Today is February 24, 2006,
the 88th
anniversary of the Republic of Estonia
* * * * *
Below is the story behind the boisterous celebration
(As a start-off, you can inspect the
flag of Estonia (naval version)
HERE, before returning to the story)
Just an anniversary
That’s right -- it’s really not the Estonian Independence Day, it’s just the Anniversary of the Estonian Republic (Vabariigi aastapäev in Estonian). Nevertheless, it’s habitually and officially celebrated like any other Independence Day in any other country (and the Estonian words for "Anniversary of the Republic" are sometimes rendered as "Independence Day" in foreign-language information texts about Estonia).
But in reality February 24 only commemorates the Declaration of the Republic, not actual Estonian independence. Real independence was not established until November 1918, some 8 months later.
Chaotic in the extreme
Because on February 24, 1918, which is the day when the Republic of Estonia was declared all over the country, the political situation in and around Estonia was nightmarishly complicated, to put it mildly. World War I was still going on, with Estonia formally belonging to the Tsarist Russian Empire, which in turn was at war with Imperial Germany. But two Russian revolutions -- Kerensky’s liberal revolution in the beginning of 1917 and Lenin’s communist coup d’état in the autumn of 1917 -- had made Estonia’s Russian connection much less compelling.
Independence for Estonia, or at least self-rule within the Russian Empire, had been on the Estonian agenda since the early 1900’s. National Estonian committees had been formed and a self-governing Estonian national administration network had been established. When the Tsar abdicated in 1917, Estonian Home Guard units were formed and some purely Estonian military units within the Russian army were set up. The increasing revolutionary chaos in Russia in February 1918 made it seem that the time had finally come for Estonia to declare its full independence from Russia.
Deals behind the scenes
However, behind the scenes more momentous developments were going on simultaneously. Lenin had realized from the start that if his communist takeover was to have any chance of succeeding, then the war with Imperial Germany had to stop. Lenin’s representative Trotsky had been negotiating for some time with the Germans in the Byelorussian city of Brest-Litovsk.
But the German Imperial government demanded the Baltic provinces (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) and the Russian part of Poland as a condition for peace. On top of that Russia was required to confirm the independence of Finland, the Ukraine and Georgia, all of them former Russian possessions. That was a stiff price to pay for Lenin, who wanted to keep his new Soviet Empire at least as large as the old Tsarist Empire had been, preferably a whole lot larger. Hence the negotiations dragged on.
But soon the situation in Russia deteriorated at such breakneck pace that by February 21, 1918 Lenin had no choice but to accept the Imperial German conditions. The peace treaty of Brest-Litovsk was formally signed on March 3, 1918. A few days before the treaty was even officially signed, Imperial German troops marched in and occupied the territories that Lenin had relinquished, including Estonia.
Occupied by a different Emperor
The declaration of the Republic of Estonia on February 24, 1918 was consequently followed by Imperial German occupation of Estonia, only days later. The Estonian Home Guard units were totally inadequate to resist professional German troops; they didn’t even try. And the Germans had no interest whatsoever in Estonian independence.
So yes, an Estonian Republic had been declared on paper. The declaration had even been read out aloud in public. But at the same time there was no Estonian independence in sight.
Downfall of the Kaiser
Was the February 24 declaration premature and rash? No. As it turned out in the end, it wasn’t. Because in spite of all its impressive gains in the East, Imperial Germany’s fortunes of war on the Western front had changed from bad to disastrous, partly thanks to American participation in the war.
In November 1918 Imperial Germany was forced to surrender. Included in the armistice conditions was declaring the Brest-Litovsk treaty invalid and requiring all German troops to withdraw from the occupied Eastern areas.
In defence of independence
Immediately after the withdrawal of German occupying forces from Estonia in November 1918, Soviet Russia attacked the "paper Republic" of Estonia. But the Estonians had not been idle during the German occupation. A constituting assembly and a temporary government were ready to start functioning as soon as the Germans left. In the beginning the Estonian Home Guard units were not strong enough to prevent Lenin’s forces from intruding deep into Estonian territory. But an effective military organisation was soon formed, which in time succeeded in repelling the Russians.
Fighting went on for more than a year, but in the end Lenin gave up, partly due to his grave problems elsewhere. A peace treaty between the Republic of Estonia and Soviet Russia was signed in Tartu on February 2, 1920, less than two years after the seemingly "premature" declaration of the Estonian Republic on February 24, 1918.
Celebrating with bottled passion
Seen strictly from the perspective of the celebration and the festivities, the time of the year could certainly have been chosen better. February in Estonia is freezing cold and snowy, leading many celebrators to warm themselves with strong drinks. In some quarters this is seen as a growing problem. On the eve of the 2006 festivities some civic organisations have made an appeal to the public: "Make the Anniversary of the Republic non-alcoholic!" I seriously doubt that this is going to happen, though.