oil pipeline in disputed territory. Following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, NATO

has been on high alert for further incursions. Although Russia claims to have no interest

in invading other surrounding countries, the unpredictable threat still remains. In particular,

the Baltic states have expressed concern about being able to defend themselves, should Russia

launch an attack. So we wanted to know, what would happen if Russia went to war with the

Baltics?

Well, historically, The Baltics states of Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia, have been

pretty bad at staving off invasions. With no natural borders, they have spent much of

their history being dominated by foreign powers. Unfortunately, even today, the Baltic states

are not very militarily powerful. Despite having enviable economic growth and a high

development index, they spend less than 2% of what Russia spends on their military. They

are even unable to police their own airspace, and need neighboring countries to take turns

watching the skies. In a direct match-up, the Baltic states would be pitting about 100,000

troops against three and a quarter million Russian troops. In other words, they’d have

no chance.

However, in any actual conflict, Russia wouldn’t be going up against the Baltics, but against

every NATO country. This is because the Baltic states are NATO members and Article 5 of the

NATO treaty says than attack on a single member is an attack on all of them. In fact, the

entire original purpose of NATO was to mutually protect European powers against the Soviet

Union. This shifts the equation heavily against Russia.

The NATO countries account for 70% of worldwide military expenditures. Their combined forces

would constitute roughly 7 million in manpower. The Baltic states are also EU members, bringing

an additional six countries to their rescue. Although, most of the non-NATO EU members

are neutral, like Finland and Ireland. Finally, the Baltics have a direct military alliance

with the Nordic states, which would suffer severe repercussions from a Russian invasion.

With more than 30 countries backing the Baltics against a possible invasion, Russia would

be starting World War Three in trying to capture those three states. That said, this doesn’t

necessarily preclude Russia from winning. One major advantage is that, while the rest

of the world shies away from nuclear warfare, Russia has been openly ramping up its nuclear

arsenal. Although a nuclear strike is unthinkable, it’s not impossible, and that knowledge

unfortunately gives Russia major bargaining power.

If you want to learn more about just how powerful Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia are, check

out our video, Thanks for watching, and make sure to like and subscribe for new videos

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