Europe

Estonia
Last reviewed: 31 March 2009

Country information

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HISTORY

Recent History

During its long history Estonia has been ruled by the Danes, Swedes, Russians, Germans and Soviet Union. But the 22 years of Independence, between the First and Second World Wars, was the defining period in the country's modern history.

This was achieved in the wake of the 1917 Russian Revolution. With the assistance of the British Royal Navy, Estonian forces were able to repel Bolshevik troops. Three years of effective autonomy led to the formalisation of Estonian independence in the Treaty of Tartu (1920), signed with the post-revolution Moscow government. Independence continued until 1940, when Estonia was annexed by the Soviet Union, with Nazi German agreement, according to a secret annex to the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact of 1939. Following a rigged election, an Estonian Parliament declared Estonia a constituent part of the Soviet Union in August 1940. The German army occupied Estonia until 1944 when the Soviet army repelled the German forces and re-established control in Estonia. Society and industry were modelled along Soviet lines and absolute control rested with the Soviet Communist Party. The UK and most other western countries never recognised de jure the Baltic States' incorporation into the USSR.

The more tolerant political atmosphere in the Soviet Union in the late 1980s allowed pro-independence and reform groups to come to the fore in the so-called 'Singing Revolution'. In March 1990 these groups assumed control of government. The restoration of Independence took place on 20 August 1991, and was recognised by the UK with the rest of the European Community, on 27 August.