Livonia

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

one of the three former which be Baltic provinces of Russia to which be- Mohn, and long also the islands of Oesel, Mohn, and miles; pop. Küno; area, 17,574 square miles; pop. about 1,778,500. It forms the E. side a between of the Gulf of Riga, and lies between od on the Esthonia on the N. and Courland on the S. being separated from this latter by the Dwina river. The country is mostly flat, and nearly one-fourth of it is covered with forests. Lakes and streams and marshes are common. The soil is barley, only of moderate fertility; rye, barley, prin oats, flax, and potatoes being the principal crops. Distilling, brewing, ironfounding, oil-pressing, and cork, wool, and paper manufacture are the more important industries. Sawmills are active, The fisheries are valuable. The Livonians proper, a Finnic race akin to the Esthonians, have dwindled. Capital, Riga; pop. about 560,000. In the second year of the World War (1914-1918) the Russians dismantled the factories and removed all valuables from public buildings to save them from the Germans, who sooner or later would attack the city. This did not happen until 1917, the Germans taking the city on Sept. 3 of that year. By the terms of the Brest- Litovsk peace, signed by the Bolsheviks, March 3, 1918, about a fourth of Russia was surrendered to the victors, including Livonia. After the armistice of November, 1918, it was agreed to that all German troops should be withdrawn, and that the territory be divided between Latvia and Esthonia.