The Christianisation and subjugation of the later Baltic states and the peoples living there took place via the foundation of dioceses and merchant settlements as well as through the knights of the Teutonic Order, who were able to bring large areas under their rule by the beginning of the 14th century. Lithuania's development was not affected by this.
Already since the 12th century the Baltic coastal region had been of interest to German merchants due to the trade routes from Russia. Riga, Reval (today Tallinn) and Dorpat (today Tartu) amassed great wealth in the 15th century, when they dominated the Baltic Sea trade as part of the Hanseatic League and were at the same time strongly influenced by the cultures of Germany, Denmark and Sweden. The sovereignties of the bishops and the Teutonic Order were destroyed in the Livonian War around the middle of the 16th century. Courland came under Polish feudal sovereignty, Livonia fell to Poland-Lithuania, Estonia to Sweden. The political, economic and social domination over the majority population of Latvians and Estonians remained with the Baltic-German ruling classes.
Illustration:
Ethnicities and languages in the Baltic region around 1200
Baltic tribes and Baltic Finns (Estonians and Livonians) settled around 1200 in the Baltic region. The Baltic Semigallians, Latgalians, Selonians and Curonians later formed the Latvian people. Estonia was more densely populated than Latvia; both countries together had a population of about 300,000 people.