Why were Latvia and Lithuania dependent on German forces during the Baltic War of Liberation?

During the Baltic War of Liberation (1918–20), Latvia and Lithuania were forced to rely on German forces because they lacked the ability to organize their own regular armies. This dependency was largely a result of German intervention; Germany sought to drive out the Bolsheviks while simultaneously establishing its own hegemony in the region, and therefore actively prevented the Latvian and Lithuanian governments from forming independent military forces.1

While German troops did provide assistance—such as helping Lithuanian volunteers halt the Soviet advance in early 1919—their presence was motivated by a desire to transform the region into a base for anti-Communist forces and to install regimes loyal to imperial Germany and pre-revolutionary Russia. Ultimately, the Baltic states were able to subdue these German forces, and by December 1919, all German troops had abandoned Latvia and Lithuania.1