How did the collapse of the German and Russian empires help the Baltic states gain independence after World War I?

The collapse of the German and Russian empires during World War I created a power vacuum that allowed the Baltic peoples to pursue and establish independent statehood.12

During the war, the Baltic region was largely under German military occupation, while Russia maintained control over other parts. As the Russian Empire disintegrated following the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, national councils in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania declared independence. Although the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk initially ceded these territories to Germany, the subsequent collapse of the German Empire in late 1918 removed the primary occupying force.13

Following these imperial collapses, the nascent Baltic governments had to defend their sovereignty against both Soviet attempts to reestablish control and German efforts to maintain regional hegemony. Through the Baltic War of Liberation, the Baltic states successfully repelled these threats, eventually securing formal recognition of their independence through peace treaties with Soviet Russia in 1920. By 1922, all three had become recognized members of the international community.142