The outbreak of the First World War caused the Baltic Germans to find themselves in a conflict of loyalties between tsarist loyalty and inner solidarity with Germany. Thus, also bearers of the same surname faced each other in the field.
After the retreat of Soviet troops and the German defeat, the three Baltic States Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were able to establish their independence declared in 1918. The unrealistic hopes of Baltic Germans for a "United Baltic Duchy" under German sovereignty became obsolete.
Estonians and Latvians had to defend their young statehood during the War of Liberation from 1918-1920. Together with Baltic German volunteer associations – the "Baltic Regiment" in Estonia and the "Baltic Territorial Army" in Latvia – the Bolsheviks were initially victoriously fought. When the Baltic Territorial Army and German free corps federations wanted to expand their military influence in the Baltic States, they were beaten by Estonians and Latvians at Wenden (today Cēsis) in 1919.
Illustration:
Soldiers of the Estonian Kalev Battalion training before being transferred to the front during the War of Liberation, December 1918.
Rahvusarhiiv EFA 57.A-269-20