Estonia and Latvia Fight For Independence - Russian Civil War Baltic Front I THE GREAT WAR June 1919

Estonia and Latvia had declared their independence from Russia in the late 1918 chaos. Over the spring of 1919 both countries' new governments needed to defend that independence not only against the Russian Bolsheviks, there was also a violent internal struggle about the future of these countries. The Baltic Germans didn't want to give up their social status and the even the anti-bolshevik Russians considered the Baltics as part of the Russian Empire.
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» SOURCES
ennett, Geoffrey Martin. Cowan's War. The Story of British Naval Operations in the Baltic, 1918-1920 (London: Collins, 1964)
Chester, Geoff. "When the Capital of Latvia was a Ship Called Saratov” (Deep Baltic, 2016). deepbaltic.com/2016/06/13/whe...
Fletcher, William A. The British Navy In the Baltic, 1918-1920. Its Contribution to the Independence of the Baltic Nations. Journal of Baltic Studies, Vol. 7, No. 2, Summer 1976, p. 134-144.
Gerwarth, Robert. The Vanquished. Why the First World War Failed to End, 1917-1923 (Penguin, 2017).
Hatlie, Mark R. Riga at War 1914-1919. War and Wartime Experience in a Multi-ethnic Metropolis (Marburg: Herder-Institut, 2014). digital.herder-institut.de/pu...
Jēkabsons, Ēriks: Cēsis, Battle of, in: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War, ed. by Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer, and Bill Nasson, issued by Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin 2014-10-08. encyclopedia.1914-1918-online...
Ibid. The Latvian War of Independence 1918-1920 and the United States. In: Fleishman L., Weiner A. (ed). War, Revolution, and Governance: The Baltic Countries in the Twentieth Century (Boston, 2018).
Kirby, David. The Baltic World 1772-1993. Europe's Northern Periphery in an Age of Change. (London: Longman, 1995).
Raun, Toivo U. Estonia and the Estonians, 2nd ed. (Stanford: Hoover, 2002).
Sammartino, Annemarie H. The Impossible Border: Germany and the East, 1914-1922 (Cornell, 2014).
Sullivan, Charles L. “The 1919 German Campaign in the Baltic. The Final Phase.” In The Baltic States in Peace and War, 1917-1945, ed. V. Stanley Vardys and Romuald J. Misiunas, 31-42. (University Park: Penn State, 1978).
Tammela, Mari-Leen. Saaremaa Uprising. Estonica (Estonian Institute, 2012). www.estonica.org/en/Saaremaa_U...
Uustalu, Evald. The History of Estonian People (London: Boreas, 1952).
Von Rauch, Georg. The Baltic States. The Years of Independence 1917-1940 (London: Hurst, 1995).
Smele, Jonathan. The 'Russian' Civil Wars, 1916-1926: Ten Years That Shook the World (Oxford University Press: 2016)
Palmer, Alan. Northern Shores: A History of the Baltic Sea and Its Peoples (John Murray, 2005)
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»CREDITS
Presented by: Jesse Alexander
Written by: Jesse Alexander
Director: Toni Steller & Florian Wittig
Director of Photography: Toni Steller
Sound: Toni Steller
Editing: Toni Steller
Motion Design: Philipp Appelt
Mixing, Mastering & Sound Design: above-zero.com
Maps: Daniel Kogosov ( / zalezsky )
Research by: Jesse Alexander
Fact checking: Florian Wittig
Channel Design: Alexander Clark
Original Logo: David van Stephold
Contains licensed material by getty images
All rights reserved - Real Time History GmbH 2020

[@TheGreatWar]

Two important things: 1. We will feature Lithuania in a separate episode later this year or early next year 2. Thanks again to Game of Trenches to sponsoring this episode! Every cent we make via ads makes the show better. The first 20 players to register at: bit.ly/GameOfTrenches will receive in-game rewards worth a total of 10 600 Gold

[@pastuh]

One moment i was thinking maybe someone forgot this country :F

[@TheGreatWar]

it fits more into his own episode since they were more "busy" with Poland.

[@justagi119]

You should talk about the Free Territory of Ukraine

[@VikingLord101]

The Great War bring back Indy

[@TheGreatWar]

we will talk about Ukraine soon

[@HistoryHustle]

These conflicts are immensely complicated. Great job of covering them!

[@jessealexander2695]

Thanks!

[@milkandcrispy]

As a Latvian who absolutely loves the WW1 theme - a massive Thank You for such an amazing recap. Dear Estonian brothers - always and forever with you even if you now married to Finns and don't want to buy our booze anymore :)

[@BlackMasterRoshi]

can i have some?

[@tarvitihhanov7060]

It is our booze we are buying from you :D

[@hullumies8400]

A Finn here. We want your booze :(

[@tagtag66]

I know a Baltic German apologist, something of a WWI wehraboo, lives in Riga. Keeps claiming Estonians were bad guys in the war, he's just salty his forefathers lost to some angry peasants.

[@gerlitriin3771]

@Movies Despite attitudes like yours, as an Estonian I consider Latvians as brothers. I believe Latvians have got over Ruhnu just as Estonians have got over how Latvians treated our kins the Livonians.

[@geniemiki]

You know I think I know why most of the world doesn't learn too much about this time period in school. Because it's too much of a cluster*uck to teach anyone who isn't aspiring to be a historian.

[@TheGreatWar]

yeah, it also at least should be called Russian Civil Wars

[@Tsototar]

@Mikolaj Wojtowicz ... yeah man, clusterf#$! is the right term for it, so many factions in such a mess... it must have really sucked to be a civilian in between all this

[@Ahnenerbe1944]

I mean, in AP European history we spent like a solid two days on the 30 years war. That’s a true cluster****. So many phases and the reasons for conflict changed about 6 times

[@chaplainjamesthicc305]

Not to mention all the misinformation that exist on the topic, Finland for instance is still somewhat divided to this day, people in the industrial south tend to remember the reds as the heroes and the whites as the murdering maniacs, and the rural north thinks the opposite is true. Neither of these points of views of course is entirely right, as the truth lies somewhere in between, I can imagine the same goes for much of the world during this point in time.

[@6idangle]

It is hard to grasp especially for young kids.

[@cutemedkit6128]

Greetings to my brothers Estonians 🇪🇪🇱🇻, we fought hard for our independence and we'll always be by each others side. Tēvzemei un Brīvībai.

[@rannoratsep6241]

Cheers brother!

[@nuncfleuns]

Priekā!

[@slimebor7059]

Jā

[@firmak2]

Would be nice to get some land back tho.

[@humanfromthesolarsystempla3143]

Par tevuzemi

[@raido7816]

As an Estonian. I truly appreciate you making effort on pronouncing Estonian names correctly. Most people wouldnt bother.

[@franciscomm7675]

Eastory made a video about the estonian war of independence and how the frontlines changed over time. Check it out

[@danieltsiprun8080]

I think he works for them and makes there maps

[@ProvidenceNL]

@@danieltsiprun8080 pretty sure he works for the World war two channel, not the great war.

[@hanskajandi3515]

as an Estonian i want to thank my brothers in Latvia and our allies in Great Britain

[@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis9714]

Dont forget to thank the danes, swedes and somi.

[@robdgaming]

One of my grandfathers was Estonian and of military age in 1919 I believe. I don't know what part he had in this.

[@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis9714]

@@robdgaming How is that possible? How can people be rootless?

[@marcelkamps7103]

You think the Britians are your allies? 🤣🤣🤣🤣 They will sacrifice you, if they need it. If you call them allies, you can hang up your own damokles sword.

[@jgds9520]

Estonians werent really too keen on helping Latvia

[@Delzona]

I never realized the amount of fighting that continued after hostilities ended on Nov 11! I knew about the Russian civil war but, all of the fighting that continued in the rest of Europe and the Middle East is astounding! Thanks for the education!!

[@humanfromthesolarsystempla3143]

I was born november 11 un es esmu latvietis

[@krzycki9688]

Love from Poland to our Baltic brothers 🇵🇱❤️🇪🇪🇱🇹🇱🇻

[@nahg-brahg]

thaks polish brother

[@gabrilandproductions7905]

Wait what happened with Vilno in 1920-1939?

[@aigryz]

thank you. as a Latvian, I feel this is a very decent summary

[@TheGreatWar]

thanks, and there will be more in the future

[@LukeVilent]

Es neesmu latvietis un nedzivo Latvijaa, bet man ari l,oti patik shis video (manai tastaruurai nav latvieshu atsleegas:( )

[@mortenulp7503]

It's great to find out more about the Latvian Independence War, because despite our close cooperation, events in Latvia are often overshadowed in Estonia. For example in Estonia it is very rarely mentioned that Latvians fought alongside us at Cesis (Võnnu in Estonian) and that the great victory was gained solely by Estonian troops with some Latvian help.

[@kraanz]

While in Latvia, we all are taught about the bravery of the schoolboys of Cesis marching pretty much from heir classrooms straight into the battle, with barely a mention of "oh, and yeah, there were some Estonian armored trains there, too. For that help, we gave them Ruhnu." Which, naturally, makes it seem like we just threw away our only island. While in reality, the Estonian help was absolutely crucial, and the island is pretty much worthless.

[@hullmees666]

@@kraanz the island matters for fishing zones. by itself its worthless indeed.

[@otofoto]

No problem to retake the island, barely anyone is there in winter, just put some 100 latvians and hold a referendum.

[@somnia2074]

because. if you research what happened at the battle was that latvians ran away on their first contact with the germans. around 1000 men went MIA and Estonians had to fill the gaps and do all of the fighting by themselves. (the armored trains got into a very bad situation due to the latvians breaking)

[@rtmclean484]

When you say "fought along side us" realise that it was not you that would have been wanting this fight back then, you'd have been a peasant. It was the rich aristocrats who were fighting back a peasant uprising from spreading into their area lol.

[@BattleandForge]

As a former university student in Estonian history I approve this episode! Fun fact: a significant amount of Estonian soldiers on eastern front ignored orders and abandoned their positions so they could go and fight against baltic germans, who they really hated at the time.

[@triibustevonkass9100]

Germans were enslavers in estonia and no sane person could have imagined that in 20 years Estonians would fight together with the Germans. The reason was the 1940 Soviet occupation with mass murders, robberies and rape. But yes, in 1919, Estonians fought against the Germans with anger and fanaticism caused by centuries of slavery.

[@MrKaido93]

As an Estonian I have to say this video is absolute best most in-depth video on the Estonian and Latvian Wars of Independence. Way to go! Thank You Very Much for producing this outstanding video!

[@jessealexander2695]

You're welcome - more to come soon!

[@TheNaurog]

"and the only youtube history channel that is NOT claiming to be a Latvian government in early 1919." Hahahahaha

[@PedroHenriquedoNascimento]

I can think of one of two other KZbin channels who are not claiming to be a Latvian government in early-1919...

[@Orinslayer]

I am the Latvia.

[@perperson199]

I haven't watched the great war in a while, but this episode i have to watch. Three cheers to our baltic brothers !!!

[@A-A_P]

Cheers! Cheers! Cheers!

[@jekabsojarsulskis9740]

I have to get on this. Cheers! Cheers! Cheers!

[@boostergold1399]

I'm not Estonian or Latvian, but I feel proud of them.

[@slimebor7059]

Im latvian

[@muditebarvike6524]

@Niic1GT forši

[@pablothecat1405]

Im the only EstonianXD

[@humanfromthesolarsystempla3143]

Thanks as latvians say paldies

[@Johnnycdrums]

Never knew any of this, it almost qualifies as__ "A War Of All, Against All".

[@RoberttheWise]

The whole affair was a horrible and confusing mess. Till this day nobody is really sure whether to call the conflict "Latvian/Estonian War of Independance", "Latvian/Estonian Civil War", roll it seamlessly into the "Russian Civil War" or find some other name.

[@RoberttheWise]

@Jim lastname I sure gives you the feel for the mood of everyone involved, that I must say.

[@nuncfleuns]

Tagad jau zini (Now you know)

[@E.E.B.]

America's great war of independence was nothing more than a little British civil war ... and then there were some Indians ... belum omnium contra omnes - war of all, against all. In short: an affair! :)

[@A-A_P]

Greetings from Estonia! Really liked the video! I couldnt wait when you make a video about it. The Estonian war of indenpendence , Vabadussõda in estonian, is a really interesting topic for me. The time when our little country defeated much larger red army and well equipped germans. Search up more information yourself, its really interesting! Ps: One important man in that conflict for estonians was/is the estonian partisan leader lieutenant Julius Kuperjanov, who was killed in the battle of paju 02.02.1919. Search it up!

[@dams6829]

Yeah first Latvian Commander of the Armed forces Oskars Kalpaks was also killed during friendly fire incident in early April of 1919.

[@PPeteris]

@@dams6829 March 6th, not early April.

[@dams6829]

@@PPeteris Mana kļūda

[@sael52]

the estoian, litwanian and latvian independent war happend in kremlin between eltsin and ligachev. eltsin won the battle and gave those lands away. this is real story all others are fairy tells.

[@kraanz]

@@dams6829 ​Varbuut vecais/jaunais kalendaars?

[@WeedNuke67]

Should point out that the force was named Northern Latvia brigade. It consisted more of Latvians than Estonians, but they were under Estonian command. The plan of retaking Latvian northern territories itself was done by Latvian lieutenant colonel Voldemārs Ozols. Just wanted to correct you guys on this, but I know you dont have any reliable Latvian sources or anyone capable of translating them.

[@WeedNuke67]

Also forgot to mention at the battle of Cēsis there were many young school boys who fought in these battles, they were aged around 15-16 and they were underequipped, most of them didnt even have any shoes to wear.

[@TheGreatWar]

any English sources you would generally recommend?

[@forgottenmusic1]

In he battle of Cesis, Germans had 6000-6900 men against 5800 Estonians and 1400 Latvians (2nd Latvian Cesis Regiment, part of Northern Latvia Brigade) under Estonian command. As the battle began, Germans had temporary success, as the Latvians abandoned the lines. But, as the Germans got into danger of getting surrounded by the Estonian troops, the battle ended with their withdrawal to Riga. The losses were: Germans - 274 killed (and unknown number of wounded), Estonians - 110 killed and 295 wounded, Latvians - 13 killed and 30 wounded. So, in the main event, Latvians had no much glory.

[@gunnerr8476]

Soviet: We can crush the Estonian with ease. Estonia: Hold my Madsen machinegun

[@Kurtownia]

I mean they could, but they were kinda busy at the moment.

[@u-loop8858]

Madsen AND Lewis machine gun. They were useful indeed.

[@zcrib3]

@@Kurtownia US could crush Vietnam as well. Dumb excuses. Estonia defeated the Soviet Union. That's all there is to say about that time.

[@chrisleach8009]

Great program yet again. Thank you so much for all the teams hard work.

[@Vihelik]

Correction: the Ingrian troops mentioned in 14:38 were loyal to Estonia, not Latvia. Russia carried out a massive genocide against the Ingrian and Votic populations on the coastal lands between Estonia and Leningrad between the two world wars and in the forties. As a result the area has become almost completely Russified. The survivors of the genocide settled in Estonia in the fifties. There are only a few survivors left in Ingermanland who can speak either Ingrian or Votic.

[@trlk4548]

Not Russia : bolsheviks. The first Independant Ingria republic has been led by "pro-white-Russia" officers

[@ralphshmalph1460]

Another excellent show from your team. So far the production, writing and presentation of this often overlooked yet crucial part of 20th century history is second to none, don't ever stop

[@TheGreatWar]

thank you Ralph, this means a lot and we don't intent to stop anytime soon

[@capitanrex5465]

What an amazing show! I was worried at the begining that with the so-called Great War over and Indi's goodbye the show has done his job. But to know the aftermath of the conflict, the new multilingual host (who is doing an amazing job) and how this war was not the war which ends all wars, but rather the war which cause so many others, is just amazing

[@kraanz]

"The White Army got bogged down due to in-fighting in the Ingrian forces loyal to Latvia." Why... why would the Finno-Ugric Ingrians be loyal to Latvians, with whom they didn't, nor have ever, share a border with? Surely you must mean Estonia instead of Latvia here.

[@t1nkerium]

Pretty cool to see foreign cover of these conflicts. Cheers!

[@A-A_P]

True, especially for nations, who participated in the conflict

[@ernestbatiy1070]

As a Latvian I admire my countrymen.

[@kestoification]

Can you guys do Lithuanian war for independence? Lithuanians had to fight three enemies at once

[@inactive859]

I'm Lithuanian and I would love that :D

[@oldesertguy9616]

Well done, sir. Great video, and I love that last comment.

[@ilficherrimolori]

Today's the 100th anniversary of the Treaty of Versailles, don't forget to pay your respect to all the victims of WW1!

[@emelgiefro]

F

[@themilkman7520]

No that was November 11th, 2018

[@eagletanker]

No, that’s when a ceasefire was signed

[@vincentwitt1810]

Versailles was the birth and death of the german empire

[@YitzharVered]

F

[@thebigsad9463]

Thank you for making my day

[@johncotter2417]

This channel has done an amazing job covering the events post the first world war. Glad the Great War is still going strong!

[@RoberttheWise]

Pronunciation tips for the next Latvia-centric episode: Latvian (similar to Estonian and Finnish) has universal stress on the first syllable. So it's not Ulmanís, it's Úlmanis. Dáugava, not Daugáva. Jélgava, not Jelgáva. Also the L sounds are really harsh and the more German L sound is written with Ļ/ļ

[@TheGreatWar]

thanks, will keep that in mind for future episodes

[@andershansson2245]

Also: Líepaja, not Lie-pája.. ;)

[@up0the0ions]

As a English native learning Latvian Soft G and soft L's are very hard too prononce

[@nzl100]

While in Finnish the stress is indeed always on the first syllable, Estonian makes some exceptions for loan words and foreign names where stress is kept as in the original language and marked almost always with a long vowel: "garaaž", "mobiil", "Pariis". Great series btw!

[@micahistory]

It was basically Estonia and Latvia supported by the United Kingdom and Finland against Germany against Russia against White Russians

[@laurynasg9932]

Micahistory 2 Latvia*

[@micahistory]

@@laurynasg9932 You're right

[@FINNIUSORION]

I love learning about these often overlooked struggles in history..thank you.

[@spudskie3907]

Another great episode! So happy to see this series continuing. Always learning something new.

[@TheGreatWar]

we are learning a lot too, fascinating period

[@antred11]

Jesus, what a mess. It seems like everybody was fighting everyone else.

[@Tsototar]

AND, occasionally, fighting themselves too

[@slimebor7059]

Well thats world war

[@StenKilla]

We are free states today so i guess all according to plan..... ;)

[@yarpen26]

It's basically a relatively rare example in which the "enemy of my enemy is my friend" rule doesn't exactly apply because none of the belligerents could decide who was their worst enemy and therefore felt compelled to fight all of them. The Estonianas and Latvians hated both the White Russians and the Baltic Germans who practically ruled over them cordially with one another prior to the outbreak of WWI and now made it abundantly clear that they didn't wish for the locals to gain autonomy, let alone independence. And since at least their governments realized that to the Bolshevists their countries stood in the way of global revolution, the Red Russians couldn't be trusted either. The White Russians and Baltic Germans under any other circumstances would have probably joined arms instantly but they had just finished fighting a war, they hated each other's guts, even though, all things considered, their goals seemed least mutually contradictory.

[@zepter00]

@@StenKilla just buy few tanks and fighter jets because youdont have a single one. That you could not relay on Poles and Canadians

[@michaelmccanna622]

So multifaceted and fascinating, you guys rock!

[@SkremoMcThrftsto]

I think my favorite part is the sign-off at the end. I am starting to look forward to it with every new video.

[@brokenbridge6316]

A nicely informative video. And wow the small wars around this time were extremely brutal. It boggles the mind.

[@AxelPoliti]

Thank you. Enormously useful today

[@JonathanMeyer84]

I just want to say that I enjoy the little quips at the end of each episode. Thanks for keeping this going after November 2018. Jesse, you are awesome!

[@jessealexander2695]

Thanks!

[@raduflorescu4373]

As much as I loved Andy, Jesse's passion and expertise is what made me donate to the show ! super !

[@GenghisVern]

This is such an amazing channel... I should say, "continues to be".

[@jessealexander2695]

Thanks!

[@user-td1dk1uv4x]

Greeting to all Estonians from Bulgaria

[@robert48044]

great video as usual. I always find out something interesting!

[@ezitisarm]

Thank you for this video! Greetings from Latvia!

[@WildBillCox13]

Liked and linked. I was already subscribed.

[@morgan97475]

Great info....danke! I didn't know about the fighting in the Baltics during the post-war era.

[@Ianassa91]

My great gradfather was one of those "northern boys". Went from Finland to fight in the Estonian war, presumably after having fought in the Finnish civil war in the whites. I've seen one picture of him in uniform riding a tall horse. That's about all I know about him.

[@Oldf0x]

Fascinating and complex... well done !

[@laithmeister]

Thank you very much for this important yet forgotten piece of history.

[@shawngilliland243]

Simply superb content and presentation, and I love your closing jokes, Jesse.

[@jessealexander2695]

Thanks - they're a team effort. :)

[@GuntarsReboks]

Thank You !

[@wanderingdachshund4296]

i loved the video, i am a estonian myself, and you pronounced the estonian names correctly as well my great grandpa fought in that war and survived to tell the tale.

[@MissKrisstt]

Greetings from Latvia🇱🇻

[@thebigsad9463]

Interesting as always

[@willowrabbit]

Fantastic video!

[@BGH1961]

The fact that neither the fighting didn't actually end on 11 November 1918 is almost unknown in the west. I love this aspect of the history. Having looked into the intense fighting on the western front, I couldn't help but immediately wonder how the generals in charge of these forces handled logistics, since that was, and is, the decisive factor in most successful battles. How did they feed the troops, how did they find ammunition for their guns, coal for the trains, petrol for the trucks, and were the troops paid? How did they reconnoiter the ground and how did they gain information? I can assume, to some degree, that if the Entente powers were supporting the Estonians that they would provide these to them, but who supplied the German forces? The Red and White Russian armies, I assume, simply plundered from the land as they went through. You guys do a fantastic job. Thanks for the fascinating look into the events which shape our world to this day.

[@crabyman3555]

We Latvians will shall fight for out freedom till the last Estonian

[@jfgh383]

Hahahaha! :D

[@jackthorton10]

Oh heavens above, please tell me this a real saying

[@oojaa2]

@@jackthorton10 That is the current motto of Latvia as well. You see, Latvia ended the mandatory conscription after recent illuminating examples such as Sweden and Germany. And now Latvia has been relying on a professional corps of bureaucrats and Estonian conscripts.

[@tintinhickey5869]

They just discovered the remains of an Australian soldier who fought on the side of the White Russians ca. 1919. He had fought at Gallipoli too so had an eventful life before his demise. BTW Great video! 🇦🇺

[@Maria-dk2fv]

It will take years to find all soldiers. I read they are working on it.

[@tf2664]

Today 105 years ago Franz Ferdinand was shot in Sarajevo

[@frankwhite3406]

A most interesting episode indeed!

[@farhanrahman7119]

Nice episode Jesse!

[@konstantinostravlos210]

What a great episode .Bravo. From Salvation & Catastrophe

[@christosa3272]

Very educational ..,thanks

[@emperorspock3506]

Pronunciation note for Jesse: Latvian has fixed word stress, and practically all words in Latvian are stressed on the first syllable, so with any Latvian personal and geographic names (including Ulmanis, Jelgava and Daugava), you may confidently stress them on the first syllable: you'll get it right!

[@jessealexander2695]

Noted for next time!

[@fidenemini111]

Yes. Pretty the same way as in Estonian.

[@johnmcdonald9295]

He didn’t pronounce cowan properly either,but it was an interesting video

[@lkrnpk]

while it's opposite for Lithuanians, where you should not put stress on 1st syllable for words which have more syllables than one

[@Artur-li6nf]

I’m now in Riga and heading Tallin its fascinating being here and listening to this episode !

[@thispodcastisnotimportant6667]

Everyone forgets about all the wars that erupted in the fallout of WWI; the Polish-Soviet War, the Russian Civil-War, the Turkish-War of Independence and the Polish-Ukrainian war just to name a few.

[@jackmara882]

Also the wars between the USSR and the different republics and kahnats in central asia.

[@240pixel]

this war was a clusterf**k of free for all. Greets from Lithuania!

[@indianajones4321]

Keep it up guys!

[@NickRatnieks]

We had some photos of troops and my grandfather around mounds of rubble taken during this war- he was a participant in the Latvian Independence War having been an officer in the Imperial Russian Army earlier. My father never talked much about this- he did say that his aunt had told him: "When the Bolsheviks left Riga, they left bodies hanging from lamp posts like the balls on a Christmas tree."

[@TheGreatWar]

the violence on both sides in these conflicts is hard to fathom sometimes

[@Tsototar]

@@TheGreatWar the feeling I get when I read about this sort of thing, is that there's some level of underlying racism there, in that it's not just (some) Germans who considered the Baltic peoples as "lesser", but also the (white) Russians from the east (considering the area vassal states and all), such that, well, it's easier to kill "animals" than people...

[@trex2621]

@@Tsototar And therefore "animals" have no remorse either.

[@rtmclean484]

Fighting on the side of imperialists, against a working class uprising so as the peasants can keep being oppressed and in serfdom, nice.

[@JohnHenryEden2277]

​@@TsototarRussians still consider their neighbours to be lesser people.

[@jerrysikora2024]

Great job !

[@kapa-tvlg2279]

Im latvian and i like this video a lot.Thank you. Brīvību Latvijai.

[@historiancadets808]

Super interesting love the bids keep it up

[@svennielsen633]

4:05 The Danes mentioned was a corps of around 200 volunteers under command of Lieutenant Richard Gustav Borgelin. They mostly played a supportive role to the Estonians and Latvians during the war covering the Eastern flank towards the Russians. Source (if you are interested): Mikkel Kirkebaek: Danish volunteer soldiers in Latvia's war of independence 1919 (Embassy of Denmark, Latvia)

[@maus626]

I was expecting a TGW Video. Today marks 100 years since the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.

[@WikiOldEnt]

You even showed artillery wagon "Kalew" when appropriate. Impressive attention to detail!

[@moel2753]

I like your bios on writers and other significant people that served in the conflicts

[@factbeaglesarebest]

These videos are incredibly well put together with amazingly well researched detail! Just curious. What ethnicity are you? Can not seem to place the accent.

[@eifelitorn]

As an Estonian I found it hilarious how you Pronounced Päts, but it's understandable xD. That "ä" is pronounced like the "a" in "massive".

[@jessealexander2695]

Sorry, my German brain just takes over every time I see an umlaut... :)

[@A-A_P]

Oh, and on the name Johan, the stress is on the second silible of the name, just a thing to know. Love the show!:)

[@seneca983]

@@A-A_P: So the stress isn't always on the first syllable in Estonian?

[@A-A_P]

@@seneca983 Depends on the name. In this particular case estonians mostly put stress on the second silible, almost like there is a double "n" in the end of the name. Putting stress on the first silible isnt totally wrong, but in that case the stress isnt that strong. But yeah, feel free to correct me, I mostly thought, how I have heard estonians say this name.

[@eifelitorn]

@@jessealexander2695 No worries, love the show ;)

[@AllahCat7889]

i should mention that a lot of estonian school boys joined the fight during 1918 when it seemed that we would lose. the main estonian units in Cesis were the 3rd divison and kuperjanov batalion which is named after Julius Kuperjanov who at that point was already dead, fun fact about him he was a teacher at Kambja which is the village next to my home.

[@markuskalmi2745]

My grandfathers dad led the finnish volunteers called Pohjan Pojat a.k.a Northern Boys in Estonian war of indepenency, he fought in finnish civil war too and was estonian and cuz of him i have some estonian blood in me. he also fought for russian imperial army as a officer

[@kavallerie1436]

This channel has the best ww1 stuff.

[@stalemateone8802]

This is a very interesting video.

[@netrolancer1061]

My point, the treaty of Versaille didn't prevent any new wars nor did attempt to stop any other current wars.

[@claudermiller]

Looks like that early aircraft carrier at 12:06 needed a few tweaks to the landing part.

[@jacquesbarth8745]

So fascinating

[@Paul_LV]

Woah this was a pleasant surprise!

[@robertmusilbronson3118]

basically the back ground for Yourcenar s impeccable little novel, Coup de Grace

[@ernestsmilass4157]

is anyone else latvian just clicking on a video about ur home country apart from me...

[@biologicalengineoflove6851]

Dizzying, and that quote was intense. This makes Versailles seem like a sick joke. Episodes like these are what makes this channel so great though.

[@ilovebarneyandcrack2554]

Will u make a video on Irish war of independence and civil war

[@iamnoone5614]

I would love to see an episode about the first Red Scare in the US as well as the deportations of anarchists and communists. I love this channel. Thank you guys for all you do

[@oldcrazyman2600]

I live in Estonia so I like watching theese vidoes.

[@matrixberzins465]

I am from Latvia and that period of time is very complicated to normally understand for foreigner. Most important things in history for Estonia happened in 1919. but for Latvia there was still war going on in East side of Latvia against Bolsheviks in 1920. - there we had allies as Poland who helped us to defeat Bolsheviks once and for all and we also had small conflict with Lithuania. One more fun fact about Latvia - Latvia declare war to Germany in 1919. and in 1920.g. Latvia and Germany signed peace treaty.

[@AA-mf3om]

Regarding the germans: i can understand why the landswehr and the iron division fought. But why the 1st guards division fought? A regular army unit? All the years all the soldiers wanted the end of war, so many mutinies, desertions, willingly surrenders and these guys had the chance to go home and stayed there. Thats what i cannot understand.

[@thesnooper1431]

Hey there! I would like to know your source on Ingrains being loyal to Latvia as you said at 14:38 . I have never heard of this and you truly caught my interest.

[@sammakkotonttu]

Must be a mistake. Ingrians were descendants of Finns who moved there in the 1600s

[@kraanz]

@@sammakkotonttu Pretty sure they were all russified by that time. And no, they were not Finns, that's like saying the Estonians were Finns. All of these nations are Finno-Ugric, sure, but that doesn't mean they're Finns.

[@sammakkotonttu]

@@kraanz nope, Ingrians were only devastated by Stalin in the 1920s and 30s. After the USSR collapsed some 50k Ingrians returned to Finland after 400 years of living abroad. And yes, Ingrians were Finns, not a distinct people like Estonians or Izhorians or other Finnic peoples. Ingrians were Finns who left Finland in 1600s but kept their Finnish dialect and Lutheran religion into the 1900s until Stalin came about.

[@kraanz]

@@sammakkotonttu I was talking about the native Izhorians, sorry. While you're talking about Ingrian Finns.

[@sammakkotonttu]

@@kraanz Well that’s exactly what I thought was going on. Confusion between Ingrians and Izhorans. But yeah, ones are Lutheran Finns and the others Orthodox Finnics. But they propably even understood each others language to some extent

[@JoshTrance]

So happy to see that you have ads back.