In ninth and 10th centuries after the formation of neighboring Christian states of

Poland and Kievan Rus the lands of the Baltic countries remained pagan until the 13th
century. Kievan Rus sought to conquer them, and in the 11th century took control of
some lands; Orthodoxy began to spread. In the 13th century the military orders of
monks based in the lands of the Livonians and Prussians (Livonian Brothers of the
Sword, the Teutonic Order, the Livonian Order) conquered most of the territory of
modern-day Baltic countries and prevented the Estonians, Curonians, Latvians
(Latgalians), Livonians, Prussians, Nadruvians, Selonians, Skalvians and Semigalians
from creating their own states. Only the Lithuanians living farthest from the centers of
German colonization succeeded in creating their own state. The Grand Duchy of
Lithuania concluded the Union of Krevo with the Kingdom of Poland in 1385 and
together resisted the advance of the orders to the east. During the secularization of the
Teutonic Order, the Duchy of Prussia was created. In its northern part – in the lands of
the Lithuanians – the Lithuanian historical area of Lithuania Minor was formed.
In 13th century Catholicism began to spread in Lithuanian lands; Estonians and most
Latvians in the 16th century converted from Catholicism to Lutheranism. Due to the
threat of Russia, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Kingdom of Poland formed the
Union of Lublin in 1569 as the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. From 16th to 18th
centuries the united Polish–Lithuanian state fought with Denmark, Russia and Sweden
for Estonian and Latvian lands in the Livonian and Northern wars. In the middle of
17th century, Sweden conquered and founded the governorates of Estonia and Livonia
(with the exception of Courland, Latgale). After the Great Northern War, both
governorates became part of the Russian Empire, during the partitions of the Polish–
Lithuanian Commonwealth, Russia also annexed Courland, Latgale, and all of
Lithuania