2 Euro BU

The three anniversaries date back to the collapse of the Russian Empire and the political upheavals at the end of the First World War. During the war, the Baltic territories were partly under German occupation. Following the revolutions in Russia, scope emerged for their own state structures, which initially had to be established through military and diplomatic means.

In Lithuania, the Litauischer Rat adopted the Declaration of Independence on 16 February 1918. The designation as a re-establishment refers to the fact that Lithuania had already possessed its own state tradition before the partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth at the end of the 18th century. Estonia declared its independence on 24 February 1918. In Latvia, the Lettische Volksrat proclaimed the republic on 18 November 1918. In all three countries, armed conflicts with Soviet Russian troops and other military formations followed. Only thereafter were the new republics able to consolidate themselves.

Their first period of independence ended in 1940 with their occupation and incorporation into the Soviet Union. This was followed by the German occupation during the Second World War and then by renewed Soviet rule. The Baltic states did not regard their incorporation into the Soviet Union as voluntary accession. During the period of glasnost and perestroika, broad independence movements developed. A common form of protest was the “Baltic Way” („Baltische Weg“) of 1989, a human chain through Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. State independence was restored in 1990 and 1991, respectively.

The joint coin issue therefore commemorates not only three state acts that took place close together in time in 1918, but also parallel experiences of foreign rule, independence movements and renewed state sovereignty. Since 2004, all three countries have been members of the European Union and NATO. The coin design was determined in a cross-border competition and subsequently selected through a public vote in all three states. In this way, alongside its historical character, the joint project also acquired an explicitly cross-border character.