Estonias Journey from Birth to Rebirth: 1919-1991

ESTONIA: BIRTH AND REBIRTH 1919-1991

Introduction

Estonia as an area has long existed with human settlement anywhere between 13,000 and 11,000 years ago. In its history Estonia has often been the plaything of greater powers. In its History Estonia has been ruled by Baltic Germans, The Swedish Empire and Russian Empire. Estonia has had its fair share of conflict, she has seen her Jewish population murdered by the Nazis and has seen her freedom taken away by the Soviet Union. For a country long perceived as insignificant by the rest of the world Estonia has had her fair share of atrocities and invasions. Despite her brutal history Estonia has been reborn and is now recognised as the most westernised of all the Baltic nations. She has become the world’s first truly digital nation and has pioneered e-voting technology. As Vladimir Putin seeks to re-establish Russian influence in Eastern Europe and over the former Soviet Union Estonia looks towards her borders and fears that Putin may attempt what he has done in the Ukraine. For a country in the Baltic Estonia is remarkably western in its attitudes, perhaps a legacy from what is now referred to as the “good old Swedish days”. As a nation Estonia has the problem of 24.9% of its population being ethnic Russians, these Russians are a legacy of Stalin and a cause for concern to the Estonian government as Vladimir Putin views the Russian minority as Russian Citizens and keeps a watchful eye on them. The current Estonian government led by prime minister Ratas have been attempting to improve relations between the Estonian and Russian communities. One of the ways this is being achieved is attempting to bridge the language gap with Ratas learning Russian to better communicate with the Russian minority.

Birth

To properly understand the complex history of Estonia it is first necessary to understand how Estonia camper to be and to understand the struggles that led to the development of the Republic. The first discussions about Estonia as a nation began in the 1850s and are usually considered to end in 1918 with the declaration of the Republic of Estonia. In this time Estonian national consciousness began to spread through the middle classes. This period is commonly referred to as “The National Awakening” and its roots lie in the mid to late 1700s when literacy began to spread through the province of Estonia which at the time was part of the Russian Empire. As literary began to spread so did the number of works of literature published in Estonian. As the language became more prevalent there arose a number of intellectuals who began to identify themselves as Estonian. Figures such as Friedrich Robert Faehlmann, Kristjan Jaak Peterson and Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald began to speak Estonian and discuss what it meant to be Estonian. Prior to this the elite had been German in culture and language as a remainder of the German rule dating back to the conquest in the early 13th century. Although there had always been Estonians and the Estonian language it was a Baltic German, Garlieb Merkel who was the first author to actually recognise the Estonians as an equal nationality, an estophile Merkel published in 1820 “Free Latvians and Estonians” a seminal text in the struggle for Estonian independence. Merkel became an important figure in the Estonian National Movement and was seen as an inspiration by Estophiles and Estonian Nationalists alike.

Although there had been advances in celebrating Estonian culture it was not until the mid 19th century that Estonian leaders began looking towards politics. Figures such as Carl Robert Jakobson began demanding political concessions and for Estonia to transition to the Finnish model of national movement. At this point the Russian Empire was viewed in a largely positive light by the Estonian people as they had not suffered too heavily under Russian rule. In fact, it was not until the Russification attempts in the 1880s and 1890s that the Estonian view of Russia began to change. Despite still being ruled from Russia in this period there were significant changes and developments to the recognition of Estonian culture. The publication of Kalevipoeg by Kreutzwald in 1862 marks an important change in Estonian literature, the poem which is held to be the Estonian national epic tells the story of Kalevipoeg travelling to Finland in search of his kidnapped mother and the adventures that he faces in travelling to the ends of the earth in order to expand his knowledge. The poem finishes with Kalevipoeg guarding the gates of hell for eternity. A key part of Estonian culture as with other countries in the Baltic and Eastern Europe is folk music and the proud tradition of epic poetry. In 1869 the first national song festival in Estonia was held and a new era began to dawn for the Estonian people. Under the Communist occupation folk music and song festivals were used to keep Estonian traditions alive and maintain their cultural history.

As Russia began to move towards local government with the introduction of the Zemstva in the 1861 emancipation reform so did Estonians look to having their own forms of representation. It was to this end that in 1881 seventeen Estonian Societies called for Alexander III the Emperor of Russia to introduce the Zemstva with equal representation for both Estonians and Baltic Germans. This memorandum, inspired by Carl Robert Jakobson marks the shift from cultural identity and representation to the desire for Estonian political representation, a key turning point which is now recognised as an important milestone in Estonian History. In fact, it was only 37 years after this that Estonia gained independence as the Republic of Estonia, a remarkably short time frame considering the long history of being a pawn of larger powers. After this process had started it began to accelerate with remarkable speed to a point where Estonians began to have their own Estonian language newspapers with “Postimees” the very first Estonian daily newspaper being founded in 1891, a side effect of the increase in interest in the Estonian Language was that according to the 1897 census Estonians had the second highest literacy rate in the whole of the Russian Empire with 96.1% of Estonian speaking Estonians, this was second only to the Finns in the Grand Duchy of Finland. As the concept of Estonia and the Estonian language spread cities became Estonicized and by 1897 two-thirds of the urban population were ethnic Estonians.

As previously mentioned it was not until the Russian Empire attempted its policy of Russification that Estonians began to view Russia in a negative light. Once Russification started the Estonian nationalist movement became more political in its attitudes as the Estonian intelligentsia began calling for autonomy. As Russia faced political turmoil as a result of the 1905 Russian Revolution Estonians called for more civil liberties and freedoms but did not succeed in making any gains although due to the tenseness between the 1905 and 1917 revolution Estonians were able to build on ideas for Estonian national statehood. It was not until after the 1917 February revolution that Estonian lands were united under the autonomous Governorate of Estonia, Estonia was finally united, although as an administrative unit rather than an independent country. During the disintegration of the Russian Empire the Estonian Provincial Assembly declared itself to be the highest authority in Estonia, it was not long after this that the Bolsheviks dissolved the provincial assembly and forced the Estonians who were in favour of independence underground in Tallinn. In the brief period of time between the retreat of the Soviet Red Army and the appearance of the Imperial German Army, the Salvation Committee of the National Assembly issued the Declaration of Independence on 24 February 1918 and Estonia took her first steps towards statehood.

The fight for Independence

Estonia may have gained independence and declared itself a republic, but the fledgling nation once again faced threats from its neighbour. From late 1918 to February 1920 Estonia was embroiled in a vicious war in an attempt to gain independence. As the German troops were leaving Estonia, Soviet Russia saw the opportunity to regain Imperial Russian territory and spread Communism. On the 28th November 1918 the Soviet Red Army launched an offensive on the Estonian border town of Narva. The War of Independence also included two smaller scale conflicts in neighbouring Latvia. Fighting between the Latvian Landeswehr and the Red Army and between the White Russian General Bermondt who intended to take Latvia and then press on to Moscow.

The attack by the Red Army began at a time when Estonia had not yet developed a full army nor an efficient administration. The troops had little experience, the army didn’t have sufficient weapons and equipment, huge numbers of towns were close to starvation and there was a lack of food across the country. Despite all these problems nevertheless the Estonian Government opposed the Russian aggression hoping for support from the Western Countries, in particular Britain and Finland. In December 1918 the British Royal Navy arrived with a cargo of weapons, Finland also contributed weapons to the Estonian war effort and finally in January 1919 4000 volunteers arrived. Despite all the foreign help Estonia would have been doomed were it not for the decisive actions taken by the Estonian government. The rapid restructuring of the Estonian Army and mobilisation of all available men and materials for the war effort averted the occupation and managed to stop Estonia becoming a vassal state to the newly formed Soviet Union. The influx of foreign troops and supplies allowed the Estonian Government to restructure the military and prepare for a counter-offensive. On the 29th November 1918 a general mobilisation decree was issued to rapidly expand the army and flood it with new conscripts. As new troops joined the army it began to be structured along more formal lines, prior to the restructuring of the military unit commanders would act according to their own discretion and often operate without informing fellow commanders of their plans. On the 23rd December 1918 the Office of Commander in Chief was established and Colonel Johan Laidoner was appointed as Commander in chief with Colonel Jaan Soots as his new chief of staff. Now that the army had a commander in chief it became far easier to mount a counter-offensive against the invading Bolsheviks. Having served in the Imperial Russian army Johan Laidoner was the ideal choice for commander in chief as he had served in staff posts during the First World War, as a native Estonian Laidoner had only advanced through the ranks by competence having no aristocratic family connections to help him advance. On the Russian Western Front Laidoner had gained experience leading as Second in command of intelligence and chief of staff of the Caucasian Grenadier Division in March 1917. Laidoner was used to commanding and had shown himself to be a competent and effective commander. The fledgling republic could ask for no better Commander in Chief. The speed at which Estonia mobilised her forces is truly remarkable, prior to the war of independence there had been no Estonian Navy but in December 1918 Captain Johan Pitka was placed in command of the newly formed navy. The support of the British Navy was imperative to Estonian Successes. As the Finns would 21 years later the Estonians consistently captured Russian Equipment and vehicles and introduced them in to service in the Estonian forces. In January 1919 two former state of the art Russian Cruisers were introduced in to the Estonian navy having been captured in December 1918 by the British Navy. It is this resourceful nature which was so essential to the war effort giving the Estonian forces the capability to re-group and adapt to the nature of modern warfare. The Estonians launched an offensive on the 6 January 1919 and were able to liberate Narva from the Bolsheviks on the 19 January 1919, only thirteen days after first launching their attack. The fighting continued until 3 January 1920 when a ceasefire came in to effect as a result of the Tartu Peace Treaty negotiations, Estonia formally gained her independence on the 2nd February 1920 with the Tartu Peace Treaty in which the Bolshevik Government of Russia formally recognised Estonian Independence. The fight for independence had lasted 402 days in total and had caused the deaths of 3,588 Estonians and wounded 13,755, the result was a clear victory for Estonia with her borders secured.

Post Independence

Post independence Estonia underwent the business of developing a system of government, including rebuilding anything destroyed in the war. The first Constitution was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on the 15th April 1920, under the constitution power was held by the Riigikogu, a 100-seat parliament, the State Elder held executive power and headed the government in much the same was as a Prime Minister. In holding with other constitutions of the period such as that of Weimar Germany the new Estonian Constitution was remarkably liberal. Estonia moved swiftly towards establishing itself as a modern country in the years after independence with the leading world powers recognising Estonia as a country in 1921, with Estonias acceptance as a full member of the League of Nations in the same year, Estonia was well on its way to developing as a nation. During this period there was an increase in the development of Estonian culture and Estonian as a language, history, ethnography and the language itself began to be taught and researched across Estonia. As well as this focus on developing Estonian culture for the first time in history, education began to be made available from primary school all the way to university level, as part of this program the University of Tartu was made the national university, this was a key part of the new Estonian nation, no longer was Estonia backwards, now they had their own national university and their own education system to teach about their long suppressed culture and national identity.

Politically during this period Estonia was not a model of stability, an attempted Communist coup on the 1st December 1924 failed but it caused concern that Estonias former oppressor was still seeking to flex its muscles and establish Soviet dominance in the Baltic region. In response to this attempted coup a national defence league was established, and the cultural autonomy of minorities was made legal, it was hoped that this would bring stability and prevent any further attempts at a coup.

It was around this time that Estonia began to worry about its security far more than it previously had done. Early attempts at forming a Baltic entente with Finland, Poland and Latvia were unsuccessful and even once a contract was drawn up, Finland refused to sign it. By the end of 1923 the only such agreement in existence was the Estonia-Latvia defence Union. Attempts at unifying the Baltic states did continue however and finally on the 12th September 1934 the Baltic entente was signed in Geneva, unifying Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia as a Baltic bloc. Despite the discussions prior to the First World War about cooperation between Scandinavia and the Baltic states, the Scandinavian countries chose not to be associated with the Baltic to protect themselves from Soviet aggression.

As with most countries, Estonia was hit hard by the Great Depression and as a result the economy crashed, and industrial and agricultural production diminished significantly. During the years of the depression the total value of agricultural production fell by 45% and in industry by 20%. The devaluation of the pound and other foreign currencies was particularly damaging to the Estonian economy leading to fierce debates about the value of the kroon in the parliament. Standards of living fell, and prices dropped, as happened in other countries such as Germany, people began to blame everything on the government and found themselves drawn towards more authoritarian, right-wing parties. The previous stability of the republic fell away and between 1931 and 1933 the Cabinet changed six times. As the Estonian people moved towards desiring an authoritarian government and looking for a statesman like figure. At the same time as support for the Nazi party in Germany was growing, support for authoritarianism within Estonia was growing, in particular the Vaps movement was growing. Formed in 1929 as the Union of Participants in the Estonian War of Independence movement the Vaps or Eesti Vabadussõjalaste Keskliit in Estonian. The Vaps movement was principally focused on overturning the Estonian political system which they saw as corrupt and profit seeking. As Andres Kasekamp of the university of Tartu writes, “The Vaps movement was undoubtedly a revolutionary and forward-orientated movement as its motto ‘struggle for a better future for Estonia’ attests.” it is clear to see that the Vaps movement was opposed to democracy and in a way was a form of proto-fascist, nationalist organisation, the type of which were springing up all over Europe in the aftermath of the depression.

Seeing the rising popularity of the Vaps movement Konstantin Pats and Johan Laidoner (state elder candidates) chose to to preempt any Vaps seizure of power and launched their own coup d’etat on the 12 March 1934. Several hundred key Vaps members were arrested and all Vaps organisations and newspapers were shut down. A sixth month state of emergency was declared, political meetings and all demonstrations were banned. Laidoner and Pats had moved swiftly to secure power for themselves. Although State Elder and Riigikogu elections had already been postponed in the aftermath of the coup, Laidoner and Pats went further in an attempt to consolidate their power and on the 2nd October 1934 the current Riigikogu session was terminated and parliament was banned from convening again. This period of authoritarian rule is referred to as the “silent era” by Estonians. Substantial state control was introduced in the aftermath of the coup, as would happen under the Soviet Occupation, all political parties were replaced with a single official party, the “Fatherland Union”, journalism was censored, any opponents of the regime were placed under surveillance and all legislation was carried out by the state elder through a series off decrees. Power rested in the hands of three men, State Elder Pats, Commander in Chief Laidoner and Prime Minister Kaarel Eenpalu. The new constitution consolidating the new order of things in Estonia was formally adopted on January 1st 1938. The new administration was legalised and the Riigikogu was developed in to a two-chamber legislative body, albeit one that was subservient to the State Elder.

Although in this period Estonia was ruled as an authoritarian state, the silent era can be seen to be quite successful. The economy saw a revitalisation although it is debatable whether this was due to the favourable international economic improvement. However, even as the global economy was improving, internally Estonia faced new problems as the new regime forcibly intervened in domestic economic issues, large scale nationalisation, high taxes and the extensive subsidising of farmers and agricultural workers caused domestic condominium problems. Despite this however, ordinary Estonian citizens had their lives gradually improve, the state idea of national unity helped bind the Estonian people together, a view which was further enforced by the State Propaganda Office. As a result of improving living conditions, Pats was able to secure support from the majority of the population and did not face strong opposition to his rule.

The main threats to Estonia came from the outside world, domestically Estonia was reasonably secure but with the rise of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union under Stalin, Estonia once again had cause for concern from her former oppressors as they sought to expand their territories and flex their muscles in the Baltic. At the very time that Estonia most needed international support the international community failed her, the League of Nations and major world players such as Britain and France showed their complete inability to deal with international affairs. Estonia was still new to the world stage and many of the big global powers did not care about the fate of the Baltic states. As much as the Estonian government tried to negotiate with both the USSR and Nazi Germany to try and maintain Estonian sovereignty it was eventually decided in the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between the USSR and Germany to place Estonia in the Soviet sphere of interest. Through use of military threats the Estonian government as well as the other Baltic countries was forced to sign mutual assistance pacts with the Soviet Union, a move which would see the loss of Estonian independence and the fall of the Republic of Estonia. As a result of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact Estonia underwent population changes as the Baltic german minority was resettled in Germany. The 1939 to 1949 resettlement or “Umsiedlung” saw over 14,000 people moved from Estonia to Germany, the population move continued in 1941 when a further 7000 people were resettled in Germany.

The Nightmare Years 1940-1945

On the 9th April 1940, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway bringing the Second World War closer to Estonia than ever before. As Germany looked to expand so did the Soviet Union and in Mid-June the USSR threatens the Baltic states and demanded that their troops be allowed entrance under the terms of the 1939 mutual assistance pacts. The Soviet Union also demanded that pro-soviet government would be installed in each of the Baltic nations. The Russian aggression went further than this and on the 14th June Tallinn and the northern Estonian coast were blocked by the Soviet Union in an attempt to apply pressure on the Estonian government, the aggression continued and on the 17th June Estonia was occupied under the dictate of Narva. Swiftly realising that Estonia was in an impossible position the government disintegrated and by the 21st of June a pro-soviet government had been formed under Johannes Vares. To add an air of legitimacy to the new pro-Soviet government Estonian communists gave speeches and parliamentary elections were held in July although under the Estonian constitution this was considered unconstitutional. The developments in Estonia were watched with interest from abroad and on the 23rd July the US under-secretary of state declared that the USA did not recognises the changes in Estonia as legitimate. Finally on the 6th August 1940, Estonia was incorporated as a Union republic. In just under three months Estonia had lost her sovereignty and been incorporated in to the Soviet Union. The Soviet authorities swiftly began a process of Sovietisation in order to bring Estonia in line with the rest of the Union, as had happened in the late 19th century. By autumn, the soviet rouble had been adopted as the only currency, the parliament was essentially a puppet organisation, only capable of confirming accepted decisions and the Central Committee of the Communist Party headed by Karl Sare became the most powerful institution whilst the government was led by Johannes Lauristin. These two authorities became responsible for overseeing the Sovietisation of Estonia, all independent judicial power was abolished, this was a process which had occurred in Latvia and Lithuania, as the old order of things was being destroyed the Communists began a propaganda offensive, political staff were introduced to all organisations, politruks (military commissars) were introduced to the army and red corners to glorify communism were established. The Estonian army was cleansed of any “anti-soviet elements’ and reorganised as the 22nd Red Army territorial rifle brigade. These “anti-soviet elements” were also removed throughout society and by summer 1941 the majority of the Estonian elite had been arrested and placed in Soviet prison camps or murdered, this was around 9400 people. A further 10,000 people were deported in June 1941 and around 7000 people were resettled in winter and spring 1941. By early 1940 the Estonian population had been reduced to around 1.13 million people.

On the 22nd June 1941 Germany declared war on the Soviet Union.

Soviet Occupation

Regained Independence

Afterword

Essay: Estonias Journey from Birth to Rebirth: 1919-1991

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