Governorate of Livonia

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show This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in Estonian. (January 2021) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Estonian article. Machine translation like DeepL or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary Content in this edit is translated from the existing Estonian Wikipedia article at [[:et:Liivimaa kubermang]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template {{Translated|et|Liivimaa kubermang}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Governorate of Livonia Livländisches Gouvernement Лифля́ндская губе́рния
Governorate of the Russian Empire
1721–1918
Flag Coat of arms
Location in the Russian Empire
Capital	Riga
Population
• (1897)	1,299,365
History
• Established (de facto)	28 July 1713
• Established (de jure)	10 September 1721
• Renamed	1796
• Divided	12 April 1917
• Treaty of Brest-Litovsk	3 March 1918
• Disestablished	12 April 1918
Subdivisions or uyezds of Livonia Governorate
Political subdivisions	9
Preceded by Succeeded by Swedish Livonia Ober Ost Autonomous Governorate of Estonia
Today part of	Estonia Latvia

Livonian Governorate

The Governorate of Livonia^[1] (Russian: Лифляндская губерния, romanized: Lifljandskaja gubernija; German: Livländisches Gouvernement; Latvian: Vidzemes guberņa, after the Latvian inhabited Vidzeme region; Estonian: Liivimaa kubermang) was one of the Baltic governorates of the Russian Empire, now divided between Latvia and Estonia.

History[]

Map of Riga and Reval Lieutenancies, 1783

Following the capitulation of Estonia and Livonia in 1710, Peter the Great, on July 28, 1713, created the Riga Governorate (Russian: Рижская губерния) which also included , , and of Smolensk Governorate. Smolensk Province was created from territory in Smolensk Governorate at that time. It was incorporated into Smolensk Governorate when it was reformed in 1726.

Sweden formally ceded Swedish Livonia to Russia in 1721 with the Treaty of Nystad. In 1722 was added to Riga Governorate. In 1726 Smolensk Governorate was separated from Governorate, which now had five provinces: Riga, Wenden, Dorpat, Pernau and Ösel. In 1783 the was added. On July 3, 1783 Catherine the Great reorganized Governorate into . Only in 1796, after the Third Partition of Poland this territory was renamed as the Governorate of Livonia.

Until the late 19th century the governorate was not ruled by Russian laws but was administered autonomously by the local German Baltic nobility through a feudal Landtag (Liefländischer Landtag).^[2] German nobles insisted on preserving their privileges and use of the German language. In 1816 Tsar Alexander liberated the serfs of Livonia, in a precursor to his plans for the rest of Russia.^[3]

After the Russian February Revolution in 1917, the northern part of the Governorate of Livonia was combined with the Governorate of Estonia to form a new Autonomous Governorate of Estonia. The Autonomous Governorate of Estonia issued the Estonian Declaration of Independence on 24 February 1918, one day before it was occupied by German troops during World War I.

With the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on 3 March 1918, Bolshevik Russia accepted the loss of the Livland Governorate and by agreements concluded in Berlin on 27 August 1918, the Autonomous Governorate of Estonia and the Governorate of Livonia were severed from Russia.^[4]

Administrative division[]

The Governorate of Livonia was divided into 9 counties (uyezds; German: Kreis).

Note: After the February Revolution based on declaration of the Russian Provisional Government of 30 March 1917 "About the autonomy of Estland", the Government of Livland was divided: five northern counties (Kreis) with the Estonian population (Dorpat, Pernau, Fellin, Werro and Ösel) as well as the populated by the Estonians townships of Walk county were all included into the composition of the neighboring Governorate of Estonia. However the new border between the Governments of Estonia and Livland was never properly demarcated.

Part of a series on the
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show Early modern period Livonian War Kingdom of Livonia Duchy of Livonia Inflanty Voivodeship Swedish Livonia Polish–Swedish Wars (1600–1629) Second Northern War Great Northern War Duchy of Courland and Semigallia Couronian colonization
show National Awakening Governorate of Livonia Courland Governorate Vitebsk Governorate The First Latvian National Awakening New Current
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show Medieval Estonia Oeselians Livonian Crusade Danish Estonia Old Livonia Baltic Germans
show Swedish Estonia Livonian War Duchy of Estonia (1561–1721) Polish Livonia Swedish Livonia Great Northern War Russian Estonia Russian Livonia
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Languages[]

• By the Imperial census of 1897.^[5] In bold are languages spoken by more people than the state language.

List of governors[]

See also[]

• Administrative divisions of Russia in 1713-1714
• Baltic governorates
• Courland Governorate
• Estonia Governorate
• Livonian Confederation

References[]