Estonia

Studytour 2015 - Estonia at a Glance

- Republic of Estonia - Tallinn - 1.340 million Estonians - 30% in Tallinn - Parliamentary democracy - Presidential head of state - Local governments - 15 counties - 33 towns - 194 rural municipalities - Cultural autonomy of national minorities - Well connected - Helsinki, , St. Petersburg, Stockholm

Estonia at a Glance A glance continued

- Total border: 1 450.2 km - Sea: 768.6 km - Land: 681.6 km - 45 227 km² (NL: 41 526 km²) - Humid-temperate climate - -2.0C/+19.4C - Estonia is flat - Suur Munamägi (Great Egg Hill, 318m)

Estonia at a Glance Prehistoric Estonia

- Stone Age - 9000 – 1800 BCE - Grain farming (4200 BCE) - Livestock (2900 BCE) - Bronze Age - 1800 – 500 BCE - Close ties with Scandinavia - Iron Age - Roman Iron Age (50 – 450 CE) - Germania (c. 98 CE): ``Aesti’’ - Viking Age (800 – 1050 CE)

Prehistoric Estonia A loss of autonomy

- Centralisation of authority - Christianity - 1193: a holy war - 1347: Holy Roman Empire - Hanzeatic League - Baltic German elite - Lutheranism (1520s) - Language - Culture - Education system - Politics

A loss of autonomy A place of war

- Livonia - Hanseatic League comes to an end - Russian-Livonian War (1558 – 1583) - Northern Seven Years’ War (1563 - 1579) - University of Tartu founded (1632) - All of Estonia under Swedish rule (1645) - Great Northern War (1700 – 1721)

A place of war Enlightenment

- Baltic German control - University of Tartu reopens as Universität Dorpat (1802) - Enlightenment - Abolishment of serfdom (1819) - Nationalism

Enlightenment National movement

- A return to Estonia’s ancient culture - National movement (1840s) - Estonian in school - Estonia’s national epic (Kalevipoeg, 1862) - National song festival - Blue-black-white flag

National movement Russification

- Russification in Estonia and Livonia - Abolishment of Baltic German institutions - Disappearance of German language - Revolution

Russification A brief independence

- First Estonian political party - Nationalists - Greater socio-political and economic role - Freedom of press - Freedom of assembly - Universal franchise - National autonomy - Two become one: a unified Estonia (1917)

A brief independence In Soviet Russia…

- Bolshevik coup d’état (5 November 1917) - October Revolution - Shift of alliances - German Empire against Soviet Russia - Red Army retreats from Estonia

In Soviet Russia Declaration of Independence

- Estonian Declaration of Independence - 23 February 1918 - War of Independence - 25 February 1918 - 2 February 1920 - Estonian constitution - 15 June 1920 - League of Nations

Declaration of Independence Economics

- Estonian mark (1918, later: Estonian Kroon (1928)) - Land reform - Baltic German supremacy comes to an end - Economic setback (1923 – 1924) - Too reliable on Russian markets - Great Depression (1930) - Standard of living fell - Unemployment rose drastically

Economics Silent Era

- Military coup d’état (12 March 1934) - State of emergency - Parliament dissolved (2 October 1934) - Single party system (Fatherland Union) - New constitution (1 January 1938))

Silent Era Return of the Soviets

- Communism - Ideology and movement - Backing of USSR - Failed coup d’état (December 1924) - Baltic League - Finland, Estonia, , , Poland - Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (1939) - Estonia enters Soviet sphere of interest - Estonia loses independence

Return of the Soviets Again a battlefield

- Estonia becomes Estonian SSR (25 August 1940) - A Soviet socialist republic - Social organisation, economy, cultural life change drastically - Cleansed of anti-Soviet elements - German occupation (1941 – 1944) - Red Army occupies Estonia (February 1944) - USSR and Western countries decide Baltic fate

Again a battlefield Soviet Union

- Resistance movement - Russification - Propaganda of joint Soviet nation - Privileges for use of Russian - Deportation of last Baltic Germans (1945) - Split of Estonian community - Home and exile - Religious crackdown

Soviet Union A second independence

- Mikhail Gorbachev – Glasnost and perestroika - Estonian Group on Publication of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (1987) - Increasing political freedom, economic reforms - Self-managing Estonia (1987) - Estonian National Independence Party (1989) - Republic of Estonia based on 1920 treaty - 20 August 1991

A second independence Republic of Estonia

- Gateway between East and West - Sovereignty through international agreements - NATO (29 March 2004) - EU (1 May 2004) - Schengen Area (21 December 2007) - OECD member (9 December 2010) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mPypAjTZIs

Republic of Estonia