Presented is a comparative investigation of the palaeogeographic and tectonic conditions in Scania and the Eastern Baltic, based on one common aspect: the longlasting effect of a tectonically positive feature (the Baltic Shield) upon the development of the surrounding depressional areas. The discussion of the history of the shield margin in Scania takes as its starting point the last phases of the Variscian Era. New discoveries in Scania prove the existence there of perhaps all the substages of the Lower Jurassic (Liassic). Stratigraphic relations are being explained with the aid of drill test sections. It is demonstrated, that the Saxonic movements in Scania are, contrary to common opinion, related to features of expansion, not of compression. Torsional tension in the marginal areas of the shield, is seen as the reason for this kind of tectonic behaviour. The more quiet development, both in space and time, of the shield margin in the Eastern Baltic during the Silurian and Devonian, is outlined. Conditions during the Upper Devonian are more thoroughly discussed.