Estonia: Almost extinguished, successfully reborn

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ESTONIA: Almost extinguished, successfully reborn Lenin’s Bolshevik coup in Russia. From February to November 1918, Estonia was occupied by the German army. However, on February 24, 1918, just before the start of the German occupation, the National Salvation Committee that was authorized by the Estonian National Council, proclaimed Estonia an independent democratic republic. While German authorities suppressed the newly formed provisional Government led by Konstantin Päts, Estonian politicians continued their diplomatic and lobbying efforts abroad. In May 1918 Great Britain, France and Italy granted de facto recognition to the Estonian Republic. Immediately after German Empire collapsed in November 1918, Lenin ordered the Red Army to invade Estonia, whose independence was seen as an obstacle to the spreading of world revolution from Russia to Central Europe. In the following War of Independence (November 1918 – February 1920) hastily organized Estonian forces succeeded in driving the Red Army out of the country and also managed to defeat in June 1919 the Latvian-based German volunteer army (Landeswehr) which attempted to re-establish German rule in former Baltic provinces. On February 2, 1920, the Tartu Peace Treaty was concluded, whereby Soviet Russia recognized “unconditionally and forever” the independence of Estonia, renouncing voluntarily all rights over its territory and people. In January 1921 the Allied Supreme Council in Paris recognized Estonian independence; in September 1921 Estonia became a member of the League of Nations. In April 1919, while the War of Independence was 10
ESTONIA: Almost extinguished, successfully reborn continuing, a Constituent Assembly was elected. In October 1919 a radical land reform nationalized and redistributed 97 per cent of the big estates to smallholders; in 1920 a liberal constitution mandated a parliamentary republic. In 1922, Estonians, numbering almost 1 million, formed 88 per cent of the population, followed by ethnic Russians (8 per cent), Germans, Swedes and Jews. A law introducing cultural autonomy for minorities was adopted in 1925, one of the first such laws in Europe. These years of independence saw fast and positive development in all areas. Estonia’s GDP per capita was considerably higher than that of Poland or Spain, mostly on the same level with Finland. The accomplishments of those twenty years of independence became the essential value upon which, fifty years later, the restoration of independence was based. Later, during the Soviet occupation, the Estonians’ earlier experience with civil order and democracy, rule of law and a modern educational system helped them to resist Sovietization. All positive development was stopped by the Soviet– Nazi Pact (Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact) of August 23, 1939 under which the two dictatorships secretly divided Eastern Europe into their spheres of influence. The secret protocols of the Soviet-Nazi pact blatantly violated both international law and earlier treaties of the signatory states. As a result of the Pact, World War II started, Hitler attacking first from one and then Stalin from other side. On September 24, 1939 Moscow, suddenly accusing Estonia of endangering the security 11
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A Brief Political Chronology ESTONI
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Estonia: Almost extinguished, successfully reborn

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