1. E. Laaman. Eesti iseseisvuse sünd. Loodus, Tartu, 1936, 524‒526; A. v. Taube. Von Brest-Litovsk bis Libau: Die Baltisch-deutsche Führungsschicht und die Mächte in den Jahren 1918/1919. – Von den baltischen Provinzen zu den baltischen Staaten 1918‒1920. Hrsg. von J. v. Hehn, H. V. Rimscha, H. Weiss. J. G. Herder-Institut, Marburg, Lahn, 1977, 210.

2. D. Henning. Der ethnische Wandel in Estland und Lettland: Von den deutschen Ostseeprovinzen Russlands zu den baltischen Sowjetrepubliken unter Stalin. ‒ Baltische Seminare, 2005, 11, 8‒9; K. Brüggemann. Die Gründung der Republik Estland und das Ende des „Einen und unteilbaren Rußland“: Der Petrograder Front des Russischen Bürgerkriegs 1918‒1920. Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden, 2002, 125‒134.

3. Eesti 1920‒1930. Arvuline ülevaade. Riigi Statistika Keskbüroo, Tallinn, 1931, 8, 13; P. Eberhardt. Ethnic Groups and Population Changes in Twentieth-Century Central-Eastern Europe: History, Data, and Analysis. M. E. Sharpe, New York, London, 2003, 36. 

4. E. Knopp. Das deutsche-baltische Erbübel. ‒ Rigasche Rundschau no 35, 13.2.1922.
https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.19220351305

5. A. de Vries. Das Deutschtum in Estland. – Taschenbuch des Grenz- und Auslanddeutschtums. Berlin, 1928, 21, 11.

6. F. Stricker. Estland. – Die politischen Parteien der Staaten des Erdballs. Hrsg. von Dr. Stricker. Regensbergsche Buchhandlung, Münster, 1924, 92.

7. See: E. Laaman. Eesti iseseisvuse sünd, passim.

8. Von den baltischen Provinzen zu den baltischen Staaten 1918‒1920. Hrsg. von J. v. Hehn, H. V. Rimscha, H. Weiss. J. G. Herder-Institut, Marburg/Lahn, 1977.

9. A. v. Taube. Von Brest-Litovsk bis Libau: Die Baltisch-Deutsche Führungsschicht und die Mächte in den Jahren 1918/1919. ‒ Von den baltischen Provinzen, 234‒236. 

10. K. Brüggemann. Von der führenden Schicht zur nationalen Minderheit: Zur Klärung der Rolle der estländischen deutschen Minderheit bei der Begründung der Republik Estland 1918‒1919. ‒ Nordost-Archiv: Zeitschrift für Regionalgeschichte, 1995, 4, 2, 453‒479, specifically 463‒464, 478.

11. J. Undusk. Eesti kui Belgia. Viimne baltlane Hermann Keyserling. ‒ Tuna, 2003, 2, 48‒71, specifically 52‒53, 58; A. Loit. Baltisaksa rüütelkondade seisukohad ja tegevus Eesti iseseisvumisel 1918‒1920. ‒ Tuna, 2006, 4, 50‒74.

12. I. Lipping. Land Reform Legislation in Estonia and the Disestablishment of the Baltic German Rural Elite 1919‒1939. University of Maryland, Michigan, 1980, 336, 341.

13. See: M. Garleff. Deutschbaltische Politik zwischen den Weltkriegen: Die parlamentarische Tätirgkeit der deutschbaltischen Parteien in Lettland und Estland. Verlag Wissenschaftliches Archiv, Bonn, Bad Godesberg, 1976; Die deutsche Volksgruppe in Estland während der Zwischenkriegszeit und aktuelle Fragen des deutsch-estnischen Verhältnisses. Hrsg. von B. Meissner, D. A. Loeber, C. Hasselblatt. Bibliotheka Baltica, Hamburg, 1996; J. Hiden, M. Housden. Neighbours or enemies? Germans, the Baltic and Beyond. Rodopi, Amsterdam, New York, 2008.

14. By Baltic state it was meant the Baltic provinces united into one independent state. M. Ilmjärv. Balti-küsimus Pariisi rahukonverentsi eel ja ajal 1918‒1920. ‒ Acta Historica Tallinnensia, 2019, 25, 110.
https://doi.org/10.3176/hist.2019.1.06

15. E. Dellingshausen. Im Dienste der Heimat! Erinnerungen des Freiherrn Eduard von Dellingshausen ehem. Ritterschaftshauptmanns von Estland. Ausland und Heimat Verlags-Aktiengesellschaft, Stuttgart, 1930, 318.

16. M. Ilmjärv. Balti-küsimus, 108. See: T. Karjahärm. Iseseisvuse väljakuulutamine, Saksa okupatsioon, Vabadussõja algus. – Eesti ajalugu V. Pärisorjuse kaotamisest Vabadussõjani. Toim. S. Vahtre, T. Karjahärm, T. Rosenberg. Ilmamaa, Tartu, 2010, 426‒427, 434‒435.

17. J. Undusk. Eesti kui Belgia, 52; A. Loit. Baltisaksa rüütelkondade seisukohad, 57.

18. E. Laaman. Eesti iseseisvuse sünd, 211.

19. German national politician Max Hildebert Boehm of Baltic origin proposed shortly before the revolution in Germany a political solution: a unified Baltic state where authority of all three nations, e.g., Germans, Estonians, and Latvians could be well balanced. Estonians and Latvians kept at a distance from Boehm’s idea as it served the interests of German annexation politics. See: U. Prehn. Max Hildebert Boehm: Radikales Ordnungsdenken vom Ersten Weltkrieg bis in die Bundesrepublik. Wallstein Verlag, Göttingen, 2013, 108‒109; A. v. Taube. Von Brest-Litovsk bis Libau, 113‒115. Another German socialist, August Winnig, German High Commissioner in the Baltikum, had a plan for an autonomous state which would include Livonia, Kurland, Lithuania, along with East and West Prussia. This state would need support from Germany, but be otherwise independent from its policy. See: R. Schattkowsky. Separatism in the Eastern Provinces of the German Reich at the End of the First World War. ‒ Journal of Contemporary History, 1994, 29, 2, 308.
https://doi.org/10.1177/002200949402900205

20. According to J. Undusk, H. Keyserling was authorised to represent the Estländische Ritterschaft in international affairs and had the support of O. v. Lilienfeld, the leader of this organisation. See: J. Undusk. Eesti kui Belgia, 57.

21. Ibid., 50‒51.

22. H. A. Keyserling. The Baltic problem. ‒ The Westminster Gazette, 18 June 1919.

23. Ibid.

24. Stryk’s plan was rejected by Otto v. Lilienfeld, the leader of the Estländische Ritterschaft (A. v. Taube. Von Brest-Litovsk bis Libau, 170‒172, 181, 229‒231.), Johannes Meyer, the Baltic German delegate in the Estonian Constituent Assembly (Asutav Kogu), and Major-General Rüdiger von der Goltz, the head of the German army group Landeswehr in Latvia. The Landeswehr, headed by von der Goltz, participated in the overthrow of Kārlis Ulmanis’ government in Latvia and helped to install the puppet-government of Andrievs Niedra, favoured by the Baltic Germans. Von der Goltz, with the Landeswehr, aimed to conquer the whole of Latvia, but they were stopped by Estonian troops. See: E. Laaman. Eesti iseseisvuse sünd, 663; R. v. der Goltz. Meine Sendung in Finnland und im Baltikum. K. F. Koehler, Leipzig, 1920, 167‒168.

25. According to von der Goltz, Stryk had spoken about his plans to an American delegate, who most likely reported it to the Latvians. See: R. v. d. Goltz. Meine Seindung, 168; E. Laaman. Eesti iseseisvuse sünd, 539‒541; A. Loit. Baltisaksa rüütelkondade seisukohad, 55.

26. At the same time the Constituent Assembly (Asutav Kogu), where the Socialists were dominating, met in Estonia for the first time. One of the most important tasks of the Constituent Assembly was to reaffirm the Estonian Declaration of Independence, but the German delegates did not join. See: E. Laaman. Eesti iseseisvuse sünd, 507.

27. Even though both American representatives of the military mission in the Baltic provinces, Warwick Greene and John A. Gade, had good relationships with the local Baltic Germans, they also sympathised with Estonians and Latvians. See: A. v. Taube. Von Brest-Litovsk bis Libau, 235‒236. Gade was the Commissioner of the United States for the Baltic Provinces of Russia, situated mostly in Tallinn, and Greene was Chief of the American mission to the Baltic Provinces, situated mostly in Latvia. For more about their activities see: E. Jēkabsons. Die Tätigkeit der amerikanischen Mission in Lettland unter der Leitung von Warwick Greene: Liepāja, April bis Mai 1919. ‒ Forschungen zur baltischen Geschichte, 2014, 9, 150‒176.

28. A. v. Taube. Von Brest-Litovsk bis Libau, 204‒207.

29. Foreign Relations of the United States, The Paris Peace Conference, 1919, vol. 12. Ed. by J. V. Fuller. United States Government Printing Office, Washington, 1947, document 58.

30. I. Lipping. Land Reform Legislation in Estonia, 155.

31. A. v. Taube. Von Brest-Litovsk bis Libau, 208.

32. A. v. Taube. Von Brest-Litovsk bis Libau, 204.

33. E. Medijainen. Economic Aspects of the de jure Recognition of the Baltic States in 1922. ‒ Baltic Journal of Political Science, 2012, 1, 26.
https://doi.org/10.15388/BJPS.2012.1.429

34. Here the Balts refer only to the Baltic Germans. It is most likely that Meyendorff did not have the full approval of the Baltic Germans from Estonia. See: A. v. Taube. Von Brest-Litovsk bis Libau, 217. Meyendorff was not the only person who claimed to represent the majority of the Baltic Germans. Keyserling wrote in his article in The Westminster Gazette that nearly all the Balts, to whatever nationality they belong, do not wish that the Baltic provinces return to Russia (see footnote 24). Also, Stryk rejected speculations that Baltic Germans wanted the Baltic lands to be united with Germany/Prussia and affirmed that this view is common among the greater number of the Baltic Germans. See: A. Loit. Baltisaksa rüütelkondade seisukohad, 59. E. Laaman. Eesti iseseisvuse sünd, 526; A. v. Taube. Von Brest-Litovsk bis Libau, 215, 231‒233.

35. Military conflicts in June 1919 between the Estonian troops and the Landeswehr, consisted of the Baltic Germans in Latvia and German volunteers.

36. A. v. Taube. Von Brest-Litovsk bis Libau, 210‒218.

37. Gough refers to the voluntary German troops, the so-called Freikorps. See: H. Gough. Soldiering on: Being the Memoirs of General Sir Hubert Gough. R. Speller, New York, 1957, 198.

38. A. Loit. Baltisaksa rüütelkondade seisukohad, 73; Maanõukogu protokoll nr 61, 21st November 1918, 291.

39. E. Laaman. Eesti iseseisvuse sünd, 372.

40. Asutava Kogu protokoll nr 53(26), 29th August 1919, 1137‒1139. Max Bock and Hermann Koch, neither of them among the nobility, represented the Germans in Estonia from the end of 1918, demonstrating the change of power inside the Baltic German community. See: K. Brüggemann. Von der führenden Schicht, 463.

41. K. Brüggemann. Von der führenden Schicht, 464.

42. I. Lipping. Land Reform Legislation in Estonia, 86‒88.

43. G. v. Pistohlkors. Inversion of Ethnic Group Status in the Baltic Region: Governments and Rural Ethnic Conflicts in Russia’s Baltic Provinces and in the Independent States of Estonia and Latvia, 1850‒1940. ‒ Roots of Rural Ethnic Mobilisation: Comparative Studies on Governments and Non-dominant Ethnic Groups in Europe, 1850‒1940. Vol. 7. Ed. by D. Howell, G. v. Pistohlkors, E. Wiehandt. New York University Press, Dartmouth, 1993, 197.

44. 1) The nobility was led by barons Eduard von Bodisco, Carl von Schilling, and Axel von Maydell; 2) the leaders were industrialist Martin Luther, and bank director Claus Scheel; 3) members were i.e., lawyer Gerhard Kress, Woldemar Kentmann, Axel de Vries, the editor in chief of Revaler Bote; and, 4) members were i.e., Heinrich Pantenius, a headmaster from Dorpat/Tartu, M.D., August Spindler, and journalist Siegmund Klau. According to Stricker the two latter groups conducted active and state friendly politics which were hostile to (Bolshevik) Russia and promoted cultural pan-Germanism. Also, Werner Hasselblatt and Ewalt Ammende belonged to the two latter groups. Party chairmen C. Mickwitz, A. Spindler, H. Koch, G. Kress and A. de Vries were all from intelligentsia, which indicates that the nobility no longer held the leading position in the German community. See also: F. Stricker. Estland, 100‒101; M. Garleff. Deutschbaltische Politik zwischen den Weltkriegen, 18; BBLD – Baltisches biographisches Lexicon digital (2012-). 
<https://bbld.de/GND1213381010>, accessed on 16th June 2022.

45. M. Garleff. Die Parteiorganisation der baltischen Deutschen, 49‒50.

46. E. Laaman. Eesti iseseisvuse sünd, 217; J. Undusk. Eesti kui Belgia, 53.

47. M. Garleff. Deutschbaltische Politik, 17‒18.

48. M. Garleff. Die Parteiorganisation, 48.

49. Over 62,000 people, making 3.2% of the population in 1935. D. Henning. Der ethnische Wandel in Estland und Lettland, 9; G. v. Pistohlkors. Inversion of Ethnic Group Status in the Baltic Region, 201; M. Garleff. Deutschbaltische Politik, 14.

50. The Latvian Constituent Assembly first met on 1st May 1920. 1) the chairmen of German People’s Party were Arthur E. Reusner and Wilhelm v. Fircks; 2) until 1932, the Reform Party was led by Edwin Magnus and represented predominantly middle-class interests; 3) the Progressive Party leaders were Eduard v. Rosenberg, Wilhelm Schreiner and Bernhard Fröhlich; 4) The presidents of the Democratic Party were Johannes von Eckardt and Paul Schiemann; and, 5) the Liepāja Unification Party was led by the aforementioned Egon Knopp. See: V. Uexküll-Güldenband, Lettland. – Die politischen Parteien der Staaten des Erdballs, 94; M. Garleff. Deutschbaltische Politik, 29‒43; BBLD – Baltisches biographisches Lexicon digital (2012–). 
<https://bbld.de/GND1213381010>, accessed on 16th June 2022.

51. G. v. Pistohlkors. Inversion of Ethnic Group Status, 200.

52. A. Loit. Baltisaksa rüütelkondade seisukohad, 65. Around 20,000 Baltic Germans from both Estonia and Latvia took refuge in Germany, but the number of refugees did not exceed 20% of the Baltic German community. See: I. Lipping. Land Reform Legislation in Estonia, 87.

53. I. Lipping. Land Reform Legislation in Estonia, 126.

54. A. Mägi. Asutav Kogu maareformi otsustamas. ‒ Tulimuld, 1959, 4, 304‒308; 1960, 1, 20‒25.

55. The letter was signed by Gough, Bosanquet, and Dawley. Greene’s deputy in Tallinn, Ernest J. Dawley, sent this letter as an acknowledgment to the American mission in Paris and received the answer that his “participation in this letter [is] not understood […], in view of fact that the sole function of American Baltic Commission is to observe and report on economic, political and military situations.” Thus, the American representative in Tallinn obviously exceeded the limits of his duties. See: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1919, vol. 12, document 73; the letter can be also found in Kirjavahetus ministeeriumidega rahvusvaheliste konventsioonide ja kokkulepete kohta välisriikidega, 28th July 1919. Rahvusarhiiv (National Archives of Estonia, RA), Tallinn, 31-1-43, 71‒72.

56. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1919, vol. 12, document 58.

57. Ibid., 1919, vol. 12, document 65.
https://doi.org/10.1177/003591571901200634

58. I. Lipping. Land Reform Legislation in Estonia, 121, 143, 152.

59. According to the Land Act, not only the land, but also the inventory of the large estates was expropriated. The state paid for the expropriated inventory compensation based on the market prices of 1914. See: T. Pool. Maauuendus Eestis ja selle tulemusi. S.n., Tallinn, 1936.

60. G. v. Pistohlkors. Inversion of Ethnic Group Status, 198‒199.

61. The author of this paper has written about the Baltic Germans’ reactions on the land reform in greater detail in H. Lepplaan. “Mein Haus, mein Land, mein Erb und Eigen”: Deutsche Reaktionen auf das estnische Agrargesetz 1919. ‒ Forschungen zur baltischen Geschichte, 2012, 7, 141‒167.

62. A. Loit. Baltisaksa rüütelkondade seisukohad, 65‒66; I. Lipping. Land Reform Legislation in Estonia, 162.

63. In an English pamphlet from 1922 Heyking claimed that “the Agrarian Reform has been used as a weapon against the minorities” and the only reason their property has been expropriated is “that the owner is not a Lett or Est.” See: A. Heyking. The Main Issues Confronting the Minorities of Latvia and Eesti. P. S. King, London, 1922, 33, 36. 

64. The minorities were not an independent part in the League of Nations’ system of petitions, the Secretary-General first decided whether the petitions against the states were to be discussed in the General Assembly. See: V. Made. Külalisena maailmapoliitikas: Eesti ja Rahvasteliit 1919‒1946. Tartu Ülikooli Kirjastus, Tartu, 1999, 145‒172.

65. R. Baltenius. The Balts in the History of Esthonia. Baltischer Verlag und Ostbuchhandlung, Berlin, 1922; J. Undusk. Eesti kui Belgia, 68.

66. R. Baltenius. The Balts in the History of Esthonia, 11‒12.

67. Ibid., 12.

68. I. Lipping. Land Reform Legislation in Estonia, 165.

69. The Compensation Committee, on the other hand, stated that the Land Act would not discriminate against an ethnic minority, since 57 of 617 former manor lords were ethnic Estonians. See: G. v. Pistohlkors. Inversion of Ethnic Group Status, 199; I. Lipping. Land Reform Legislation in Estonia, 195‒208.

70. I. Lipping. Land Reform Legislation in Estonia, 100‒101, 125.

71. Ammende and Hasselblatt from Estonia, and Schiemann from Latvia. G. v. Pistohlkors. Inversion of Ethnic Group Status, 201‒202. For more details about the role of the Baltic Germans in the European Nationalities Congress, see: D. J. Smith, M. Germane, M. Housden. “Forgotten Europeans”: Transnational Minority Activism in the Age of European Integration. – Nations and Nationalism, 2019, 25, 2, 523‒543.
https://doi.org/10.1111/nana.12401

72. I. Lipping. Land Reform Legislation in Estonia, 195.

73. Ibid., 86.

74. A. Loit. Baltisaksa rüütelkondade seisukohad, 73.

75. I. Lipping. Land Reform Legislation in Estonia, 304, 341.

76. Anerkennung Estlands de jure durch Amerika. ‒ Revaler Bote, 28th July 1922, no. 166; Lettland von Amerika de jure anerkannt. ‒ Rigasche Rundschau, 28th July 1922, no. 165.

77. Zur De-jure-Anerkennung Lettlands durch Amerika. ‒ Rigasche Rundschau, 29th July 1922, no. 166.

78. Anerkennung seitens Amerikas; Umschau ‒ Libausche Zeitung, 29th July 1922, no. 166.

79. De jure Anerkennung seitens Amerikas. ‒ Dorpater Nachrichten, 29th July 1922, no. 168.

80. Politische Uebersicht. ‒ Baltische Blätter vereinigt mit den Baltischen Nachrichten, 10th August 1922, no. 31/32. 

81. Baltische Wochenschau. ‒ Deutsche Post aus dem Osten, 13th August 1922, no. 33. The newspaper was published once a week.