Estonia: Almost extinguished, successfully reborn

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ESTONIA: Almost extinguished, successfully reborn II. INDEPENDENCE WON AND LOST Estonia is a small country of 1,4 million on the shores of the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe, bordering Latvia to the south and Russia to the east. Eighty kilometers to the north across the Finnish Bay is Finland. With an area of 45,200 square km, sparsely populated Estonia is the size of Denmark or Switzerland. Estonians belong to the Finno-Ugric family of languages (Finnish being closest to Estonian). Their forefathers migrated to the present territory more than 5000 years ago. The world of Estonians changed dramatically in the 13 th century, when Danes invaded the northern part of the country and German “Knights of the Sword” moved up the Baltic coast in a series of Northern Crusades determined to Christianize and conquer the area of today’s Estonia and Latvia. The territory of Estonia was next ruled by the Livonian Order, then by the Swedish kings (1561–1710), the southern part also by Poland (1560–1645). Four Estonian towns became members of the Hanseatic League (Tallinn in 1285). As a result of Peter the Great’s victory over Sweden in the Great Northern War, Estonia became part of the Russian Empire (1710–1918). For a small nation, centuries of foreign domination presented a 8
ESTONIA: Almost extinguished, successfully reborn constant challenge to cultural identity and even physical survival. After the devastations of the Great Northern War, by 1712 the number of Estonians was estimated to be fewer than 150,000. From the 13 th to the beginning of the 20 th century, the Estonian language had no official status and higher as well as secondary school education was available only in German or Russian. The 19 th century became a period of economic and cultural revival. By 1819 Estonian serfs were granted individual freedom and in the 1860s they were given the right to buy their lands back from the large estate owners. An Estonian educated class formed, Estonian developed into a literary language, national song festivals were started in 1869. In 1905, the Young Estonia cultural group published the first pro-European program: “Let’s become Europeans, while remaining Estonians”. The opportunity for Estonia to realize its aspirations for self-determination came with the fall of the tsarist regime in Russia in February 1917. Pressured by wellorganized Estonians, whose impressive demonstration in Petrograd on March 26 assembled 40,000 patriots (including 15,000 Estonian military) under their national colours, the Russian Provisional Government decided in April 1917 to reunite Northern and Southern part of Estonia into a united autonomous Estonian province, administered by a popularly elected Estonian National Council. On November 15 th , 1917, the Council proclaimed itself the supreme authority in the land but was disbanded a few days later by the communists, following 9
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A Brief Political Chronology ESTONI
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Estonia: Almost extinguished, successfully reborn

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