Welcome to
A View of Estonian Life

The Republic of Estonia/Eesti Vabariik
Historical-Cultural Tidbits

A brief historical view is expressed here from an interested observer, not a historical scholar with an Estonian studies emphasis! Many people have written on the Baltic history and culture and some excellent online sites are given on Estonia Online.

The Language

The first settlements in this area were approximately 7500 B.C. of unknown ethnic origins! 1 The known ancient Estonian ancestors who have inhabited the area for more than 5,000 years were the Balto-Finnic group of the Finno-Ugric nations.2 The Estonian culture created over time was defined by the language, both oral and written, and recognition on maps. Although the borders have moved repeatedly throughout history, Estonia (known as Astlanda) first appeared on a map created by Al-Idrisi, an Arab scholar, in 1154.3 The first book printed in the Estonian language was 1525.4 In 1632, King Gustav II of Sweden sanctioned the University of Tartu and public schools around the country soon followed.5 By 1895, Estonia was 97% literate, compared to a 30% literacy rate in Russia at this same time period. 6 The adult literacy rate today is 100% for Estonians.

Historically, teaching at the University of Tartu had been in Latin, German, Swedish, or Russian. When independence was declared on February 24, 1918, Estonian became the primary teaching language. Prior to this time, the language had been kept alive by the common population and therefore a scientific vocabulary did not emerge. In the 1920s and 1930s, new Estonian words had to be created to fill the void and even though the language propagated, independence was brief. A forced occupation and annexation by Germany, for the first few years, and the Soviet Union, for tens of years, began on June 17, 1940. Soviet occupation suppressed religious and cultural activity for a time. Song festivals began in the 1980s, and because the folk songs were a defining segment of Estonian culture, this time has been called the Singing Revolution.7 Estonian was adopted as the official state language in 1989.

The Occupations

In the early 13th century, Germans invaded southern Estonia and Danes the north. Around 1345, the Danish king sold his territory holdings to the Livonian Order of Teutonic Knights, who already controlled the southern region known as Livonia. The knights and Hanseatic merchants established trade centers and dominated the country until 1561 when the Livonian Order was dissolved. Northern Estonia came under the Swedish crown and Poland retained the southern areas. By 1645 all of Estonia was under Swedish control, which lasted until 1721, when the Russian influence would dominate until 1918. A peace treaty was signed at Tartu between Russia and Estonia on February 2, 1920, where all Russian sovereignty claims to Estonia ceased.8

Before WWII, the ethnic composition was 90% Estonian, 4% Russians, and 6% other. Estonia was "given" to the Soviets with the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, but when Germany attacked the USSR in 1941, Nazi troops occupied Estonia.9 In September 1944 the Germans retreated and full Soviet occupation commenced. Both the Estonian language and culture were suppressed until the late 1980s. After Communist rule collapsed in August 1991, the Soviet government formally recognized the independence of the Baltic Republics and and an independent Estonian Republic was restored, August 20, 1991. All three Baltic Republics were admitted to the United Nations in September 1991.10 An Estonian Constitution was adopted and has been in force since July 3, 1992. By July 1994 Russia agreed to remove their remaining Soviet troops and in March 1999 a border treaty was agreed to. In February 1994 Estonia joined the Partnership for Peace program, which allows for limited cooperation with NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and in July 1995 the country became an associate member of the European Union.

According to the Statistical Office of Estonia, the ethnic composition in Tartu, as of 1/1/99, was over 75% Estonian, over 19% Russian, and 5% other nations (primarily Finnish). 11 There are more Russians in other parts of the country, so that overall Russians composition is closer to one-third of the residents. The statistics are slightly confusing though, because as of 1998, 22% of Estonian residents were not Estonian citizens.

The Economy

Hanseatic League or German Hanse was a commercial alliance of German merchants and cities that monopolized trade in the North and Baltic seas, from the 12th-17th centuries. It was not a political or military alliance, but rather an economic community that thrived from the association of a large unified trading bloc, comparative today to the efforts of the European Union (EU) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In exchange for cloth, salt, and wine from the west, eastern merchants provided such items as fur, wax, tar, honey, grain, and timber.

The first permanent Hanseatic trading center was in Lübeck in 1159. During the 13th century, the league merchants established trade centers with Estonia, at Tallinn (Reval) and Tartu (Dorpat),12 Russia, at Novgorod, and Norway, at Bergen, among others. A major contribution to success of this trade was the high capacity cargo ship termed a cog ship.13 The League was not a sovereign entity though, and there were no permanent officials or common property. By the 16th century the Hanseatic League influence was declining in part due to challenges from other countries and an unsucessful expansion of trade west to the settlements in the Americas. The Thirty Years' War in Germany, 1618-1648, created the final demise of the league.

Estonia was never strategic because of valuable natural resources, but rather its location between production and consumption areas. In the Middle Ages, Tallinnn and Tartu were trade centers for the Hanseatic League, a kind of geographic bridge between the East and the West. For example, merchants from Lübeck and Russia, navigated along the Emajõgi, Mother River, from Lake Peipsi, through Tartu, to Võrtsjärv, and beyond to the Bay of Riga and Baltic Sea. Today, Estonia's economic development continues to be in commodity transit. The rail, road, airport, and seaport infrastructure provide the geographic bridge. The main commodity moved is liquid fuel, a resource the world is dependent upon.

In addition to Estonia's historic role as a geographic bridge, the international influence of the many languages of invading cultures, both friend and foe, has provided for a kind of bipolar insight for Estonians. After WWII, the Soviets used Estonia and the other Baltic Republics as outlets to the West, both physically and spiritually.14 The Estonians high level of education and western contacts worked to their advantage to quickly institute a free market economy in the 1990s upon freedom.

The Estonian government implimented an economic "shock therapy" after gaining freedom from the former Soviet Union in August 1991.15. Estonia is now ranked high among others in terms of economic freedom. The ex-communist, free market economy includes no tariffs on trade, a flat tax rate, privatization, foreign direct investments, in which to move into global competition and full membership in NATO and the EU.

Today, Estonian natural resources include oil shale, peat (for fuel and mulch), and phosphorite, and with potatoes, barley, rye, oats, and wheat as the leading crops. The country is 48% forest cover and has several protected parks and natural areas. Other important resources include the universities and the people. The University of Tartu is an important economic resource and has been called the "greatest breeding ground" for Estonian scientists" (Allsalu, 2000, p. 29).16 Estonia has an international reputation in the natural sciences, specifically neurosurgery, molecular biology, gene technology, and astronomy, as well as cultural semiotics. It is a small country with a bright future!

Outside Web and Print References

1 Estonian Cultural History

2 Estonian Cultural History

3 A a short al-Idrisi bio, http://www.erols.com/zenithco/idrisi.html, by Dr. A. Zahoor, wow what a site!

4Estonian Book Year 2000

5King Gustav II of Sweden, which originates in Laytonsville, Maryland USA.

6Norgaard, O., & Johansen, L. (1999). The baltic states after independence (2nd ed.). Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing, Inc.

7Singing Revolution, this is only one of many sites on this topic, although the Nordic Song Baltic Faith concert has words to music as well as a history in the program notes.

8A Sequential History site, which is part of Welcome to Tartu site.

9The Restoration of Estonian Independence, from The Estonia Page.

10United Nations report in Estonia

11Statistics and a complete report in ethnicity in Estonia is here, a page within The Estonia Page.

12Tartu, Hanseatic Town is part of Welcome to Tartu site.

13Cog ships are found at The Estonian State Maritime Museum site.

14Baltic Pride, Russian Tears, Chugunova, Nina (1994). The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

15http://www.winne.com/reports.htm

16Allsalu, V., (Ed.) (2000). Estonia a land of human dimensions. Tallinn, Estonia: UP Publishers.

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2000-2004 © Susan Ward Aber All rights reserved.