#Latvian book cover

[theaskew]

Book cover illustration by Edvards Brencēns (Latvian 1885-1929), Tautas pasakas un teikas (Folk Tales and Fables), 1923.

[blocpulp]

Michael Crichton - The Andromeda Strain (Latvian SSR, USSR, 1973)

[bookcoversaroundtheworld]

The Lost Colony - Latvia

Until recently, Artemis Fowl was the only human to have discovered that magical beings do indeed exist. But now a second juvenile genius wants to capture a demon for scientific study. Only an ancient time spell separates the demons from humankind--and Artemis must prevent it from unraveling. If he fails, the bloodthirsty tribe will relaunch their quest to wipe humans from the planet.

[noneorother]

The art director & the Good Omens book cover tier list of doom, part 3

Part 1 l Part 2 l Part 3

I am your resident Art Director/Good Omens enthusiast, and welcome to my completely meta-free book cover tier list. Listen, making a book cover is HARD. I should know. But while we salute these artists for their hard work and time, I think we can all admit that once in a while, the vision is just not on. And on very rare occasions, publishers seemed to have managed to commission the cover art directly from hell... here's where we left off last time:

21. Labas zīmes, Latvian cover

Our boys are back! And they are so ready to join the Dead Boy Detective agency. I would say that Latvians don't wear much tartan, so Argyle might seem like a similar print, but it just seems so... not Good Omens. Much like Crowley's flying purple people eater tail and Aziraphale's Conan the Barbarian sword, we're straying into niche AU fan fiction territory here. I mean, it's not *wrong*, but it certainly ain't right, either.

Tier: Does the Job

22. Bons Augùrios, Portuguese

Let me start by saying this cover is so close to being in the blessed category. The layout and spacing are divine, the imagery is simple and whimsical, it reflects the humour inside the gravitas to give you an idea of the *feeling* of reading Good Omens. So few of these covers have gotten this aspect of good design right. Honestly, I would slow clap if it wasn't for that random FLAME JIZZ stuck to the bottom right hand corner of the book. Who's idea was that? Dagon's?

Tier: Great

23. Semne Bune, Romanian cover

I admire two things about this cover: 1) Their utter commitment to a clean 3-colour palette and comprehensible layout. 2) Symbolic demon giving a principality head joke RIGHT ON THE FRONT COVER. This designer had balls. cotillion-sized balls. Now, does Aziraphale's sword have a sentient rooster tassel that watches said head-giving in horror? I sure hope not, but I don't see how that could be allegorical so, I'm torn. I feel like this goes in two categories for completely different reasons. And seeing as I'm in charge around here...

Tier: Great & Not so Good (Omens)

23. Semne Bune, Romanian cover cont.

Compared to the last cover's gigantic double-entendre, this feels so tame and logical. The text is centred and balanced. There's breathing room, and we have wing symbolism! I've never seen a cover try to split Terry and Neil's names like that, which is a fun twist but BY GOD that center line is not straight near the right end of the feathers and it is sending this cover straight down to Does the Job. It's grounded there forever.

Tier: Does the Job

25. HYVIÄ ENTEITÄ, Finnish cover

In this list, having something actually *relevant* to the main plot of the book and not mangling and main characters really puts you in rarefied air. All the motorcycles are book accurate which means somebody read something! Would I have ever picked the empty parking lot of Famine's restaurant as a subject worth a cover? Absolutely not. But the sick 80s lightning tips it into "fine" territory. The text is yellow. It's pretty.

Tier: Does the Job

26. Head ended, Estonian cover.

My face after staring at this cover for ten minutes and finally realizing that this is Hastur and Ligur waiting around for Crowley to pull up:

The artist's face after watching me do that:

Do I even need to rate this? It's called HEAD ENDED. I don't know how to be funnier than that.

Tier: WTF

27. Dobry Omen, Polish cover

Some good points for trying to be original with the layout of the title by drawing a custom pitchfork "Y", but the heinous kerning and the fact the whole text block is not even centred kind of makes me take all the points back. I feel like we're pretty heavy on the demonic, extremely light on the angelic in this take. Maybe it's because on his death bed the lead guitarist of White Snake will finally admit to having designed this cover in his spare time.

Tier: Not so Good (Omens)

28. Good Omens, Hungarian cover

If I told you this designer did not read the book, and instead just watched the trailer of The Omen (the movie) and vibed this heinous brown carpet swatch into existence, you would one hundred percent believe me. I can't even talk about the faux belle-époque font right now. I am irrationally angry.

Tier: WTF

29. Good Omens, Bulgarian cover

WHO. IS. DADDY. WIZARD?? Is all I can think when I look at this cover. Aziraphale & Grommet are recognizable enough, and you could make the case for telescope monkey being Adam, but I need to find this cover designer and shake them until they tell me who this deranged Gargamel is supposed to be. I must know.

Tier: Bad

30. BELAS MALDIÇÕES, Portuguese cover

After all we've been through on this list so far, this truly sucks. It's not even weird. It's just puce text layered atop text to create a great yawn of a cover. Shout out to the designer of the Diablo PC game font, I hope you got paid.

Tier: Bad

Part 3 roundup:

[quitealotofsodapop]

@latvian-spider referencing this: ask about the Smash Legends Wukong.

Omg that would be perfect. Smash!Wukong finally collides with his fated Smash!Macaque, and they turn out to be a 2000s *pastel* goth gf/bf or even deep in that pink historical fashion aesthetic.

Pure white fur (like some younger LMK Mac hcs), pink face markings, all pink/pastel purple attire, likely wears a mask/face covering whenever doing public appearances/videos. Online musician and voice actor. Keeps their irl identity a mystery to contrast Smash!Wukong's open book vlogging, but has no problem hacking rival accounts. Out of place old-timey mannerisms/speech mixed in with modern tech. Smash!Macaque and Smash!Wukong have a massive online rivalry that spills into their fans/chat. Whether or not Smash!Wukong is aware that his "biggest hater" is his Macaque has yet to be known.

Smash!SWK, reading a notification on his phone: "Ugh." LMK!SWK: "What's up?" Smash!SWK: "My twitch rival posted a vid putting me on blast for causing collateral damage in my last fight. Freaking coward won't even talk to me irl." LMK!SWK: *looks at screen* (The Username is something like: "♡xSixEaredMoonx♡") LMK!SWK: "Oh."

Mei defs follows both Smash!SWK and Smash!Macaque's accounts to watch the drama unfold.

LMK!Macaque finds his Smash counterpart adorably devious and talented. Mihou is terrifed of how heated the Smash duo fight without even speaking directly to one another. NewGods!Mac is just laughing his butt off at how these two practical strangers get worked up over one another.

[gellavonhamster]

monthly media recap: august 2024

read:

Cabal by Clive Barker - oh you know, I've yapped about it and Nightbreed a lot here. The intersection of horror and eroticism, the monstrous and the divine, the queer allegory, the monsterfucking. So good.

The Second Continuation of Perceval - I liked it better than The First Continuation which I didn't even finish, but by the end I still decided to put my Arthuriana reading on pause for the time being. These were dragging me into a reading slump which passed as soon as I stopped trying to get through them. Going back to The Second Continuation, I am tragically unable not to picture that little dog that Perceval carried around as a chihuahua

Jelgava 94 by Jānis Joņevs - part coming-of-age, part chronicle of Latvian metalhead culture, extremely funny (even funnier than I remember the movie adaptation to be).

Rīgas raganas (Witches of Riga) by Linda Nemiera - first assumed it's gonna be the kind of ~ironic~ fantasy I've kinda outgrown, then got seriously hooked (the fact that it's set in my city certainly helped), then came the anticlimactic ending. Still, mostly liked it in the end. Also, gotta say it's extremely funny how the author created a magical explanation for the very real recent phenomena of roads caving in and cars falling into the resulting pits. Was reading this like oh right, this happened next to our office

The Amateur Cracksman and The Black Mask by E. W. Hornung - been reading the Raffles & Bunny short stories through Substack and just realized it has already covered the first two collections! This reading method is not for me, but the stories themselves are charming. They're like, what if Holmes and Watson but gentlemen thieves (Hornung was Conan Doyle's brother-in-law, btw) and also partially based on Oscar Wilde and Alfred Douglas? Really a very nice read.

+ currently reading: Weaveworld by Clive Barker

watched:

Nightbreed (1990), the Cabal Cut - not the version I'd, like, recommend to a random person, because it's glued together from the theatrical release and deleted scenes (some of which don't even have sound) and what not, but it really is much closer to the novel than the theatrical cut. See the post linked above for more thoughts on the book and both cuts of the movie

Lisa Frankenstein (2024) - finally watched it, and it was as delightful as I was promised :) I thought I saw enough spoilers for it, but I somehow didn't expect that ending at all, loved it. Loved the relationship between the sisters, too.

Fear Street Part One: 1994 (2021), Fear Street Part Two: 1978 (2021), Fear Street Part Three: 1666 (2021) - me watching part 1-2: eh it's alright, not very original but interesting, and I like the kids. Me watching part 3: oh it's GOOD good! Thank you OPLA cast for luring me in

[lightdancer1]

Wrapped up the next in the series of books about Baltic Europe:

This book is the first book in a series where the second one is one I read before finding it. The second one was a fascinating read in an independent context and I intend to reread with the eyes of the first to see how they work together. This book, as the title indicates, covers the Baltic region from 1492 to 1772. This was the period in which Sweden went from a semi-pagan backwater that had a great deal of snow and dried fish to a military juggernaut that for a time was the wunderkind of Europe.

Eventually the Swedes were drawn into a great war with Poland-Lithuania and Russia that saw, as noted in the previous review, the demise of the last bid for an independent Ukrainian state collapse at the Battle of Poltava. This marked in turn a resurgence of the Russia that in the earlier part of the book under Ivan the Terrible, in the coverage of earlier history came close to securing the control of the Baltic it would in the 18th Century in the 16th. Ivan the Terrible went madder than he already was and sunk his country in a nightmarish hellscape of despotism and created the Time of Troubles in the wake of it, leading to Sweden stepping in to fill the void.

One thing this book also underscores is that states and rulers could and did attain a kind of greatness, the Swedes and the Russians in particular marking this. In a marginal region where nature held sway over all and darkness and decay lurked with a mild shift in weather, let alone by war, the realities of this greatness were to take those marginal conditions make them worse.

It serves, like a history of the Balkans, as a counterpoint to the idea first of Europe as a monolithic mass of civilization and second to the reality that European state power cost Europeans in the areas that were dominated rather than dominating as much as it did people anywhere else in the world. There is nothing in the geography of Europe that spared peoples and cultures the iron fist of imperialism, including imperialism from other Europeans.

Beyond that it's also the history of how the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the last great medieval pagan state, fell into becoming provinces of first the Baltic German military orders and then the Romanov dynasty. Latvians and Estonians were subjects and never masters of their own state, Lithuanians had a much harder fall from a much greater standpoint. And so too, by the end of the book, does Poland-Lithuania as it ends with the first Partition and the re-establishment for a time of Swedish absolutism.

Norway, meanwhile, spends most of the book as the rural hinterland of Denmark and has yet to make its rise as a modern state. This too should serve as a reminder that geography is never a stable thing, that all states are artificial, and awareness of a nationality does not make a nation or the desire for a state.

9/10.

[balticbus]

The Ultimate Guide to Traveling from Rīga to Vitebsk by Bus

The Rīga Vitebska autobuss route is a key transport link between Latvia and Belarus, offering a reliable and affordable way to travel. Whether you are a tourist exploring new destinations or a local commuting for business, the autobuss Rīga Vitebska provides a convenient solution. This guide will cover everything you need to know about traveling by bus from Rīga to Vitebsk, including ticket booking, travel tips, and highlights of both cities.

Why Choose the Autobuss Rīga Vitebska?

Traveling by autobuss Rīga Vitebska is a practical choice for several reasons:

Affordability: Bus tickets are generally cheaper than train or plane tickets, making this route budget-friendly.

Convenience: Multiple daily departures allow for flexible travel planning.

Comfort: Modern buses are equipped with amenities such as Wi-Fi, power outlets, and comfortable seating.

Eco-Friendly: Buses have a lower environmental impact compared to cars and planes.

Booking Your Tickets

Booking tickets for the autobuss Rīga Vitebska is straightforward. Here are the steps to ensure a smooth booking process:

Choose a Reputable Bus Company: Ecolines and Lux Express are among the top operators on this route. Visit their websites to check schedules and prices.

Book Online: Online booking is convenient and often offers the best prices. Look for promotions or discounts.

Select Your Seat: Many buses allow you to choose your seat during booking. Opt for a window seat to enjoy the scenic views.

Confirm Your Ticket: After booking, you will receive an electronic ticket via email. Print it out or save it on your mobile device.

Preparing for Your Journey

To make your autobuss Rīga Vitebska trip as enjoyable as possible, follow these preparation tips:

Pack Light: Bring only essential items to make boarding and disembarking easier.

Dress Comfortably: Wear layers to adjust to varying temperatures on the bus and at stops.

Bring Snacks and Drinks: While there will be stops along the way, having your own refreshments is convenient.

Entertainment: Download movies, music, or books to keep yourself entertained during the journey.

Highlights of Rīga

Before you depart, spend some time exploring Rīga, a city rich in history and culture:

Rīga Cathedral: Visit the largest medieval church in the Baltic states, known for its impressive organ and stunning architecture.

House of the Blackheads: This historical building in the heart of Rīga's Old Town is a must-see for its ornate facade and cultural significance.

Latvian National Museum of Art: Discover a vast collection of Latvian and international art, housed in a beautiful building.

Highlights of Vitebsk

Upon arrival in Vitebsk, immerse yourself in the local culture and attractions:

Marc Chagall House Museum: Explore the birthplace of the famous artist, which offers insight into his early life and works.

Annunciation Church: This historic church is an architectural gem and a significant cultural site in Vitebsk.

Slavianski Bazaar: If your visit coincides with this international arts festival, enjoy the vibrant performances and cultural events.

Scenic Stops Along the Way

The autobuss Rīga Vitebska route offers several scenic and interesting stops:

Daugavpils: Known for its fortress and the Mark Rothko Art Center, this city is worth a visit.

Latgale Region: Enjoy the picturesque landscapes of lakes, forests, and traditional Latvian villages.

Vitebsk Countryside: The rolling hills and charming villages of the Vitebsk region provide beautiful views during your journey.

Travel Tips and Recommendations

To ensure a smooth and pleasant trip, keep these tips in mind:

Arrive Early: Get to the bus station at least 30 minutes before departure to allow time for boarding.

Stay Informed: Keep track of your bus schedule and any potential delays by checking the bus company’s website or app.

Safety First: Secure your belongings and keep your valuables close.

Currency: Make sure you have some local currency for small purchases at stops along the way.

Conclusion

The autobuss Rīga Vitebska offers a seamless, comfortable, and cost-effective way to travel between Rīga and Vitebsk. With multiple daily departures, modern amenities, and scenic views, this route is ideal for both tourists and locals. Whether you are visiting the historical sites of Rīga or exploring the cultural gems of Vitebsk, traveling by bus ensures a memorable and hassle-free experience.

Call to action: Plan your next adventure on the Rīga Vitebska autobuss and discover the rich cultural and historical connections between Latvia and Belarus. Book your tickets today and embark on a journey filled with beautiful landscapes and fascinating destinations!

[theaskew]

How Laima Made Three Wishes Come True, from the Tales of the Amber Sea: Fairy Tales of the Peoples of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Anatoly Belyukin (Illustrator), Irina Zheleznova (Translator): Progress Publishers, 1974.

[ligakitchen]

Art direction, cover artwork and illustrations for the book of poetry by the beloved Latvian poet Inga Pizane. 

[bookcoversaroundtheworld]

Welcome to Dead House - Latvia

Amanda and Josh think the old house they have just moved into is weird. Spooky. Possibly haunted. And the town of Dark Falls is pretty strange, too. — But their parents don't believe them. You'll get used to it, they say. Go out and make some new friends. — So Amanda and Josh do. But these creepy new friends are not exactly what their parents had in mind.

Because they want to be friends...

...Forever.

[workshopgreys]

Let it snow book sparknotes

^ " Frank Sinatra – Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!".^ "Top 100 Canciones – Semana 52: del al ".Note: Select SINGLES DIGITAL - TOP 100 and insert 201851 into search. Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. ^ " Frank Sinatra – Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" (in Dutch).^ a b "2021 52-os savaitės klausomiausi (TOP 100)" (in Lithuanian).^ a b "Mūzikas patēriņa tops gadu mijā" (in Latvian).^ "Top Singoli – Classifica settimanale WK 52" (in Italian).^ "Official Irish Singles Chart Top 50".^ " Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian).^ a b "Official IFPI Charts – Digital Singles Chart (International) – Week: 52/2018".^ "Frank Sinatra Chart History (Global 200)".^ " Frank Sinatra – Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" (in German).Syndicat National de l'édition Phonographique. ^ a b "Top Singles (téléchargement + streaming)".^ " Frank Sinatra: Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! (With The B.Note: Change the chart to CZ – SINGLES DIGITAL – TOP 100 and insert 201851 into search. ^ "Frank Sinatra Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)".^ "Frank Sinatra Discography The Columbia Years - 1950 - 1952".^ "Frank Sinatra – Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!".1s Taylor Swift Back in Country Airplay Top 10 Dropkick Murphys Xmas Song Charts". 1 Since 1993 With 'Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow' ". ^ "Carly Simon Official Website - Let It Snow! lyrics".Stories Behind the Greatest Hits of Christmas. ^ "8 Surprising Facts About 'Let It Snow' ".The Grammar of Rock: Art and Artlessness in 20th Century Pop Lyrics. ^ Theroux, Alexander (February 16, 2013).Pop Chronicles the 40s: The Lively Story of Pop Music in the 40s (audiobook). Jessica Simpson version "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!"įrom the album Rejoyce: The Christmas Album The song entered the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time in 2018. Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.ĭean Martin version "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!"Īmerican singer Dean Martin released a version of the song in 1959, as part of his album A Winter Romance, and a re-recorded version in 1966, as part of The Dean Martin Christmas Album. Greece International Digital Singles ( IFPI) Ĭzech Republic ( Singles Digitál Top 100) įrank Sinatra version "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!"įrom the album Christmas Songs by SinatraĪmerican singer Frank Sinatra released a version as a single in 1950 that featured The B. 1 spot for a total of five weeks, tying it for the longest leading rendition of a holiday title in the history of the chart. 1 on Billboard 's Adult Contemporary chart in December 2012. 2012 – Rod Stewart, on his album Merry Christmas, Baby.6 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. Her version is unusual in being sung from the point of view of the host instead of the guest. 1991 - Helen Merrill records a cover of the song for the album Christmas Song Book ( Victor, VICJ 91), released in Japan and the United States of America.1962 - Bing Crosby, on his album I Wish You a Merry Christmas.Woody Herman's 1945 recording peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Best Sellers music chart in late January and through February 1946. ( December 2013)įirst recorded for RCA Victor in 1945 by Vaughn Monroe, it became a popular hit, reaching No. You can help by converting this article, if appropriate. This article is in list format but may read better as prose.

[mioritic]

Discovering the Soviet Union by N. Mikhailov (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 2nd printing - 1970)

[gellavonhamster]

monthly media recap: september 2023

read:

Angélique, the Road of Hope and The Victory of Angélique by Anne Golon - can't believe I finished this, lol. It's a pity book 14 wasn't published, but book 13 provides a conclusion to many main plotlines, so it's still a decent ending. I will always wonder if another one of my brotps was supposed to reunite in the last book, though :D For all its faults, enjoyed this series tremendously; it's the people helping and supporting each other even in the bleakest circumstances for me

Ten Thousand Stitches by Olivia Atwater - Regency Faerie Tales part two, even cuter than part one. Seriously, these books are such a delight, I need to read part three ASAP

Spēlēju, dancoju / I Played, I Sang by Rainis - girl help, my Latvian vocabulary does not include that much archaic and/or poetic language, but I did understand enough to see how beautiful it is

Gaywick by Vincent Virga - I read that one liveblogging thread/channel, so I was familiar with the plot, but it was still so interesting to see it all happen. Incredible how a book can cover so many disturbing, truly Gothic themes and still be hopeful and sweet, loved it

Vadriel Vail by Vincent Virga - Gaywick Trilogy book 2, not nearly as good as the first one. Constant timeskips, important events only told in passing, one of the MCs is a boring Gary Stu and the other disgusting. Bearable thanks to the first one's wife and characters from book 1

The Price Guide to the Occult by Leslye Walton - it's not terrible and had some interesting stuff, but still felt sort of... superficial? Most of the characters felt underdeveloped, the story often felt like an outline. I bought it mostly because it was cheap and I'm glad it was.

+ currently reading Children of Paradise (Gaywick Trilogy #3)

watched:

Apteeker Melchior / Melchior the Apothecary (2023) - a murder mystery set in medieval Tallinn. Something bugged me about the dialogue, but I mostly enjoyed the plot and the familiar setting

The Skeleton Key (2005) - Southern Gothic, a grim old house, and Hoodoo magic. Enjoyed the final plot twists and how they recontextualize a lot of stuff earlier in the movie. Was rooting for the heroine but also had to hand it to the antagonists in the end, good for them

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) - so, so charming. Impossible not to hum and move along to the songs. Marilyn Monroe, of course, is a goddess, but Jane Russell tho... gentlemen might prefer blondes but I'm no gentleman

How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) - also charming and funny, though I found it a bit less interesting than the previous one; still good though

Constantine (2005) - I frequently felt like I was missing some context. Either I'm stupid or it's just because I haven't read the comics, but shouldn't a movie adaptation be understandable even for those unfamiliar with the source? Otherwise it was ok and had Rachel Weisz in it

Rebecca (1940) - not nearly as haunting as the novel, but a good film nevertheless. Mostly I just wanted to protect the narrator :( she's so cute

also, a bit unrelated, probably, but I saw two theatre performances last month - one was a live screening of Good by the National Theatre (powerful, amazingly done, probably wouldn't have decided to see it by myself, so thanks to the friend who suggested it) and the other The Three Musketeers neo-classical ballet at the Latvian National Opera and Ballet (really nice, cool stage design, I posted a trailer here)

[newyorkthegoldenage]

America's Making was an exposition held at the 71st Regiment Armory from October 29 to November 12, 1921. Its purpose was to present three centuries of immigrant contributions to the nation through educational exhibitions and pageantry, to celebrate what we now call diversity and inclusiveness, and to stress that people of all ethnicities were Americans.

Organized by the NYC and NY State Boards of Education, each "racial and lineage group” formed its own committee to organize exhibits. During October, 1,706 programs of pageantry, processions, tableaux, and drama were presented by 590 centers, day schools, and evening schools all over the city. They, and the Armory exhibit, were seen by more than 2 million people.

The groups represented Armenians, Belgians, Carpathian-Russians, Czechoslovakians, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonians, Finnish, French, Germans, Greeks, Hungarians, Icelanders, Irish, Italians Latvians, Lithuanians, Negroes, Norwegians, Poles, Portuguese, Romanians, Russians, Scottish, Spanish and Hispanics, Swedes, Swiss, Syrians, Ukrainians, Welsh, and Yugoslavians. Two glaring omissions were Chinese and Jews.

Curiously, I have been unable to find any photos of the exhibition or any of the events surrounding it. The picture above is of the cover of a book that was published to coincide with the exposition.

Photo: NYPL

[lightdancer1]

Wrapped up the first of two books on the Baltic region:

Wrapped up the first of two books on the Baltic region. This one covers a somewhat-neglected aspect of the Crusades, the wars in Northern Europe between military orders and the last vestiges of paganism (and the extension of the principle of the Fourth Crusade against Veliki Gospodin Novgorod). These wars started in the 1100s but are mostly famous for two battles, both of them involving Veliki Novgorod. One is the Battle of Lake Peipus, not least for its immortalization in a Soviet anti-Nazi propaganda film by Sergei Eisenstein. The other is the Battle of Tannenberg where Poland-Lithuania fought its first major battle as a unified state and completely wrecked the shit out of the German military order facing them.

These were but two battles in a much longer process whose main contributions to history were to lay the foundation of the Baltic Germans, who were essential to holding together Tsarist Russia, and to transform Baltic Prussia into the eastern territories of the Margravate of Brandenburg, which ultimately renamed itself after these territories and as the archetypal army with a country would unify the German lands into a single state for the first time in history.

Not a single soul involved in the interminable butchery and holy wars in the Baltic Sea described here would understand that this was the ultimate outcome of the events in question. From their perspective they were Christians fighting not merely the metaphorical propaganda paganism of Islam but the last outposts of European polytheism, which fell in the 1380s when Grand Duke Jogaila of Lithuania converted and became the first ruler of Poland-Lithuania (which really should have been Lithuania-Poland as the east was the more powerful of the two but I digress).

Between the ultimate conversion of Lithuanians, Latvians, and Estonians (as we'd define them today in any event) to Catholicism, the Germanization of the Prussians, and the replacement of the unstable quasi-demilitarized Veliki Novgorod with the iron-fisted tyranny of Moscow the Northern Crusades ended in another pattern the architects of the 1100s would never have seen, nor expected. They ultimately furthered the rise of state formation and the transformation of Northern Crusades into various Northern Wars that would finally end when Tsar Peter the Great shattered the Swedes and the last vestiges for centuries of Ukrainian aspiration to escape Muscovite control in the Battle of Poltava.

9/10.