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Estonian Way to the Digital State: Determinants of the Development of the Republic of Estonia

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Estonian Way to the Digital State: Determinants of the Development of the Republic of Estonia vol� 68(4)/2020, pp� 160–176 DOI: 10�15804/athena�2020�68�11 www�athenaeum�umk�pl ISSN 1505-2192 ESTONIAN WAY TO THE DIGITAL STATE : DETERMINANTS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ESTONIA ESTOŃSKA DROGA DO PAŃSTWA CYFROWEGO. UWARUNKOWANIA ROZWOJU REPUBLIKI ESTONII Kamila Sierzputowska* — ABSTRACT — — ABSTRAKT — The text below is an attempt to describe cir- Tekst stanowi próbę zwrócenia uwagi na oko- cumstances of emerging and further phases of liczności powstania oraz kolejne etapy rozwoju development of the Republic of Estonia with Republiki Estonii, ze szczególnym uwzględnie- particular attention focused on geopolitical niem geopolitycznych uwarunkowań procesów: conditions of political, economic and social politycznych, gospodarczych i społecznych, processes shaping the country and having impact kształtujących kondycję tego kraju oraz wpły- on its international image� Depicting respective wających na jego międzynarodowy wizerunek� periods in the history of Estonia and conducting Opisując poszczególne okresy w dziejach państwa an analysis of the contemporary Republic of estońskiego oraz dokonując analizy współczesnej Estonia, the author of the article describes the Republiki Estonii, autorka artykułu stara się way that this small Baltic state successfully made zobrazować drogę, jaką pokonał ten niewielki to become a modern digital state� kraj bałtycki, by z sukcesem realizować formułę nowoczesnego państwa cyfrowego� Keywords: independence; Estonia; ESSR; digital Słowa kluczowe: niepodległość; Estonia; ESRR; revolution; e-state; smart power rewolucja cyfrowa; e-państwo; smart power * Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz, Faculty of Political Science and Administration� Kamila Sierzputowska : Estonian Way to the Digital State 161 INTRODUCTION Estonia, located in the north-eastern Europe, is the smallest of the Baltic states� Its rather low demographic potential (around 1�3 million) and the area (45,227 km2) make it one of Europe’s smallest countries� During over 1,000-year history, Estonian lands were ruled by different powers – Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Rus, and in the 18th century, they became a part of the Russian Empire for the two following centuries� For the first time Estonia became independent and an independent Estonian Republic was declared only in 1918, but it lasted merely two decades, as in 1940 it was incorporated into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics� As the communist system collapsed in central and eastern Europe and the Cold War ended, on August 20, 1991, an independent Estonian state was restored� In less than three decades, after the Republic of Estonia declared independence, the country has gone through radical restructuring� The deliberate geopolitical shift successfully moved this little country towards a modern Nordic state (Piirimäe, 2011)� The author’s goal is to present conditions for the development of the Esto- nian state in the 20th and 21st centuries, taking into account respective areas of its operation, and the results of political actions undertaken in the respective periods of the existence of Estonia and their impact on processes of shaping the nation’s identity and on the capacity of the state development� Thus, the main goal is to present a synthetic picture of the fate of the Estonian nation with reference to consecutive phases of shaping its political organization (the statehood)� It is significant here to provide answers to the following research questions: Which factors affected the process of shaping national identity of the Estonian people? What were the main challenges that the young Estonian state had to face? What were the main effects of the thorough transformation of the country? Why was it successful? A starting point for reflections on the above issues is to present a wider con- text and a historic background of the turbulent period in the Estonian history before 1918, which played a fundamental role in shaping of the Estonian nation� The year 1918 (the final phase of WW1 and the still ongoing Russian revolution) and specifically the date of February 24, 1918, when the Provisional Government of the Republic of Estonia1 was formed by Konstantin Päts, have been adopted as the turning point when Estonian independence was declared for the first time, in order to present the process of the state reorientation and all the related consequences that occurred in the respective areas of its 100-year history� In 162 ATHENAEUM vol. 68(4)/2020 Polish Political Science Studies order to systemize the complex history of the Estonian state it is necessary to periodize it, taking into account respective stages of the state’s operation (politi- cal, administrative, legal systems, etc�): I. The time before the independent Republic of Estonia was created on February 24, 1918� II. 1918–1940: from gaining independence to incorporation into the Soviet Union as the Estonian Socialist Soviet Republic (ESSR) on August 6, 1940� III. 1940–1991: from incorporation into the USSR to August 20, 1991, when Estonia declared independence� IV. 1992–2020: from formation of Mart Laar’s centre-right government after 1992 elections to creation of a modern digital society� The success of the conscious restructuring and a rapid acceleration that was the result of implementing modern IT solutions became the main indicators of the new image of the country� The contemporary reliability of Estonia as an e-state is mainly the effect of specific measures taken by the government� That conditioned reorientation and effective shaping of the state’s international reputation of a modern republic, a pioneer in the field of digital transforma- tion of the public sector� Today Estonia is the leader of both Baltic and Soviet transformation� The Estonian projection of the soft power based on a digital agenda is the final point that summarizes considerations over the evolution of this small Baltic republic� A systems analysis method of was used in the article, presenting conditions of the development of the Estonian land, especially from gaining independence, taking into account respective areas of its functioning and effects of political processes occurring during respective periods of existence of the Estonian state and especially their impact on possibilities and directions of its development� The author used the historical analysis method to show the origin, course and significance of historical and political processes, to indicate a cause and effect relationship, to analyze and draw conclusions� The qualitative method was used to evaluate and explain the described events, showing a multi-basis process of transformation of the contemporary Republic of Estonia and its consequence for the current condition of the state� Kamila Sierzputowska : Estonian Way to the Digital State 163 HE FIRST INDEPENDENT ESTONIAN STATE Aesti tribes were of Finno-Ugric origin and inhabited the Baltic coast, the lands of today’s Estonia (Raun, 2001)� Tacitus, Roman historian, mentioned them for the first time in his work Germania, written around the year 98 (Tacyt, 1804)� They had a patriarchal system based on clans ruled by elders� They lived in communities (maakonnad2), but did not create a state� For centuries the lands of today’s Estonia were areas of constant conquests and conflicts� The Vikings, who traversed Estonia and Latvia to reach Slavic lands, were the first invaders� The 11th and 12th centuries were marked by expansion of princes of Rus, who did not manage to gain control over the land� In 12th and 13th centuries, Germans attempted to Christianize Estonians, but they failed (Bazylow, 1985)� Later, the area was conquered by the Kingdom of Denmark� From the 16th century the north of Estonia was under Swedish rule and the south was occupied by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth as a part of Livonia� In the first half of the 17th century the whole territory was dominated by Sweden� Finally, after Swedish forces had been defeated in the Great Northern War, Estonia, through decisions of the Treaty of Nystad (1721), was subordinated to the Tsardom of Russia and remained its part till WW1 (Forycki, 2007)� After a very turbulent period of the Great Northern War, the following two centuries of Russian rule brought relative stabilization� Even though these were times of oppression of the aboriginal Estonian population within extensive Russification or spreading Orthodox Christianity, serfdom of peasants was abolished at the end of the first quarter of the 19th century (Lewandowski, 2001)� Abolition of serfdom of peasants sped up the development of the Estonian territory and created material basis for the development of national culture as well as for the political national movement� Undoubtedly quick economic growth determined changes to the Estonian political and cultural life� Despite the ban on activity of political parties and despite the censorship, Estonians were active in the fields of culture and national identity through institutions of culture, educa- tion and the press� The beginnings of Estonian national movement are closely 2 Maakond (plural – maakonnad) – Estonian: maa – land, kond – county� Before the 13th century the following counties appeared: Saaremaa (Osilia), Läänemaa (Rotalia or Maritima), Harjumaa (Harria), Rävala (Revalia), Virumaa (Vironia), Järvamaa (Jervia), Sakala (Saccala), and Ugandi (Ugaunia) (Raun, 2001, p� 11)� Today’s Estonia consists of 15 counties (maakonnad), 13 on the con- tinent and 2 on the islands� 164 ATHENAEUM vol. 68(4)/2020 Polish Political Science Studies related to activity of
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