Changing Ethnic and National Identities in Estonia

Abstract

Abstract Then Western readers think about the former Soviet Union, they tend to think of Moscow, St. Petersburg, and the Russian majority. Except for experts or those with special interests, Westerners tend to forget or underestimate the critical differences among the peoples and republics that constituted the Soviet Union-differences that are so fundamental that they invalidate generalizations from the Russian portions of the Soviet Union to the other republics. The former Soviet republics that are now independent countries and those that are still struggling for their independence are made up of ethnically distinct groups with their own languages and cultural heritages. Estonia, like its Baltic neighbors, Lithuania and Latvia, was an independent country for several decades in the 20th century. It was under czarist rule at the turn of the century, enjoyed independent statehood during the period between World War I and World War II, then was forcibly annexed onto the Soviet Union. Most recently, Estonia declared its independence for the second time in this century in 1991. Older Estonians can still recall the takeover of their country by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II and, with it, the change to Russian as their official language and the loss of prestigious jobs and amenities to Russians who were sent to oversee the new Soviet Estonia. For many Estonians, the Russians who settled there at the end of the war were intruders who assumed privilege and status among the native Estonians.