Estonia (Eesti)

Capital : Tallinn

History

The Estonian people are descended from Finno-Ugric tribes who were settled in the Baltic area at least 4 000 years ago. They have linguistic and racial connections with Finland and Hungary and the Livs of northern Latvia.

In the Middle Ages, the Estonian towns of Tallinn (Reval) on the coast and Tartu (Iurev/Dorpat) in the interior were important as staging posts at which slaves, wax and furs from Russia were traded for weapons, salt and cloth from the west.

By the C12th, the surrounding Norse, German and Slavic peoples were strong enough militarily to begin the conquest of the Baltic territories. In 1346, Denmark sold its right to Estonia to the Teutonic Order which forcibly converted it to Roman Catholicism although it later adopted Lutheranism. Most of the country was contained by the province of Estland with Livonia to the south consisting of the Livs and some Latvian tribes and Livonia was separated from the province of Courland in the C16th. A ruling class of German landowners and merchants was established which was to outlast even the Swedish domination of the C16th/17th.

Tsar Peter I (the Great) took Estonia and Livonia from Sweden in 1721 and they were formally made part of the Russian Empire under the Treaty of Nystad. There was some degree of autonomy with full emancipation for the peasants in 1816 and the country remained Lutheran. The Baltic Germans retained their privileges until the accession of Alexander II in 1856 when the policy of 'russification' was adopted.

The German landowners remained in Estonia, Livonia and Courland until after WWI but during the C19th, the ethnic diversity of the cities was increased by the movement into them of the peasants population. In 1885, Tsar Alexander III made Russian the compulsory language of government, education and administration. As education and literacy increased (95% in Estonia by 1897) the Estonians became more nationalistic and less willing to adopt the German and Russian cultures. A new educated class of native Estonians developed and men such as Konstantin Päts and Jaan Tõnnisson led the move towards nationalism.

During the 1905 revolution, many German priests and aristocrats were killed in a peasant uprising and there was a general strike in October. The Germans and Russians punished the peasants severely between 1905-8 but the use of the Estonian language was allowed again. There was some attempt to pacify the country by giving the Estonians representatives in the Russian Dumas and at local government level but this was not far-reaching. The ethnic German 'Rittershaften' tried to re-establish cultural control by encouraging emigration from Germany to the Baltic but few accepted and the Reich under Kaiser Wilhelm stuck to the tradition of friendly relations with Russia and Prussia which had been established in the Napoleonic era.

This had deteriorated by 1914, largely due to trouble in the Balkans between Russia and Austria and the First World War broke out in 1914. The first German threat to the Baltic came with the invasion of Courland and Livonia in 1915 and much of the population was evacuated. Russia was weakened by the 1917 Revolution and Germany occupied the whole of Estonia by February 1918. Although the west did not support full independence in the Baltic as it wanted to remain friendly with Russia, resistance to Germany was encouraged. Estonia declared itself an independent republic just before the Germans took Tallinn in February 1918 but fear of Germany was so great that by May 1918, the Allies had recognised Estonia as an independent country.

Germany collapsed in November 1918 and the Bolsheviks invaded but were driven out by a combination of British and Finnish forces by February 1919 and there was a peace treaty between Estonia and the Soviets in February 1920 which opened up trade.

The new political independence led to the establishment of a democratic parliament elected by proportional representation for 3 years which could only be dissolved by a referendum. There was still a mixture of racial minorities in Estonia (in 1934, 88% of the population of 1.1 million were ethnic Estonian, 8.5 were Russian, 1.7 German, 0.7 Swedish and 0.4 Jewish) and the new constitution gave them all the right to education in their own language. Any minority group of more than 3000 was given the right under public law to become a corporation and take control of its own education and cultural affairs but most of the Germans' lands were taken over by the government by 1926.

There were many different political parties which caused problems and Konstantin Päts' and the Farmer's Party led calls for reform. The extreme right League of Freedom Fighters proposed a fascist regime which was accepted by 1933 but this did not benefit its leaders, Andrews Lark and Artier Irk as Konstantin Päts declared a state of emergency and outlawed them in 1934. Estonian became the only language of government and place- and surnames were changed to Estonian forms. Päts established himself by banning political organisations and victimised his rivals including a fellow campaigner for independence, Jaan Tõnnisson, but appeared to be becoming more liberal by WWII.

The German Reich gave financial aid from the 1920s on and the Estonian National Socialists grew in influence. Most of the German population was evacuated after the Nazi-Soviet pact of 1939, before Päts' nationalist policies could take effect. In summer 1939, Britain and France opposed the Soviet plan to move into the Baltic to prevent an expected attack by Hitler's Germany but the Estonian government was forced to agree to the establishment of Soviet bases at strategic points. Hitler was forced to abandon German claims to Estonia and Latvia under the German-Soviet non-aggression pact. The Germans launched an offensive in the west in May 1940 and it was perhaps in response to that that the Soviet troops seem to have virtually taken over Estonia which declared itself a Soviet republic in July 1940 and most of the political leaders were deported, few of whom returned or were heard of again.

Under the German occupation of 1941, the Estonians were considered 'Germanised not only in intellect but also in blood' (Alfred Rosenberg) but the Jewish and Polish minorities were virtually wiped out. The last legal president of the Estonian republic, Professor Uluots, tried to restore independence in 1941 and as the Germans evacuated the country in 1944 he was president of a short-lived independent Estonian republic until the Red Army filled the space they had left.

Estonian claims for independence were almost ignored by the Yalta and Potsdam conferences after the war and the area remained under Soviet control after 1945. Greater industrialisation brought an influx of Russian workers which changed the ethnic balance again (only about 60% of the population were ethnic Estonian by 1970). 'Sovietisation' was strongly resisted by guerrilla forces until the early 1950s but many opponents of the regime were deported during the establishment of collectives under Stalin (around 80 000 were sent to Siberia in 1949) and few survived to return after Krushchev allowed it in 1956.

Protests continued but Estonia was cut off from the outside world so they were not really effective. When Gorbachev came to power in 1985, glasnost and perestroika presented further opportunities. There were demonstrations in Tallinn in 1987 and the Popular front became established in 1988 by Egar Savisaar who later became prime minister. The country declared sovereignty in November 1988 and Estonian became the state language again in January 1989 and there was a joint Baltic assembly in Tallinn in May which called for economic rather than political independence from the Soviet Union. The elections of 1990 provided a popular mandate for the non-Soviet Estonian congress and its elected Council under Tunne Kelam and declared itself independent on March 30th 1990 under Savisaar. Boris Yeltsin, the Russian leader, proved amenable to this and direct talks with Moscow began later that year. Despite some legal and economic difficulties, Estonia is now an independent state again.

Estonian Names

Male

AadoAhtiAndreiAndresAndrews Anu
ArnoldArtierArvoCoomas EdgarElmo
EndelEnelEnnErkeIndrek Ivo
JaakJaanJohannesJukuJüri Kaarel
KaupoKonstantinKristjanMart MatiNeeme
PeeterReinRobertasTiiu? ToivoTõnu
Triinu?TunneÜlo?Urmet UrveVaino
ValdekVillem

Female

AnnaAnneAnnelyAstaEela Evelin
HeikiHelleHelmiIngrid JaneJanika
KarinLembitMaiduMaire MareMarga
MargitMariaMarjaMarju MaryeMilena
MonikaReathaReetSirje TaniaTerje
TiinaVaike?

Surnames

AdamsonAllik ArensAruArumaa Arumae
AusAviEenpaluEreltEts Gulbe
HellHuntIlkkaIlvesIndreksu Indrikson
IrkJaansonJakobson JänesJärvaJärvesoo
JarvetJarvilaturiJärviJogi JuhansonJürgenson
KaalepigaKaasikKäbinKallasmaa KangurKartoamm
KaruKaseorgKasikKaskKassin Kaza
KeepnaKelamKivi KloorenKõivaKokk
KoppelKrikmannKruus KuddoKukkKull
KungKuperjanovKurisKütt KuusikKuusk
LaanestLaarLaesLagleLaidoner Langemets
LarkLauristinLeemetsLeetmaa LepikLepp
LiitojaLiivLind LintropLippmaaLippus
LõhmusLoogiLuikMaadu MadissonMaearu
MagerMägiMartinson MartnaMasingMets
MetsisMetslangMihkelson MölderNazarov Neetar
NiitNõmmNool ÕimÕimuOjamaa
OjastuOllOlleOrasOrmus Otsason
PajuPajukiviPäll PälliPärmingPärt
PätsPetersonPettai PiirmetsPiltPisuke
PõderPummPusta PuuseppRaadikRaag
RajandiRätsepp RaudseppRebane RibenisRomet
RoosRüütel SaarSaareSaari Salumae
SarvSavisaarSepp SerpasShaltisSusi?
TaelTammTangeperaTarand TederTiideman
TiitTomsonTonisson Tõnnisson ToomeToruste
TruuvaliTurkinUibopuuUluots UvisorgVaba
VaherVainikVaino ValkVareVares
VeerpaluVerschik ViereckViikbergViksViljan
ViruVissel

FR Kreutzwald compiled a collection of stories and poems called the Kalevipoeg which is similar to the Finnish Kalevala.

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This collection of names compiled by Kate Monk. Copyright January 1997, Kate Monk. Last updated February, 98. Copies may be made for personal use only.