Land consolidation as an essential socio-economic process in the early days of the Republic of Estonia, II This article analyses the solution of the land issue from the land consolidation aspect, mainly in the first decade of the Republic of Estonia (1918–28); it also provides an overview of changes made in land consolidation institutions in the 1930s. The period from 1918 to 1928 included significant changes in the reorganisation of land use and ownership, especially in the planning and division of former manor lands, as well as other land consolidation work aimed at transforming land use to provide a source of livelihood for as many people as possible. In the context of that time, land consolidation should be understood as an activity aimed at creating vibale farms or craftsman’s homesteads, concentrating the usable land as much as possible around the buildings as a single tract of land. Land consolidation was carried out on state and private land. If an agreement was not reached with the owner of private land, land consolidation was carried out under compulsion by the state. All this needed functioning institutions. The article discusses the history of forming land consolidation institutions and the changes made in their structure. Changes in the jurisdiction and decision-making rights of land consolidation institutions, as well as the procedure for contesting the decisions of those institutions, are investigated. The article analyses the development of the land consolidation law of the Republic of Estonia, highlighting the features it shared with the Russian Land Consolidation Act of 1911. Sensible land planning, creating new plots for farms or craftsman’s homesteads, exchanging land, and eliminating scattered lands and land in strips required exceptional competence and knowledge in land consolidation and legal matters. However, the transformation of land use and ownership through many different legal acts resulted in a legal mess. Implementing changes required a well-thought-out structure for land consolidation institutions. The implementation of the Russian Empire’s Land Consolidation Act in the reorganisation of the peasants’ allotments in the trans- Narva and Pechory District into demarcated farms was practical evidence that land consolidation institutions with extensive rights could expediently handle complex land issues in situations where the preparation of the land consolidation plan had to consider different legal bases. The previous work experience of Estonian officials in the Russian Empire, including the experience of implementing the Russian Empire’s Land Consolidation Act of 1911, also became decisive for the structure of the land consolidation institutions created in Estonia in 1926, which were similar in structure and rights to the former Russian Empire’s land consolidation institutions. The most significant similarity was that Estonian land consolidation institutions were also essentially given judicial functions. The work of the impartial commission made it possible to achieve the primary goal of land consolidation in such a way that the rights of individuals were protected. On the one hand, it allowed decisions to be made at the level of professionals and, on the other hand, kept the simultaneous, purposeful, and rapid implementation of land reform and additional necessary land consolidation work under the leading control of the state. Land consolidation primarily aimed to improve agriculture’s profitability by creating prerequisites for using land as productively as possible. Alongside this economic task, however, the social task of land consolidation remained important – to ensure livelihood opportunities for everyone. It can be concluded from analysing the formation and development of the land consolidation law in the Republic of Estonia in 1918−40 that the influence of the Russian Empire’s land consolidation law was recognisable in the land reform process of land planning. When drafting the Land Consolidation Act of 1926, the Russian Empire’s law was used as a model, especially in the structure of land consolidation institutions and the broad (judicial) rights granted to the commissions. The influence of the Land Consolidation Act of the Russian Empire on the structure and rights of land consolidation institutions continued in the updated Estonian Land Consolidation Act, which was passed in 1937.

“Marriage is sacred, but also a civil contract – it must not be broken” or Divorce Behaviour in the Context of Changes in Family Law in Estonia, 1918–91 This article examines the development of divorce law and divorce behaviour in Estonia throughout the 20th century, focusing on the period from the establishment of the independent Republic of Estonia in 1918 until the end of the Soviet occupation in 1991. The central research question asks whether, and to what extent, changes in divorce legislation influenced actual divorce behaviour during this period. The study is based on a close reading of legal texts – including the 1922 Marriage Law, the 1944 and 1969 Soviet family codes – as well as statistical data from Estonia’s interwar and Soviet-era family records and illustrative examples drawn from contemporary press coverage. The analysis is framed within the wider context of social, political, and ideological transformations that characterised 20thcentury Estonian society. Marriage, as one of the oldest and most regulated social institutions, has long served both societal and legal functions. Legal frameworks surrounding marriage have historically reflected and shaped dominant norms, values, and power relations, particularly those related to gender and family life. In this light, the history of divorce offers a particularly revealing lens through which to analyse changing societal attitudes toward family, gender equality, and individual autonomy. The 1922 Marriage Law of the Republic of Estonia marked a significant break with previous legal traditions rooted in the patriarchal Baltic Private Law and church laws. It established civil marriage as the norm and introduced several liberal grounds for divorce, including mutual consent and incompatibility – innovations that were progressive even in a broader European context. While the law facilitated the dissolution of unhappy marriages, especially those that had long since broken down in practice, divorce rates during the interwar period remained relatively modest. This suggests that the societal uptake of these new legal possibilities was gradual and selective, mediated by persistent social expectations and cultural norms surrounding marriage. Following the Soviet occupation of Estonia, family law was rapidly brought into line with Soviet legal and ideological standards. The 1944 Soviet family code imposed stricter requirements for divorce, including mandatory public announcements and court hearings, as well as higher state fees. These restrictions temporarily suppressed divorce rates and reinforced the Soviet Union’s emphasis on the nuclear family as a cornerstone of socialist society. However, by the mid-1950s, legal practice began to shift. Judges increasingly accepted a wider array of reasons for divorce – including emotional and relational incompatibility – without requiring moral or legal fault. This judicial leniency was accompanied by a growing public discourse on the challenges of family life under socialism. The 1965 legal reform, followed by the introduction of the 1969 Estonian SSR Marriage and Family Code, simplified the divorce process. For the first time since the interwar period, divorce was again possible through administrative (non-judicial) channels if both spouses agreed and had no underage children. Importantly, the 1969 code no longer specified permissible grounds for divorce, leaving judges to decide whether a marriage was irretrievably broken based on the couple’s claims. These reforms led to a marked and sustained increase in divorce rates, peaking in the 1980s, when approximately half of all marriages ended in divorce. Statistical analysis of divorce trends in Estonia between 1922 and 1991 confirms a strong correlation between legal changes and divorce behaviour. Divorce rates rose sharply following each major liberalisation of divorce law. However, the longer-term increase in divorce rates cannot be explained by legal factors alone. Broader social developments – including urbanisation, women’s increased participation in the workforce, the weakening influence of religion, and the growing valorisation of individual happiness—also played a crucial role. The article argues that law functioned both as a reflection of these changes and as an active agent in shaping new social norms. The article concludes that while family law reform alone did not create a “divorce culture”, it provided the legal infrastructure necessary for such a cultural shift to occur. By enabling divorce on more flexible and individuaal terms, the law increasingly framed marriage not as a permanent moral obligation but as a conditional and voluntary relationship, dissolvable when personal needs or expectations were no longer met. This shift in legal and social paradigms fundamentally altered the balance of power within marriage and the meaning of marriage itself.

The life and welfare of disabled soldiers in the Republic of Estonia in the 1920s and 1930s World War I and the Estonian War of Independence were two devastating wars that had a huge impact on the Republic of Estonia and its people. During both wars, tens of thousands of men were conscripted, many of whom did not return from the battlefields. It is estimated that around 10,000 men died or were listed as missing in action during WWI. Another 5,889 dead and 13,775 wounded from the Estonian War of Independence can be added to this number as war casualties. While most soldiers returned home from the war with none or minor injuries, some came back with injuries that had mutilated their bodies. These men had trouble coming to grips with the new situation they found themselves in and needed help from their government. Right after the Independence War, from 1920 to 1922, it was reported that there were at least 3,000 disabled soldiers living in Estonia.The aim of this article is to explore the welfare system that was in use in Estonia during the 1920s and 1930s and its impact on the post-war lives of invalids. Laws and regulations published in the Riigi Teataja in the 1920s and 1930s have been used to describe the welfare system, alongside articles from the newspaper Invaliid, which provide insights into how disabled soldiers viewed the welfare system. Notice sheets from archival subcollection no. 1652 on disabled veterans from the Tallinn department of the Eesti Vigastatud Sõjameeste Ühing (Estonian Disabled Soldiers Union) have also been used to gain an understanding of the socioeconomic situation and the actual effects of the law. These sheets contain up to 30 questions that disabled soldiers had to answer when joining the union. Their analysis provides an insight into the lives and wellbeing of disabled soldiers during the 1920s and 1930s, along with an improved understanding of their situation.The welfare system for disabled soldiers that was in use in the Republic of Estonia in the 1920s and 1930s focused mainly on maintaining the wellbeing of veterans of the Estonian War of Independence and of people who became disabled in the military during the interwar period. This left tsarist Russian Army veterans in a very poor economic situation. Veterans from the Independence War could receive pensions that were up to five times larger than the pensions of WWI veterans. They also received far more support in other fields, such as medical aid and transportation. This all stemmed from the idea that the Estonian Republic should support only those disabled soldiers who had been injured fighting for their country. It was felt that men who had been disabled while fighting in the tsarist Russian Army should receive their pension from the nation they had fought for.Analysis of Estonian Disabled Soldiers Union notice sheets of disabled veterans from the Tallinn department indicates that a considerable number of disabled soldiers lived in poverty. Most of its members were WWI veterans who had suffered at least a 50 percent loss of ability to work. If they were able to, most of them worked as farmhands and factory workers. Those who could not work received a small pension that was insufficient for living. Few disabled soldiers had other wealth in the form of property. Additionally, at least half of the members were married and had children to support.While the monetary support provided by the government played a significant role in the wellbeing of disabled soldiers, the aspect of support and understanding from the rest of the population cannot be cast aside. The population’s attitude towards disabled soldiers was very mixed. As was the case in the welfare system, veterans of the Independence War were treated more fondly than tsarist Russian Army veterans, but the people could rarely differentiate the two on a war basis. As a result, all disabled soldiers experienced the same attitude towards them on the part of their compatriots, which generally ranged from passive understanding to complete disgust. This disappointed disabled soldiers since they saw themselves as heroes who had given everything for their compatriots but did not even earn their respect in return.

4th Estonian Infantry Regiment (1917–18) Despite Russia being a multi-ethnic empire at the beginning of the 20th century, there were no national units in its armed forces. This changed during the First World War when some minorities (Latvians, Poles, Armenians, Georgians) were granted the right to form national forces. The real breakthrough, however, came after the February Revolution, which gave all the peoples of Russia, including Estonians, the same opportunity.At the request of the Estonian military, recruitment of Estonians for the regiment to be established in Tallinn began on 12 April 1917. Soon, however, the Russian military authorities put the brakes on, accepting the existence of one Estonian regiment, but banning any further formations. At the same time, more and more Estonian soldiers who wanted to serve in the national army were arriving in their homeland. The First Congress of Estonian Military Personnel held in June requested the establishment of new units. Military failures and the rapid demoralisation of the Russian forces made the authorities more compliant. Between September and October, permission was granted to also form the 2nd and 3rd Estonian regiments and the Estonian Reserve Battalion in addition to the 1st Estonian Infantry Regiment. In December, all Estonian units were merged into the 1st Estonian Infantry Division.On 6 December 1917, the Commander of the Estonian Division ordered the formation of the 4th Estonian Infantry Regiment and appointed Captain Hendrik Vahtramäe as commander of the regiment. The regiment was initially stationed in Rakvere, where two battalions and a number of smaller subunits were formed. A month later, the previously established Estonian Battalion in Paide was merged with the regiment. From then on, part of the 4th Estonian Infantry Regiment was deployed in Rakvere and part of it in Paide, whereas the smaller subunits were billeted in the manors and villages of Viru and Järva counties.Since source materials are scarce, it is unclear to what extent the 4th Estonian Infantry Regiment was completed, but it certainly did not become a combat-capable unit. There was a shortage of both military personnel as well as equipment and weapons. Furthermore, ever-intensifying politicisation and the consequent decline in discipline had an impeding effect. The regiment was being formed while the Bolsheviks, who had seized power, were expanding their influence. Therefore the armed forces had to take serious action to repel Bolshevism. Protecting the civilian population from the lawlessness of demoralised Russian soldiers (killings, arson, robberies, etc.) became another important area of activity for the regiment. The regiment played a significant role in the last days of February 1918 when it helped overthrow the Bolsheviks and establish independent Estonian statehood.By the beginning of March, the entire territory of Estonia had fallen under German military occupation. Although the Germans refused to recognise Estonian statehood, the existence of national military units was tolerated for some time. The Estonian military tried to make the most of the opportunity by transforming the former 1st Estonian Infantry Division into the Estonian Army. The Army also included the 4th Estonian Infantry Regiment, which was still deployed in Rakvere and Paide and continued its recruiting and training activities. However, on 20 March, General Adolf von Seckendorff ordered the Estonian national military units to be disbanded. At the beginning of April, the short existence of 4th Estonian Infantry Regiment was terminated.Even though the history of the 4th Estonian Infantry Regiment covered only four months, its importance was considerably greater. In November of 1918, when the Estonian War of Independence broke out, the men who had served in the 4th Estonian Infantry Regiment answered the call-up once more and were among the first to defend their homeland.