Reichskommissariat Ostland
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Ostland was the first Nazi puppet state to be set up in Eastern Europe in mid 1941. It incorporated the former Baltic republic of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia along with a bit of northern Belorussia. The state served as a colonial administration for the regime, for its promiximity to the...
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Background[]

Ostland was the first Nazi puppet state to be set up in Eastern Europe in mid 1941. It incorporated the former Baltic republic of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia along with a bit of northern Belorussia. The state served as a colonial administration for the regime, for its promiximity to the mainland of Germany and its historical Germanic presence made it an important part of the Lebensraum project that Adolf Hitler had built his National Socialist regime around. The region that the administration was in charge of had significant cultural influences from established German settlers, as a group of Germans known as Baltic Germans had settled in the area hundreds of years ago, with these being descendants of the famed Teutonic Order of old. These aristocratic families made up approximately 60,000 people in the baltics at the outset of WW2, and were initially sent off to German-occupied Poland in a population exchange with the Soviet Union, with many deciding to permanently settle in the newly conquered territories. When Operation Barbarossa began, the Reichskommisariat was established, with many Baltic Germans invited to join the government and/or resettle in their former accomodations, along with this and the presence of proto-Nordic natives (Estonians and Latvians), the state seemed destined to have grand colonial ambitions.

Conflicts[]

The colony was certainly given a lot of hope to become the model colony of the East, with its established German presence and high amounts of collaboration with the natives, the state seemed destined to reach its goal of Germanification within 30 years, however the reality was very different. From the outset of the administration's establishment, the territory was swamped with Guerilla Activity on all sides, in the Baltic parts of the state there were the forest brothers, a collective name of the Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians who actively fought their Nazi occupiers, this was compounded by the Partisans, Belorussians and Russian rebels marginally funded by the Soviets, such activities seriously hampered Colonisation efforts. Despite winning the war against the Bolsheviks, most guerrilla groups refused to surrender, leading to a decades long insurgency that would kill hundreds of thousands, the height of this activity being the Baltic Uprising, wherein a massive campaign was launched to liberate the baltics and belorussia from the Nazis, however it would be destroyed by the Germans, who would restore the status quo. The resistance movement never was fully extinguished, despite dozens of attempted by the Nazis to do so, their final fate is unknown, considering they almost all died during and in the aftermath of the Great War.

The Germans[]

By the 60's the German population only counted for 10-15% of the states population, far below the minimum 50% set out in the 40's, this was attested to lack of willing settlers and also due to many Germans being drafted into the Wehrmacht to fight abroad in the insurgencies in Russia, America, and Africa, leaving very few people available as settlers. Of these German settlers, 3 distinctly different types of German settlers now occupied Ostland, these were: 1. "Old Money Germans", the core of these Germans were of course the Baltic Germans, who had a monopoly on the local economy and government positions, these also consisted of former officers and businessmen, many of whom either came from Prussian nobility or from the Junkers Estates. Most of these Germans lived in Western Latvian land, traditional Baltic German country 2. Wehrbauer, these were peasant soldiers from the Wehrmacht, mostly junior officers and common enlisted men, these people mainly were farmers or small business owners, a majority of whom were situated around what was once known as Leningrad, renamed to Adolfsburg, as the land had been provided by the government due to it being massively depopulated following the Siege of Leningrad. 3. Finally, there were the SS colonists. These comprised of Germanic peoples who had been apart of the SS foreign legions, these Germanic people settled near mainland Germany, in the region of Sudovia, many considered these people as eccentric and dangerous, as many were indoctrinated into believing in Esoteric Fasicm, making them hardcore fanatics. Ultimately by the end of the century, the state comprised of roughly 20-25% Fully Germanic People, and the rest were natives.

Natives[]

The natives of the state were treated varyingly dependant on their race and their alliegences. For those who were considered somewhat aryan (Estonians & Latvians) and had sworn their alliegnce to the Nazi regime, they were guaranteed good treatment similar to the settlers, however if you were not a loyalist or were in defiance of the regime, you would likely be deported to Madagascar to be gassed. If you were too "Slavic" (Lithuanians, Belorussians, and Russians) then if you weren't apart of the SS or Hiwi auxiliary troops, your likely fate was to be treated as a second class citizen with bare minimum rights and would likely be killed for the smallest of infractions incurred. For those lucky enough (and racially pure enough) to the regime then you could be allowed to go and settle within Reichskommisariat Moskowien as they were desperate for any colonists to help and improve their situation. Furthermore, for the balts they had to Germanise through mandatory speaking of German and Baltic women would only be considered Ayran if she had a German husband, this would result in many Baltic families selling their daughters off to rich German men who would take many mistresses for their own pleasure. Overall your treatment as a native depended mostly on your racial features and your loyalty to the state.

Infrastructure & Economy[]

The infrastructure of the state was abysmally lacking following the invasion of the Soviet Union, with the roadways mostly being dirt and the few paved roads either being cobble or being destroyed by retreating troops. This not only caused administration of the territory to be tough, but presented severe logistical challenges for the colonial government as troops and supplies became difficult to move around effectively. This was compounded by the issue of railways, as the Soviets and Baltic states used the old Imperial Russia gauge, a larger gauge then the standard European railway gauge used by the rest of the world, meaning that the only locomotives that could initially be used were the few captured Russian trains. This was compounded by Guerilla activity to destroy bridges, tunnels, roads, etc. Therefore postwar the administration made a massive effort to overhaul the delapidated infrastructure, resulting in a 5 year plan designed to do the following: Construct a Reichsautobahn network throughout the colony, Standardise all Railways in the colony, Electrify all major cities, and rebuild supply bottlenecks to an improved standard. The work commenced in 1950, but the plan was extended and took 8 years to fully complete, as delays regarding manpower and resources made the project slow down at multiple points, but once it was completed it set the colony up to have a superb transit system and allow modern vehicles to start to be operated in the state. On top of this the economy of the state had been primarily agricultural for generations beforehand, but alongside the infrastructure plan, an industrialisation plan was decided upon in the early 50's to make a mixed economy for the Reich. Throughout the 50's and 60's, the state constructed new factories and renovated old Baltic and soviet ones to produce civilian and military products to sell to its populace and back to the Reich, this was also followed by expanding mines to extract more resources and agricultural practices were modernised, introducing mass mechanisation of farming. Despite the hardships of the German economy back home, the Colony kept a well balanced economy, though taking hits whenever the Reichmark would fall in value back home and during major incidents such as Black Friday, but overall thanks to good economic decisions the state ran a model economy for the majority of its existence.

Fate[]