Governorate of Livonia
The Governorate of Livonia (; ; , after the Latvian inhabited Vidzeme region; ) was one of the Baltic governorates of the Russian Empire, now divided between Latvia and Estonia. History. Following the capitulation of Estonia and Livonia in 1710, Peter the Great, on July 28, 1713, created the Riga Governorate () which also included Smolensk Uyezd, Dorogobuzh Uyezd, Roslavl Uyezd and Vyazma Uyezd of Smolensk Governorate. Smolensk Province was created from territory in Smolensk Governorate at that time. It was incorporated into Smolensk Governorate when it was reformed in 1726. Sweden formally ceded Swedish Livonia to Russia in 1721 with the  Treaty of Nystad. In 1722 Dorpat County was added to Riga Governorate. In 1726 Smolensk Governorate was separated from Governorate, which now had five provinces: Riga, Wenden, Dorpat, Pernau and Ösel. In 1783 the Schlock County was added. On July 3, 1783 Catherine the Great reorganized Governorate into Riga Viceroyalty. Only in 1796, after the Third Partition of Poland this territory was renamed as the Governorate of Livonia. Until the late 19th century the governorate was not ruled by Russian laws but was administered autonomously by the local German Baltic nobility through a feudal (). German nobles insisted on preserving their  privileges and use of the German language. In 1816 Tsar Alexander liberated the serfs of Livonia, in a precursor to his plans for the rest of Russia. After the Russian February Revolution in 1917, the northern part of the Governorate of Livonia was combined with the Governorate of Estonia to form a new Autonomous Governorate of Estonia. The Autonomous Governorate of Estonia issued the Estonian Declaration of Independence on 24 February 1918, one day before it was occupied by German troops during World War I. With the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on 3 March 1918, Bolshevik Russia accepted the loss  of the Livland Governorate. Administrative division. The Governorate of Livonia was divided into 9 counties (uyezds; German: "Kreis").