With the loss of their political, economic and social supremacy in 1918, the Baltic Germans became a vulnerable minority after the independence of Estonia and Latvia. Many of those affected by the expropriation of goods emigrated.
On the whole, however, the German minority was loyal. They were economically active, founded associations and nominated representatives of their own parties in the respective parliaments who contributed to the enforcement of minority rights. The law on the cultural autonomy of minorities passed in Estonia in 1925 was regarded as exemplary in Europe. In Latvia, at least, school autonomy was enforced.
German cultural and school life was administered by the "Estonian German Cultural Administration" and by the "Baltic German National Community" in Latvia. Both were financed by voluntary self-taxation as well as financial support from the German Reich.
Illustration:
Konstantin Päts (1874-1956), first Estonian prime minister and authoritarian head of state in the 1930s. Depicted here according to a paper cutting by the artist Eveline von Maydell (1890-1952).
Photo: Baltic German Cultural Foundation