The Rise and Fall of the Balts: Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians

[@Arthur-nt1gd]

Balts do not have mixed feelings about the Soviet occupation. We have undeniably negative feelings! Those who claim otherwise are usually foreigners living in our country who benefitted from immigrating during soviet times and also some native communists who also benefitted from this by exploiting power.

[@jameslegrand848]

Lol IKR, hell I even heard that the the Baltic states communism is treated like Nazism is treated in western Europe. Never looked up if it was true though.

[@Vitalis94]

@@jameslegrand848 I mean, why shouldn't we all treat communism in the same way?

[@genghiskhan6809]

@@@Vitalis94 Yep. The only good commie is a dead commie.

[@charlesrb3898]

@@bananarama9000 They were all Lutheran, Western leaning and civilized.

[@ricomuru9486]

@@bananarama9000 the only reason in estonia for that is the soviet ocvupation that made us see the real momsters as later german occupiers actually tried to help estonians and so we saw good in them but in estonian war of independence we fought baltic germans for a summer ir less and got the bloodiest battles of the war all because we wanted to revenge for the 700 years of slavery. People ran off from hospitals and reserve units to fight germans

[@Odinsday]

The Baltic region is so criminally underrated. It's sad, because Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have some of the weirdest, yet awesome cultures in Europe.

[@Vitalis94]

Yeah, why are those cultures weird?

[@mignas]

Weird in what way? For the longest time i thought that balric culture is distinct for not smiling excessively and being reserved. But later on i found out that scandinavians are like this, and suomi are even more.

[@Vitalis94]

@@mignas Not only Scandinavians, but Germans, Poles, Russians... Most of Europe actually.

[@greengeck0]

@Roger Philips (I can only talk for lithuanian history) I believe he is referring to the multiculturalism mentioned in the video, like Vilnius being Jerusalem of the north, there being a general acceptance of different religious beliefs in major cities my great grandmother would talk about Rabbi's Priest's and Imam's discussing holy text (But that's just anecdotal evidence with not much to back it). Ir the general fights to remain pagan against the crusades, the book smuggling days in the Russian Empire from East Prussia to not let the language die. The "first" constitution in Europe (At least i remember our history teacher saying that, need to look into that) Electing kings since 16 th century (Which in hindsight was not greatest long term plan (*liberum veto)) and as closing thing the freedom fights/guerilla war in europe leading the ww2 occupation that lasted roughly 9 years that then turned into the singing revolution in the baltics with the "Baltic way" maybe being the most famous show of that. Well this is what I could shortly say about our history and the culture it shaped, but I believe everyone's history/culture sounds weird and quirky when you learn since I don't know in depth history of lets say France or Spain I can't for sure say we have the weirdest on. I Hope that gives some rough idea on the topic

[@ChristianDoretti]

@@JesusRocksTryPrayin What the fuck

[@slay7584]

Cheers to Balts from Poland, especially to Lithuanians. Our common history marks a place in the world, old grudges need to stay in the past, but our legacy must live on.

[@kletniak]

@DonVonVideos / LonVonVideos We do it with Belarus, cause they are for us a Grand Duchy of Lithuania, small lithuania is a soviet mixed zone.

[@kletniak]

​@DonVonVideos / LonVonVideos Belarus with flag of Pogoń is a succesor of Grand Duchy Lithuania, small lithuania is a "Żmudzini", not a old lithuanians like Piłsudski or Mickiewicz.

[@kletniak]

​ DonVonVideos / LonVonVideos My grandfather was a old lithuanian, mixed polish/belarus,/lithuanian in culture, today small lithuania is a product of "Żmudzini" not a fathers of Grand Duchy Lithuania. Józef Piłsudski and Adam Mickiewicz was born on Lithuania and Belarus, and they speaking in polish language, so where is now Grand Duchy of Lithuania? in Belarus, small lithuania is a product of soviet politic against returned of Republica of two nations.

[@fidenemini111]

@@kletniak Funny Slavic tuzik with his "special history" nobody recognizes and nobody cares of :D

[@kletniak]

JS Gaming CS:GO and more :P you learn to school cause you dont know elementary things .

[@igorserafin015]

Lithuanians accepted catholicism not because of the influence from the german settlers, whose presence in Lithuania was scarce if not none (unlike in neighbouring Prussia), but because of the alliance and the personal union with the Kingdom of Poland. It makes an huge differance from 14th century politics point of view.

[@davidrosner6267]

Igor serafin01, that’s a good point. The Lithuanians converted to Catholicism because they realized that the Teutonic order would destroy them if they didn’t take matters into their own hands.

[@FlyBoyKai]

@@davidrosner6267 Teutons wouldn't have destroyed them either way, politically it was better as they were one of last pagan countries. They expected Teutons to stop raiding them after conversion which didn't happen until they crushed them with help of the Poles in 1410.

[@kamilszadkowski8864]

​ Happeleh Or rather until Poles didn't crush Teutons with help of Lithuanians since in battle of Grunwald Poles were the majority in the Allied Army. Not to mention the fact that Order wasn't really broken until the Thirteen Years War in which Lithuania didn't even participate.

[@Fankas2000]

@@davidrosner6267 No they accepted Christianity because Jogaila was a greedy bastard who was ready to sell his own faith/people if it meant he got to rule 2 countries via his wife Jadwiga the Queen/King of Poland. One of the conditions of the marriage was the he has to become a Christian.

[@m.b.54]

Doesn't your hero- as i suppose-, Vytautas, accept the baptism from the Teutonic knights in 1383, and the name Wigand. What do you call it, if accuse Jogaila of betrayal?

[@klasesalk]

There are no mixed feelings about "soviet liberation", only negative!!!

[@valhallanews5675]

Can you elaborate on that? How bad it was under the Soviets?

[@meganstevefrost7326]

I can half my family was killed by the Russians trying to resist them ! My father was adopted to America after WW2 from Latvia and my one remaining uncle fled to Germany !My father watched my grandfather and two of my uncles get murdered by russians . Many Latvians have mix feelings who was worse but it seems to be the Russians.Ukraine got the worst of the abuse from Russia thay got slaughtered you dont hear much about it hmmm? For those of you embracing socialism here in America stop you are being incredibly stupid and have no idea wtf your talking about. Remain free and never i mean never give it up.

[@zawiszaczarny7876]

@@valhallanews5675 Watch soviet story documentary, it was same murderous shithole as Nazi Germany. Except soviets killed their own same as others.

[@vankinobis8049]

@@valhallanews5675 Death, starvation, siberia, forced military serve right away after accupation in WWII and Afganistan war (soviets vietnam), no national songs meetings and language, killings rapes gorilla wars. Last partizan died in 1965 Lithuania. Shots in your neighbours house, soldiers draging woman outside to her hair to have a plesure of soviet liberation, while inside house her husband, two childs are shot and baby in fireplace. same and worse stories can tell you most of the local old vileagers. They tell you how soviets bring people from soviet union gave them local land captured from killed and baned locals to siberia. There was no liberation there was only fear death slavery

[@martinsujavicius936]

My mother when she was really young some of her town people rebelled against the soviets preventing tanks to go through but as soviets are soviets they simply ran them over. The worst part is that a little girl tripped and well guess you can tell what happened next. Personally, I enjoy Soviet Memes but their ways I absolutely hate them

[@domant26]

Finally someone mentioned our lands... Peace and love from Latvia!

[@Turciusrajone]

domant 912 lithuanians are less mentioned than latvians.

[@tomasvods8348]

@@Turciusrajone hmmmm

[@OptieEm]

But it happend 900 years ago.

[@farguc]

Love you Braliuks. Only state union Id get behind.

[@LukasSRR]

It's okay that lithuania are less mentioned because we have bigger history than latvia and estonia combined . They also should be heard more often.

[@ki-adi-mundi6421]

I always liked the Baltic’s. They’ve never really upset Italians or Greeks. Love to Baltic countries 🇱🇻 🇪🇪 🇱🇹

[@beltuna9]

Lol

[@fidenemini111]

@I Stole your Cookie while you read my username :D:D:D

[@aivisabele]

Two latvia words that will upset every italian - Valdis Dombrovskis!

[@mohammedaljaberi2366]

man I wonder who is in your profile picture. Too much people on the youtube have this picture on their profile!

[@ki-adi-mundi6421]

Mohammed Aljaberi this you tuber has it, but I had it long before him

[@pacthug4life]

4:00 Teutonic Order was a independent state only allied with empire, not part of it. That's a false oversimplification 4:20 Lithuania became catholic due to Polish not German influence. 5:55 Lithuanian did not conquer Ruthenian land from local population, they pushed the Tatars out of Rus. So, Lithuanians fought mostly against Mongols not Slavs. The hostilities between Lithuania and Moscow started much later. 6:50 Courland was more of a German than Baltic state. It was somewhat a continuation of Livonian Order's rule in the region. Most of its higher class was German, German was also the official language of the duchy. What it more, it was never a vassal of Lithuania. The Inflants (Livonia) was under both Polish and Lithuanian administration, when Courland itself was a vassal of the Polish king. 7:20 I do not recall Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth ever being in a war with France. Quite the opposite, those nations had pretty warm relations, they even been in a union for a very short time. 8:50 As far as I know, reading extensively on the topic, Baltic People have very negative feelings about the Soviet Occupation.

[@Hadar1991]

Yeah, this video has a ton of factual error. Although Courland was co-vassal of Crown of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania, not vassal of any of them individually, while Duchy of Prussia was direct vassal of Crown of Poland

[@Raiaramis24]

Soviet occupation was very negative to us, that is for sure. You cant do anything, You have to live with it, but everyone wanted to get free again.

[@Vitalis94]

I don't know where you got the info about Germanic influences in Lithuania. Latvia is a different matter, of course, as it was conquered and settled by German monastic order, but Christianity in Lithuania wasn't either adopted from or influenced by the Germans in any way, the conversion happened due to Poland. And the same Poland influenced Lithuania far more than Germans ever did - and Germans weren't so easy to find in Lithuania. Most of the current Lithuanian lands hardly saw any German migration outside few cities (besides Klaipeda/Memel, but it's solely because it was part of Prussia before).

[@mantasmisevicius3758]

Germanic influence happen in Lithuanian Minor, which was the place of Lithuanians intermingled with German culture and education who provided skeleton to literature, and was crucial aid for Lithuanian identity in tough times under ''russification''. There is nice Wikipedia reads on Lithuania Minor, for someone interested.

[@NeblogaiLT]

There certainly were a lot of Germanic influence to Lithuania. First- there were a lot of trading, and German merchants/manufacturers were always living in our towns in large numbers. Second- our grand dukes not only fought against Crusaders, but also used them in power struggles (like Vytautas did, by making deals with Teutons); they even did a Crusade against Golden Horde together. Third: Germanic HRE was important back then, so for example, GDL sued for the right of ruling Žemaitija in HRE courts. Fourth- areas of current Lithuania lived under German rule, so were definitely affected: not only Memel-Klaipėda region, but also all left bank of Nemunas (Sūduva and part of Dainava) were part of Prussian state during the 19th century.

[@SimonsDiscoveries]

Yeah, but @Vitalis compares it to Polish influence, and from that perspective, whatever came from Germany must seem a bit less significant.

[@Vitalis94]

@@SimonsDiscoveries Exactly. I don't deny German influences as there are obviously some. But they pale in comparison compared with Polish ones. On the other hand, Latvia has much more German influence, hell, their sole outside influence, besides Russian and Swedish are obviously the Germans. While there were some Germans in Lithuanian cities they weren't that numerous. And as for XIX century Lithuanian revival, as most of Lithuanian literature was produced and smuggled from Lithuania minor in East Prussia (region around Tilsit), there are bound to be some German influence, of course. But Lithuanian-Polish relations are centuries old, many customs traveled from one culture to another, not to mention linguistic loans etc.

[@Simi822]

@@Vitalis94 maybe not in Lithuania but look at Latvia and Estonia - there the nobility was German, and the Germans build up Reval, Narva or Riga...and the Germans influenced even Ingria...

[@terryboyer1342]

I went to high school in the 70s with many 1st gen Latvians. They all spoke fluent Latvian were very intelligent and many joined the military as interpreters as they hated the USSR.

[@tymanung6382]

Many volunteers joined der Heeer, ("Wermacht") in WW II after local rightwing gov s disbanded own armies to let people join, Heer. (("Wermacht"). Neutrality was, not possible or desired.by.some, who targeted local Jews. partisans. & Soviet Red Army. who.whatever.else ?liberated some concentration or death camps. Did local.volunteers aid in destruction of Vilnius Ghetto?Let us hope not!

[@beltuna9]

I visited my Lithuanian 'homelands' a few years ago along with Latvia and Estonia. The young kids thought I was nuts when I suggested how much potential I saw there. Loved the natural environment and medieval city centers. Like to go again. Riga and Kaunas in particular.

[@waltanmaran9931]

I would suggest you to visit Vilnius, since it has second the biggest old town in Europe, after Prague

[@beltuna9]

@@waltanmaran9931 I did visit Vilnius. Very pretty

[@Fankas2000]

@@beltuna9 Very pretty and full of westernized hipsters who ruin the landscape...

[@rds7516]

@@Fankas2000 Ruin the landscape? Sorry, how?

[@Fankas2000]

@@rds7516 Giant beards and the lumberjack look in the 21 century is a sign of femininity as the vast majority of hipsters grow giant beards to compensate for their lack of masculinity. And there is nothing more ugly then a feminine man.

[@Gaming4Justice]

Big oof in the WWII thing. Baltics got their independance in 1918 and then in the 1940 were occupied by the Soviets. Then Germany came and liberated us from under the communists and then the USSR pushed the Germans back and retook the Baltic region. And there are no mixed feelings about the USSR, nobody wants it back. Even during the war, most Estonians atleast who decied to pick a side to fight on, chose the German side because nobody wants communist slavs to rule their country especially when they were the previous rulers.

[@Ridddigg]

For the Germans, you (Balts) were third-class people. In the Soviet Union, all citizens had the same rights from Estonia to Kyrgyzstan.

[@Gaming4Justice]

@@Ridddigg Well looking at the deportation to Siberia of 10000 people and sending people to GULAG and literally being all the time in the danger of being targeted, then nobody wanted to live in the Soviet Union. We didn't suffer under the German rule like we did under the Russian one.

[@Ridddigg]

@@Gaming4Justice But there was no discrimination on nationality. Unlike the modern EU. However, all Europeans are racists and Nazis in their spirit (this is normal for Europe).

[@Gaming4Justice]

@@Ridddigg Except the discrimination that you had to learn Russian and were banned from speaking Estonian or doing anything that is of your culture. You couldn't even sing national songs. There was a certain russianising at the time.

[@htresty6442]

@@Ridddigg No discrimination? Mate, the Russians were basically "superior" to any other nation's citizens in the USSR. The government was mostly on ethnic Russians' side. But true, there wasn't THAT much discrimination. Stalin's government still killed and wrongfully imprisoned both ethnic russians and other countries' people.

[@habermanmusic]

I am Latvian and we still celebrate many pagan holidays to this day!

[@ShantyTowniekKMm]

DanYeet that goes for us Estonian as well.

[@sami_te29]

DEUS VULT INFIDEL

[@sami_te29]

DEUS VULT

[@Eisvydas]

Same thing as Lithuania . Many people going to burial mounds and barrows to light up the fire and to enjoy nice meathy food or something sweet if dont and then drink beer and gradually get to vodka or just beer . 2020/06/20 by 21:45 !!!! Saturday !!!

[@farguc]

Janis day(Jonines) best holiday ever

[@pwnbag]

8:41 We were already occupied before the Germans came, our countries were forced ultimatums by the Soviet regime as well as mass deportations of our intelligentsia to Siberia, not sure about the other countries, but a shady "election" took place in Latvia which made us part of the USSR. When the Germans came it was a relief for our countries, my grand father passed down a story of Germans coming in and giving candies to children while the Soviets went about and looted people.

[@kajus1402]

Yeah i got plenty of family stories of Germans helping them.

[@raitiC1]

@ita-eng subber With German Support! Maybe Germans weren't as bad as movies show them?

[@clemensblum5946]

@@raitiC1 tell that to the slavs.

[@raitiC1]

@@clemensblum5946 Many Ukrainians supported Germans too! And Slovaks, Croats...

[@nosferatu5]

@@raitiC1They were pretty bad. I mean the soviets were worse as the primary occupants, but Lithuania has both Nazi mass murder sites and Soviet mass murder sites littering the countrysides. Basically Nazis/Soviets shooting/burning entire villages/people for one reason or another.

[@paulsoaresjr12345678]

Latvia and Lithuania are brothers yes some times we fight and get in argues but we are brothers and we will stand strong with one another ! And Estonia is like our younger brother that was adopted but still is part of the family :)

[@mdjey2]

It would be more fitting for Estonia to be in the middle, if you know what I mean, but he is quite strong. I'm all for the Baltic Renaissance!

[@nolader28]

bruh

[@ddskgaming1312]

Estonia is best nation. Never doubt the people of Estonia

[@CitsVariants]

❤️

[@circeismyspirit]

They are referred to as sisters not Brothers

[@jan4insight]

I've been waiting for this! Thank you :) I'm a second-generation American with Lithuanian ancestry on my mother's side (German from my father's). The Lithuanian identity has been with me since childhood, yet I know very little about Lithuanian history and culture. I do remember my mother proudly saying that at one time Lithuania was the largest country in Europe, and that goes with what you reported in the video. I also remember on family trips to my mom's family home in Maine, where she grew up, there were several elders of the Lithuanian community still living there. I remember going on visits to some of these old folks, and my mom conversing with them in the Lithuanian language. Although it was my mother's first language, she never spoke it at home, so I never learned the language, not a single word. I think that's sad, but the drive in those days was for assimilation, I suppose.

[@anonymoususer8895]

No. You’re Canadian. And your mom’s family home is in New Brunswick. Nice try.

[@JediBunny]

Labas, Masaman! Ačiū for covering Lithuanians! I love your channel, and have been hoping for a video like this from you one day- my grandparents are from Lithuania 🇱🇹

[@modisp]

Hi from Lithuania too :)

[@zarian0014]

Ok video, but seriously you could make better research. Lithuania was christianized, not because of german settlers and german influence but because of marriage betwen king (yes king not queen) of poland Jadwiga and grand prince of lithuania Jogaila (Jagiello), actually there was another earlier attempt to christianize lithuania but it was short period (kingdom of lithuania, reign of mindagauas (mendog)). Teutonic crusaders were not sent by pope but invited by polish prince konrad to help him with baltic prussian raids. And france dont have anything to do with fall of polish-lithuanian commonwealth (well maybe that shitty electional king could count as anything close to agression from france to polish lithuanian commonwealth) . And there is interesting thing, there are actually people today that try to revitalize baltic prussian language (and they even have some results, atleast in polish part of former prussia i heard, anyone know about simillar attempts in kaliningrad and lithuanian part?). Im sorry for my english grammar and interpunction but im just too lazy to fix that (and im not native speaker anyway).

[@greengeck0]

About the Lithuanianpart, I believe some lithuanian linguists are helping with the project due to the nature of lithuanian being "relatively" not changed in a very major way since the disappearance of prussian. But due tot he fact that east lithuania Klaipeda/Memel region with was heavily prussian is now heavily russian due to the deportations of germans and scandinavians in the USSR period and the fact that Klaipeda being a port town made reallocation easy is now heavily russian/slavic in general (not even mentioning the plague of 1708? i believe but that mostly prussian lithuanians and are believed to be primarily lithuanian), there are not really any prussians that are known or still live there as such no popular movement is happening in lithuania regarding the prussian language, to the best of my knowledge.

[@Vitalis94]

It is mostly linguists who try to revive Prussian. But among them are just common people, like this Lithuanian couple who speak Prussian at home. They even raised their daughter with Prussian as her native language: kzbin.info/door/qhLH_SLh3apNZjSruEXZMg

[@kamilszadkowski8864]

​ Donatas Skirius Lithuanian was actually greatly influenced and changed over the years especially by the Polish language it's only that Lithuanians "cleansed" their language from Slavic influences in XIX century.

[@firstone3289]

This dude is germanic supermacist.

[@yarpen26]

I used to follow Masaman's videos quite regularly but over time it became more and more obvious that, much like an overwhelming majority of YT channels that deal in this geography/history/culture stuff, he simply doesn't do enough research before posting a new video, although he is still much better at this than Cody from AlternateHistory- and KnowledgeHub (whose preparation most of the time seems to limit itself to casting a brief glance over the top paragraph in the Wikipedia entry on the subject). It does prove that the factual quality of your material isn't inversely proportional to the quality of the editing, as I used to believe (with VisualPolitcs and Infographics being prime examples of appealing looks vs. biased and unreliable content). So I kind of trusted that Masaman put a little bit more effort into the information department, seeing as his editing is minimalistic and up until recently he didn't even have a proper microphone. Alas though. _Always_ look at the comments before accepting whatever's said in videos like this at face value.

[@konfunable]

To be honest, all the talk about empire it is not the Balts but only Lithuanian.

[@atis7]

Lietuvieši un Latvieši netikai leiši

[@gausts]

Dude, the proto-balts dominated most of north-west europe. It's not about countries. It's about balts - tribes and linguistic groups.

[@Greenlandshark77]

I agree. @masaman was very disingenuous toward Latvians, Estonians and Livonians alongside older Baltic Tribes like the Old Prussians, Latgalians, Semgalians, and more.

[@UgnineLape]

The empire in 13-15 centuries Mindaugas was talking about was specifically Lithuanian, it was called the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. No Estonians or Latvians involved (maybe some people from Latvian tribes but they were taken over by the Teutonic order at that time).

[@ontuonssmetuona8016]

Bunda jau Baltija! Atmuostas Baltija!

[@patriotiskaslietuvis5631]

Šaunuolis Žėmaitis, kad saugai savo kalbą. ;) Pagarba. Vieninteliai žemaičiai saugo savo unikalumą, visom kitom tarmėm žmonės sarmatijas šnekėt, o gaila, juk reikia saugoti savo unikalumą.

[@ontuonssmetuona8016]

Pilietis Gaila kad Lietuvos valdžia trugdo mums “vystiti” mūsu unikalumą. Anot, politikų mokyklose Žemaitijoj yra svarbiau kad vaikai mokytusi rusų nei žemaičių kalba...

[@patriotiskaslietuvis5631]

Arba anglų. Bet viskas žmonių rankose, tėvai turi mokyti vaikus, ir suteikti didžiavimosi jausmą, dėl kalbos, o ne smerkti ar menkinti. Juk Žemaičių kalbą, tiek pat sena, kiek ir Lietuvių, ir turinti savo unikalius žodžius, tai ne visai tik tarmė. O apie skaičius mokslininkai spėja, kad Lietuvių kalbai apie 5500metų, taip, kad gaunasi, kad ir Žemaičių kalbai yra panašus amžius. Tikrai yra kuo didžiuotis.

[@obsessed5078]

Mēs esam brāļi un māsas, lai atmostas Baltija!

[@lilnaxan6402]

@@obsessed5078 English please.

[@wilsondaily826]

Lithuania for me; I've met several wonderful lithuanians and have begun learning the language as well. It's fascinating!

[@beltuna9]

I tried for about two seconds. Impossible!

[@gunarsmiezis9321]

I living in Lietuva for a week I could understand 1 in every 100 words. Still unintelligible to me. Im a latvietis BTW. It is a interesting experience tho going to a counry where everything seems the same but you cant understand what people are saying even tho the language seems familiar and not strange at all. (Thank God you use the same numbers)

[@sielvagys]

Hi, Wilson. I can help you with that. I am lithuanian.

[@kerstas10]

@@gunarsmiezis9321 living in the wrong city then, i'm from Šiauliai, went to Latvia just a few hours ago (main destination was Estonia..) From my experience i can understand every 7 or fifth word that latvians say. it all comes from dialect.

[@gunarsmiezis9321]

@@kerstas10 But of course it depends on the dialect there are dialects that are hard to understand for people who can speak the literary language even harder for people who cant. I was in Kauņa 5 days and 2 days in Viļņa

[@Meistras]

Peace for all Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians people :)

[@ericcarlson3746]

Merry Christmas to the awesome Balts / Estonians / Liths / Courlanders / Latvians / Letts !

[@rds7516]

Thanks, you too!

[@realcarnelianfan5935]

Lithuanians*

[@eksiarvamus]

Estonians are not Balts.

[@jaan-mattisaul8934]

Yes, Estonians are not Balts. We really need to do something about this common misunderstanding. That's why the "Baltic states" identity / word is not liked in Estonia. It forces us into the wrong ethnic group. After 20 years of seeing these errors, it gets extremely annoying.

[@underedenxx]

Christmas is for the *Middle East* not for Europe

[@KeyManDan]

Good exposure but a lot of stuff was very simplified or wasn't elaborated on to show a wider or fuller picture, which may lead to people being misinformed. But I get it, short video.

[@thecandlemaker1329]

Speaking of Balts, I think you should at least mention the Eastern Balts. In particular, East Galindians used to live in the region where Moscow is now located.

[@huskyfaninmass1042]

Where did they go?

[@thecandlemaker1329]

@@huskyfaninmass1042 Assimilated by the Russians.

[@raitiC1]

That's right! Most Russian nationalists who hate on Baltic states doesn't even know that, they might be partly Baltic

[@bentos117]

@Sem Let well, there are differences in DNA between Slavs themselves... notably, eastern (Russians) and western (Ukrainians, Poles, etc.)... secondly, it is entirely possible quite opposite - Slavs originating from Baltic tribes, as Latvian and especially Lithuanian languages have been recognized to be most closest to Indo-European proto language... not to mention that Baltic tribes are located in the middle between Eastern and Western Slavs :D

[@bentos117]

@Sem Let if Balts have same DNA as Slavs (as you state), why do you think it is not possible that Slavs came from Balts? note, that Balts themselves migrated to their current place, and there are different proofs that they have been living in much broader area than today, especially in Eastern direction... also, western and eastern Slavs indeed have different DNA (R1b, N3)

[@rickoidas]

Im proud of my Lithuanian origin :)

[@Vonriga]

As a "Latvian Australian", I am somewhat biased. The Baltic states are beautiful - I have visited them all and studied in Riga for a brief period. Perhaps consider doing a video of the German expansion into Latvia. Bishop Albertus in Riga, then the Sword Brothers and their collapse, followed by the Teutonic order. The Baltic Germans stayed there until their expulsion at the end of WW2 and no longer exist as a racial grouping. That might also be interesting. Thank you for this video - it was well done.

[@valdasnetavo8746]

First of all, Lithuanian is a very old language. It is related to Sanskrit (a classical language of India) Latin and Ancient Greek. It is the oldest surviving Indo-European language, which has preserved the most phonetical and morphological aspects of the proto-language which many other European languages come from. It is very important to the field of Indo-European language studies, which carries out research on the origin, development, similarities and differences of Indo-European languages. Scientists of different nationalities in this field use Lithuanian as their language of communication at their conferences!

[@xyg6543]

I've visited all three countries and I cannot recommend them enough. Interesting on so many levels and the people are awesome

[@edvinasva4914]

Thank You! It was really good! Only one fact wasn't mentioned how Baltic countries were fighting against all occupants in period of WWII and even more than 10 years post WWII. Thank You again and greetings from Lithuania!

[@KohaAlbert]

No mixed feelings about Soviet. In our eyes no better than Nazy Germany.

[@infectioushobo]

I'm half polish, quarter german and a quarter lithuanian. Folks met in back of the yards, chicago. My grandpa, if I'm not mistaken, was "forced" (I'm not sure of the details) to fight with the nazis in ww2 with a patch denoting his lithuanian ethnicity. Had a piece of russian grenade shrapnel in his leg! My pa just made a good patch of kugelis.

[@nepamirskuzkameskovojomeli2396]

Your grandfather was probably part of the Vietinė Rinktinė "National Volunteer Army". It was a Lithuanian military organisation created in co-operation between Lithuanians and Nazi Germans led by Lithuanian general Povilas Plechavičius, They used to wear a patch with the Lithuanian flag on it on their arm. Interesting to know that your grandfather was a part of it.

[@RosinGoblin]

I'm 25% Lithuanian too. My grandpa left because I think Russia was forcing some Lithuanians to join their army and more than likely die. He also moved to Chicago and married my grandma who is Ukrainian. And now here I am lol. Such a fucking mutt. I'm a quarter of Lithuanian Ukrainian Dutch and German.

[@nepamirskuzkameskovojomeli2396]

@@IhaveBigFeet I'm not glamorizing anything, The only way he would have worn that badge is if he volunteered for the Vietinė Rinktinė, There is no other way he would have worn that badge, Lithuanians in the Werhmacht or SS did not wear Lithuanian badges, They wore the exact same badges as Non-Lithuanians in the Werhmacht or SS.

[@infectioushobo]

@@nepamirskuzkameskovojomeli2396 interesting. I believe after the war he was a cop in east germany before moving to the states.

[@infectioushobo]

@@RosinGoblin Being a mutt is the most interesting part of the American identity, imo. Still %100 American. Forging your own path despite pulling from multiple cultures. Most folks are mutts anyway, depending on how deep you go tracking ethnic roots.

[@dams6829]

I never thought you would make video about this. It is dream come true. Greetings from Latvia.

[@Vitalis94]

For a video talking about the Balts, having the Commonwealth in a thumbnail is a weird choice.

[@bartpepe3664]

Mayby because partially was Baltic (Lithuanian). ;) Of course elites of commonwealths Lithuania speak Polish or Rusyn more than Lithuanian language but that's was still Balts. But I agree, better choice was by map of Baltic states or flags of baltics regions.

[@justas6235]

Should've been grand duchy of Lithuania

[@WhiteZorin]

True (Pole here) - it could be better off with Grand Duchy at its height, before union, but, you have to agree, it looks BIGGER and better with more territories covered sprouting from the Baltic region :) Cheers to Lithuania and the rest up there! :)

[@thev3131]

This. But this is the kind of stuff that worries me about this channel. Some of this stuff seems very face-value and poorly researched.

[@darthguilder1923]

Baltic Gang roll up

[@TommyTarhun]

Rolling up with a great locally brewed beer in one hand and a mild depression in the other.

[@raitiC1]

@@TommyTarhun Depression is huge among all "white" populations around the world! Just look how many "white" people die from opioids in USA! We just don't have any minorities that prop up population growth statistics and other stuff...

[@JediBunny]

Hahaha labas! 🇱🇹

[@Spreiunderscore]

KOIT. KUNINGLIK KOIT. VALGUSE VÕIT.

[@farguc]

Russia is all gloat until the Baltic Brothers roll up.

[@rt6692]

I am proud to say I’ve participated in your census for this year Masaman!

[@giraffe2630]

RT 66 me too

[@circaetusgallicus2312]

Your thumbnail shows the *Polish-Lithuanian* Commonwealth, not *Baltic* Commonwealth! After watching this video I have the impression that the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth belonged to the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), but thats wrong! It belonged to Poland and Lithuania, so this picture (11:08) is misleading... as it shows the Baltic States as origin of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

[@Vitalis94]

That's my thought exactly. Weird choice for a thumbnail. Having the Grand Duchy of Lithuania would be better, although not perfect, as it would exclude Latvia and Estonia.

[@raitiC1]

@@Vitalis94 Part of Latvia was part of Polish-Lithuania at one point, Curland, that part that did colonize! And Latvia and Estonia was part of LIVONIA very interesting region and political system!

[@mp1335]

@Pudzian Nice troll bait account

[@CrazyLeiFeng]

@@raitiC1 The whole Latvia and even a bit of Estonia used to be under Poland-Lithuania.

[@js9869]

@Pudzian There is no glory to a nation that enslaves their "allies", tries to annex their ally for a few hundred years, changes their ally's culture, language and destroys their empire.

[@generalmichaelconstantine4598]

Guys, show some respect. The dude uploaded this from Starbucks wifi.

[@baneofbanes]

Is this a proper time to spam F?

[@kevinandreszaletaandrade4461]

Is it true?

[@douggieharrison6913]

F

[@takod323]

F

[@OliverCovfefe]

F

[@JohnSmith-kd6ip]

Thank you for the video!! I requested a video on the Baltic states a while back. Let me pretend my request work, even though you might have made the video anyway.

[@JediBunny]

John Smith hahaha I was thinking the same thing... I asked him to do one on the Baltic States including Lithuania years ago lol!

[@chrisrus1965]

Lithuanians are good at basketball.

[@sherk3286]

Indeed

[@sandernista6499]

Probably the only thing they are good at...

[@chrisrus1965]

@@gerhardschulzy A long time ago I worked on the Wikipedia article about the world's strongest man champions and I don't remember about Baltic people, but what stood out of my mind was how many Icelanders there were, given the tiny percentage of the population that's Icelandic.

[@اللهالله-ل7د]

@@sandernista6499 take a look at charles bronson or robertas zemeckis biography...

[@chrisrus1965]

@@gerhardschulzy Yes I understood that. I was just changing the subject.

[@toosas]

Lithuanian language is one of the least changed "most conservative" languages of the Indo-european group. So much so that all the core words like "son", "daughter", "honey", etc are 90% matching sanskrit. There is a lithuanian phrase that was also used in sanskrit and latin - "god gave teeth, god will provide bread" and the similarities of actual words and the structure of the sentence are insane, the fact that lithuanian is a living language and it is so similar to oldest known extinct proto-languages from 3000 years ago is mind blowing. We are an old old nation with old language and they've been trying to exterminate us and our language for the last few centuries, but here we are - still kicking arse. Obviously we had little to do with romans and even less with India, but the fact that the languages were so similar begs the question where was the common proto-culture situated on the continent. It has been said that our language is a gem to linguists studying proto-indoeuropean. Don't quote me on this but I've read somewhere that Old Prussian was even closer to Sanskrit than Lithuanian is. We dont want to end up like Prussians did. Thanks to EU and thanks to NATO our chances of surviving are quite good (for now). Having said all this, i.e. Serbian (slavic) also seems to have some amazingly similar words to the ones that crop up in sanskrit (yet not necessarily related to baltic), and some that crop up in persian(!) - I could not say for sure which words were from the same origin and which ones were borrowed later, so the whole picture is clearly much bigger and much more complex.

[@Lee-jh6cr]

Not all Old Prussians ended up too badly! My mother's family is from the Mazuren Lakes area of East Prussia. We are Old Prussian/Mazovian, not German. Our surnames are Mazovian, some with the root names of Old Prussian tribes, & their 1st language was Mazovian with Old Prussian vocabulary. Some consider it a language, some a dialect. There's a large settlement in central MN, USA - many lakes & forests like home. But people are forgetting their history. Many think their family is from Poland, because that's where this part of East Prussia is now. But some of us carry & try to pass the torch. I only wish more of Old Prussian language had survived. And yes, in Slavic the word for God is the same/similar to Iranian. The reason the Baltic languages & Sanskrit have more similarities is because they remained on the far flung fringes of Proto Indo-European so therefore changed less through time.

[@mercuryCS]

Lithuanian language - around 5,000 years old Slavic Language - over 3000 years So how is Baltic language slavic?

[@Suksass]

It isn't but we share the same ancestor language with slavs.

[@Lithowave]

How do we share 💀💀💀

[@1qmik]

@@Lithowave look at old english and english nowadays they don't look similar even on 2%

[@WNordic]

In the definition of "Northern Europe", the following countries are included: Estonia. Latvia. Lithuania. Denmark. Finland. Iceland. Norway. Sweden. Northern Europe - Wikipedia Northern Europe - Wikipedia

[@Andreigher]

Culturally , genetically and lingvistically balts have much in common to slavs (estern and western etnic slavs because southern are not real slavs , are paleo balkanic peoples lingvistically slavized , they come from balto slavic grup and lingvistically baltics are closer to russians like are germans to icelanders, balts are much north estern europe and Finland have much in common to finnic peoples from Russia like udmurts , veps etc than skandinavians ( skandinavian germanics are closer culturally to dutch and germans ) , historically balts were part of polish lithuanian commonwelth and russian empire, not everything say wikipedia is real, be nordic is a estonian dream because even estonians are not nordic cultually because they speak a uralic languages and have mixed genes betwwen balto slavic peoples and finnic(only 34%finnic)

[@antiantifa886]

Actually the Soviets invaded the Baltic states and Ukraine first before ww2........

[@fredthegreat7215]

Actually the soviets defended the Baltic states from the filthy Nazis

[@sirjemalmet849]

@@fredthegreat7215 Really, why these "liberators" killed people and deported people to Siberia. And why they took factories and small companies from owners. When German army came it was real relief for Estonians because Soviets have done really bad things.

[@antiantifa886]

Fred The Great! The commies invaded first moron and the Germans were liberators.

[@МахмудТалибов-ц5г]

Ukraine was a part of Russian Empire and became part of USSR from the beginning

[@antiantifa886]

Махмуд Талибов it was independent after ww1. The Bolsheviks invaded it in the 1920s.

[@Mendogology]

I appreciate the fact of you doing a video about the Baltics... but it has so many mistakes, I don't even know where to begin.

[@oyrihl]

I just took the survey, I was extremely impressed by how many options you made available to choose from. Good job.

[@N0rdman]

I have a HUGE respect for the Baltic countries, not the least for their "singing revolution" and they gained independence again, but also for their legacy and you always keep your fingers crossed for the "underdog". I have visited all these countries briefly in 1998, just a few years after their independence, and after interacting and speaking with them and (not to pat my own back) trained parts of their new naval forces I respect them and wish their nations the best. I need to travel back and see what has happened in the past two decades. In general I also love to see the multitude of ethnicity Europe have and be back on the map, I think it is a shame that Königsberg and the rest of what was East Prussia is gone today, I rather see it back in the proper hands again. As a matter of fact I think Nöteborg and Nyens (St. Petersburg) should be back in Swedish hands too , but we'll never see that happen again.

[@Vitalis94]

Proper hands? So what, suddenly Russians aren't allowed to own St. Petersburg because Swedes are somehow superior?

[@N0rdman]

@@Vitalis94 You have mixed the sentences together; I said "be back in Swedish hands", but we were there first. Swedish vikings actually founded the Novgorod kingdom too.

[@Vitalis94]

@@N0rdman Hahahhahah. Don't get me wrong, I don't deny the Norse what they founded or not, but wanting them back because of it is just wrong.

[@N0rdman]

@@Vitalis94 I guess then Russia is just wrong to claim the Crimea "just because they want it" back?

[@Vitalis94]

@@N0rdman Of course. On the other hand, Russians are present in Crimea, while Swedes are nowhere to find in Ingria. I guess if the referendum was done in another way, no one would ever protest the takeover. But what you are proposing is just stupid. The last time Swedes were in Ingria was centuries ago, why would you want it now?

[@love_x_love6619]

Refuse to sign the UN migration pact.

[@raitiC1]

All people that need to come here already can! ;)

[@ilya_rusin]

You're beautiful

[@belstar1128]

They are not going to let normal people like me make that decision

[@JesusRocksTryPrayin]

Culture is beautiful, and wanting to preserve one's culture isn't racist or hate-based I wish people would all embrace their nations, and work to make them a better place. Migration tends to just spread crime, like assholes who don't clean the butter knife and leave crumbs in the jam

[@redcapetimetraveler7688]

@@JesusRocksTryPrayin i love your jokes, i hate your ideas: building borders and walls never worked to save collapsing governments and cultures....china's great wall, romans' limes, berlin's wall, trump's wall..and all other walls you would desire or imagine won't help to make your language strong...confront it with the world's peoples , spread its fame, its messages and the others will want to learn more..isolationism is just a slow death into oblivion...

[@lightofchicagoproductionz9012]

Im doing a little research on Latvia ... i im sketchy on which video to pic and then i spot your video ,its ur channel even better , and plus the title is envitingThnx brother for your hard work and research ,love and dedication ... Expertise...

[@halldorfannarsigurgeirsson7741]

Already in the first two minutes, I gotta suggest an edit, Mason. Samogitian has serious merits to be considered its own Baltic language. Keep up the good work, bro. You're solid on most things that matter and constantly growing. I admire your dedication and your work!

[@vytautassulcas6494]

totaly agree on Samogitian being separate language

[@msshoeka5573]

My DNA test says i have some Baltic heritage. Thanks Manson for the lesson. ..be blessed

[@pan-europeanmovement3078]

Thanks for yet another great video! I find the northern two Baltic states interesting with regards to their religion, simply because protestantism is rare in Eastern Europe. However, linguistically I find Lithuania the most interesting because Lithuanian is said to be the closest living language to the original proto-Indo-European.

[@sunglassshinpan1352]

So fascinating, as usual! The results of that survey are gonna be high!

[@wach9191]

At last! Great job!

[@romasandmo]

My grandmother and I make Lithuanian food and not so Lithuanian food ;D We would appreciate, if you could check them out. They are really funny ;D

[@bcbconklin]

I'm about 90% Lithuanian according to DNA, but my ancestors left that area probably about 400 years ago. They became citizens of Russia, but didn't want to fight for the Czar, so joined the pacifist group, Doukhobors. They lived insulated in their own villages and mostly just married among themselves. About the year 1900, half of them moved to Canada where my immediate family now lives.

[@voxxxy9457]

Dude I really like your videos, but if other topics are also as badly researched as old Prussians and christianisation of Lithuania then I don't think we'll get along any longer :C

[@brandonrichardson8681]

This is awesome thank you. My DNA results recently came in and said I was 3% Baltic. Iv been trying to learn everything I can on my ancestry. Thank you for having this here for me to get introduced into my past

[@e125]

8:49 no we do not have mixed feelings about that "liberation", it was clear annexation.

[@sidimightbe]

Is the census video coming? Those are some of the best

[@Masaman]

Next couple of days

[@bithon5242]

Samo Sloga!

[@sidimightbe]

Bithon Samo sloga brudda

[@leaftheestonian3228]

Estonians are not Balts. They are Finno-ugric. The correct term would be Baltic. Balt refers to ethnicity

[@eksiarvamus]

Baltic as in "Baltic people" also refers to Balts only, which Estonians are not.

[@farguc]

To be fair he did make a distinguished point that were not ethnically related. Still Estonia is part of the Geo region of Baltics. As a Lithuanian I respect you guys as Finno-ugrich relatives rather than Baltics.

[@topcatseriosblack8396]

Good video massaman Much needed attention

[@martso9288]

Poland-Lithuania is like the Highschool Jock, that was the captain of the school's rugby/football team. After school/uni/collage working a retail job in his 40's as he had no real skills other than playing football.

[@leotrnt]

Hey, really like your videos; I’ve been following your channel for quite some time now. May I ask what is your major? Greetings from Nancy in France 🇫🇷

[@oolykeegaming81]

Really good videos! One of the best channels!! Thanks Mason!

[@ashrafalsaadoon6120]

Do video on pre-islamic arab history

[@onbekendetelefoon2045]

Great idea that would be awesome! Their genes were way different back then. Much closer to modern day whites. I will get kicked by yt saying why their genes deteriorated but I think we all know it. Anyway, it also wasn't done in a century or two and we must not forget the enormous addition they gave the world in their development

[@LionKing-ew9rm]

@* E F * Bringer of Light Lol, rounding the Kaaba was a preIslamic Arab tradition!

[@ChristianDoretti]

@ita-eng subber Same with Greeks and Albanians...

[@ChristianDoretti]

@ita-eng subber NO, gli antichi greci non avevano il DNA tanto turco quanto in passato, quando l'impero ottomano invase l'Alabania e la Grecia la demografia di questi paesi cambiò radicalmente, la stessa cosa è accaduta con l'Italia e la regione iberica quando gli islamisti li hanno invasi e si sono stabiliti per 8 secoli...

[@davidrosner6267]

The Arabs did not have a very significant impact on world history before the advent of Islam but this would nonetheless be an interesting topic. The Nabatean city of Petra in Jordan is a good example of the caravan trading culture that dominated pre-Islamic Arabia. The main temple in that city was the site of the final scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The Roman and later Byzantine and Persian Empires fought proxy wars through the tribes and kingdoms of the Arabian peninsula in the beginning of the first millennium AD up until the rise of Muhammed.

[@lexus_offroad_adventures]

Proud of my Lithuanian heritage 😤💪🏼. Thanks for the video! Definitely going to participate in the census, but I will not be subscribing to Pewdie Pie 😂

[@beltuna9]

Me neither because fuck racism. Even the Balts came from somewhere else. And all human ancestors came from Africa. Africa has more genetic diversity today than the rest of the world combined.

[@KILLAGORILLA7000]

Joseph Milan are you insane? How is he racist in any way?

[@roadtonever]

​@@beltuna9 So you like Africa because of the diversity. Then you must also like when Bantus hunt the Pygmes for fun? Or the Rwandan genocide?

[@lesfreresbogdanoff7863]

@@beltuna9 *Rubs hands subversively* Or maybe legit NPC

[@screamingbrick7706]

@@beltuna9 omg, i am tired of seeing NPC libtards like you, theres quite a few things wrong with your comment, Mainly PEWDIEPIE ISNT RACIST and the most oldest human remains were found in europe (Bulgaria and Greece)

[@YouTubeKanals]

That was a really brief look on the Baltic people and there were some things missing. Firstly, the Baltic languages (especially Lithuanian) are one of the oldest languages in the world. They're the closest languages to the Proto-Indo-European language and are more similar to Sanskrit than to their Slavic neighboring languages. There are also some similarities between the Indian and Baltic cultures in the terms of Gods and symbolism. There are some similarities to Slavic languages, but it's the slow change in Baltic languages that sets them apart from the Slavic languages. Also the word 'balts/balta' is a Baltic word meaning 'white', so a few direct translations would be: 'Baltic sea' > 'White sea'; 'Baltic tribes' > 'White tribes'. The word originates from the Proto-Indo-European stem 'bʰel-' which means 'shiny' or 'white'. So, while the origins of names for the sea and thus tribes most likely came from the Germanic languages for 'belt', in Baltic languages this word is morphed the same way as the commonly used word for 'white'. Secondly, I wanted to make it clear that both colonies were privately owned and governed by the German duke Jacob Kettler. He was the duke of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, but in no way did any Baltic people play the leading role in colonization. At these times Balts living in the Dutchy were all peasants, who were seen as being on the same level as slaves. The video also lacked the whole idea that Latvians and Estonians were actually living as slaves in their own land, that was controlled by foreign powers. They couldn't leave their homes and they could be bought off by other landlords, of which the majority were German. In Latvian territory, serfdom was first cancelled in Courland Governorate in 1817. Two years later it happened in Governorate of Livonia and only in 1861 serfdom was abolished in Latgola. It was at this time, when Latvians could finally seek education, their own real estate and could finally travel around and speak freely with other Latvians. This was the main reason behind the Young Latvian (1850-1880) movement which laid the foundation for an independent Latvian republic. In 1918, when the Republic of Latvia was founded, it was the end of the long Russian rule over the Baltics. And when just a few decades later Russia occupied Latvian territory again in WW2, many Latvians actually saw Nazi Germany as their saviors, because they believed that only their army was strong enough to free them from the Soviet occupation. Many Latvians signed up into Germany's armies to help fight off the Russians, but after they saw that the Nazis weren't up to no good either, others again signed up for Russia's armies to help fight off the Nazis. It's important to note that Latvians only cared for the freedom of their own nation and did not support Russian or German ideologies. Under USSR's rule of the Baltics, hundreds of thousands ethnic Baltic people were deported to remote parts of eastern Russia, where they would have to live under slavery, extreme cold and nearly no food conditions. There was also a major censorship and anyone who spoke against the state or the idea of communism was silently killed off. While the west sees Hitler's rule as the most extreme and evil, it doesn't stand close to what USSR was for the occupied states. Only those, who were brainwashed by the propaganda, paid by the USSR or threatened with the murder of their loved ones, were willing to actually call USSR a great state. There was also the lack of mention for how the Baltic states regained their independence - the Singing Revolution and the Baltic Way. Over all, I think you understood that I'm myself a Latvian, and I haven't done an extensive research on Estonia's and Lithuania's history, but this video felt more like quantity over quality. I don't think the video would leave a clear image of what the Baltic states are, how the people are and why they act the way they do.

[@Vitalis94]

As for the language, archaic doesn't mean the "oldest". It isn't the oldest language, as modern Lithuanian developed at the same time when the rest of European languages did - XVIII - XIX century. But yes, Lithuanian is quite archaic and has many similarities with Sanskrit or Indo-European languages. But the oldest? Nah. Lithuanian didn't exist, say 2000 years ago. The language simply hadn't changed much from the Indo-European template.

[@YouTubeKanals]

@@Vitalis94 maybe the word 'oldest' wasn't the best choice in my wording. When the Proto-Indo-European settlers arrived in eastern Europe around 9000 years BCE, they set up their camps and gradually became what we call the Baltic tribes today. Of course all languages, humans, life and dust started from a single point, so all things have exactly the same lenght of history. The problem arrises, when people try to categorise these events. When I said 'old', I was reffering to the start and the end of an languages unique path. Since the start of the Baltic people were these settlers some 9 000 BCE, I believe that to be the starting point of the languages as well. And since the descent of these people are still speaking the same language, that gets morphed a bit as the time goes, I consider the living languages to be about 11 000 years old, which would indeed make them one of the oldest languages in the world. But again, there is no clear line put in place to when did the Indo-Proto-Europeans settlers become the Baltic people and the same applies to the languages. I guess I could have said 'the roots for language being set in place is much more further back in time than for most other living languages'

[@jaan-mattisaul8934]

Estonians are Finnic people and Estonia is a Finnic country. I don't care about who's Nordic and who isn't. Estonia can easily be defined as a Finnic country and that's it. The "Baltic states" word disregards everything that is holy in Estonian culture, that word is almost like a cultural genocide towards Estonia - because it makes people assume that Estonia has a "Baltic" culture, not a "Finnic" culture. We will never accept being called "Baltic". As an Estonian, I have a seriously strong feeling of hate towards the "Baltic" word when it's used for Estonia. Genetically Estonians are the closest people to Finns. It's only that Latvians are genetically closer to Southern Estonians than the "average" Estonian genepool is to the Finnish genepool.

[@YouTubeKanals]

@@jaan-mattisaul8934 That's interesting to hear from you. I think it's quite obvious for the people living in the region around Estonia that Estonians aren't Baltic, but Estonia only falls in the 'Baltic states' category because it shares nearly the same history as Latvia and has some similarities in culture with the Baltic tribes, because of the time that was spent together with Latvians after the crusades. The Polish language and culture also has similarities to Baltic culture and language, even though they are Slavic. In Latvian we say 'Baltijas valstis' (Baltic states) and the word 'Baltija' refers to the region south of the Baltic Sea, while we use 'Baltu ciltis' (Baltic tribes) to refer to the actual Baltic people. 'Baltija' and 'Balti' are two very different terms, but the English language refers to them as the same. Another example is 'Krievija' (Russia) and 'Baltkrievija' (Belarus) which even officially is called 'Belaya Rus' or 'White Rus'. While the country is clearly Slavic, it still brings the name of the Baltic region. And I don't think that anyone is actually trying to spread propaganda with a task to make Estonia be apart of the Baltic tribes, because that just sounds stupid. 'The Baltic states' refers to the 3 states that are in the region of the Baltic sea and hold a similar history together.

[@jaan-mattisaul8934]

​@@KZbinKanals Yes, but the rest of the world doesn't understand the nuances in this way, and sees that everything is the same. Like in the case of the title of this video. That's why we want a new word

[@Panthless]

Hi masaman ive been whatching your videos for a while and its awesome to see you making a video about us :D (im a latvian) This was most;y a simple history lesson but i guess most people wouldnt know it and hence your video, but i would love to see you talking about some of the crazy origin theories of us balts (like us maybe being the thracians). I think its really unfair to group us together with the slavis mostly because of how similar the slavic languages are.I mean they can almost sort of understand each other while for latvians slavic languages sound about as alien(or as similar) as german.

[@Nordisk11]

You should do a video discussing the disputes involving Hungarian being either Turkic or Uralic.This fight has lasted for a long time and is still going on.

[@BeatGrounds]

I'm from Latvia 😛

[@cluncherp5891]

Im also from Latvia

[@cluncherp5891]

@شالح الزيزوم نازي عربي 505 i dont have sisters also im an Alien (just kidding)

[@cluncherp5891]

@شالح الزيزوم نازي عربي 505 lol

[@ChristianDoretti]

It's rare to see a baltic on internet

[@اللهالله-ل7د]

@@ChristianDoretti fuck off

[@darkfool2000]

The Estonians are totally unrelated to the Latvians and Lithuanians. Estonia is closer to Finland than Latvia or Lithuania. Even though the latvians are related to the lithuanians, they were not involved at all in ruling of the grand duchy of lithuania. So only Lithuania can have been said to rise and fall as an empire.

[@fidenemini111]

They're not related only linguistically. Genetically they are very simillar.

[@jaan-mattisaul8934]

​@@fidenemini111 Estonians are Finnic people and Estonia is a Finnic country. I don't care about who's Nordic and who isn't. Estonia can easily be defined as a Finnic country and that's it. The "Baltic states" word disregards everything that is holy in Estonian culture, that word is almost like a cultural genocide towards Estonia - because it makes people assume that Estonia has a "Baltic" culture, not a "Finnic" culture. We will never accept being called "Baltic". Genetically Estonians are the closest people to Finns. It's only that Latvians are genetically closer to Southern Estonians than the "average" Estonian genepool is to the Finnish genepool.

[@raceris7309]

@@jaan-mattisaul8934 Estonia is regarded as Baltic because of geographical reasons. Linguistically, you cannot be considered as balts. After all, Estonia (and parts of latvia) belonged to Sweden at some point, until 1710, when it was all taken by Russia.

[@jaan-mattisaul8934]

Raceris Looking forward to seeing a better categorization appear than the current “baltic states” definition

[@bizbite2]

We used to be the biggest country in Europe for about 4 centuries 😅👍🏼 also Lithuania was the last Pagan country in Europe!!! 🤨✊🏻 anyway thanks @masaman I will do you survey too to increase Lithuanian representation!! 🤗🏀

[@rds7516]

Nesikelk uodegos ir tiesiog like'ink video.

[@JohnVander70]

My grandfather had a Lithuanian Jewish friend, he escaped the Soviets and went to Germany and ended up in a camp (but survived) and ended up in America ( he did get a tattoo though). Glad I didn’t have to go through that era, that said who knows what the next 20 years will be like?

[@majorromance-mjr.garrymatt7678]

Masaman; I am Estonian, and the closely related to a former President of Estonia. I have studied the history of Estonia for over 60 years, despite academia's efforts to change and even destroy the truth about our history over the past 40 years. Note most of our remarkable history took place in the BC era and the early centuries of the AD era. I just wanted you to know that the truth is when it comes to the Estonian language is that it is a language unrelated to any other on earth, our written language goes back to 502 BC, and our spoken language goes back to before Finnland was ever as Finnland. Tallinn the capital of Estonia was for over 1,500 years the main port for trade to western Europe. As the Estonians established a northern as well as a southern route of the "Silk Road", as you know there were several routes that made up the silk road. At one time our sea force was made up of 13,000 Viking Warships, with 500 support ships, and we were a force to be not taken lightly. Should you wish to know more about the true history of Estonia, just leave me a note Thank You.

[@LifeofMinna]

im Estonian :D cool video! these days a lot of Estonians are going to Finland. Hopefully Russia doesn't occupy our land again. If it does we should just move to Finland and intergrate there. I live in Canada myself but I do wish the best to the people living in the country. I worry what the future may bring...

[@kraanz]

"The Baltic peoples are, of course, named after the Baltic sea." Just... think about the logic of what you said. It's the other way around.

[@evaldasjanulevicius5701]

Lithuania and Latvia does not have any slavic in their language, just slang

[@ной-г6у]

i mean theres quite a few words that sound like polish (ranka comes to mind) and polish is a slavic language

[@LuDux]

@@ной-г6у "From Proto-Balto-Slavic *ránkāˀ. Cognate with Proto-Slavic *rǫka, Latvian roka."

[@Imantos]

Nice video! To me as a Latvian living in Latvia it seems pretty much bang on in terms of the general impression conveyed. Some new facts for me as well. Thanks!

[@bifa5414]

I feel like they barely touched topic of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which is a very interesting part of their history. So basically Poland and Lithuania were united under one crown for over 400 years (for some time it was the biggest coutry in Europe, there was even a period when they had access to 3 seas). First they were in union from 1386 (Union of Krewo) when Jadwiga (female king of Poland) married Jogaila (grand duke of Lithuania), after them the coutries always had one ruler. Then from 1569 (Union of Lublin) they truly became one country known as Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Then in 1795, as a result of the partitions, they disappeared from the maps for over 100 years. Officially they separeted in 1918 when after WW1 they came back as saparate countries. Since then they were under Russian influence, then WW2 happened and theydisappeared again, they regained their full freedom from Russia only little over 30 years ago. So you can really say that they shared their history from 1386 (till 1990's), from the wedding that was the most important wedding in history of the Europe to this day.

[@lifeimprovementknowhow3822]

Actually, Baltic countries are Northern, not Eastern Europe. Northern Europe is the general term for the geographical region in Europe that is approximately north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea. Nations usually included within this region are Denmark, Estonia, the Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden.

[@robertbaron8721]

In the cultural sense, it is Central Europe (Catholicism, Protestantism)

[@aneesh2115]

Baltic is in eastern europe . Northern europe is the Nordic land and fennoscandia

[@lifeimprovementknowhow3822]

@@aneesh2115 Oh really, do you think you know better than official sources and UN whose official classification of Baltic countries is Northern Europe?

[@aneesh2115]

@@lifeimprovementknowhow3822 well they also classify czeckia as eastern europe . I'm not sure un classification as a good source

[@adrianpotocki9799]

1 Balts is northern geographical location Europe 2 cold climate 3 fair complexion of people 4 northern DNA haplo N ,I , R1a 5 northern vegetation , Balts 100% northern Europe .

[@pjdelta4056]

Thank you for you’re research, as a Canadian with Lithuanian heritage I was told my surname was actually danish witch raised many questions for as far back as I could track my family was Lithuanian, sounds like crusading settlers at this point. Thank you.

[@thev3131]

That... doesn't seem very likely. Unless the ones that went into Old Prussia or something. Idk what your last name is, but Lithuania did not have as much experience with crusaders on it's soil as Latvia and Estonia

[@turkubode]

The Duchy of Estonia (Danish: Hertugdømmet Estland Latin: Ducatus Estoniae), also known as Danish Estonia, was a direct dominion (Latin: dominium directum) of the King of Denmark from 1219 until 1346 when it was sold to the Teutonic Order and became part of the Ordensstaat.

[@AdamKrzysztofPawlowski]

All nice and almost historically accurate Mr Masaman, but two things just hurt the ears any Polish or Lithuanian person, because are slightly (but importantly) wrong. 1. Lithuania took Western Christianity - Catholicism, not from Germans emigrating to Lithuania, but from Poles and as part of agreement to connect Polish Kingdom and Lithuanian Great Duchy under one ruler to make it easier to defend both against Teutonic Order. Lithuania became Christianized by Poland as part of that agreement under Polish-Lithuanian king Władysław II Jagiełło (Jogaiła) starting from year 1387. 2. Number of wars that Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth has had with French Kingdom later Republic or Empire is exactly "0". As far as it comes to Poland or Lithuania - wars with France also number exactly "0" (I am alluding to part in minute 7:20). There was never such thing at any point in history, also it was not a neighbour (as neighbouring state sharing the border) of Polish-Lithuania Commonwealth at any point in history aside of time under Napolean I Bonaparte. It is also hard to say that Poland or Lithuania were enemies of Bonaparte or occupied by French when it was their idea to make an alliance and become Duchy of Warsaw under French just to get rid of Russians, Prussians and Austrians at least for the time of Bonaparte successes in Napoleonic wars. Rest is awesome. Especially the fact of Kurlandia Duchy having colonies in Senegal and Caribean sea. Fact that is well not so known, also due to short life of the project, yet Polish-Lithuania Commonwealth has nominally had those two colonies, even instituting "For Casimirus" in today's Trinidad and Tobago as allusion to "Casimirus Rex", king of Poland (Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) - Jan II Kazimierz Waza (John II Casimir Vasa).

[@jay5467]

Hey Masaman, what is your ethnic background? Keep up the good work!

[@donstoddard8458]

Thank you very much. I always find you very entertaining and more very informative

[@tomkampschulte786]

Dear Masaman, the teutonic knights and their enclave which they formed that was later succeded by the state of Prussia was never a part of the Holy Roman Empire. Also, it should have been noteworthy that many Poles firmly believe, and also as far as my history books go (books authored by Norman Davies), that the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was dominated by Poles and most of the Lithuanian nobility polonized which is the reasion why Lithuanians nowadays feel uneasy about Poles and vice versa. The last point should have been definetly mentioned as this is one of the most emotional affairs for both countries today. Further, could you please add the option "Silesian" for your census? Thank you and great video.

[@1MuchButteR1]

I would just like to point out that the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was established in 1569. Lithuania had independent policies for several hundred years starting with King Mindaugas and then under the powerful Gediminid Dynasty, latter of which impacted the history of modern Russia and Eastern Europe very much.

[@berlineczka]

Exactly. It was a personal union between 1385 and 1569 but the states were legally separate. The king of Poland was the grand duke of Lithuania at the same time (or, in late Jagiellonian dynasty, the grand duke title was given to hair apparent). Interestingly, though, the grand duke title was elected by the Lithuanian nobles from within the royal family (therefore, it was possible that the heir won't be accepted as duke in Lithuania - although I do not recall a case when it actually happened). This tradition was the source for the rather unique electoral dynasty system developed after the death of the last Jagiellonian king/duke, Sigismund II Augustus in 1572.

[@CrazyLeiFeng]

@@berlineczka Even before 1569 the two countries were growing increasingly similar.

[@1MuchButteR1]

@@CrazyLeiFeng How so?

[@CrazyLeiFeng]

@@1MuchButteR1 Because of the religion and laws, particularly the nobility rights and city dwellers rights

[@1MuchButteR1]

@@CrazyLeiFeng Well that was happening across Europe not only in those two states.

[@nikolademitri731]

Would LOVE a vid exploring the “neo-pagan” movement in Europe, perhaps tied in with a pagan history or something! Great work, man!

[@Sizifus]

The Poland-Lithuanian Commonwealth was one of the more interesting moments in Lithuanian history, in my opinion. Interesting fact - the constitution that was written in this union is the first in Europe and second in the world after the USA. Our history is pretty diverse all things considered.

[@rosswebster7877]

Fascinating video Masaman! Recently my Ancestry DNA has been updated and somewhat to my surprise, it turns out that I have more Baltic than Germanic on my dad's side of the family. I've also recently found that my ancestors came from Tilsit which is now Sovetsk in Kaliningrad Oblast, so this is all very illuminating.

[@Vitalis94]

Tilsit and surrounding area was known in German as Klein Litauen - Little Lithuania. It's because after the Teutonic conquest of Prussia, eastern portion was colonized by Lithuanians (so called Lietuvinikai), while the south was colonized by Polish speaking Mazovians (Mazurs) while western and northern portion by the Germans themselves. Lithuanians were the majority in the region until 1945 when the whole border changes happened. Tilsit was a really important centre of Lithuanian culture - in 19 century it was the only place where Lithuanian language books could be printed (Lithuania was a part of Russian Empire back then and they banned the usage of the language). There were famous Lithuanian book smugglers who crossed the border into Prussia: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithuanian_book_smugglers

[@Vitalis94]

@Carpe Diem Obviously the cheese was named after the city. Tilsit was estabilished in the Middle Ages, while the Tilsiter cheese is a 19 century invention.

[@noway2434]

Konigsberg, East prussia.

[@jaycollins7783]

Very interesting and once again very well researched and therefore accurate. Thanks Masaman. 👍

[@beltuna9]

Not bad, but a bit light on the influence of the Poles.

[@Brenmcgu]

@@beltuna9 You are right, he quite strongly misrepresented Poland/Lithuania. Poland was the main reason Lithuania converted to Christianity and Poland was the dominant cultural/political force within the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He should research "Polonization" and how that impacted surrounding Ruthenian/Baltic peoples. Poles were the source of power and influence in this arrangement, not the Balts.

[@yarpen26]

Honestly, this was quite possibly the most poorly researched video Masaman ever put out. Because I'm sorry but mixing up which nation was baptized by whom is a *huge* blunder.

[@gurbertguy]

man im proud to be lithuanian

[@user-vr4ws2bn6g]

You are missing important things! In fact, the Germans weren’t the first to occupy the Baltics in WW2. You and many more forget about the june 1940 Soviet occupation of the Baltics, and the terrible acts that came with it. We, latvians, call it The Horrible Year - the one year of Soviet occupation regime until German occupation in 1941. Tens of thousands of men, women and children, even infants were deported in train cars to Siberia as a way to exterminate our culture and to induce fear. Mass scale executions took place in cities and police chambers. When the Germans came to occupy the Baltics in 1940 the Soviets killed many more on the way. The German regime was not better. And we are left with a lot of hatred, especially towards Russia. To set the record straight, nobody “liberated” The Baltics. It was just re-occupation. After the war came more deportations and executions. No Latvian , Estonian or Lithuanian liked the Soviet regime. And we , The Baltics, will never let anyone touch our land and people again!

[@Makem12]

@Masaman I took the census for your channel. I saw that 4% identified politically with "Other" and that got me really thinking. Is there any chance we could get to read the other responses at some point in the future?

[@randomperson6988]

Nice link in the description

[@videoolik]

It's interesting to see Neopaganism rise in Europe again. Being a part of this movement in Poland, I'm in the centre of it's development here. Mostly being very personal and non invasive. I am quite glad that it is getting recognized. Livonians always picked my interest, but you don't really hear a lot about them from the 15th century onwards.

[@Jj-or5ix]

Wow that's cool, are you a Slavic pagan?

[@ZakDaMack1996]

Interesting to see a rise in neo paganism. Why do you believe this is happening? Is it to do with getting to understand your roots more, or are you devoted to it like any other religion?

[@hardlineamerican8495]

What is a good source for learning about the Baltic culture?

[@systemicknowledge]

All Baltic countries are similar, all are relatively sparsely populated, all have connection with nature embedded in culture, all countries were under Russian Tsar and Soviet rule with independence period between World War I and II, but make no mistake - culture of Baltic countries and people there are not the same. Estonia and Latvia share common history as part of Livonia (under German rule) and Baltic Germans always had a say here, even under Polish, Swedish or Russian rule. Estonia and Latvia has more than 50% of territory covered with forest. Lithuanians were not conquered by German forces, have been part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Lithuania has less forests ~33%, more fields. Relatively good overview of Baltic states is here - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltic_states Information on The Baltic Song and Dance Celebrations - kzbin.info/www/bejne/nWPPcqWip9GhmMk LV Good sources on Latvia can be found at www.latvia.eu/ History of Latvia in a condenced version - www.latvia.eu/history/history-latvia-timeline Traditional culture should be seen in open air museum - www.latvia.travel/en/sight/latvian-ethnographic-open-air-museum Information on Riga - regional Metropolis and Capital of Latvia - latvia.eu/brochures/rigas-story Overview on Latvia by Geography Now - kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZDOoJZ4eNh8mM0 2018 movie with perspective on one of Latvian tribes - kzbin.info/www/bejne/gaeZc4OPZtt9h8k LT Lithuanian history is decribed shortly here - www.lietuva.lt/100/en/discover-lithuania/history Information on LIthuanian traditions - www.lietuva.lt/100/en/discover-lithuania/see-and-experience-it#!cat=12 Overview on Lithuania by Geography Now - kzbin.info/www/bejne/b4rbqJ2vadWpqa8 EE History of Estonia in short version - www.visitestonia.com/en/why-estonia/estonian-history-and-culture Information on Estoian folk traditions and traditional concepts - www.estonica.org/en/Culture/Traditional_folk_culture/ Overview on Estonia by Geography Now - kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z4W3gaRpbbGshrc

[@hardlineamerican8495]

@@systemicknowledge Thank you very, very much for that response. I will be searching those links for days.

[@Fankas2000]

None, unless you speak the local languages. There have been active attempts by German and Russians governments to erase the Baltic people and their culture ever since the initial Christian invasion.

[@wannabehistorian371]

Estonia isn’t a Balt. It’s in the Baltic region, but linguistically they’re much closer to the Finns.

[@gamerheaven2000]

More like scandinavian but a little bit of balt :D

[@megayetivsminigreatwhitex6194]

Linguistically they are close to Finns. DNA-wise they are much closer to Latvians and Lithuanians than anyone else (although closer to Finns than Lithuanians or Latvians, something like 80% of their DNA matches the other two Baltic countries and 20% matches Finland)

[@megayetivsminigreatwhitex6194]

For Y haplogroups, the specific types in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia are pretty similar and actually much closer to the ones in Finland than in Baltic countries.

[@5Penkets]

He explained this at the start of the video 😐

[@Andrei-ev7du]

@@gamerheaven2000Balts are much similar to skandinavians, balts are nordic peoples, genetically and culturally, estonians are indistingible from baltic peoples genetically, aslo all baltic and skandinavians are mixage of nordic haplogrups N1,I1

[@tetsuookami]

Thank you for the video, It's nice to get some recognition.

[@aldaklavins3697]

glad to hear that you made the distinction calling a latvian a slav is like calling an the irish english