Chapter 7: The Russian Era (1710 - 1918); 7.1: The 18th century; 7.1.1: The Consequences of The Great Northern War

The war was the most devastating conflict in the history of Estonia. Whilst in 1695 there were around 400 000 people living in this land, as a result of the subsequent Great Starvation (three years of failing crops), a wave of a plague between 1709-1712 and the destruction of the land by the Russian forces, the population dropped to around 150 000. Only around 12% of the fields of 1695 were cultivated in 1713.

Due to the capitulation treaties, the newly acquired Baltic provinces of Russia gained a status of privilege and autonomy, which was dubbed “The Baltic Special Arrangement”. The Baltic-German nobility regained the status they had had before the reforms of Karl XI, the nationalised manors were given back to their owners. During the early period of the Russian Era, the central government stayed out of the local affairs of the Baltics. The only Russian laws that applied here were the ones that were not in conflict with the privileges of the local nobility. The administrative and judicial system was completely different from the ones in the internal Russian provinces. The Baltic provinces retained Lutheranism as the dominant religion, whilst the Russian Empire was heavily Orthodox. The language of affairs remained German, the same went for the local culture. There was a toll border between the Baltic provinces and the rest of the Empire as well.

The local power belonged to the local knighthoods, of which there were three: the Estonian, the Livonian and the Oeselian. In the cities the power belonged to the Baltic-German citizens.

The fact that Russia treated the local nobility so well meant that the Germans were easily able to accept being part of the new empire and liked it even more than the Swedish Empire, which had treated them with contempt. They would call the Russian Czars and Czarinas “our emperors and empresses.”

As Peter the Great had made the modernization and Europeanization of the Russian Empire his personal goal, he needed modern civil servants. This gave the local nobility a great chance to make a career for themselves, and many Baltic-Germans reached the highest echelons of the Russian court, army and diplomatic service and until the middle of the 19th century, their influence in the empire was immense. This also meant that they could influence the central government to take a more favourable view in the affairs of the Baltic provinces.

The Baltic Special Arrangement essentially maximised the power of the Baltic-German nobility, and as a result, the 18th century became the lowest point in terms of rights for the Estonian peasantry.

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