“The Peace of Jurjev” Between Russia and Estonia: History and Consequences

Abstract

The article focuses on the Treaty of Tartu of February 2, 1920 between the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic and the Democratic Republic of Estonia, which laid the foundation for relations between the two countries for 20 years. As a result of the annexation of Estonia to the USSR in 1940, it ceased to have legal force. However, since the collapse of the USSR, the Estonian side has been trying to “bring it back to life” by declaring it a “cornerstone” of its independence, defining, inter alia, its land border. The article traces the history of the treaty, examines its consequences, briefly analyses the current political controversy surrounding it, and evaluates its assessment in contemporary Russian and Estonian historiography. Having studied the documents and experts' opinions, the author concludes that, although the Treaty of Tartu has no legal force, it is an instructive example of how an imperfect “compromise” international agreement has affected the subsequent relationship between the states. This article draws on documents from the Foreign Policy Archive of the Russian Federation, published in the collection of documents of Foreign Policy of the USSR, and from the State Archive of the Republic of Estonia.