History of Estonia

Estonians is a Finno-Ugrian people related to the Finns
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1st century:

Roman writer (Tacitus )mentioned the Estonians

He called them the Aesti. Amber was exported from Estonia to other parts of Europe
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for centuries:
Tribes of Estonia had little contact with Western civilisation

They traded with the Vikings

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In the 11th and 12th centuries:
the Estonians fought the Russians several times and they remained unconquered
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In the 13th cent.:
the Germans conquered Estonia
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German monks had tried to convert the pagans of the Baltic to Christianity with little success. They then decided to use force to 'convert' the pagans of Estonia
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In 1202
Albert von Buxhoerden the bishop of Riga founded an order of crusading knights called the (Knights of the Sword) to subdue the pagans
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In 1208
Knights of the Sword invaded Estonia
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Lemitu led the Estonians against the (Knights of the Sword)
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in 1217
Lemitu was killed in a battle
Then Germans succeded to capture southern Estonia
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Then Albert made an agreement with the Danes
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In 1219
Danes invaded northern Estonia

They built a fort, which the Estonians called Taani Linn (Danish town)

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By 1227
the whole of Estonia had been conquered
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In 1237
the Knights of the Sword were absorbed into another crusading order, the Teutonic Knights
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13th century:
Estonia was split in two. The Teutonic knights ruled southern Estonia while the Danes ruled the north
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13th century until 20th century:
Germanic people became the ruling class in Estonia. They remained the upper class until the 20th century
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1343-1346
Estonians rebelled against Germans in Estonia this was called ( the St George's Night Uprising)
However the rebellion was crushed
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16th century:
Both Sweden and Russia coveted Estonia
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1558
the Russians invaded Estonia
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1561
the Swedes captured Tallinn to forestall the Russians
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1561-1582
The Swedes and the Russians then fought a long and terrible war over Estonia. The Swedes finally drove out the Russians in 1582

when the war ended Estonia recovered. For a time Estonia prospered under Swedish rule
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1632
Tartu University was founde
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1695-97
Estonia was struck by famine, which killed many of its people
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1710
plague struck Tallinn and tens of thousands of people died.
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at the beginning of the 18th century:
Sweden and Russia fought another war
It was called ( Great Northern War)
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1721
the war ended in 1721 the Swedes ceded Estonia to the Russians
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1816
serfdom was abolished in Estonia
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During 19th century:
Nationalism was a growing force in Estonia, as it was in the rest of Europe
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In the late 19th century:
the Russians tried to 'Russify' Estonia by making the Russian language compulsory in schools. However Estonian language books and newspapers were published and interest in Estonian culture and history grew
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1905
a liberal revolution broke out in Russia
There was also unrest in Estonia
Manor houses owned by Germans were burned
There were also many demonstrations
However the Russian army restored order and many Estonians were executed or deported

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March 1917 :
another revolution broke out
This time the Tsar abdicated
Estonians clamoured for independence. The Russians were not willing to grant complete independence but they were willing to grant some autonomy. In March 1917 the Russian parliament agreed to it
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July 1917:
an Estonian parliament met
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November 1917:
Communists seized power in Moscow. They were not willing to let the Estonians have even limited autonomy and they set up a Communist administration in the country
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by the end of 1917:
the Russian army was collapsing and the Germans were advancing
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February 1918 :
Germans marched into Estonia. The Russian Communists fled
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24-2-1918
the Estonian parliament declared Estonia independent

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25-2-1918
Germans entered Tallinn
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then:
Germans occupied Estonia till the end of the war
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11-11-1917

The Germans surrendered to the western allies
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soon
the Russians invaded Estonia
They captured most of the country
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January 1919:
the Estonians fought back under General Laidoner and
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24-2-1919
Russians were driven out of Estonia

Meanwhile a British fleet was sent to Estonia. The British sailors fought a number of naval battles with the Russians
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3-1-1920
Russians agreed to a ceasefire
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2-2-1920
treaty of Tartu, signed .
in which Russiansrecognised Estonia as an independent country
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1930s:
Like all countries Estonia suffered severely in the depression of the early 1930s.
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1934
following a referendum a new constitution was introduced, which greatly increased the power of the president and reduced the powers of the Estonian parliament, the Riigikogu
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October 1934 :
President Konstantin Pats dismissed the Riigikogu and replaced it with a bi-cameral assembly

The lower chamber was elected but the upper chamber was appointed by the president and the chambers of commerce
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1934-1938
Pats ruled as virtual dictator until 1938 and under him the economy recovered
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1938 Pats introduced a new constitution. He voluntarily gave up some of his powers
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17-6-1940
Disaster struck Estonia when the Russians invaded. Soon Estonia was absorbed into the Soviet Union and a Communist regime was imposed
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June 1941:
thousands of Estonians were deported to Russia
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shortly afterwards :
the Germans invaded Russia. At first they were amazingly successful and they quickly captured Estonia.
German rule was extremely brutal
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in the summer of 1944:
Russians invaded Estonia again
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17-9-1944
Hitler ordered all his forces to leave Estonia
On the same day a provisional government was formed under Otto Tief (1889-1976)
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17:22-9-1944
The provisional government met for only 5 days
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22-9-1944
Russians captured Tallinn and dissolved the provisional government
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1947-1952
Russians imposed a tyrannical regime. Farming was collectivised. Under the Communists industrialisation took place in Estonia but it caused terrible damage to the environment

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1949 :
Thousands of Estonians were deported. Some Estonians fled to the forests and fought the Russians. They became known as Forest Brothers but the last one died in 1978
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in the late 1980s
]the Communist tyranny began to unravel. The Soviet leader, Gorbachev, introduced policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (reconstruction). Once again the Estonians began to clamour for independence
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November 1988 :
the Supreme Soviet (a kind of parliament) in Estonia declared that Soviet laws would only apply in Estonia if it agreed to them
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1988
Estonia was given some economic autonomy.
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In March 1991 :
most of the population of Estonia voted in favour of independence in a referendum
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19-8-1991
hardliner Communists in Moscow attempted a coup
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20-8-1991
Estonia declared its independence. The coup was defeated
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6-9-1991
Russia recognised Estonian independence
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Communism was then dismantled in Estonia and replaced with a market economy. Today Estonia is a small but prosperous country
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1992
Estonia adopted a new constitution
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1994
last Russian troops left Estonia
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Period (2000-2008):
Estonia economy grew rapidly.
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2005
Estonia joined the EU
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2009
the recession :
Estonia suffered badly in the recession of 2009.
However Estonia recovered .Today Estonia turned to be a small but prosperous country
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2011
Estonia joined the Euro
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2012
Population of Estonia = 1.3 million

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SOURCE :
* "A BRIEF HISTORY OF ESTONIA" By Tim Lambert