Gas 40 armored personnel carrier history of creation. Development and mass production
The Baltic countries (Baltic) include three former Soviet republics that are not part of the CIS - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. All of them are unitary republics. In 2004, all three 11Baltic countries joined NATO and European Union.
Baltic countries
Table 38
feature geographical location Baltic countries is the availability of access to the Baltic Sea and the neighboring position with Russian Federation. In the south, the Baltic countries border on Belarus (Latvia and Lithuania) and Poland (Lithuania). The countries of the region have a very important political and geographical position and an advantageous economic and geographical position.
The countries of the region are very poor in mineral resources. Among the fuel resources, peat is ubiquitous. The richest among the Baltic countries is Estonia, which has reserves of oil shale (Kohtla-Järve) and phosphorites (Maardu). Limestone reserves stand out in Latvia (Brocene). Well-known springs mineral waters: Baldone and Valmiera in Latvia, Druskininkai, Birštonas and Pabirže in Lithuania. in Estonia - Häädemeeste. The main wealth of the Baltic States is fish and recreational resources.
In terms of population, the Baltic countries are among the small countries of Europe (see Table 38). The population is distributed relatively evenly, and only on the coast the population density increases slightly.
In all countries of the region dominated modern type reproduction, and everywhere the death rate exceeds the birth rate. The natural population decline is especially high in Latvia (-5% o) and in Estonia (-4% o).
The gender composition, as in most European countries, is dominated by the female population. In terms of the age composition of the population, the Baltic countries can be classified as “aging nations”: in Estonia and Latvia, the share of pensioners exceeds the share of children, and only in Lithuania these figures are equal.
All the Baltic countries have a multinational composition of the population, and only in Lithuania the Lithuanians make up the absolute majority of the population - 82%, while in Latvia the Latvians account for only 55% of the population of the republic. In addition to the indigenous peoples, a lot of the so-called Russian-speaking population lives in the Baltic states: Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, and Poles in Lithuania. The largest share of Russians is in Latvia (30%) and Estonia (28%), however, it is in these countries that the problem of observing the rights of the Russian-speaking population is most acute.
Estonians and Latvians are Protestants by religion, while Lithuanians and Poles are Catholics. The majority of the believing Russian-speaking population consider themselves Orthodox.
The Baltics are characterized high level urbanization: from 67% in Lithuania to 72% in Estonia, but there are no cities with millionaires. The largest city in each republic is its capital. Among other cities, it should be noted in Estonia - Tartu, in Latvia - Daugavpils, Jurmala and Liepaja, in Lithuania - Kaunas, Klaipeda and Siauliai.
The structure of employment of the population of the Baltic countries
Table 39
The Baltic countries are provided with highly qualified labor resources. Most of the population in the countries of the region is employed in the non-manufacturing sector (see Table 39).
Emigration of the population prevails in all the Baltic countries: the Russian-speaking population leaves for Russia, Estonians - for Finland, Latvians and Lithuanians - for Germany and the USA.
After the collapse of the USSR, the structure of the economy and the specialization of the Baltic countries changed significantly: the predominance of the manufacturing industry was replaced by the predominance of the service sector, and some branches of precision and transport engineering, light industry, in which the Baltic countries specialized, practically disappeared. At the same time, the importance Agriculture and food industry.
The power industry is of secondary importance in the region (moreover, 83% of Lithuanian electricity is provided by the largest in Europe Ignalina
NPP), ferrous metallurgy, represented by the only center of conversion metallurgy in Liepaja (Latvia).
The branches of industrial specialization of the modern Baltic include: Precision engineering, especially the electrical industry - the production of radio equipment in Estonia (Tallinn), Latvia (Riga) and Lithuania (Kaunas), televisions (Siauliai) and refrigerators (Vilnius) in Lithuania; machine tool building in Lithuania (Vilnius) and ship repair in Latvia (Riga) and Lithuania (Klaipeda). developed in Soviet time in Latvia, transport engineering (production of electric trains and minibuses) has practically ceased to exist; Chemical industry: production of mineral fertilizers (Maardu and Kohtla-Järve in Estonia, Ventspils in Latvia and Jonava in Lithuania), production of chemical fibers (Daugavpils in Latvia and Vilnius in Lithuania), perfume industry (Riga in Latvia) and household chemicals (Tallinn in Estonia and Daugavpils in Latvia); timber industry, especially furniture and pulp and paper (Tallinn, Tartu and Narva in Estonia, Riga and Jurmala in Latvia, Vilnius and Klaipeda in Lithuania); Light industry: textile industry (Tallinn and Narva in Estonia, Riga in Latvia, Kaunas and Panevezys in Lithuania), clothing (Tallinn and Riga), knitwear (Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius) and shoe industry (Vilnius and Siachulyai in Lithuania); The food industry, in which a special role is played by dairy and fish (Tallinn, Tartu, Pärnu, Riga, Liepaja, Klaipeda, Vilnius).
The Baltic countries are characterized by the development of intensive agriculture with a predominance of animal husbandry, where dairy cattle breeding and pig breeding play a leading role. Almost half of the cultivated area is occupied by fodder crops. Rye, barley, potatoes, vegetables, flax are grown everywhere, in Latvia and Lithuania - sugar beets. In terms of agricultural production, Lithuania stands out among the Baltic countries.
The Baltic countries are characterized by a high level of development of the transport system: where road, rail, pipeline and maritime modes of transport stand out. The largest seaports in the region are Tallinn and Pärnu - in Estonia; Riga, Ventspils (oil tanker), Liepaja - in Latvia and Klaipeda - in Lithuania. Estonia has a ferry connection with Finland (Tallinn - Helsinki), and Lithuania - with Germany (Klaipeda - Mukran).
Among the branches of the non-productive sphere, recreational economy is of particular importance. The main tourist and recreational centers of the Baltic States are Tallinn, Tartu and Pärnu - in Estonia;
Riga, Jurmala, Tukums and Baldone - in Latvia; Vilnius, Kaunas, Palanga, Trakai, Druskininkai and Birštonas are in Lithuania.
The main foreign economic partners of the Baltic States are the countries Western Europe(especially Finland, Sweden and Germany), as well as Russia, and a reorientation of foreign trade towards Western countries is clearly observed.
The Baltic countries export appliances, radio and electrical equipment, communications equipment, perfumes, household chemicals, forestry, light, dairy and fishing industries.
Imports are dominated by fuel (oil, gas, coal), industrial raw materials (ferrous and non-ferrous metals, apatite, cotton), vehicles, consumer goods.
Questions and tasks Give the economic and geographical characteristics of the Baltic States. What are the factors that determine the specialization of the economy of the Baltic countries. Describe the problems of development of the region. Give the economic and geographical characteristics of Estonia. Give the economic and geographical characteristics of Latvia. Give the economic and geographical characteristics of Lithuania.
Despite the outward similarity of the Baltic countries in political, social and cultural terms, there are many historically determined differences between them.
Lithuanians and Latvians speak languages of a special Baltic (Letto-Lithuanian) group of Indo-European language family. Estonian belongs to the Finnish group of the Uralic (Finno-Ugric) family. The closest relatives of Estonians, in terms of origin and language, are the Finns, Karelians, Komi, Mordvins, and Mari.
The Lithuanians are the only one of the Baltic peoples who in the past had experience not only in creating their own state, but also in building a great power. The heyday of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania fell on the XIV-XV centuries, when its possessions stretched from the Baltic to the Black Sea and included the main part of modern Belarusian and Ukrainian lands, as well as some Western Russian territories. The Old Russian language (or, as some researchers believe, the Belarusian-Ukrainian language that developed on its basis) was the state language in the principality for a long time. The residence of the great Lithuanian princes in the XIV-XV centuries. the city of Trakai, located among the lakes, often served, then the role of the capital was finally assigned to Vilnius. In the 16th century, Lithuania and Poland concluded a union between themselves, forming a single state - the Commonwealth ("republic").
In the new state, the Polish element turned out to be stronger than the Lithuanian one. Yielding to Lithuania in terms of the size of its possessions, Poland was a more developed and populous country. Unlike the Lithuanian ones, the Polish rulers had a royal title received from the Pope. The nobility of the Grand Duchy adopted the language and customs of the Polish gentry and merged with it. The Lithuanian language remained mainly the language of the peasants. In addition, Lithuanian lands, especially the Vilnius region, were largely subjected to Polish colonization.
After the divisions of the Commonwealth, the territory of Lithuania at the end of the 18th century became part of Russian Empire. The population of these lands in this period did not separate their fate from their western neighbors and participated in all Polish uprisings. After one of them, Vilnius University was closed by the tsarist government in 1832 (founded in 1579, it was the oldest in the Russian Empire, it would be reopened only in 1919).
The lands of Latvia and Estonia in the Middle Ages were the object of expansion and colonization by Scandinavians and Germans. The coast of Estonia at one time belonged to Denmark. At the mouth of the Daugava River (Western Dvina) and other areas of the Latvian coast at the turn of the 13th century, German knightly orders settled - the Teutonic Order and the Order of the Sword. In 1237 they united into the Livonian Order, which dominated most of the Latvian and Estonian lands until the middle of the 16th century. During this period, the German colonization of the region was going on, the German nobility was formed. The population of the cities also mainly consisted of German merchants and artisans. Many of these cities, including Riga, were part of the Hanseatic League.
In the Livonian War of 1556-1583, the order was defeated with the active participation of Russia, which, however, in the course of further hostilities failed to secure these lands at that time. The possessions of the order were divided between Sweden and the Commonwealth. In the future, Sweden, turning into a great European power, was able to push Poland.
Peter I conquered Estonia and Livonia from Sweden and included them in Russia following the results of the Northern War. The local German nobility, dissatisfied with the policy of "reduction" pursued by the Swedes (confiscation of estates in state property) for the most part willingly swore allegiance and transferred to the service of the Russian sovereign.
In the context of the confrontation between Sweden, Poland and Russia in the Baltic States, the Grand Duchy of Courland, which occupied the western and southern part modern Latvia (Kurzeme). In the middle - second half of the 17th century (under Duke Jacob) it experienced its heyday, turning, in particular, into a major maritime power. The duchy at that time even acquired its own overseas colonies - the island of Tobago in the Caribbean Sea and the island of St. Andrew at the mouth of the Gambia River on the African continent. In the first third of the 18th century, the niece of Peter I Anna Ioannovna became the ruler of Courland, who later received the Russian throne. The entry of Courland into the Russian Empire was officially formalized at the end of the 18th century after the divisions of the Commonwealth. The history of the Duchy of Courland is sometimes regarded as one of the roots of Latvian statehood. However, during its existence, the duchy was considered a German state.
The Germans in the Baltic lands were not only the basis of the nobility, but also the majority of the inhabitants of the cities. The Latvian and Estonian population was almost exclusively peasant. The situation began to change in the middle of the 19th century with the development of industry in Livonia and Estonia, in particular with the transformation of Riga into one of the largest industrial centers of the empire.
On turn of XIX-XX For centuries, national movements have been formed in the Baltic States, putting forward the slogan of self-determination. Under the conditions of the First World War and the revolution that began in Russia, opportunities were created for its practical implementation. Attempts to proclaim Soviet power in the Baltic States were suppressed both internally and external forces, although the socialist movement in this region was very powerful. Supporters Soviet power parts of the Latvian riflemen (which were formed by the tsarist government to fight the Germans) played a very important role in the years civil war.
As a result of the events of 1918-20. the independence of the three Baltic states was proclaimed, at the same time, for the first time, the modern configuration of their borders took shape (however, Vilnius, the original capital of Lithuania and the area adjacent to it, were captured by Poland in 1920). In the 1920s and 1930s, dictatorial political regimes of an authoritarian type were established in the Baltic republics. The socio-economic situation of the three new states was unstable, which led, in particular, to significant labor migration to Western countries.
Accession of the Baltic States to Russia
On April 15, 1795, Catherine II signed the Manifesto on the annexation of Lithuania and Courland to Russia.
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Russia and Zhamois was the official name of the state that existed from the 13th century to 1795. Now on its territory are Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine. According to the most common version, the Lithuanian state was founded around 1240 by Prince Mindovg, who united the Lithuanian tribes and began to progressively annex the fragmented Russian principalities. This policy was continued by the descendants of Mindovg, especially the Grand Dukes Gediminas (1316 - 1341), Olgerd (1345 - 1377) and Vitovt (1392 - 1430). Under them, Lithuania annexed the lands of White, Black and Red Rus', and also conquered the mother of Russian cities, Kyiv, from the Tatars.
official language The Grand Duchy was Russian (this is how it was called in the documents, Ukrainian and Belarusian nationalists call it, respectively, "Old Ukrainian" and "Old Belarusian"). Since 1385, several unions have been concluded between Lithuania and Poland. The Lithuanian gentry began to adopt the Polish language, Polish 
culture, to move from Orthodoxy to Catholicism. The local population was subjected to harassment on religious grounds.
Several centuries earlier than in Muscovite Rus', serfdom was introduced in Lithuania (following the example of the possessions of the Livonian Order): Orthodox Russian peasants became the personal property of the Polonized gentry, who converted to Catholicism. Religious uprisings flared in Lithuania, and the remaining Orthodox gentry appealed to Russia. In 1558, the Livonian War began.
During the Livonian War, suffering tangible defeats from the Russian troops, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1569 went to the signing of the Union of Lublin: Ukraine completely departed from the Principality of Poland, and the lands of Lithuania and Belarus that remained in the Principality of the Principality were with Poland part of the confederate Commonwealth, submitting to foreign policy Poland.
The results of the Livonian War of 1558-1583 consolidated the position of the Baltic States for a century and a half before the start of the Northern War of 1700-1721.
The accession of the Baltic States to Russia during the Northern War coincided with the implementation of the Petrine reforms. Then Livonia and Estonia became part of the Russian Empire. Peter I himself tried in a non-military way to establish relations with the local German nobility, the descendants of the German knights. Estonia and Vidzem were the first to be annexed - following the results of the war in 1721. And only 54 years later, following the results of the third section of the Commonwealth, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Duchy of Courland and Semigalle became part of the Russian Empire. This happened after Catherine II signed the manifesto of April 15, 1795.
After joining Russia, the Baltic nobility without any restrictions received the rights and privileges of the Russian nobility. Moreover, the Baltic Germans (mainly the descendants of German knights from the Livonia and Courland provinces) were, if not more influential, then at least no less influential than the Russians, nationality in the Empire: numerous
The dignitaries of the Empire were of Baltic origin. Catherine II carried out a number of administrative reforms regarding the administration of provinces, the rights of cities, where the independence of governors increased, but the actual power, in the realities of the time, was in the hands of the local, Baltic nobility.
By 1917, the Baltic lands were divided into Estland (center in Revel - now Tallinn), Livonia (center - Riga), Courland (center in Mitava - now Yelgava) and Vilna province (center in Vilna - now Vilnius). The provinces were characterized by a large mixture of population: by the beginning of the 20th century, about four million people lived in the provinces, about half of them were Lutherans, about a quarter were Catholics, and about 16% were Orthodox. The provinces were inhabited by Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Germans, Russians, Poles, in the Vilna province there was a relatively high proportion of the Jewish population. In the Russian Empire, the population of the Baltic provinces has never been subjected to any kind of discrimination. On the contrary, in the Estland and Livland provinces, serfdom was abolished, for example, much earlier than in the rest of Russia, already in 1819. Subject to the knowledge of the Russian language for the local population, there were no restrictions on admission to public service. The imperial government actively developed the local industry. Riga shared with
Kiev has the right to be the third most important administrative, cultural and industrial center of the Empire after St. Petersburg and Moscow. With great respect, the tsarist government treated local customs and legal orders.
But the Russian-Baltic history, rich in traditions of good neighborliness, turned out to be powerless in front of contemporary issues in relations between countries caused by the period of communist rule. In 1917-1920 the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) gained independence from Russia.
But already in 1940, after the conclusion of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, the inclusion of the Baltic states into the USSR followed.
In 1990, the Baltic states proclaimed the restoration of state sovereignty, and after the collapse of the USSR, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania received both de facto and legal independence.
In addition, the following events took place on that day:
IN 1684 was born Catherine I (nee Marta Skavronskaya), the second wife of Peter I, the Russian Empress since 1725. Martha's origin is not exactly known. 
According to some reports, she was the daughter of the Latvian peasant Samuil Skavronsky, according to others, the Swedish quartermaster I. Rabe. She did not receive an education, and her youth was spent in the house of pastor Gluck in Marienburg (now the city of Aluksne in Latvia), where Marta was both a washerwoman and a cook. In 1702, after the capture of Marienburg by Russian troops, Marta became a war trophy and ended up first in the convoy of B.P. Sheremetev, and then with A.D. Menshikov. Around 1703, Peter I noticed Marta and was captivated by her beauty. Gradually, relations between them became closer and closer. Catherine did not take a direct part in solving political issues, but had a certain influence on the king. According to legend, she saved the king during the Prut campaign, when the Russian troops were surrounded. Catherine handed over all her jewels to the Turkish vizier, thereby persuading him to sign a truce. Upon returning to St. Petersburg on February 19, 1712, Peter married Catherine, and their daughters Anna and Elizabeth (future Empress Elizaveta Petrovna) received the official status of princesses. In 1714, in memory of the Prut campaign, the tsar established the Order of St. Catherine, which he awarded his wife on her name day. In May 1724, Peter crowned Catherine as Empress for the first time in Russian history. After the death of Peter, through the efforts of Menshikov and with the support of the guards, Catherine was elevated to the throne. Since she herself did not have the ability and knowledge statesman, under her the Supreme Privy Council, which ruled the country, was created, headed by Menshikov.
In 1849, in the presence of the entire imperial family, the Grand Kremlin Palace was solemnly consecrated. In July 1838, by order of Nicholas I, the 
reconstruction of the residence of Russian sovereigns. Restored after a fire in 1812, the building of the palace turned out to be very dilapidated. It was decided to demolish it. The old palace of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna was built according to the project of Rastrelli in the 18th century, it was built on the site of the ancient grand ducal palace of Ivan III. Konstantin Andreevich Ton was entrusted to lead the construction. The group of architects led the construction: N.I. Chichagov designed mainly interior decoration, V.A. Bakarev made estimates, F.F. Richter designed the interiors and replaced K.A. tone. Individual details were developed by a group of architectural assistants, including P.A. Gerasimov and N.A. Shokhin. The construction and decoration of the palace continued from 1838 to 1849. The palace complex, later called the Grand Kremlin Palace, in addition to the newly built building, included part of the surviving buildings of the late 15th-17th centuries, which were previously part of the ancient grand ducal, and later the royal residence. These are the Faceted Chamber, the Golden Tsaritsyna Chamber, the Terem Palace and palace churches. After the construction of the Armory in 1851 and the building of the Apartments adjacent to it from the north, connected by an air passage with the palace complex, a single ensemble of the palace was formed, linked compositionally and stylistically. In 1933-1934, the Alexander and Andreevsky halls of the palace were rebuilt into the meeting room of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. In 1994-1998, by decision of the President of the Russian Federation, the halls were restored. At present, the entire complex of the Grand Kremlin Palace, except for the Armory, is the main Residence of the President of Russia.
And also April 15 to June 5 Russia hosts traditional annual
All-Russian days of protection from environmental hazards.
The purpose of this action is to attract the attention of the public, government agencies, funds mass media to the problems of environmental protection in order to create conditions for the implementation of the constitutional right of Russian citizens to environmental safety and health protection. Days of protection from environmental hazards have been held in Russia since 1993, the initiative to hold these events initially came not even from environmentalists, but from trade unions, for which the Association of Trade Union Organizations of Ecological Disaster Zones was formed. In 1994, the Days of Protection from Ecological Hazards were given national importance, and an all-Russian organizing committee was created to carry out the action. Days of protection from environmental safety cover almost all regions. These days, events are held to coincide with Earth Day (April 22), Day of Remembrance for those killed in radiation accidents and disasters (April 26), International Children's Day (June 1) and world day environmental protection (June 5).
Previous days in Russian history:
→ Accomplishment under Peter I
→ MIG-17
→ Vyazemskaya airborne operation
January 14 in Russian history
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