689 | 5.59 | 18 137 | 19 552 |
Great Russian (Russian) | 25 630 | 3.8 | 16 319 | 9 311 |
Polish | 19 688 | 2.92 | 9 985 | 9 703 |
Lithuanian | 16 531 | 2.45 | 8 833 | 7 698 |
White Russian (Belarusian) | 12 283 | 1.82 | 6 356 | 5 927 |
Romani | 1 202 | 0.17 | 581 | 621 |
Persons that didn't name their native language | 5 | >0.01 | 4 | 1 |
Other [9] | 2 478 | 0.36 | 1 993 | 485 |
Total | 674 034 | 100 | 326 252 | 347 782 |
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of February 2024 (link)The history of Latvia began around 9000 BC with the end of the last glacial period in northern Europe. Ancient Baltic peoples arrived in the area during the second millennium BC, and four distinct tribal realms in Latvia's territory were identifiable towards the end of the first millennium AD. Latvia's principal river Daugava, was at the head of an important trade route from the Baltic region through Russia into southern Europe and the Middle East that was used by the Vikings and later Nordic and German traders.
Baltic Germans are ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their resettlement in 1945 after the end of World War II, Baltic Germans have markedly declined as a geographically determined ethnic group in the region.
Courland is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. Courland's largest city is Liepāja, which is the third largest city in Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland as they were formerly held by the same duke.
The United Baltic Duchy, or alternatively the Grand Duchy of Livonia, was the name of a short-lived state during World War I that was proclaimed by leaders of the local Baltic German nobility.
The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia was a duchy in the Baltic region, then known as Livonia, that existed from 1561 to 1569 as a nominally vassal state of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and subsequently made part of the Crown of the Polish Kingdom from 1569 to 1726 and incorporated into the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1726. On March 28, 1795, it was annexed by the Russian Empire in the Third Partition of Poland.
The Baltic governorates, originally the Ostsee governorates, was a collective name for the administrative units of the Russian Empire set up in the territories of Swedish Estonia, Swedish Livonia (1721) and, afterwards, of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (1795).
Jelgava is a state city in central Latvia about 41 kilometres southwest of Riga. It is the largest town in the region of Zemgale (Semigalia). Jelgava was the capital of the united Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (1578–1795) and was the administrative center of the Courland Governorate (1795–1918).
Historical Latvian Lands or formerly Cultural regions of Latvia are several areas within Latvia formally recognised as distinct from the rest of the country. These are: Kurzeme (Courland), Zemgale, Latgale, Vidzeme, and Sēlija (Selonia). While some of these regions are seen purely as culturally distinct, others have historically been parts of different countries and have been used to divide the country for administrative and other purposes.
The Coat of arms of the Republic of Latvia was officially adopted by the Constitutional Assembly of Latvia on 15 June 1921, and entered official use starting on 19 August 1921. It was created using new national symbols, as well as elements of the coats of arms of Polish and Swedish Livonia and of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia. Thus, the coat of arms combines symbols of Latvian national statehood, as well as symbols of its historical regions. The Latvian national coat of arms was designed by Latvian artists Vilhelms Krūmiņš and Rihards Zariņš.
Semigallia, also spelt Semigalia, is one of the Historical Latvian Lands located to the south of the Daugava river and to the north of the Saule region of Samogitia. The territory is split between Latvia and Lithuania, previously inhabited by the Semigallian Baltic tribe. They are noted for their long resistance (1219–1290) against the German crusaders and Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades. Semigallians had close linguistic and cultural ties with Samogitians.
The Governorate of Livonia, also known as the Livonia Governorate, was a province (guberniya) and one of the Baltic governorates of the Russian Empire, Baltic Governorate-General until 1876. Governorate of Livonia bordered Governorate of Estonia to the north, Saint Petersburg and Pskov Governorates to the east, Courland Governorate to the south, and the Gulf of Riga to the west. In 1897, the population of the governorate was 1,299,365, and it had an area of 47,030.87 square kilometres (18,158.72 sq mi). The administrative centre of the governorate was the Baltic Sea port of Riga. It roughly corresponded to most of the modern Vidzeme Region of Latvia and southern Estonia.
Piltene is a town in northwestern Latvia. The population in 2020 was 909.
The Bishopric of Courland was the second smallest (4500 km2) ecclesiastical state in the Livonian Confederation founded in the aftermath of the Livonian Crusade. During the Livonian War in 1559 the bishopric became a possession of Denmark, and in 1585 sold by Denmark to Poland–Lithuania.
The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia was the name for a proposed client state of the German Empire during World War I which did not come into existence. It was proclaimed on 8 March 1918, in the German-occupied Courland Governorate by a council composed of Baltic Germans, who offered the crown of the once-autonomous duchy to Kaiser Wilhelm II, despite the existence of a formerly sovereign reigning family in that duchy, the Biron descendants of Ernst Johann von Biron. Although the German Reichstag supported national self-determination for the peoples of the Baltic provinces, the German High Command continued the policy of attaching these territories to the German Reich by relying on the local Baltic Germans.
Aizupe Manor is a manor house built in late classicism style in Vāne Parish, Tukums Municipality, in the Courland region of Latvia. Construction of the manor was completed in 1823. The building housed a forestry school from 1939 to 1985.
Grobiņas apriņķis was a historic county of the Courland Governorate and shortly of the Republic of Latvia. Its capital was Grobiņa (Grobin).
Ventspils County was a historic county of the Courland Governorate and of the Republic of Latvia. Its capital was Ventspils (Windau).
Piltene Castle is a Bishopric of Courland castle in the town of Piltene in the historical region of Courland, in western Latvia. Until the 16th century it served as a capital of Bishopric of Courland.
Linde Manor was a manor house in Linde, Birzgale Parish, Ogre Municipality in the Semigallia region of Latvia. It is situated on the left bank of the Daugava. It was destroyed during the First World War and never restored, only minor ruins remain. Detailed sketches of Linde Manor have been preserved. The 18th century Linde Manor Gates and Linde Manor Park are architectural monuments of national significance and have been preserved.
Livonian Peasants' Laws were laws introduced in the 19th century for Governorate of Livonia of the Russian Empire. About the same time similar laws has been enacted in all Baltic governorates and Duchy of Courland and Semigallia. These laws changed and clarified peasants rights and obligations, who ethnically were mainly Estonians and Latvians. This development culminated in Peasant Community Code of 1866 which codified peasants self-governance.