The Baltic states (also Baltics, Baltic nations or Baltic countries) usually are referred to the territories east of Baltic Sea which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania; Finland also fell within the scope of the term from the 1920s to 1939. The term should not be confused with that of Baltic peoples. The latter term describes the indigenous populations of Latvia and Lithuania, while the indigenous populations of Estonia and Finland are Finnic peoples. Since the Middle Ages the region developed another national identity the Baltic Germans that was established after the Livonian Crusade.
The term in the indigenous languages of the Baltic states is:
- Latvian: Baltijas valstis,
- Lithuanian: Baltijos valstybės,
- Estonian: Balti riigid, Baltimaad,
- Finnish: Baltian maat.
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“The moment a mere numerical superiority by either states or voters in this country proceeds to ignore the needs and desires of the minority, and for their own selfish purpose or advancement, hamper or oppress that minority, or debar them in any way from equal privileges and equal rights—that moment will mark the failure of our constitutional system.”
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