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| Republic of Estonia Eesti Vabariik | |
|---|---|
 Flag
 Coat of arms
| |
 Estonia (dark green) in the European Union (light green) | |
| Capital and largest city | Tallinn |
| Official languages | Estonian |
| Demonym(s) | Estonian |
| Dominant mode of production | Capitalism |
| Government | Unitary parliamentary republic under a dictatorship of the bourgeoisie |
• President | Alar Kalis |
• Prime Minister | Kristen Michal |
| Legislature | Riigikogu |
| History | |
• Secession from USSR | 8 May 1990 |
• Secession recognized | 20 August 1991 |
| Area | |
• Total | 45,339 km² |
| Population | |
• 2024 estimate | 1,373,101 |
| Currency | Euro (€) (EUR) |
| Calling code | +372 |
| ISO 3166 code | EE |
| Internet TLD | .ee |
Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a small country in the Baltic region of Europe with a coast on the Baltic Sea to the northwest. It borders Russia to the east and Latvia to the west while also being separated from Finland to the north by the Gulf of Finland. Although previously Estonia was a socialist republic of the Soviet Union, modern Estonia is an imperialist country with membership in the EU and NATO. Ethnic Russians in Estonia live under an apartheid system and have discriminatory non-citizen passports.[1]
History[edit | edit source]
Early history[edit | edit source]
German landowners and merchants dominated Estonia from the 13th through 19th centuries. Russia conquered the region in 1710. In the 1917 elections, the Bolsheviks received 37% of the vote in Estonia compared to 25% throughout the Russian Empire. In early 1918, the Estonian ruling class declared independence from Russia and fought a two-year civil war with major Western support.[2]
First bourgeois republic (1920-1940)[edit | edit source]
Early 1920s[edit | edit source]
In 1920, Estonia established a parliamentary government. Despite declaring itself an independent nation, in reality, the Estonian state operated as a semi-colony under the influence of the foreign powers. Economic decisions were made based on the approval or disapproval expressed by the current master power.[3] Thus, under the influence of its current master power, Britain, Estonia would adopt an agrarian policy in the early 1920s.[4] This would lead to massive industrial decline.
The huge Krenholm textile mill in Narva, which employed 12,000 workers in 1914, saw a dramatic reduction to just 2,000. The Russo-Baltic ship-building docks, which used to employ 5,000 workers, were left vacant.[5] The number of workers employed in the metal industry was reduced from 17,000 to 4,000, in the textile industry from 19,000 to 9,000 (Comparison made with pre-war numbers).[6]
The economy would face repeat crises as Estonia was dependent on the export of agricultural goods on the foreign market, a foreign market which had constantly fluctuating price levels and alterations in the political situation.[7]
Forced to operate underground, the Estonian Communist Party (EKP) attempted to rally popular support against the ruling class, managing to win 10% of seats in the 1923 elections. In response to the workers movement, the bourgeoisie intensified repression and in January 1924 over 300 workers organizations were forcibly disbanded with their leaders being arrested along with the communists elected to the State Assembly. On December 1, 1924, an EKP led uprising broke out in Tallinn but it was defeated.[8]
Economic collapse[edit | edit source]
In 1931, as a result of the aforementioned dependence on foreign markets, the economy would completely collapse. The Estonian economy could not handle the massive price plunge of the global market. Foreign markets started to restrict imports, causing the export driven Estonian economy to become isolated.[9] The country would face a crisis of unemployment, economic depression and political instability.
Konstantin Päts' dictatorship[edit | edit source]
A fascist anti-Soviet dictatorship under Konstantin Päts took power in 1934. The Soviet Union signed a mutual assistance treaty with Estonia and the other Baltic states in 1939 in an effort to prevent a German invasion. After Estonia violated the treaty, the Soviet Union required it to hold new elections involving the Communist Party. In 1940, the new Communist-led government asked for incorporation into the Soviet Union.[2]
Soviet era (1940-1991)[edit | edit source]
See main article: Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic (1940–1991)
During the Great Patriotic War, Estonian capitalists supported the Nazi invasion of the USSR in 1941, and 6% of the Estonian population fled with the retreating Nazi armies. Soviet power was restored in 1944.[2]
Estonians had the highest enrollment rate in higher education of any nationality in the Soviet Union.[10]
Second bourgeois republic (1991-)[edit | edit source]
After seceding from the USSR, Estonia's poverty rate increased from 1% to 37%.[11] During the 1992 elections, 42% of Estonia's population was barred from voting.[12] Estonia held In May 2022, 15,000 NATO troops from 14 countries conducted a military exercise in Estonia.[13]
Politics[edit | edit source]
The Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE), formed in 2012, promotes the Great Replacement conspiracy theory. In 2020, it controlled 19 out of 101 seats in the parliament.[14]
Discrimination against Russians[edit | edit source]
Russians in Estonia are paid less and have more unemployment. They do not have political freedom and there is no Russian-language press. Criticism of the Estonian government is punishable by deportation.[15] In 2017, EKRE proposed banning Russians from voting in the following elections.[1]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Apartheid, Estonian-Style: Lawmakers Propose Stripping Russians of Right to Vote" (2017-05-22). Sputnik. Archived from the original on 2022-01-27. Retrieved 2023-01-08.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Albert Szymanski (1984). Human Rights in the Soviet Union: 'The European Nationalities in the USSR' (pp. 78–79). [PDF] London: Zed Books Ltd.. ISBN 0862320186 [LG]
- ↑ “All four Baltic states, Finland and Latvia in particular, inherited from von
der Goltz corrupt government cliques which converted their
countries into colonies and followed an economic policy of
maximum dependence at first on England, later on Germany.
As is customary in colonial or semicolonial countries, the
economy itself was subordinated to politics. Economic measures
were accepted or rejected on considerations of foreign policy on
the approval or disapproval expressed by the current master
power.”
Gregory Meiksins (1943). The Baltic Riddle: 'Between Two World Wars; The Baltic Lungs' (p. 58). - ↑ “The choice was made under the influence of Baltic chiefs of state who enjoyed the powerful support of England and played on the
primitive aspirations born of the agrarian reforms.”
Gregory Meiksins (1943). The Baltic Riddle: 'Between Two World Wars; The Baltic Lungs' (p. 61). - ↑ “Vacated in Tallinn were the Russo-Baltic shipbuilding docks,
which before the war employed 5,000 workers, and the Dvigatel
car-building works, where 15,000 workers were once engaged,
was closed down in Riga.”
Gregory Mieksins (1943). The Baltic Riddle: 'Between Two World Wars; The Baltic Lungs' (p. 62). - ↑ “The same was true also in Estonia, where, in comparison with
the period before 1914, the number of workers employed in the
metal industry was reduced from 17,000 to 4,000, in the textile
industry from 19,000 to 9,000.”
Gregory Mieksins (1943). The Baltic Riddle: 'Between Two World Wars; The Baltic Lungs' (p. 63). [PDF] - ↑ “Since local agriculture was dependent on the foreign market, its development was subject to constantly changing price levels on the world
farm products market and to alterations of the political situation. The opportunity for normal development was absent,
and during all these interwar years the structure of Baltic economy continued to rock on this unstable foundation, more shifting than the sand dunes on the Baltic shores. The curve of agricultural growth in the Baltic countries is not a rising one, as
should be expected from states which have made a "peasant
policy" their watchword. The curve goes from crisis to crisis,
with sweeping drops between, and following each drop it begins again the slow painful climb upward to the next crisis.”
Gregory Mieksins (1943). The Baltic Riddle: 'Between Two World Wars; The Baltic Lungs' (p. 66). - ↑ E. Tarvel, T. Karjahärm (1979). The Great Soviet Encyclopedia: 'Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic; The bourgeois dictatorship'.
- ↑ “The crisis of 1931 marked the beginning of the third phase
in the development of the Baltic national economy, a phase
in which its semicolonial character and hopeless condition became most clearly evident.
On the world market prices took a catastrophic drop. All
countries began to introduce quotas restricting the import of
farm produce. An era of economic isolation began. In, the Baltic
states the economic system knocked together for better or
worse simply collapsed.”
Gregory Mieksins (1943). The Baltic Riddle: 'Between Two World Wars; The Baltic Lungs' (p. 70). - ↑ Eugene Puryear (2022-06-06). "Nations and Soviets: The National Question in the USSR" Liberation News. Archived from the original on 2022-06-30. Retrieved 2022-08-08.
- ↑ Branko Milanovic (1998). Income, Inequality, and Poverty during the Transition from Planned to Market Economy: 'Poverty; By How Much Has Poverty Increased?' (p. 68). [PDF] Washington, D.C.: World Bank. ISBN 082133994X
- ↑ Carey Goldberg (1992/9/21). "Estonians Vote--but Russians Are Barred" Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original.
- ↑ "NATO begins military drills near Russian border" (2022-05-18). Al Mayadeen. Archived from the original on 2022-06-29. Retrieved 2022-08-08.
- ↑ Ellen Rivera, Marsha P. Davis (2019-07-22). "Dissecting Identity & Democracy: the EU’s new far-right super group" CovertAction Magazine. Archived from the original on 2020-09-21. Retrieved 2022-11-23.
- ↑ Johan Bäckman (2009-05-26). "“Estonia has an apartheid regime”" RT. Archived from the original on 2022-07-20. Retrieved 2023-01-08.