106-400: The Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic , (abbreviated Estonian SSR , Soviet Estonia , or simply Estonia ) was an administrative subunit ( union republic ) of the former Soviet Union (USSR), covering the occupied and annexed territory of Estonia in 1940–1941 and 1944–1991. The Estonian SSR was nominally established to replace the until then independent Republic of Estonia on 21 July 1940,
212-643: A flag , a coat of arms , and, with the exception of Russia until 1990, an anthem . Every republic of the Soviet Union also was awarded with the Order of Lenin . The number of the union republics of the USSR varied from 4 to 16. From 1956 until its dissolution in 1991, the Soviet Union consisted of 15 Soviet Socialist Republics. (In 1956, the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic, created in 1940,
318-479: A supranational union , it never de facto functioned as one; an example of the ambiguity is that the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in the 1930s officially had its own foreign minister , but that office did not exercise any true sovereignty apart from that of the union. The Constitution of the Soviet Union in its various iterations defined the union as a federation with the right of
424-463: A crackdown against kulak farmers. The kulak repression started as oppressive taxation, but eventually led to mass deportations. Those who resisted collectivization were killed or deported. More than 95% of farms were collectivised by 1951. The 1949 mass deportation of about 21,000 people broke the back of the partisan movement. 6,600 partisans gave themselves up in November 1949. Later on, the failure of
530-689: A lake, when the KGB agent, disguised as a fisherman, was after him. During the first post-war decade of Soviet rule, Estonia was governed by Moscow via Russian-born ethnic Estonian functionaries. Born into the families of native Estonians in Russia, the latter had obtained their education in the Soviet Union during the Stalin era. Many of them had fought in the Red Army (in the Estonian Rifle Corps), few of them had mastered
636-497: A law on economic independence (May 1989) confirmed by the USSR Supreme Soviet that November; a language law making Estonian the official language (January 1989); and local and republic election laws stipulating residency requirements for voting and candidacy (August, November 1989). Although the majority of Estonia's numerous Soviet-era immigrants did not support full independence, the mostly ethnic Russian immigrant community
742-620: A million men and countless tanks" of the Red Army "moved to safeguard [Russia's] frontier against conquest-drunk Germany," one week before the Fall of France . On 21 June 1940, the Soviet military occupation of the Republic of Estonia was complete. That day, the President Konstantin Päts (deported to Ufa , Russian SFSR on 30 July 1940 and arrested a few weeks later) was pressured into affirming
848-488: A month after the 16–17 June 1940 Soviet military invasion and occupation of the country during World War II . After the installation of a Stalinist government which, backed by the occupying Soviet Red Army , declared Estonia a Soviet constituency, the Estonian SSR was subsequently incorporated into the Soviet Union as a union republic on 6 August 1940. Estonia was occupied by Nazi Germany in 1941, and administered as
954-466: A part of Reichskommissariat Ostland until it was reconquered by the USSR in 1944. The majority of the world's countries did not recognise the incorporation of Estonia into the Soviet Union de jure and only recognised its Soviet administration de facto or not at all. A number of countries continued to recognise Estonian diplomats and consuls who still functioned in the name of their former government. This policy of non-recognition gave rise to
1060-574: A result administration of Ivangorod was transferred from Narva to the Leningrad Oblast which having grown in population received the official status of town in 1954. In 1945 the Petseri County was annexed and ceded to the Russian SFSR where it became one of the districts of Pskov Oblast . After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Estonia raised the question of a return to the borders under
1166-875: A revolutionary situation in June 1940. A note from the Soviet government to the Estonian Government suggested that they stuck strictly to the Pact of Mutual Assistance. To guarantee the fulfilment of the Pact, additional military units entered Estonia, welcomed by the Estonian workers who demanded the resignation of the Estonian government. On 21 June under the leadership of the Estonian Communist Party political demonstrations by workers were held in Tallinn, Tartu , Narva and other cities. On
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#17330558586281272-459: A single list of pro-Stalinist candidates. To maximise voter turnout to legitimise the new system, the voters' documents were stamped in voting facilities for future identification of voting, along with a threat running in the main Communist newspaper, Rahva Hääl , that "It would be extremely unwise to shirk elections. ... Only people's enemies stay at home on election day." Each ballot carried only
1378-497: A transitional period for the restoration of the country's full independence. Subsequently, on 8 May 1990, the Supreme Soviet ended the use of the Soviet symbols as state symbols together with the name Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic and adopted Republic of Estonia as the official name of the state. The parliament of Estonia declared the re-establishment of full independence on 20 August 1991. The Soviet Union formally recognised
1484-513: A week in jail. Following this verdict and sentence, the ships in Irish ports choose to remain. The Soviet Union unsuccessfully pursued the issue of ownership through the Irish Courts and made a 'most emphatic' protest to the Irish government. There were three Estonian ships in Irish ports, plus two from Latvia and one Lithuanian. This had a significant effect on Ireland's ability to continue trading during
1590-783: A wide wealth gap in comparison with its neighboring countries (e.g. Finland and Sweden). For example, Estonian economy and standard of living were similar to that in Finland prior to World War II. Despite Soviet and Russian claims of improvements in standards, even three decades after World War II Estonia was rife with housing and food shortages and fell far behind Finland not only in levels of income, but in average life span. Eastern Bloc economies experienced an inefficiency of systems without competition or market-clearing prices that became costly and unsustainable and they lagged significantly behind their Western European counterparts in terms of per capita Gross Domestic Product. Estonia's 1990 per capita GDP
1696-399: The 1977 Soviet Constitution is titled as the "Soviet Union is a union state". Article 70 stated that the union was founded on principles "socialist federalism" as a result of free self-determination of nation and volunteer association of equal in rights soviet socialist republics. Article 71 listed all of 15 union republics that united into the Soviet Union. According to Article 76 of
1802-454: The 1977 Soviet Constitution , a Union Republic was a sovereign Soviet socialist state that had united with other Soviet Republics in the USSR. Article 78 of the Constitution stated that the territory of the union republic cannot be changed without its agreement. Article 81 of the Constitution stated that "the sovereign rights of Union Republics shall be safeguarded by the USSR". In
1908-502: The Andrei Zhdanov -appointed puppet government of Johannes Vares , following the arrival of demonstrators accompanied by Red Army troops with armoured vehicles to the residence of the Estonian president . The flag of Estonia was replaced with a Red flag on Tallinn's Pikk Hermann tower. On 14–15 July 1940, rigged extraordinary parliamentary elections were held by the occupation authorities, in which voters were presented with
2014-739: The Belavezha Accords which agreed that the USSR would be dissolved and replaced with a Commonwealth of Independent States . On 25 December, President Gorbachev announced his resignation and turned all executive powers over to Yeltsin. The next day the Council of Republics voted to dissolve the Union . Since then, the republics have been governed independently with some reconstituting themselves as liberal parliamentary republics and others, particularly in Central Asia , devolving into highly autocratic states under
2120-712: The European Court of Human Rights , the United Nations Human Rights Council and the United States . In contrast, the Russian government and state officials maintain that the Soviet annexation of the Baltic states was legitimate. Constitutionally, the Soviet Union was a federation . In accordance with provisions present in its Constitution (versions adopted in 1924, 1936 and 1977), each republic retained
2226-511: The Georgian SSR as a "treaty republic" was never clear or well-defined, making its status as a separate republic disputed. The Turkestan Soviet Federative Republic was proclaimed in 1918 but did not survive to the founding of the USSR, becoming the short-lived Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of the RSFSR. The Crimean Soviet Socialist Republic (Soviet Socialist Republic of Taurida)
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#17330558586282332-866: The People's Republic of Bulgaria , Todor Zhivkov , suggested in the early 1960s that the country should become a union republic, but the offer was rejected. During the Soviet–Afghan War , the Soviet Union proposed to annex Northern Afghanistan as its 16th union republic in what was to become the Afghan Soviet Socialist Republic . Several of the Union Republics themselves, most notably Russia, were further subdivided into Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics (ASSRs). Though administratively part of their respective Union Republics, ASSRs were also established based on ethnic/cultural lines. According to
2438-620: The Province of Estonia (Russian: Эстляндская губерния ), Soviet power was established in the end of October 1917. The Estonian Soviet Republic was proclaimed in Narva on 29 November 1918 but fell to counter-revolutionaries and the White Armies in 1919. In June 1940 Soviet power was restored in Estonia as workers overthrew the fascist dictatorship in the country. According to Soviet sources, pressure from
2544-516: The Russian SFSR was made unilaterally by the central government without consulting its population. The official basis for downgrading the status of the republic was the changes that had occurred in the national composition of its population (about 80% of the inhabitants were Russians , Belarusians and Ukrainians ), as well as the need to reduce the state apparatus, the cost of maintaining which in 1955 amounted to 19.6 million rubles. Chapter 8 of
2650-501: The Russian SFSR . Along with the state administrative hierarchy, there existed a parallel structure of party organizations, which allowed the Politburo to exercise large amounts of control over the republics. State administrative organs took direction from the parallel party organs, and appointments of all party and state officials required approval of the central organs of the party. Each republic had its own unique set of state symbols:
2756-559: The Tallinn Higher Military-Political Construction School . In the Soviet system, all local proceeds were initially appropriated into the federal budget at Moscow, and some of them were then invested back in the local economies. The figures for those investments were made available to the public, thus promoting a positive impression of the Soviet Federal Centre's contributions to the periphery,
2862-660: The Tartu Offensive and the rest of the country in the Baltic Offensive . Faced with the country being re-occupied by the Soviet Army, 80,000 people fled from Estonia by sea to Finland and Sweden in 1944. 25,000 Estonians reached Sweden and a further 42,000 Germany. During the war about 8,000 Estonian Swedes and their family members had emigrated to Sweden. After the retreat of the Germans, about 30,000 partisans remained in hiding in
2968-518: The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The Soviet Union was formed in 1922 by a treaty between the Soviet republics of Byelorussia , Russian SFSR (RSFSR) , Transcaucasian Federation , and Ukraine , by which they became its constituent republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Soviet Union). For most of its history, the USSR was a one-party state led by the Communist Party of
3074-404: The constitution of the USSR , in case of a union republic voting on leaving the Soviet Union, autonomous republics, autonomous oblasts and autonomous okrugs had the right, by means of a referendum , to independently resolve whether they will stay in the USSR or leave with the seceding union republic, as well as to raise the issue of their state-legal status. Starting in the late 1980s, under
3180-758: The dissolution of the USSR in 1991 as result of the Cold War and the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States . There were two very distinct types of republics in the Soviet Union: The Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic , a relic of the Soviet-Finnish War (the Winter War ), became the only union republic to be deprived of its status in 1956. The decision to downgrade Karelia to an autonomous republic within
3286-457: The exiled representatives of the independent Republic of Estonia, and never formally recognised the annexation of Estonia de jure . The Russian government and officials maintain that the Soviet annexation of Estonia was legitimate. Pre-Perestroika Soviet sources reflecting Soviet historiography described the events in 1939 and 1940 as follows: in a former province of the Russian Empire ,
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3392-634: The hammer and sickle and head for a Soviet port. August Torma , the envoy appointed by previous Estonian government, sought protection and reassurance for the 20 Estonian ships in British ports. He failed to obtain reassurance, so the majority went to the Soviet Union. The Irish experience was different. There was a fight between Peter Kolts, who hoisted the hammer and sickle and Captain Joseph Juriska who wanted to remove it. The Garda Síochána were called. The next day, Justice Michael Lennon sentenced Kolts to
3498-513: The 1939 mutual assistance treaties had been violated, and gave six-hour ultimatums for new governments to be formed in each country, including lists of persons for cabinet posts provided by the Kremlin. The Soviet ultimatum to Estonia was issued on 16 June 1940. The Estonian government decided, in accordance with the Kellogg–Briand Pact , to not respond to the ultimatums by military means. Given
3604-423: The 1970s, the Soviet economy experienced stagnation, exacerbated by the growth of a shadow economy. National income per capita was higher in Estonia than elsewhere in the USSR (44% above the Soviet average in 1968), however, the income levels exceeded those of the USSR in independent Estonia as well. Official Estonian sources maintain that Soviet rule had significantly slowed Estonia's economic growth, resulting in
3710-506: The Baltic states included. Investment figures alone, however, do not represent actual income; rather, they resemble the spending side of the national budget . In Estonian SSR by 1947, the private sector had entirely disappeared, accompanied by a rapid industrialization that occurred soon after Soviet reoccupation. Soviet planners expanded oil shale mining and processing in the late 1940s, taking over that industry in northeast section of Estonia. In
3816-684: The EC(b)P Central Committee in April 1945, has been preserved in the Estonian State Archives. Monuments are listed by counties in this file and it specifies the amount of explosive and an evaluation concerning the transportation that were needed. An extract regarding Võrumaa reads: "In order to carry out demolition works, 15 Party activists and 275 persons from the Destruction Battalion must be mobilised. 15 workers are needed for
3922-511: The Estonian SSR was the Supreme Soviet that represented the highest body of state power accordance with the Constitution. The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet was the permanent body of the Supreme Council. It consisted of a Chairman of the Presidium , two vice-chairmen, Secretary and 9 members. Was elected to the Presidium of the 25th for the first time August 1940th The Presidium of the law and
4028-432: The Estonian forests, waging a guerrilla war until the early 1950s. After re-occupation, the Soviet nationalization policy of 1940 was reimposed, as well as the collectivization of farms. Over 900,000 hectares were expropriated in the few years following reoccupation, while much of that land was given to new settlers from Russia or other locations in the Soviet Union. Rapid collectivization began in 1946, followed in 1947 by
4134-587: The Estonian language. For the latter reason they were known under a derogatory term " Yestonians ", alluding to their Russian accent. Although the United States and the United Kingdom, the major allies of the USSR against Nazi Germany during the later stages of World War II, both implicitly acknowledged (de facto) the occupation of Estonia by USSR at the Yalta Conference in 1945, both governments, and most of
4240-519: The Estonian-Russian border in the Narva area, as the new constitution of Estonia (adopted in 1992) recognises the 1920 Treaty of Tartu border to be currently legal. The Russian Federation, however, considers Estonia to be a successor of the Estonian SSR and recognises the 1945 border between two former national republics. Officially, Estonia has no territorial claims in the area, which is also reflected in
4346-639: The German army throughout the war. An anti-communist guerrilla group called the Forest Brothers also assisted the Wehrmacht. Estonia was incorporated into the German province of Ostland . The Soviet Union retook Estonia in 1944, thereafter occupying it for nearly another half century. This began when the Red Army re-occupied Estonian Ingria , Narva and eastern Vaivara Parish in the Battle of Narva , Southeast Estonia in
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4452-639: The German occupation, continued. On 15 April 1945, in Pärnu , a monument by Amandus Adamson , erected to 87 persons who had fallen in the Estonian War of Independence , was demolished. The dismantling of war memorials continued for several years and occurred across all districts of the country. A comprehensive file concerning the monuments of the Estonian War of Independence, compiled by the Military Department of
4558-576: The Hungarian uprising broke the morale of 700 men still remaining under cover. According to Soviet data, up until 1953 20,351 partisans were defeated. Of these, 1,510 perished in the battles. During that period, 1,728 members of the Red Army, NKVD and the Estonian Police were killed by the "forest brothers". August Sabbe , the last surviving "brother" in Estonia, committed suicide when the KGB tracked him down and attempted to arrest him in 1978. He drowned in
4664-750: The Parliament reinstated the 1938 constitution, and the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic was renamed the Republic of Estonia. On 20 August 1991, the Estonian Parliament adopted a resolution confirming its independence from the Soviet Union. First to recognise Estonia as an independent country was Iceland, on 22 August 1991. On 6 September 1991, the State Council of the USSR recognised the independence of Estonia, immediately followed by recognitions from other countries. On 23 February 1989,
4770-506: The Party lost its control over the State machinery and was banned from operating after an attempted coup d'état . Throughout this period of turmoil, the Soviet government attempted to find a new structure that would reflect the increased authority of the republics. Some autonomous republics, like Tatarstan , Checheno-Ingushetia , Abkhazia , South Ossetia , Crimea , Transnistria , Gagauzia sought
4876-423: The Soviet Union . Key functions of the USSR were highly centralized in Moscow until its final years, despite its nominal structure as a federation of republics; the light decentralization reforms during the era of perestroika (reconstruction) and glasnost (voice-ness, as in freedom of speech) conducted by Mikhail Gorbachev as part of the Helsinki Accords are cited as one of the factors which led to
4982-425: The Soviet Union. This somewhat more open media environment was important in preparing Estonians for their vanguard role in extending perestroika during the Gorbachev era. In the late 1970s, Estonian society grew increasingly concerned about the threat of cultural Russification to the Estonian language and national identity. In 1980, Tallinn hosted the sailing events of the 1980 Summer Olympics . By 1981, Russian
5088-424: The Soviet occupation and was never reconvened. Once the elections were concluded, authorities which had previously denied any intention of setting up a Soviet regime began openly speaking of Sovietisation and incorporation into the Soviet Union. The newly "elected" " People's Parliament " met on 21 July 1940. Its sole piece of business was a petition to join the Soviet Union, which passed unanimously. The Estonian SSR
5194-550: The Soviet side. Finally the military resistance was ended with negotiations and the Independent Signal Battalion surrendered and was disarmed. By 18 June 1940, large-scale military operations for the occupation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were complete. In the following days, the Soviet troops organised and supported Stalinist "demonstrations" in Tallinn and other larger cities. Thereafter, state administrations were liquidated and replaced by Soviet cadres, followed by mass repression. Time magazine reported on 24 June, that "Half
5300-462: The Soviet troops brought in additional reinforcements supported by six armoured fighting vehicles, the battle at Raua Street lasted for several hours until sundown. There was one dead, several wounded on the Estonian side and about 10 killed and more wounded on the Soviet side. Finally the military resistance was ended with negotiations and the Independent Signal Battalion surrendered and was disarmed. By 18 June 1940, large-scale military operations for
5406-411: The Soviet-assigned candidate's name, with the only way to register opposition being to strike out that name on the ballot. According to official election results, the Communist "Union of the Estonian Working People" bloc won 92.8% of the votes with 84.1% of the population attending the elections. Time magazine reported that, following the elections, tribunals were set up to judge and punish "traitors to
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#17330558586285512-451: The State Assembly adopted the Constitution of the Estonian SSR, renamed itself the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR and approved the Council of People's Commissars of the Estonian SSR. After Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, the Wehrmacht reached Estonia in July 1941. The Germans were perceived by many Estonians as liberators from the USSR and Communism in general. Thousands of Estonian men fought directly alongside
5618-401: The Treaty of Tartu. Estonia dropped this claim in November 1995. Estonia and Russia signed and ratified the Estonian-Russian Border Treaty, and it went into effect 18 May 2005: the preamble noted that the international border had partly changed, in accordance with Article 122 of the Estonian Constitution. After the restoration of Estonian independence in 1991, there have been some disputes about
5724-404: The USSR as a whole) to join the United Nations General Assembly as founding members in 1945. The Soviet currency Soviet ruble banknotes all included writings in national languages of all the 15 union republics. All of the former Republics of the Union are now independent countries, with ten of them (all except the Baltic states , Georgia and Ukraine ) being very loosely organized under
5830-461: The USSR to establish Soviet military bases on its territory and station 25,000 troops in these bases "for the duration of the European war". The government of Estonia yielded to the ultimatum, signing the corresponding mutual assistance agreement on 28 September 1939. On 12 June 1940, the order for total military blockade of Estonia was given to the Soviet Soviet Baltic fleet . On 14 June, the Soviet military blockade of Estonia went into effect while
5936-430: The borders and inside the country, the order was given not to resist in order to avoid bloodshed and open war. The government submitted the resignation to President Konstantin Päts , which he signed and an announcement was broadcast about the resignation and the expected entrance of the Soviet Army . Molotov's claims of violations were not supported by any evidence, neither in the ultimatum, nor any time later. Moreover,
6042-416: The decisions adopted. Between sessions of the Supreme Council met in some of its functions: changes to the legislation of the Estonian SSR, Soviet ministries and state committees and to the abolition of the SSR Council of Ministers and the persons appointment and removal of the Supreme Council for approval by relevant laws. The Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic did not have armed forces of its own. Because of
6148-425: The ethnic structure of population, especially in Ida-Viru County. For example, a policy of prioritising immigrants before returning war refugees in assigning dwelling quarters was adopted. Estonian graveyards and monuments from the period of 1918–1944 were dismantled. Among others, in the Tallinn Military Cemetery the majority of gravestones from 1918 to 1944 were destroyed by the Soviet authorities. This graveyard
6254-421: The evacuation of 1941. There was excess mortality among common people, too, that has been attributed to malnutrition . Immediately following the June 1940 Estonian occupation by the Soviet Union and incorporation as a result of a Soviet-supported Communist coup d'état , the only foreign powers to recognise the Soviet annexation were Nazi Germany and Sweden. Shipping was nationalized. Ships were ordered to fly
6360-427: The event no answer indicating acceptance of the ultimatum was received by the stated time, the Red Army units concentrated at the border of the Estonian Republic would be ordered to march into the country, suppressing all resistance by armed force." The Estonian government decided, in accordance with the Kellogg–Briand Pact , to not respond to the ultimatum by military means. Given the overwhelming Soviet force both on
6466-449: The execution of each demolition and 10 people are needed for protection.... In order to carry out demolition works, 225 kg of TNT, 150 metres of rope/fuse and 100 primers are needed, since there is no demolition material on the spot. 11 lorries, which are available but which lack petrol, are needed for carrying the ruins away." After Stalin's death, the Party membership vastly expanded its social base to include more ethnic Estonians. By
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#17330558586286572-643: The final decades of its existence, the Soviet Union officially consisted of fifteen Soviet Socialist Republics (SSRs). All of them, with the exception of the Russian SFSR (until 1990 ), had their own local party chapters of the All-Union Communist Party . In 1944, amendments to the All-Union Constitution allowed for separate branches of the Red Army for each Soviet Republic. They also allowed for Republic-level commissariats for foreign affairs and defense, allowing them to be recognized as de jure independent states in international law. This allowed for two Soviet Republics, Ukraine and Byelorussia , (as well as
6678-467: The flag of the Estonian SSR was lowered on Pikk Hermann, and replaced with the blue-black-white flag of Estonia on 24 February 1989. In 1992, Heinrich Mark , the Prime Minister of the Republic of Estonia in Exile, presented his credentials to the newly elected President of Estonia Lennart Meri . The last Russian troops withdrew from Estonia in August 1994. The Russian Federation officially ended its military presence in Estonia after it relinquished control of
6784-558: The former USSR settled in Estonia. According to some Western scholars, relations between the Soviet Union and Estonian SSR were those of internal colonialism . All banks and accounts were essentially nationalised; a lot of industrial machinery was disassembled and relocated to other Soviet territories. Before retreating in 1941, the Red Army, following the scorched earth policies, burnt most industrial constructions, destroying power plants, vehicles and cattle. Millions of dollars worth of goods were allegedly moved from Estonia to Russia during
6890-401: The heading of the Commonwealth of Independent States . The Baltic states assert that their incorporation into the Soviet Union in 1940 (as the Lithuanian , Latvian , and Estonian SSRs ) under the provisions of the 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was illegal , and that they therefore remained independent countries under Soviet occupation. Their position is supported by the European Union ,
6996-442: The independence of Estonia on 6 September 1991. The Nazi-Soviet Pact which was signed on 23 August 1939, a week before the outbreak of World War II, secretly assigned Estonia to the Soviet " sphere of influence ". On 24 September 1939, warships of the Soviet Navy blocked the major ports of Estonia, a neutral country , and Soviet bombers began patrolling over and around its capital city Tallinn . Moscow demanded that Estonia allow
7102-507: The island of Naissaar that controlled sea access to Tallinn , the capital of Estonia. The ultimatum was handed at 2.30pm (Moscow time) on June 16, 1940, with the demand to answer by the midnight of the same day. The pretext was political activities of Estonia allegedly in contradiction to the Soviet–Estonian Mutual Assistance Treaty . The demands were to set up a new government and to allow Soviet troops into Estonia. In addition, Johannes Klesment claimed that Molotov declared that "in
7208-475: The leadership of the old Party elite. Soviet ultimatum to Estonia The Soviet ultimatum to Estonia was issued on June 16, 1940, with the demand to answer by the midnight of the same day. The pretext was political activities of Estonia allegedly in contradiction to the Soviet–Estonian Mutual Assistance Treaty . The demands were to set up a new government and to allow Soviet troops into Estonia. The Estonian government, after long deliberations, submitted
7314-403: The loosening of political restrictions led to fractures within the Communist Party which resulted in a reduced ability to govern the Union effectively. The rise of nationalist and right-wing movements, notably led by Boris Yeltsin in Russia, in the previously homogeneous political system undermined the Union's foundations. With the central role of the Communist Party removed from the constitution,
7420-404: The mid-1960s, the percentage of ethnic Estonian membership stabilised near 50%. One positive aspect of the post-Stalin era in Estonia was the regranting of permission in the late 1950s for citizens to make contact with foreign countries. Ties were reactivated with Finland, and in 1965, a ferry service was opened between Tallinn and Helsinki. President of Finland Urho Kekkonen had visited Tallinn in
7526-421: The new Estonian-Russian border treaty, according to which Ivangorod remains part of Russia. Although the treaty was signed in 2005 by the foreign ministers of Estonia and Russia, Russia took its signature back, after Estonian parliament added a reference to the Tartu Peace Treaty in the preamble of the law ratifying the border treaty. A new treaty was signed by the foreign ministers in 2014. The legislative body of
7632-412: The new Stalinist regime nationalised all land, banks and major industrial enterprises in Estonia. Farmers were allotted small plots of land during the land reforms. Most small businesses were nationalised soon afterwards. The Soviet central government launched the colonisation of the occupied country by promoting a large-scale population movement into Estonia, as immigrants from Russia and other parts of
7738-690: The nuclear reactor facilities in Paldiski in September 1995. Estonia joined the European Union and NATO in 2004. In the aftermath of the Estonian War of Independence, Estonia established control also over Ivangorod , in January 1919, a move which was recognised by Soviet Russia in the 1920 Treaty of Tartu . In January 1945, the Narva River was defined as the border between the Estonian SSR and Russian SFSR, and as
7844-499: The orders, and were disarmed by the Red Army. Only the Estonian Independent Signal Battalion stationed at Raua Street in Tallinn began armed resistance. As the Soviet troops brought in additional reinforcements supported by six armoured fighting vehicles, the battle at Raua Street lasted for several hours until sundown. There was one dead, several wounded on the Estonian side and about 10 killed and more wounded on
7950-454: The other hand Western thoughts and customs began to infiltrate Soviet Estonia. By the beginning of the Gorbachev era, concern over the cultural survival of the Estonian people had reached a critical point. The ECP remained stable in the early perestroika years but waned in the late 1980s. Other political movements, groupings and parties moved to fill the power vacuum. The first and most important
8056-462: The other western democracies did not recognise it de jure according to the Sumner Welles ' declaration of 23 July 1940 Some of these countries recognised Estonian diplomats who still functioned in many countries in the name of their former governments. These consuls persisted in this anomalous situation until the ultimate restoration of Estonia's independence in 1991. Special care was taken to change
8162-631: The overwhelming Soviet force both on the borders and inside the country, the order was given not to resist to avoid bloodshed and open war. On 16–17 June 1940, the Red Army emerged from its military bases in Estonia and, aided by an additional 90,000 Soviet troops, took over the country, occupying the entire territory of the Republic of Estonia. Most of the Estonian Defence Forces and the Estonian Defence League surrendered according to
8268-448: The people", which included opponents of Sovietization and those who did not vote for incorporation in the Soviet Union. This election is considered illegal, since the amended electoral law—along with hundreds of other laws passed by the Vares government—had not been approved by the upper house of parliament, as required by the Estonian constitution. The upper house had been dissolved soon after
8374-625: The political foundation of the Soviet Union was formed by the Soviets (Councils) of People's Deputies. These existed at all levels of the administrative hierarchy, with the former "countries" and other regions brought into the union referred to as soviets during their time as republics and with the Soviet Union as a whole under the nominal control of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR , located in Moscow within
8480-418: The position of the Soviet Union had no legal foundation, because the treaty stipulated that the resolution of disagreements must first proceed in peaceful form, by means of diplomatic negotiations. On 16–17 June 1940, the Red Army emerged from its military bases in Estonia and, aided by an additional 90,000 Soviet troops, took over the country, occupying the entire territory of the Republic of Estonia. It
8586-568: The postwar reconstruction program. The first Five Year Plan , called the fourth Five Year Plan, prescribed a total of 3.5 billion roubles of investments for enterprises in Estonia. Republics of the Soviet Union The Republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or the Union Republics (Russian: Сою́зные Респу́блики , romanized : Soyúznye Respúbliki ) were national-based administrative units of
8692-548: The previous year and the ferry line is widely credited to Kekkonen. Some Estonians began watching Finnish television as the Helsinki television tower broadcast from just 80 kilometres (50 mi) and the signal was strong enough in Tallinn and elsewhere on the north Estonian coast. This electronic "window on the West" afforded Estonians more information on current affairs and more access to Western culture and thought than any other group in
8798-504: The principle of legal continuity, which held that de jure , Estonia remained an independent state under occupation throughout the period 1940–1991. On 16 November 1988, Estonia became the first of the then Soviet-controlled countries to declare state sovereignty from the central government in Moscow. On 30 March 1990, the newly elected parliament declared that the Republic of Estonia had been illegally occupied since 1940, and formally announced
8904-510: The republics to secede . This constitutional status led to the possibility of the parade of sovereignties once the republic with de facto (albeit not de jure) dominance over the other republics, the Russian one , developed a prevailing political notion asserting that it would be better off if it seceded. The de facto dominance of the Russian republic is the reason that various historians (for example, Dmitri Volkogonov and others) have asserted that
9010-651: The resignation to President Konstantin Päts , which he signed and an announcement was broadcast about the resignation and the expected entrance of the Soviet Army . The Soviet forces started occupation of Estonia the next day. It was part of the Soviet occupation of the Baltic States . The Soviet occupation of the Baltic States was based on the 1939 secret protocol added to the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , which divided
9116-518: The restoration of Soviet power in Estonia and proclaimed the 'Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic'. On 22 July the declaration of Estonia's wish to join the USSR was ratified and the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union was petitioned accordingly. The request was approved by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on 6 August 1940. On 23 July the State Assembly proclaimed all land to be people's property while banks and heavy industry were nationalised. On 25 August
9222-452: The right to secede from the USSR. Throughout the Cold War , this right was widely considered to be meaningless; however, the corresponding Article 72 of the 1977 Constitution was used in December 1991 to effectively dissolve the Soviet Union, when Russia , Ukraine , and Belarus seceded from the Union. Although the Union was created under an initial ideological appearance of forming
9328-427: The rule of Mikhail Gorbachev , the Soviet government undertook a program of political reforms ( glasnost and perestroika ) intended to liberalise and revitalise the Union. These measures, however, had a number of unintended political and social effects. Political liberalisation allowed the governments of the union republics to openly invoke the principles of democracy and nationalism to gain legitimacy. In addition,
9434-528: The same day the fascist government was overthrown, and the People's government led by Johannes Vares was formed. On 14–15 July 1940 elections for the Estonian Parliament, the State Assembly ( Riigikogu ) were held. The "Working People’s Union", created by an initiative of the Estonian Communist Party received with 84.1% turnout 92.8% of the votes. On 21 July 1940 the State Assembly adopted the declaration of
9540-542: The spheres of influence of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. In 1939, under Soviet pressure, the Soviet–Estonian Mutual Assistance Treaty was signed, similar to the Soviet-Latvian and Soviet-Lithuanian treaties. Under the treaties, Soviet military bases were to be established in all Baltic States, in particular, 25,000 Soviet soldiers were dispatched to Estonia. Also, the Soviet Union occupied
9646-673: The strategic geographical location, Estonia was considered as a strategic zone for the Soviet Armed Forces . The territory was therefore heavily militarised and added to the Soviet Baltic Military District which included a strong presence of the Soviet Air Defence , Navy and also the Strategic Rocket Forces . The Baltic Military District included the following units: Military training was provided by
9752-459: The union statute in the New Union Treaty. Efforts to found a New Union Treaty , however, proved unsuccessful and the republics began to secede from the Union. By 6 September 1991, the Soviet Union's State Council recognized the independence of Estonia , Latvia and Lithuania bringing the number of union republics down to 12. On 8 December 1991, the remaining leaders of the republics signed
9858-403: The union was a unitary state in fact albeit not in law. In practice, the USSR was a highly centralised entity from its creation in 1922 until the mid-1980s when political forces unleashed by reforms undertaken by Mikhail Gorbachev resulted in the loosening of central control and its ultimate dissolution . Under the constitution adopted in 1936 and modified along the way until October 1977,
9964-636: The war, due to the small size of its own merchant navy. The United States, United Kingdom and several other countries considered the annexation of Estonia by the USSR illegal following the Stimson Doctrine —a stance that made the doctrine an established precedent of international law . Although the US, the UK, the other Allies of World War II recognised the occupation of the Baltic states by USSR at Yalta Conference in 1945 de facto , they retained diplomatic relations with
10070-476: The working people of Estonia forced its government to accept the 1939 proposal for a mutual assistance treaty by the Soviet Union. On 28 September 1939 the Pact of Mutual Assistance was signed which allowed the USSR to station a limited number of Soviet Army units in Estonia. Economic difficulties, dissatisfaction with the Estonian government's policies "sabotaging fulfilment of the Pact and the Estonian government", and political orientation towards Nazi Germany lead to
10176-466: The world's attention was focused on the fall of Paris to Nazi Germany . Two Soviet bombers shot down a Finnish passenger aircraft " Kaleva " flying from Tallinn to Helsinki carrying three diplomatic pouches from the U.S. legations in Tallinn, Riga and Helsinki. On 16 June, Soviet NKVD troops raided border posts in Estonia (along with Lithuania and Latvia ). Soviet leader Joseph Stalin claimed that
10282-585: Was $ 10,733 compared to $ 26,100 for Finland. Estonian sources estimate the economic damage directly attributable to the second Soviet occupation (from 1945 to 1991) to lie in the range of hundreds of billions of dollars . Similarly, the damage to Estonian ecology were estimated at US$ 4 billion. On 21 May 1947, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (bolsheviks) authorised collectivization of Estonian agriculture. Initially it
10388-555: Was absorbed into the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.) Rather than listing the republics in alphabetical order, the republics were listed in constitutional order (which roughly corresponded to their population and economic power when the republics were formed). However, particularly by the last decades of the Soviet Union, the constitutional order did not correspond to order either by population or economic power. Abkhazia's status in relation to
10494-519: Was also proclaimed in 1918, but did not become a union republic and was made into an autonomous republic of the RSFSR, although the Crimean Tatars had a relative majority until the 1930s or 1940s according to censuses. When the Tuvan People's Republic joined the Soviet Union in 1944, it did not become a union republic, and was instead established as an autonomous republic of the RSFSR. The leader of
10600-511: Was divided in terms of opinions on the "sovereign republic". In March 1990, some 18% of Russian-speakers supported the idea of a fully independent Estonia, up from 7% the previous autumn. By early 1990 only a small minority of ethnic Estonians were opposed to full independence. On 16 November 1988, the first freely elected parliament during the Soviet era in Estonia had passed the Estonian Sovereignty Declaration . On 8 May 1990,
10706-421: Was evident that the ultimatum was only a pretext, because the amassed Soviet troops marched immediately after receiving the answer from Estonia. Most of the Estonian Defence Forces and the Estonian Defence League surrendered according to the orders of non-resistance, and were disarmed by the Red Army. Only the Estonian Independent Signal Battalion stationed at Raua Street in Tallinn began armed resistance. As
10812-484: Was formally annexed into the Soviet Union on 6 August 1940, becoming nominally the 16th constituent part (or "union republic" ) of the USSR. After another "union republic", the Karelo-Finnish SSR was demoted to an "ASSR" , or to an "autonomous union republic" in 1956, until 1991 the Soviet authorities referred to the Estonian SSR as the 15th (i.e., "the last on the list") constituent "republic". On 23 July 1940,
10918-507: Was implemented with great difficulties in the Baltic republics but it was facilitated by mass deportations of dissident farmers, termed 'kulaks'. As a result, by the end of April 1949, half of the remaining individual farmers in Estonia had joined kolkhozes . 99.3% of farms had been collectivised by 1957. A number of large-volume capital investments were undertaken by the Soviet central power to exploit resources on Estonian territory of oil shale , lumber and, later, uranium ore , as part of
11024-650: Was taught already in the second grade of Estonian-language primary schools and in some urban areas was also being introduced into Estonian pre-school teaching. Soviet authorities began to lure in Finnish tourists and the much needed foreign exchange they could bring. The Soviet travel agency Inturist contracted Finnish construction company Repo to build Hotel Viru in central Tallinn. Estonians saw very different construction equipment, methods and work morale. An improved ferry MS Georg Ots between Tallinn and Helsinki came into operation. Estonia gained Western currency, but on
11130-609: Was the Estonian Popular Front , established in April 1988 with its own platform, leadership and broad constituency. The Greens and the dissident-led Estonian National Independence Party soon followed. By 1989 the political spectrum had widened, and new parties were formed and re-formed almost every week. Estonia's " Supreme Soviet " transformed from a powerless rubber stamp institution into an authentic regional lawmaking body. This relatively conservative legislature passed an early declaration of sovereignty (16 November 1988);
11236-512: Was then re-used by the Red Army after World War II. Other cemeteries destroyed by the authorities during the Soviet era in Estonia include Baltic German cemeteries, Kopli cemetery (established in 1774), Mõigu cemetery and the oldest cemetery in Tallinn, the Kalamaja cemetery (from the 16th century). After the re-occupation of Estonia in 1944, the dismantling of monuments from the Republic of Estonia, which had survived or had been restored during
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