Abstract
The history of the three small Baltic States before the twentieth century has been quite different, so it is useful to look at their historical development since the Middle Ages. It was only 1918 that the development of these countries was broadly similar and could be divided into three periods in terms of regional governance: (1) the first period of independence 1918–1940; (2) the Soviet period of 1940–1990; and (3) the period after the restoration of independence since 1991. During the Soviet period all these republics had districts (rajons) with the same (almost non-existent) rights and a similar governing structure at the regional level. Since the early 1990s, administrative reforms have been taking place in all three countries. At the regional level, in 2020 there were 15 counties (maakond) in Estonia, 10 counties (apskritys) in Lithuania and 5 planning regions (plānošanas reģioni) and 6 statistical regions (statistiskie reģioni) in Latvia.
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Notes
- 1.
Lithuania was mentioned for the first time in Annals of Quedlinburg in 1009.
- 2.
On 15 January 1923, Klaipeda (then Memel) town and its ethnic surroundings were annexed by Lithuania. This followed an instigated rebellion against the administration of the Entente. The annexation act was executed to preclude the international rule, then operating in the area. On 16 February 1923, the Ambassadors’ Conference of the League of Nations confirmed the sovereignty of the Republic of Lithuania in the district of Klaipeda. Lithuania was obligated to implement an extraordinary regime of autonomy in the area. On 8 May 1924, the Klaipeda Convention was signed in Paris. The Convention also confirmed the status of autonomy of the Klaipeda district which was already effective.
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Mäeltsemees, S. (2021). The Baltic States. In: Martí-Henneberg, J. (eds) European Regions, 1870 – 2020. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61537-6_26
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