German Imperial Commissioners of the League of the East Sea (1879-present)
Manfred, Count Lambsdorff (Hardliner, Courland-based) 1879-1890
"The Red Count"
Lambsdorff was a die-hard German Imperialist who believed sincerely in German supremacy and the right to control the Baltic lands. The lands of Estonia, Courland and Livonia were held firmly under Lambsdorff's fist from the time he was appointed the first Imperial Commissioner to the time when he fell severely ill and was dismissed by the Kaiser. His time in charge set the tone for the future, that of a firm German minority elite ruling over a vast and disenfranchised Baltic majority.
Ernst von Krusenstern (Hardliner, Estonia-based) 1890-1917*
"The Shadow of the Balts"
An astute man, the second son of an esteemed lineage could boast that he was out of all the Baltic German nobility, the most self-made. An industrialist, he wished to "modernise" the League so that it could more than ever deliver resources to fuel Germany's growth. He was also a moderniser in another, grimmer way as he took note of the British and Dutch innovations in Africa to implement concentration camps in the most rural parts of the Baltics for "dissidents" who refused to bow to German authority.
While all this worked wonderfully in peace time, when Germany went to war with Russia, it fell apart as Russia successfully isolated the League from Germany and provoked a Baltic rebellion that ended up overwhelming Krusenstern's defenses and hanged him.
-- vacant 1917-1919 --
"Chaos"
With Krustenstern dead and authority more or less in the hands of the "Baltic Republic", the die-hard leader ordered a purge of all Baltic Germans that ended up dividing the Republic as the far-left saw it as a way to seize power. As the months turned to years, the strength of the revolution crumbled and when the Germans finally marched back in as Russia fell apart, well...
Johann von Lieven (Reformer, Livonia-based) 1919-1930*
"A Noble Tragedy"
Even now as the East Sea League collapses finally, there are those who scream "Avenge Lieven". Johann von Lieven was a sharp departure from the firm hand championed by Lambsdorff and Krusenstern. He was a thin, awkward poet seemingly unfit for governing a League seemingly maintained by bloody force. But what he lacked in brute force, he made up in cunning and awareness. Knowing that the League was numbered unless it managed to win over the majority, he implemented reforms [bitterly opposed by the other elite but the Commissioner had absolute power] that divided Livonia and Courland to create Latvia, and granted all four provinces limited self-government. For this, he was feted in Tallinn and Riga. Perhaps the Revolution made the League more open to reforms.
Then came Black Wednesday. For years, the elite was unhappy with Lieven's liberalism, and with secret approval from the Crown Prince and unofficial Regent, they struck. The Freikorps marched through Riga where Lieven had his court, and seized him. His execution was quick and merciless, and then the Freikorps started purging any of his allies. The next two months were bloody.
Wilhelm von Gebhardt (Hardliner, Latvia-based) 1930-1941*
"A Head for a Head"
Gebhardt suspended all four devolved assemblies, declaring "the mistake is undone". Gebhardt was of the highest Baltic German nobility and supervised the events of Black Wednesday. As the masses muttered and labelled him "the Butcher of the Blackest Day", Gebhardt looked at his new realm and decided that it should return back to where it should be - namely Lebensraum.
For Gebhardt was an ally of the Nazi Party that was ascendant in the Empire and saw the East Sea as part of the future Lebensraum. Sure, Chancellor Strasser was a bit too left-wing for Gebhardt's tastes, but the Party as a whole spoke sense. And as new Germans flocked to the Baltic League, lands were seized from the masses and given to them.
All the good will Lieven built went up in fire as the people shouted at Gebhardt for taking their lands away. But as long as the Freikorps and the Militia [and the German Army was entirely willing to come over to help] were there, they posed no threat. Summary executions of the most troublesome rebels were authorised and the camps reopened, this time for a more darker purpose.
When Strasser was assassinated, Goering seized power, and within six months went to war with the Socialist Republic of Russia. This war caught Gebhardt off and he scrambled to arrange forces for the eastern front. But the Russian troops marched unceasingly and seized the Baltic lands within a year. And Gebhardt would be thrown into the same camps he threw many Balts and Jews into.
-- vacant 1941-1947 --
"Freedom and solidarity, comrade."
The Baltic Socialist Republic was restored and introduced into the growing "Global Socialist Union". Land was redistributed to the workers and soviets were set up. Meanwhile the Baltic Germans were fleeing back to Germany as the Nazis scrambled to hold power as the now-Kaiser started to assemble critics against Goering, who was seen as more unstable than Strasser. The six years under the Baltic Socialist Republic was not bad years, and even now they're lionised as "the six years of freedom".
But as the Kaiser made a devil's bargain with the French and British in 1944 to unite against the GSU, implementing the British Tosaig's "Operation Unthinkable", the Nazis were sidelined and all forces united to stop the Bolshevik menace that they decided was clearly the worst side. In the end, the Baltic lands returned once more to the Germans in the Peace of Berlin, and gained a new land, that of the once free land of Lithuania. The GSU seethed at the loss of the Balts, but looked at gains elsewhere and merely grumbled.
Claus von Quistorp (Moderate, Lithuania-based) 1947-1965
"The Architect"
A thickly-mustached man with a gruff demeanour, he was an enigma to everyone. While he was once an ally to Lieven, he renounced Lieven and everything he stood for in 1929, a year before Black Wednesday. And yet he preferred to remain politically neutral in the 1930s rather than join Gebhardt and the East Sea League into siding enthuasistically with Strasser and Goering. Indeed, he was only known to the Kaiser as a drinking buddy and not as a serious politician. But the Kaiser held a heavy distrust of any "established" Baltic German politicians who just ran the place in the ground, or in the case of Lieven went too far too fast. Quistorp to the Kaiser was "the most sensible of sensible men" and so was appointed with approval of the (freshly democratically elected) Reichstag.
Instead of cracking down harshly, or reforming too quickly, Quistorp chose to take a slow approach. It was one that would not get him the people's love, but it was also not one that would get him the elite's loathing. While the devolved assemblies were indeed restored, they now had upper chambers filled with the most powerful Baltic Germans from that region and had strong vetoes. So when democracy returned to the East Sea League, it was toothless.
As the GSU turned their eyes elsewhere, the ESL's Ministry of Immigration quietly encouraged Germans to come and settle, and the genius of it was that the Socialists seized a lot of people's lands, and so they were now in the League's hands, ready to be handed over to new settlers. Still, there were riots that had to be put down, those were unavoidable. But executions were now secret.
As the East Sea League entered the 60s, the "Alter Kommissar" chose to retire in 1965, citing old age. He ensured the League wouldn't collapse and indeed would persist, and that Baltic German control would continue. Not positively remembered, but not one of the names shouted in hate like Gebhardt or Lambsdorff.
Franz von Kotzenbue (Moderate, Estonia-based) 1965-1970
"Strangled by the Rainbow"
Kotzenbue was in many ways Quistorp's protege. Pragmatic, yet firmly ready to defend Baltic German interests. But the 60s was an era of bubbling tension everywhere. And in a country of tension such as the East Sea League, that was lethal to him. When Kotzenbue appointed more Baltic Germans to the upper houses, a movement of Balts and Estonians sprung up to protest and call for appointments from the masses. Turning to his old master for advice, his old master gruffly said "They're being ungrateful, just say no". And say no Kotzenbue did. But inspired by the protests and revolutions elsewhere, the masses turned to it themselves, calling themselves the "Rainbow Men" [and Women, they took part too], and rose up in protest in all major cities.
Summoned to the Kaiser, he stammered that this was merely a temporary crisis and that business would go as usual. The Kaiser refused to accept this and dismissed Kotzenbue. By 1970, the Kaiser went from a nuanced middle-aged man to a harder, harsher man approaching his 60s. And his choice reflected that shift.
August Eichwald (Hardliner, Latvia-based) 1970-1981
"The Baltic Roundhead"
The choice of Eichwald was unusual. Normally it was from the nobility that the Commissar was selected, but the Kaiser after being told by his SPD Chancellor that the next one would have to be an "ordinary man" to get the SPD approval, chose Eichwald. A hardliner with a firm belief in Baltic German supremacy, he was nevertheless not one to praise the aristocracy. Indeed, his base of support was with the "ordinary" Baltic Germans and with the "New Baltic Germans" that moved to the East Sea League. Not the highest of nobility.
The Rainbow Men were crushed mercilessly. No quarter was to be given. But to garner support with the more ordinary Baltic Germans, he abolished the upper houses [Balts: Yay!] and replaced them with ones elected by Baltic Germans only [Balts: Boo!]. The nobility by this time were not as powerful as they once were. The Socialist invasion meant that their vast lands were now mostly state-owned.
Eichwald was also devoutly religious and a die-hard Protestant who wanted to "cleanse heresy like the Livonian Order of old". But as much of a crusader as he was, he was made aware that a considerable amount of New Baltic Germans were, well, Catholic. So he instead focused his efforts on crushing Orthodoxy and ensuring Lithuania [a historically-Orthodox area] would be Protestant. This, he kind of failed and only wasted state money on, contributing to a ticking time bomb that would strike at some point.
When the new Kaiser, a young and quiet man inclined to liberalism, came to power he immediately dismissed Eichwald.
Balthasar Braun (Reformer, Courland-based, then Vorumia-based) 1981-1997
"The Diamond Man"
Everything should have worked against Braun. A young man with bright blond hair except for a distinctive pitch-black streak, he was a self-professed socialist and radical who often railed against the Baltic German elite's control of the League, arguing for a restoration of the Baltic Socialist Republic. Many shouted at the Kaiser that this was a huge mistake and even the SPD was reluctant to vote him through. But as Braun returned to the East Sea League with a bright and disturbingly wide smile, he clearly had a plan.
Dismissing Eichwald's court, he made sure to tell the military to "dispose" of them, and they did. Braun was not, unlike expectations, naive. He knew that if he was to implement the reforms both he and the Kaiser wished, he would have to be brutal. Extremely brutal. The first thing he did was to create the province of Vorumia in the east, which would be directly under his authority. It guaranteed him security as none of the Baltic German nobility had influence in Vorumia. It was a land free of them.
The next thing Braun did was suspend the upper houses, handing over all power to the lower houses, ensuring that there was democracy in the East Sea League. Just as expected, some desperate nobility tried to off him to get a "better" Commissar. With that plot defeated, he seized the opportunity to declare that the nobility has "betrayed" the League and that their entire privileges were forfeit. Despite shock back home in Germany, leading to a Zentrum-BVP coalition taking charge, Braun knew German law very well. While the Reichstag had to vote to confirm a Commissar, it couldn't revoke one. That was the Kaiser's charge, and the Kaiser approved of his policies so far. As many of the nobility moved to Germany cursing Braun's name they seeded the Empire's downfall in the 2030s.
It was now 1988. When the Socialist Republic of Russia started to crumble, Braun was there, declaring that "the gates to freedom are open for any of the human race". The GSU was still strong elsewhere, but with Russia falling it was quite a blow, but to Braun it was a huge boon. Part of what prevented any reform was fear of Russian socialism. Now that Russia was under a new regime, it was time to move forward with reforms. In 1989, he announced that the Ministry of Immigration's "Ostsiedlung" policy was now repealed. Baltic Germans would have to go through the normal process, same as everyone else. While Chancellor Paul Kettler frostly declared that this was an exceptionally unwise decision from an unwise leader, Braun read a letter of praise from the Kaiser.
This was the zenith of Balthasar Braun. It could only go down from here.
In 1990, he finally consolidated power firmly in himself, with the legislative assemblies answerable direct to him. He could now veto anything they passed, and this caused alarmbells with the Kaiser, which led to a letter advising his dear friend to not seize the power of a dictator and instead focus on liberalising the place. Braun disregarded that letter. From 1991 forth, he styled himself first as "Präsident" and only second as "Kommissar", in the fused title of "Präsident und Kommissar". It was clear to all his ultimate plan.
The Kaiser in the opening winter days of 1992 sent a final letter of warning to Braun. Only focus on what the Kaiser charged you to do, and do not go further. Braun wrote back that the Kaiser did not understand his ultimate plan. The Kaiser was going to tell the Chancellor that he would dismiss Braun, but then he fell into a coma due to a massive heart attack. The Regent, the Kaiser's younger brother, received a letter telling him that only the Kaiser, and not the Regent, could dismiss Braun. The Regent accepted this, somewhat naively.
The writer of the letter was now free to establish his own dictatorial republic. With the bourgeois Baltic Germans so far mumbling in agreement with Braun's more liberal arguments, he had a sustainable base of them and the non-German masses despite the fact the Baltic Germans didn't like that he ended Ostsiedlung. But in 1994, he would blow it up. What everyone forgot about Braun, despite his controversies, was that he was a honest-to-God socialist who adored the Baltic Socialist Republic's land redistribution efforts. But they would receive a sharp reminding when he announced the first of the "land adjustment" policies. State-land allocated to Baltic German settlers were now to be given to the indigenous peoples. "Baltic Socialism" rung all across German newspapers as even the SPD felt forced to disapprove of it, given the big moral outrage spreading across Germany at the time.
But the legality of it meant that the one person who could end Braun's dictatorship was in a coma. Neither the Reichstag nor the Regent could. That is, of course until the Regent figured he could just easily appoint a new Commissar and the League would just accept that Braun's time was over, right?
Wilfried Parrot (Moderate, Germany-based) 1995-1999
"Shouting in the Air"
Parrot wasn't a controversial choice. But when he went to the East Sea League with his credentials, Braun sharply replied "Have you my dismissal papers?". This Parrot did not, and was forced to return to Berlin, to sit as the official Commissar while the East Sea League essentially ruled as its own independent republic under a President who held absolute power, power so absolute that even the word of the Regent meant nothing in the East Sea. The rhetoric in Berlin became increasingly hardline, as reformer thoughts became unwelcome or labelled as "Braunite", the worst sin to be labelled as. Even the SPD leaned heavily in it.
Braun knew very well that he was on borrowed time. Once the Kaiser finally perished, the young son could grant cert to his dismissal. And this is why he set up the President role and quietly funnelled all power to it. The Commissar was appointed by the Kaiser, but the President was appointed by one man, himself. So when Parrot finally returned in 1996 with the dismissal papers, Braun declared "We have no need of a Commissar, we have a President". Parrot retreated to Berlin once more and told the Regent this.
There were cries of wishing to declare war, but with Russia seeing this as an opportunity, they quickly allied with Braun against Germany. Braun also got the GSU on his side, and the Entente quietly guaranteed his independence. So Germany couldn't fight its defiant colony without starting WWIII. Braun was triumphant. And so in early 1997, he finally declared the country he wanted to restore for so long. He declared the third incarnation of the Baltic Socialist Republic, with himself in charge.
-- vacant 1997-1999--
"A revolution inevitably doomed"
This caused many in the country to recoil. Especially when Braun announced more land redistribution plans, this time targetting the middle-class. The Baltic Socialist Republic fell into infighting between those that wanted a more centrist Republic, those that stayed loyal to Braun and those that wanted a more right-wing, more pro-German one. And it was this last one that made a deal with the invading Empire. By 1999, despite condemnations from the Entente, the Baltic lands were for the third time, restored to German control.
Kurt Zöpffel (Hardliner, Lithuania-based) 1999-2015*
"The Man with the Ice Eyes"
Zöpffel was not the person even the right-wing rebels wanted. He was a produce of a bitter atmosphere in Berlin that wanted to take mindless revenge on the Baltic lands. To the SPD's credit, they at least saw Zöpffel as too much a danger and voted against him, which led to many attacks on them in newspapers. Short, boney, always in a dark suit and with thick glasses covering icy-blue eyes, he never smiled, except when he was with his daughter who was close to him.
With Braun hanged on live television and everyone who supported his Socialist Republic purged brutally, Zöpffel turned his attention to the reforms that Braun implemented. The devolved assemblies was suspended for good and everyone who sat in them locked away. However, Braun had allies outside the East Sea League, powerful ones. And as the Entente and Russia announced an embargo on the East Sea League, Zöpffel knew Germany was not enough support, so he quietly funded the fascist coup in Scandinavia with resources, ensuring that the once democratic Kingdom of Scandinavia became the National Republic, a brutal land of Nordic fascism that wouldn't collapse until the 2030s. But of course, this knowledge quietly spread elsewhere and the East Sea League was expelled from the UN, .
This Zöpffel did not mind. The East Sea League would stand on its own. His main concern was keeping order in an unruly land full of tension. And barbarians, said his mind. That too. One of his first priorities would be restoring Ostsiedlung. And reversing the "nonsensical" land adjustment policy Braun implemented. The first was easy. The second... let just say that people were reluctant to let go of their lands. And that it had to be done with force. Too much force.
As riotings and police attacks intensified in Riga and Tallinn, Zöpffel was summoned back to Berlin for a talking down by the Regent and told to "do what is necessary". When he arrived back to Kaunas, he found that rioters killed his daughter. The following months would see the old camps reopened, plenty of people disappeared mysteriously. The condemnations came, but by this time his regime was immune as Germany strengthened its commitment.
By 2007, the East Sea League was more than ever an insular regime based around Baltic German ethnic nationalism and an authoritarianism never before seen. The land would burn. Blood spilt on streets as the Freikorps essentially cleansed entire neighbourhoods and many cities saw ethnic Balts, Estonians and Voro flee for the rural countryside. Those cities would be the bastion of the Baltic Germans until the 2030s. The savagery got so much that the Reichstag voted to symbolically censure Zöpffel and condemn his regime. The Kaiser refused to dismiss him. Yet more seeding for the fall of the Empire in the 2030s as even social-democrats became distrustful of the monarchy that was eager to defend barbarity in Europe.
As the 2010s passed, Zöpffel's regime became more and more entrenched, and he mentored several hardline politicians that would come after him, and when his death came in 2015, they presented their names to the Kaiser.
-- vacant 2015-2017 --
"Limbo"
None of them got the approval of the Reichstag. The SPD, in a coalition with the DFP, USPD and AdÖ, refused point blank to vote for a hardliner. Zöpffel was too much, and they wanted a moderate. The Kaiser called an election in 2016, sure that the people would punish the left for this. The coalition won a bigger majority. Still intransigent, the Kaiser made a public declaration that if the Reichstag would not vote for the Commissioner, that he would abdicate the throne as the Reichstag has clearly decided that Germany was a Republic. In the end, despite breaking everything in German politics, the Kaiser got what he wanted as DFP and AdÖ politicians broke to vote through a new hardliner, blowing up the coalition and ensuring a new Zentrum government [with NLP, DBD and AdÖ] would take charge.
Emil Anderson (Hardliner, Estonia-based) 2017*
"Surprisingly Brief"
After all that bitterness, the resulting Commissar proved too brief. The Baltic Liberation Army, a growing liberation force building itself in the countryside, used those two years without a Commissar to plot his assassination. With Anderson entering Tallinn, a car laden with explosives went straight at his car and destroyed a lot of the surroundings, while ending the brief commissioner.
-- vacant 2017 --
With the DBD and AdÖ freshly in coalition with Zentrum and NLP, the ecologist parties ended up walking out of government over of all things, nuclear power, forcing an election. The Kaiser couldn't appoint a Commissioner, so when the Reichstag finally reconvened, he gave them his final choice - no more Commissioners. Instead, it was to be a hereditary vassal state of Germany, with his sister at the helm as the first "Archduchess of the Eastern Sea". And this, he gave the Reichstag no say, as it was entirely in the Kaiser's power to do.
Well, the USPD [the quasi-legal successor of the banned KPD] decided enough was enough and successfully poisoned the Kaiser. Everything went to hell after that as shouting led to more shouting and accusations flew. It's a miracle it didn't result in civil war.
Meanwhile, the would-be Archduchess decided to travel to her would-be realm...
Cecile I, Archduchess of the Eastern Sea (Hardliner, Courland-based) 2017-2025*
"God save us from the Archduchess!"
Cecile ran a tight ship. Basing her power off a controversial decision by the Kaiser that nobody knew for sure went through, she successfully gathered the Baltic German loyalty behind her. All through her reign, the East Sea League [aka the Archduchy of the Eastern Sea] was in a bloody war with the Baltic Liberation Army. Sweden-in-Finland sent troops experienced at holding down an uppity majority which included cutting-edge technology such as surveillance and attack drones. Authoritarianism was renewing itself. As 2019 dawned, Cecile finally got full confirmation of Germany's approval of her status, although it went with being the official Commissioner due to a frosty compromise between the Reichstag and new Kaiser that also saw the banning of the USPD.
In 2024, the Baltic Liberation Army facing major losses, went underground and the place was once more, tragically again, under the firm control of a German-led autocracy. Cecile, tyrant of the Baltics, died in a car crash in 2025.
Wilhelm I, Archduke of the Eastern Sea (Moderate, Courland-based) 2025-present?
"Betwixt Heaven and Hell"
Unlike his mother, Prince Wilhelm was a softer soul although one hardened by the brutal war. Confirmed as Commissioner easily by the Reichstag, having already inherited the Archduchy of the Eastern Sea, Wilhelm was the first Archduke to be crowned in the Baltics.
Known as someone who overthought things and didn't have the confidence to actually do much decisions, this reluctance is what made many Baltic people, embittered by the past, see him as not a reformer but a weak-willed autocrat that could be overthrown. But his mother's crushing the Baltic Liberation Army meant that for many years the resistance to Wilhelm was weak. But it was growing. Meanwhile in Germany, things were spinning out of control, something that would prove lethal to the Empire and the Eastern Sea.
The SPD together with the DFP and BDB was in charge during a shaky economic "prosperity" that would prove ephemeral and finally burst in the winter of 2028, leading to riots and the rise of the NFP, the spiritual successor to the Nazis. With the next government after the 2029 election being a Zentrum-DNVP coalition, while "Arbeiterkandidaten" won several seats that were once KPD/USPD, it was clear that German politics were on an one-way road to hell, again. And that caused its puppet regime to shake.
The Baltic economy did not get off the recession lightly, and indeed suffered. Even though the drones intimidated many, the protests persisted until Wilhelm finally gave in and restored the democratic assemblies. They all returned firmly nationalist majorities that demanded more power be given to the regions. And this a weak-willed Wilhelm did. For a while, it looked like his weakness would enable reform, but then after a phone call from an adamant Kaiser, he quietly abolished the assemblies once more in 2033.
This created outrage and even more protests, which led Wilhelm to order the Freikorps to crush the protests, but he once more set up the assemblies in 2036. This time, they all declared that Wilhelm must go. Now, as spineless as he was, he was in no mood to surrender his mother's inheritance. So he dismissed the assemblies again and ordered purges of the growing loud Baltic academia.
As the situation worsened in late 2037, German politics finally broke down. The APD [Workers' Party, the latest successor of the KPD] and the NFP surged to first and second respectively even though a shaky coalition of the others could prevent either from seizing power. This could have been possible, if it wasn't for the radicalisation of the AdÖ and their infamous "Bonn Declaration" that the world needed to be seized by greens by force if necessary if it wished to live. In 2038, the "Soldiers of Earth" rose up, and one by one, the growing paramilitary forces of the APD, NFP and others rose up, sinking Germany into a bloody civil war.
And the Baltic people were not ignorant of this as they quickly rose up and through 2038 the Baltic Liberation Army slowly stirred and organised people together. Wilhelm looked out from his castle window and saw masses marching through Libau. Panicking, he ordered an escape through a secret underground route. Nobody knows where he ended up or if he's dead or not. All they know is that he's missing. And that with the Kaiser rather... preoccupied with a German civil war, no commissioner is coming.
Perhaps, perhaps, in this year of blood and tears, the Baltic people can finally find liberation.