Estonia's Independence Research Articles

Anything is possible: Word of Life and utopian thinking during the revolutionary processes in Estonia, 1987–1991

ABSTRACT The late 1980s was a chaotic period in Soviet Estonia. The liberalization process of the Soviet Union brought about a sense of freedom and the possibility that Estonian people would finally have a say in the future of Estonia. This unexpected feeling of freedom formed the basis for various attempts to narrate a better society, including religious visions of a new Estonia. Several of the new religious movements that emerged during this period developed their own ideas about the future of Estonia, with some incorporating utopian perspectives. Although these movements had distinct views on the identity and independence of Estonia, their ideas have not yet been thoroughly researched. The aim of this article is to show how one of the movements, Word of Life, addressed these times of change, and to elaborate on what kind of utopias about Estonia are construed in the discourses.

The “Liberating Germanisation” of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia: Documents and Facts

In many ways, the perception and comprehension of the Second World War form the basis for the historical self-identification of several generations. They are also a sphere of political manipulation. For instance, in the Baltic states, the Nazi occupation, interpreted as a means of “the liberation from the Soviets”, is a widespread ideologeme. Participation in military activities or service in the rear divisions under the swastika flag are interpreted as a “struggle for independence” there. Reference to archival documents about the actual plans, methods, and results of the leaders of the Third Reich as related to the Baltic states and their titular nations makes it possible to study the events that took place in the region between 1941 and 1944. The author refers to a collection of materials of the operational headquarters of Reichsleiter Rosenberg in Riga kept in the Latvian State Historical Archive (Latvijas Valsts Vēstures arhīvs), the documents of the “Riga Trial” kept the Central Archive of the FSB of Russia, and the most recent historiography. Special attention is paid to the actual plans of the Reich leaders concerning the process of granting Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia independence, the functioning of self-government, and the actions of the occupational authorities towards the national languages, cultures, and education of the “unpromising nations”, i. e. Lithuanians, Latvians, and Estonians. The article also examines the establishment of SS formations and other military units made up by representatives of the Baltic peoples and the economic aspects of Nazi policy in “Ostland”.

Between Russia and Estonia: narratives of place in a new borderland

The Russian–Estonian border has undergone radical changes in the past two decades – from an integrated borderland between two Soviet republics to a border between nation-states and the new EU external border. Until the present day, it is a discursive battlefield that reflects the difficult relations between Russia and Estonia after the restoration of Estonia's independence. While much research has concentrated on antagonistic projects of identity politics and state-building from a top-down perspective, this paper asks how people living in the borderland make sense of the place they live in and negotiate shifts in the symbolic landscapes. Based on life-story narratives of Russian-speakers, it analyzes different ways of narrating and framing place and argues for a consideration of the plurality and ambivalences of place-making projects on the ground. Furthermore, it argues for a more balanced account of continuity and discontinuity in memory narratives by taking into account how the socialist past continues to be meaningful in the present. As the interviews show, memories of the socialist past are used for constructing belonging in the present both by countering and by reproducing national narratives of boundedness.

ESTONIAN RUSSIFICATION OF NON-RUSSIAN ETHNIC MINORITIES IN ESTONIA? A POLICY ANALYSIS

Non-Russian ethnic minorities, who immigrated into Estonia between 1945 and 1990 together with Russians, have been assimilating into Russian culture in Estonia after Estonia's independence in 1991. We illustrate this and show why one can assume that this is not in the interest of Estonia, for both 'idealistic' and 'cynical' reasons. We then analyze the implementation of the six key policy instruments the Estonian Government uses to preserve ethnic peculiarities of non-Russian ethnic groups. Our findings imply a policy failure which has not yet been recognized. Finally, we suggest possible explanations for this failure.

The significance of ethnicity in the Estonian return migration policy of the early 1920s

In this article the Estonian return migration policy is analyzed from the perspective of the return migrants’ ethnicity. The time period of this study covers the most intensive phase of the state-organized return of emigrants to the newly established Republic of Estonia. The survey of attitudes of the Estonian authorities towards the return of emigrants with different ethnic backgrounds leads to the conclusions that the return of ethnic Estonians was preferred to the return of non-Estonians during the first years of Estonia's independence on both economic and political grounds. The political loyalty of non-Estonians was doubted in the administrative circles of Estonia which was especially the case with regard to the emigrants that had formerly belonged to the ruling power elites. The negative attitudes towards the return of non-Estonians were further aggravated by the crisis the Estonian economy was facing at that time. As a result, a parallel with the return migration policies of other new nation-states that emerged from the ruins of the Russian empire can be drawn.

Without a Tinge of Red: The Fall and Rise of Estonian Greens

In the 2007 Estonian parliamentary election a new Green Party succeeded in winning 7.1% of the vote and returned six members to the 101-strong Riigikogu. The party had been registered just three mo...

UNIFICATION WITH SWEDEN, AUTONOMY, FEDERAL SELF‐GOVERNMENT?

Various alternatives for arrangements for the situation of Estonian Swedes arose during Estonia's independence phase. This paper concentrates on examining the activity of the Swedish Estonian political elite, in particular, and the discourse about the matter. The study focuses on the early 1920s, when the matter was discussed the most among the Estonian Swedes. The Swedes finally decided to only settle for the lower level opportunity of self‐government, although their earlier declared ambitions had been much higher. The deciding factor for the Estonian Swedish elite seems to have been that over the years they had gotten used to the fact that the average Swede was quite unwilling to take an active part in national‐minded activities and their financial support.

Access to, and Provision of, Legal Information in the Transition from Communism to Democracy in Estonia

The Estonian legal system has over the last decade and a half undergone a tremendous change. Quite often we have had to start from almost nothing and to develop our law very fast compared to societies with long lasting traditions of stable and well established democracy where similar reforms have taken hundreds of years instead of ten. The years that have passed since the reestablishment of Estonia's independence are characterised by reforms of the legal system, preparation for them, and finally their implementation. All these activities have stemmed from a single underlying idea - to develop a legal order appropriate to a democratic state based on the rule of law. Reforms in public and private law as well as in penal law were finalised ten years after the entry into force of the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia in 1992.

Changes in agricultural land use and in plant nutrient balances of arable soils in Estonia

The aim of the present study was to assess the impact of changes in agricultural land use and in the plant nutrient balances on the degradation of soils in Estonia. The plant nutrient balances of arable soils in Estonia were calculated at the national level. After the re-establishment of the independence of Estonia, in the transition to market economy, agricultural production has undergone a drastic decline. Agricultural land use has declined most of all in the regions with low soil fertility. Decreased and low-input agricultural production has reduced pressure on the surrounding environment but owing to the inadequate use of fertilizers, the balance of the main plant nutrients is at present negative. In the 1990s, crop production has occurred largely at the expense of soil resources. Current agri-environmental policy should be supplemented with measures for preventing degradation of soils due to the depletion of plant nutrient reserves of arable soils.

Taking Control by Loosing Control?: Patterns of heroin addiction in Estonia

Similarly to other countries in Eastern and Central Europe, Estonia has a relatively short experience of problems related to the use of illicit substances. In the previously “Real Socialist” countries in general, the increase in drug use among youth did not take place until the 1990s. This paper focuses on opiate users in Estonia. Unlike some other drugs, heroin does not have a trendy status, but is strongly rejected by the recreational drug users of the party scene. On the contrary, opiate users tend to be heavily marginalized. Relying on open-ended interviews with opiate users, this paper focuses on relationships between addiction and the cultural context of drug use. The majority of opiate users belong to the Russian-speaking minority, whose relative social status has considerably weakened after the restoration of Estonia's independence in 1991, and who have limited opportunities in the educational and labour markets. Young people started to use drugs from a desire to experience action, but the absence of other meaningful roles besides that of a drug user quickly led them towards addiction. However, the addicts were able to develop and maintain new competencies for living with heroin. It can be argued that addiction does not lead to a complete loss of control over their lives, but is rather an escape route from mainstream society. Heroin users do not become addicted to the drug alone but to the whole way of life centred on it.

Defending national sovereignty against two Russias: Estonia in the Russian Civil War, 1918–1920

This article examines the establishment of Estonian independence from a wider perspective including the Petrograd front of the Russian Civil War which had a decisive influence on securing Estonia's independence. The contradictory military cooperation between the Estonian army and the White Russian troops under command of General Iudenich, who was an ardent fighter for a Greater Russia that also included Estonia, was skillfully used by the Estonians in order to secure their own borders. Based on primary sources from Estonian and Russian archives, this article sheds new light on Estonian Russian policy during the years 1918–1920, arguing that in the given framework of international policy it was the Estonian side that in decisive moments managed to set the rules of the game.

DRIVING FORCES OF THE EMERGENCE AND MAINTENANCE OF ESTONIAN – RUSSIAN BILATERAL ENVIRONMENTAL COOPERATION REGIME IN THE 1990S

Introduction According to Samuel P. Huntington great historical line that has existed for centuries separating Western Christian peoples from Muslim and Orthodox peoples runs along what are now borders between the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) and Russia [...] (Huntington 1998: 158). Estonia's geopolitical location on the border of two civilizations and its recent history, i.e. its turning from a small brother in the Soviet family into a sovereign subject of international law, or in other words, into an equal neighbour of the Russian Federation, make it an interesting subject for studying the driving forces and mechanisms of the emergence and maintenance of cooperation between the two countries differing substantially by size, importance on the international arena and cultural background. 10 years after the disintegration of the Soviet Union and peaceful restoration of Estonia's independence in 1991, between the two neighbours--Russian Federation with its population of approximately 150 million and Estonia with its population of only 1.4 million--still have considerable room for improvement. It has often been pointed out that cooperation between the two states has not been developing so well and quickly as desirable. In spite of declarations that dynamic and friendly with Russia are among Estonia's security policy priorities (Klaar 1997:18), the list of unresolved political, economic and social issues, hampering normal development of two neighbours, has not significantly shortened over the last decade. Despite long-lasting negotiations and assurances from both sides that technical questions have been solved, the two countries still have not succeeded in signing an official agreement on borders. Economic between the two states are often overshadowed by political considerations, e.g. the unfavourable taxation regime, imposed by Russian authorities on many of Estonian products. The legacy left by the Soviet military presence can also be considered as a source of tension--there were 1565 military objects of the former Soviet Union in Estonia with the total area in their possession of about 87.000 hectares, i.e. 1.9% of Estonia's territory. Damage to the environment was estimated at about 4 billion USD (Raukas 1999:119). Although not directly threatened by its eastern neighbour today, Russia is still often implicitly considered as one of the main outside threats to Estonian security (Vares 1999, Kivi 1999, Luha 1999). Hostility and threats from the Russian side have also several times been openly demonstrated (Kadak 1999:70). The Russian Federation, on the other hand, has been continuously expressing its discontent with several political priorities and developments in Estonia during the 1990s. A difficult and interrelated set of bilateral issues, and especially the inter-ethnic between Russian minority and Estonian majority has been the most outstanding bilateral problem from the Russian point of view (Russia and... 1998). One of Estonian political priorities--accession to NATO, has continuously been causing mistrust and misunderstanding between two neighbours (Loshchinin 1997: 13-14, Shustov 1998:18, Suslov 1999). In the frame of these unfavourable conditions, however, regular environmental cooperation between Estonia and the Russian Federation has emerged and is still being successfully maintained. Several intergovernmental agreements on fisheries and environmental protection have been negotiated and signed, regular meetings of intergovernmental bodies held, and in the field of environmental protection, both on governmental and on non-governmental levels, built and strengthened. International regimes--defined as sets of implicit or explicit principles, norms, rules and decision-making procedures around which actor's expectations converge in a given issue-area of international relations (Krasner 1983:2)--have been in the centre of scientific efforts to explain the emergence and maintenance of cooperative behaviour of state actors in the field of environmental protection (Zurn 1998). …

Under blåsvarta färger. Den estniska konstitutionella krisens verkningar i de finsk-estniska relationerna åren 1934-1938 by Andr� Sahlstr�m (review)

i6o SEER, 8o, I, 2002 reallyneed to be told on three separateoccasions (pp. 7, I3 and 27) about the move from theJulian to the Gregoriancalendar? All this, of course, is not entirely the fault of the author. Murphy has been verypoorly servedby the publisherof thismessyvolume. Department ofHistoy JONATHAN D. SMELE Queen Mary,University ofLondon Sahlstrom, Andre. Underblasvarta fdrger.Den estniskakonstitutionella krisens verkningar i de fnsk-estniskarelationerna aren i934-i938. Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, Helsinki, 2000. 322 pp. Notes. Bibliography. Index. German summary. FM I50.00. THE crisis of democracy in the I930S did not leave a single one of Europe's new democracies untouched. Usually, the successor states of the former Austro-Hungarianand Russian empires adopted some kind of authoritarian rule. Only in the cases of Finlandand Czechoslovakiadid democraticregimes survive. In the case of Finland the happy outcome was doubtless, to some extent at least, due to the exceptionally long democratic traditions. For example, Finland establisheduniversalsuffrageas earlyas in I906 -the first countryto do so, albeitnon-sovereign,in Europe. On the otherhand, Finland had also experienced a bloody civil war in I9I8. This had not, however, destroyedthe democraticpolitical systemand the Social Democratic partywhich had now retiredfrom the barricades scoredwell in the electionsjust a few months afterthe war. The fact that yesterday'sredsvery soon returned to the political scene and even formed a minority government in 1926, very much irritatedtherightistelements,who in I930 organizednon-parliamentary pressure groups and also succeeded in banning the Communist movement. The new anti-communist laws, however, were also used against rightist extremists during the first half of I930s. Consequently, the rightist mass movement, which had been a powerfulfactorin I930, was soon marginalized into one politically insignificantparty and a handful of fascisticgroups. The crucial result of this process was that Finnish conservatives distanced themselves from right-wing radicalism. By I934 the radical rightist party, which hadjust 7 per cent of the seats in the parliament,had definitelyparted ways fromthe moderate conservativewing. For Estonia, the crisisof democracy had more seriousconsequences. As in Finland, there was also in Estonia an element that was dissatisfiedwith the prevailing democratic system, which was considered to be ineffective and unable to answer to the challenges of the time; these included the economic difficultiesarisingfromthe greatdepressionand the heightened activityof the Moscow-led communists. In the case of Estonia, the democratic systemgave way to an authoritarianregime,which hasbeen called a 'centristdictatorship'. Relations between Finland and Estonia were quite intimate during the establishment of Estonia's independence. A Finnish auxiliary force had significantlycontributedto the repulsionof Bolshevikmilitaryaggression.Up to 1922 Finland had also closely cooperated in what had been called 'The Baltic Rim Cooperation' (reunavaltioylteistyd). This cooperation had, however, REVIEWS i6i lost most of itspolitical significancealreadyby I922, when a defence pact had been rejected by the Finnish parliament. Thereafter, relations had been strainedby severalfactors,including large scale Estonian smugglingof spirits into Finland, which had introduced Prohibition in I9I9. On the part of the Estonians,therewas also resentmentwith regardto the supposed'bigbrother' attitudesof the Finns. Andre Sahlstrom'sbook covers the period I934-38, duringwhich Estonia adopted Pats's dictatorship and Finland in turn got a broad-based left-andcentre coalition government and, in foreignpolicy, adopted the Scandinavian orientation. Sahlstrom's theme is the Estonian constitutional crisis and its impact on Finnish-Estonian relations. The central issue, which took the attentionof both partiesduringtheseyears,was a miscarriedplan fora rightist coup d'&tat in Estoniain I935. The abortivecoup did not claim casualties,but it was establishedthat there were Finnish connections: Finnish dynamite and hand grenadeshad been procuredby Estonianemigrantswho lived in Finland in cooperation with Finnish rightistelements, especiallywith members of the leadershipof the youth organizationof the Finnishradicalrightistparty,IKL. The case was discussed in the press and on the Estonian side and there was quite a lot of resentment regarding the alleged Finnish protection of the Estoniandiversionistactivity.Yet,thisaccusationlackedfoundation. Estonian resentment must ratherbe viewed in a largercontext: Finnishcriticismof the Estonian political system was seen to be condescending. The 'war of words' over the Gulf of Finland was not without political consequences. Finland, which officiallyadopted the Scandinavianorientationin I935, was stillfurther estranged from Estonia. Both countries went definitively their own way. In Finland, the scandal of the Estonian conspiracy still further estranged lawabidingcitizensfromthe rightistradicals,whose prestige,popularityand even organizationalresourceswere gravelyaffected...

Environmentalism and Estonia's Independence Movement

The spirit of environmentalism generated some of the most memorable images of the eastern and central European independence movements of the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1988, protesters formed a human chain around the Ignalina nuclear reactor in Lithuania. That same year, thousands of Hungarians marched through downtown Budapest to rally against their government's prospective participation in the construction of a dam on the Danube River. The environmental movements in the former eastern bloc marked the beginning of the end of Soviet era communism in Europe. However, many commentators have implied that environmental protest was a proxy for other, more politically explosive grievances. Environmentalism was decisive, it is argued, because it provided a release valve for pent-up frustrations and repressed nationalistic ardor. Re-examining the independence movement in Estonia, this article contends that environmentalism was not incidental to citizens’ larger aims. The specific, environmentally destructive activities people condemned embodied many of the features of the Soviet system that people despised generally. Resource-intensive and pollution-prone projects proposed by Moscow provoked a broadly conceived environmental revolt rather than environmental protest “in name only.” The environmentally related constituents of Estonia's independence movement included citizens’ opposition to pollution of the environment and waste of natural resources; perceived “mindlessness” of industrial policy in Estonia; the promise of new Russian-speaking immigrants to work in environmentally unfriendly industries; and economic exploitation of natural resources in Estonia for the benefit of other Soviet republics, especially the Russian RSFSR.

Estonian Physicist: Active and Productive

Letters from: [ Jaak Aaviksoo ][1] [ Karl Rebane ][1] Richard Stone's article “Estonian researchers lead the way in science reform” (News & Comment, [4 Oct., p. 29][2]) gives a realistic picture of recent developments in science administration in Estonia. We are encouraged to continue in this direction. However, the article represents Karl Rebane, the former president (1973–1990) of the Estonian Academy of Sciences (EAS) and member of the Russian (formerly Soviet) Academy of Sciences, a physicist of international reknown, as merely an aged enemy of Estonian scientific reform. This is definitely not true. Rebane's contribution to physics as well as to Estonian scientific organization has been remarkable. It is true that he headed the EAS during the last 17 years of Soviet domination and was forced to resign in the wave of the liberation movement. But he also managed, in spite of all difficulties, to build up an institution of international competitiveness, which has been clearly demonstrated during the past few years when we have had the chance to compete for research grants internationally. Rebane is still an active and productive physicist who deserves our respect. # {#article-title-2} Stone's article includes critical statements about me as the former president of the Estonian Academy of Sciences. In these statements, my behavior and role in Estonian science reform are not portrayed correctly. Many documents show that, as the president of the EAS (and before that, the vice-president and member of the academy presidium), I initiated and introduced measures directed to and successful in promoting democracy and effectiveness in the EAS and also in the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union. In the Soviet academy, I was chairman of the Joint Council for Optics and deputy of the USSR People's Congress (elected by the Soviet academy, together with Yuri Ossipyan, Andrei Sakharov, Vitalii Ginzburg, and several other progressive academicians), and a member of the Commission for Science and Education of the USSR People's Deputies Congress. I proposed and started to implement the science grant system in Estonia and was one of the activists implementing the grant system in Soviet science. I acknowledge, however, that I was and still am firmly against hasty, unreasonable changes and, especially, against populism and populists in science. If Estonian science is relatively strong, how can one ascribe that to measures taken 1 to 3 years after the change of the presidium? The state of Estonian science is the result of hard and well-focused work in the EAS and universities promoting effective cooperation between them and contacts with the West (strongly limited but alive even in the Soviet years). My reelection as EAS president in 1987 showed that I had a “normal size” opposition, with the number of “against” votes being far from sufficient to replace me. Nevertheless, soon thereafter, activities began that resulted in the dismissal of the whole EAS presidium. The procedure of impeachment was ignored, and the very new and democratic constitution of the EAS was violated. An objective analysis would reveal that the years of dissolution of the Soviet Union and the first years of Estonian independence brought hard times for science in our country, and especially for the EAS. This was caused by a drastic decrease of financing, and also by the inability of the new president, who came to power after the independence of Estonia was reestablished in 1991, to have good relations with the people. The positive factor that helped keep Estonian science alive was the remarkable increase in contacts with the West and support from the West. [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.275.5299.461f [2]: /lookup/volpage/275/29

The Suurupi Program: Estonian economic policy for the transition

Suurupi, a small resort just outside of Tallinn on the Baltic Sea, was the site of a conference of several dozen government officials and other invited participants convened by the then Prime Minister of Estonia, Edgar Savisaar, in the fall of 1991. I was one of three Western, Estonian-speakers invited to attend.1 The first week of sessions, 26-31 August, was intended to generate economic policy proposals to guide the development of the country for the coming half decade. We were to reconvene from 9-14 September to synthesize the earlier suggestions. The participants at the conference, mostly government economists, were young, intelligent and hard working. They did not have what a Western economist would characterize as formal training in the field, and few had any experience in the West. As a Westerner, on the other hand, I found myself not well versed with the factual situation. (Readers should take this into account, as this report is my retrospective, not that of an official summary or a collaborative effort for which others should be held responsible.) External events strongly influenced the meetings. The Moscow coup attempt started on Sunday, 18 August, and, for all practical purposes, collapsed by Wednesday, 21 August. Thus, the aborted putsch immediately preceded the conference. Moscow's recognition of Estonia's independence took place on Friday, 6 September. As a result, the second week of meetings started late, and focused part of its energies on the immediate, short-term issues.2 This paper focuses on the original longer-term conference objectives.

Research and science in medicine at the University of Tartu, 1802–1940: A forgotten era in the history of medicine — Review article

In November 1986, Ilo Kabin, M. D., defended his thesis in the history of medicine at the University of Lund, Sweden. His thesis, written in German, is a voluminous book (629 pages with numerous photographs and illustrations) about the research and developments in medical sciences which took place at the University of Tartu, Estonia, over a period of 138 years from 1802 to 1940. The monograph presents interesting data on research accomplished by the faculty members and graduates of the School of Medicine at Tartu in the last century and during the first 40 years of this century. The groundwork leading to many important discoveries in medicine was laid in Tartu more than a century ago, and in some areas the faculty members of this medical school were pioneers for the development of modern medicine. As introduction, the author gives a short overview of the history and geography of Estonia and the site of the University of Tartu. This is of great importance because most people no longer know where Estonia is; and there are probably not many people who know that the University of Tartu is four years older than Harvard University it was founded in 1632, by Gustav the Second Adolf, the King of Sweden. Kabin divides the 138-year period in the history of the School of Medicine in Tartu into two eras: the more important and longer period under the Russian rule from 1802 to 1918, and a short 22 year period during the independence of Estonia from 1919-1940. He stops here because of limitations of academic freedom during Soviet occupation of Estonia (1940-1941), the following three years