The Baltic Provinces of the Russian Empire c. 1850. Courtesy of Cartographica.
| ca.3000–2000 BCE | Finno-Ugric and proto-Baltic tribes settle on the Baltic shores. |
| 8th–12th centuries | Baltic peoples trade and battle with Scandinavian Vikings and later with Slavic tribes. |
| 1180s | Efforts by the German priest Meinhard to convert the Livonians. |
| 1198 | Pope Innocent III sanctions a Baltic crusade that soon results in the Christianization of the Latvian and Estonian tribes. |
| 13 th century | Latvia and southern Estonia are conquered by Germans, who become the region's nobility. Danes conquer northern Estonia. |
| 1201 | Albert von Buxhoevden, the third bishop of Livonia, founds the city of Riga. |
| 1227 | Danes complete the conquest of Estonia. |
| 1253 | Mindaugas is crowned the first and only king of Lithuania. |
| 14th century | Lithuanian territory is extended southward to the Black Sea. |
| 1316–1341 | Grand Duke Gediminas rules Lithuania; encourages traders and merchants, including Jews, to settle in the region. |
| 1343–1345 | Estonian peasant uprising forces Danes to surrender control of northern Estonia to Germans. |
| 1386 | The Lithuanian grand duke Jogaila marries into the Polish royal family, thus establishing a nominal union between Lithuania and Poland. Lithuania, Europe's last pagan kingdom, accepts Christianity. |
| 1410 | Lithuania's victory over the Teutonic Knights prevents further German expansion eastward. |
| 1418 | Founding of the Livonian Confederation. |
| 1520s | The Protestant Reformation reaches the Baltic region. |
| 1558–1583 | Russian tsar Ivan IV attempts to conquer Livonia, but is checked by Sweden and Poland. The Livonian Confederation is dissolved and most of Livonia is incorporated into Poland-Lithuania. |
| 1561 | Sweden acquires Tallinn and surrounding region. Riga is awarded the status of free city until 1581, when it is acquired by Poland. |
| 1569 | The Lithuanian and Polish crowns formally unite to form the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. |
| 1579 | Vilnius (Wilno) University is established. |
| 1584 | Sweden annexes northern Estonia, creating the Duchy of Estland. |
| 1629 | Poland cedes Livonia (Livland) to Sweden. |
| 1632 | Swedes found Tartu (Dorpat) University in the Duchy of Estland. |
| 1699 | Dissolution of the Hanseatic League. |
| 1710 | Russian tsar Peter I seizes the Swedish provinces of Estland and Livland during the Great Northern War. |
| 1772–1795 | Prussia, Austria, and Russia partition Poland. Lithuania and Courland (western Latvia) come under Russian rule. |
| 1816–1819 | Following the Russian defeat of Napoleon, serfdom is formally abolished in Estland and Livland. |
| 1820s | Newspapers begin to be published in the Estonian and Latvian languages. |
| 1857–1861 | Publication of the Estonian national epic Kalevipoeg. |
| 1860s | The "Young Latvians" movement spurs the Latvian national awakening. |
| 1861 | Lithuanian peasants are freed along with the remainder of Russia's serfs. |
| 1863–1864 | Polish insurrection, aided by Lithuanian peasants. |
| 1867–1868 | A famine is followed by the massive emigration of Lithuanians. |
| June 1869 | The first Estonian song festival is held at Tartu. |
| 1880s–1890s | Russification policies are implemented in the Baltic territories. |
| 1888 | Publication of the Latvian folk epic Lāčplēsis. |
| 1905–1907 | Revolution in St. Petersburg gives rise to unrest in the Baltic provinces; thousands of suspected rebels are punished. |
| 1915 | German soldiers occupy Lithuania and the western part of Latvia during World War I. |
| March 1917 | Russian tsar Nicholas II abdicates the throne as the tsarist regime collapses; nationalist forces become active in the Lithuanian and Baltic provinces. |
| November 1917 | Bolsheviks seize power in Russia. |
| 1918 | Lithuania (February 16), Estonia (February 21), and Latvia (November 18) declare their independence. |
| March 1918 | Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ends Russia's war with Germany and compels it to surrender its western borderlands. |
| 1918–1920 | Baltic states fight the Bolsheviks, White Russian armies, and German and Polish forces to defend their independence. |
| 1919–1922 | The new Baltic governments carry out land reform and introduce democratic constitutions. |
| January 1923 | Lithuania annexes the Klaipeda (Memel) region, formerly under international control. |
| 1926–1929 | Antanas Smetona establishes dictatorship in Lithuania. |
| 1934 | Konstantin Päts (March) and Kārlis Ulmanis (May) establish dictatorships in Estonia and Latvia. |
| Aug.–Sept. 1939 | Nazi-Soviet nonaggression pact; secret protocols award the Baltic states to Stalin's USSR. |
| Winter 1939–1940 | Baltic Germans are evacuated to German-held territory. |
| Summer 1940 | Baltic states are occupied by Soviet troops, then annexed to USSR. The "Year of Terror" begins. |
| June 1941 | Massive deportations of Baltic peoples to Soviet Russia. |
| 1941–1944 | Nazi occupation of the Baltic states. Nearly the entire Jewish populations of these countries are murdered. |
| 1944 | Soviet forces reoccupy Baltic states. Westward flight of thousands of Balts continues through 1945. |
| 1944–1948 | "Forest brothers" resist Soviet occupation. A few bands continue to resist into the mid-1950s. |
| 1944–1952 | Mass deportation of Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians to other Soviet republics. This is accompanied by industrialization and the first waves of Russian and other Slavic immigrants. |
| 1947–1952 | Collectivization of agriculture is carried out in the Baltic republics. |
| 1949–1951 | Bloody purge of "bourgeois nationalists" from the Communist Party of Estonia. |
| 1955–1964 | Khrushchev's "thaw" loosens ideological restrictions throughout the USSR. Cultural life begins to recover in the Baltic republics. |
| 1959–1961 | Nonlethal purge of the Communist Party of Latvia. |
| 1960s–1970s | Years of economic growth and political stability. Dissident movements appear in the Baltic republics. |
| 1987–1991 | The "Singing Revolution" draws the world's attention to the plight of the Baltic republics. |
| April–June 1988 | Popular Fronts are formed in Estonia and Latvia. Sąjūdis is formed in Lithuania. |
| August 23, 1989 | "Baltic Way" demonstration unites up to two million Balts in protest against the Nazi-Soviet pact of August 1939. |
| March 1990 | Elections to Baltic parliaments. Lithuania is the first of the Baltic republics to declare its secession from the USSR. |
| April–June 1990 | Soviet embargo is imposed on Lithuania. |
| January 1991 | Soviet paratroopers and KGB units attack the Vilnius television tower; confrontations also take place in Riga. |
| February–March 1991 | Baltic republics hold referenda in which citizens vote overwhelmingly in favor of independence. |
| August 19–21, 1991 | An attempt to depose Gorbachev while he is vacationing fails. Gorbachev subsequently dissolves the Communist Party. |
| September 6, 1991 | The USSR formally recognizes the independence of the Baltic states. |
| December 31, 1991 | Commonwealth of Independent States is created to replace the USSR. Baltic states opt not to join. |
| 1992–1993 | Baltic economies hit bottom: high inflation and unemployment, declining production. New constitutions are adopted and elections are held. Peak of Russian emigration from Baltic states. |
| August 1994 | Russian troop withdrawal from the Baltics is completed. |
| September 28, 1994 | A passenger ferry, the Estonia, sinks to the bottom of the Baltic Sea, killing 852 people. |
| May 1995 | Collapse of Baltija Bank sets off banking crisis in Latvia. |
| August 1998 | Russian economic crisis temporarily interrupts economic recovery of Baltic states. |
| July 1999 | Latvia elects first woman president of east central Europe, Vaira Vike-Freiberga. |
| 2000–2007 | Baltic states enjoy the highest economic growth rates in Europe. |
| March 29, 2004 | Baltic states are admitted to the European Union. |
| May 1, 2004 | Baltic states join NATO. |
| April 2007 | A riot breaks out in Tallinn as the government attempts to relocate a Soviet war memorial. |
| 2008–2010 | Global economic crisis devastates the Baltic states. |
| January 2009 | Antigovernment protests in Riga and Vilnius. |
| January 2011 | Estonia joins the euro zone. Latvia follows in 2014 and Lithuania in 2015. |
| September 2011 | Pro-Russian party Harmony Centre wins Latvia's par-l iamentary elections but fails to enter the governing coalition. |
| March 2014 | Russia's seizure of Crimea and the appearance of a separatist movement in eastern Ukraine alarms citizens of the Baltic states. |
