« [CANON POST]
My condensed version of Estonian history, up to the point where he was taken for Entranceway!
Current Year: 1989
Basically, once upon a time, there was a bunch of land that became available after the ice caps melted in 8500 BC or so. Some people settled there and made tribes, and it generally ended up being awesome. So Estonia was born. (Little-known fact: Estonia is a direct decendent of Germania. Who knew, huh?) He spent many years running around with tribes and generally not doing much until the 13th century. Because of it’s strategic position on the Baltic Sea, just about all of Estonia’s first bits of history are the Livonian Crusades, where both Germany and Denmark came to claim land and try to convert Estonia to Christianity (which he was the last European country to submit). Estonia fought to keep them out, and it failed. Terribly. Northern Estonia fell to the Germans in 1217, and Southern Estonia to the Danish in 1219 in the Battle of Lyndanisse. By 1227, Estonia’s last outstanding bit of land, Ösel, was taken by the Danish.
Turns out, Denmark is a sucky caretaker. Little Estonia was totally forgotten about until 1343, when an uprising was held (now known as St. George’s Night Uprising), in which around 1800 people of German ancestry were killed. Then Prussia as the Livonian Order invaded, and Denmark decided he was broke and Estonia was cool to sell. So, Estonia went with Prussia, because Denmark needed cash. (Please note the Livonian Order was a denomination of the Teutonic Order, which at the time Estonia was taken in, consisted primarily of Prussia, Estonia, and eventually Riga (Latvia), who were against Lithuania and Poland.)
Estonia stayed with the Order for almost two hundred years, which included a lot of fighting, land-conquering, and drinking. Plus, Prussia decided one day to conquer a land and make it Riga- aka, little wee petit babby Latvia, which of course, Estonia was put in charge of. This took some adapting, but it wasn’t long before he was rather attached. They spent many years together until the Livonian War in 1558. The best part about this event? This is when Estonia gets crushed by Russia on the battlefield. Oh, fun. Ivan the Terrible was in power, and wanted trading access to the Baltic Sea; he lay waste across Estonia and Latvia, and the Order was dissolved. During the War, Northern Estonia came under control of the Swedish, mostly as protection so Russia would not take him over. The war did not end until the 1580’s, at which point Southern Estonia was claimed by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
What followed these events can only be described as a giant custody battle. Basically, Estonia was claimed to be divided between three different countries- Sweden in the north, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the south, and Denmark at Ösel and a few other territories. For roughly the next 50 years, Estonia was passed around from house to house, in an attempt to “share”; he spent time with all of his family, though it was a strenuous relationship. Latvia was also being passed around, and he never saw much of Prussia anymore, so it ended up being rather lonely. Plus, being with Lithuania felt almost like a defeat, seeing as he fought against him for years. Generally, Estonia in what might be called his younger teenage years was suffering through a horrible divorce and feeling very, very unloved, though everyone seemed to want him. Baww.
However, in 1625, Sweden decided he was tired of playing the pass-around-the-Eesti game, invaded Poland and took Southern Estonia for himself. Only 20 years later, in 1645, did Sweden go after Denmark, where they reached the Peace of Brömsebro, a treaty agreeing that Denmark would renounce it’s Estonian land. To be fair, everything was much calmer after that, and for a while once more, everything was peaceful. Plus, Estonia got to make a new bff in Finland who was there at the time, so life was good, for the most part.
But nothing ever stays peaceful, because this is the world, and everyone always wants something else. So, once again, everything decided to explode.
In 1700, the Great Northern War surged for control over the Baltic Sea. Basically, Russia beat Sweden mercilessly, and the Treaty of Nystad was signed, making Sweden give over Estonia to Russia. He was once more reunited with Latvia, and decided he needed to explore more of the world. So, Estonia had an awakening, almost simultaniously with Latvia.
Estonia lived under Russia’s rule without hopes of doing much else with himself until the Russian Revolution of 1905, when Estonia decided he wanted his freedom of press and assembley, along with universal franchise and national autonomy. He didn’t get much, but it let him get through when the Russian Empire collapsed in World War I and Germany decided to try and take over Estonia, which was sucessful. However, Estonian leaders slipped their way into the Bolsheviks of the Russian Soviet Democratic Labour Party, and two days before the Russian October Revolution, Estonian leaders violently took power from the legally constituted Maapäev in a coup d'état. By February, the Bolsheviks retreated to Russia, and with the Red Army’s retreat and German troops moving in, the Estonian Declaration of Independence was issued on February 23rd, 1918.
Then, of course, they had to fight in the Estonian War of Independence. In an awesome feat, the Estonian army cleared the whole country of the Russian Red Army within a year (February 1919). Finally, on February 2nd, 1920, the Treaty of Tartu was signed, giving Estonia independence. So, Eesti finally had a birthday and I’m sure there was tons of beer and awesome.
Of course, Estonia only got to have 22 birthdays before Germany and Russia signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, which was a non-aggression treaty that divided the countries between them into spheres of influence. Estonia had tried to keep a policy of neutrality, but as Russia was fighting Poland, a Polish submarine looked for shelter in Tallinn, Estonia’s capital. Because Estonia couldn’t disarm and stop the crew, he was charged by Russia with aid in their escape, and threatened to allow him to establish bases there or go to war. Estonia complied with the former.
Just about everything after this sucked. Estonia was invaded by the Soviet Union in June of 1940, and deciding he wanted no more bloodshed for his people, Estonia gave himself over willingly to Soviet troops. There was a ton of deportations and shooting and death, so when the Germans showed up in 1941 Estonia was more than happy to see them. There was a ton of fighting that was mostly losing and by January of 1944, the Red Army had pushed the Germans back to Estonia’s former border, and Estonia decided that maybe if he fought he could get Western support and become independent. So many Estonians joined the German front, they had their own section of the army; however, as Germany retreated, Estonia was captured once more and sent to his room with Latvia, also without any potatoes.
Basically, everything still sucked. Estonia had lost 1/5th of its population (about 200,000 people) over the course of WWII, and now he was stuck with Russia. Russification was enforced, but Estonia was defiant; despite the limitations placed on him, he still continued to practice his own language and culture in secret. He shared much of his history in this time period with Latvia, concerning that his people were deported and many were killed because the Russians were totally afraid of Estonia whipping out his badass and beating them all. So he was kept very busy so no one would have time for revolution or cool things like that. In their only lucky strike, the Estonians were allowed in the late 1950’s to have ties with other countries. Estonia re-established connection with Finland and were allowed to watch Finnish television, which kept them better up-to-date with the rest of the world.
But, nevertheless, everybody was really really pissed at the Russians for pulling all this, so Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania all decided they were gonna do something cool and show their awesome. On the 50th anniversary day of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact (August 23rd, 1989), a large human chain stretched from Tallinn, to Riga (Latvia), to Vilnius (Lithuania) and spanned over 600 kilometers, becoming one of the longest unbroken human chains in history. It became a singing revolution, with the people calling for independence. This event became known as the Baltic Way, and allowed Western countries to acknowledge that the pact was illegal and that they needed freedom. Two years later, Estonia regained independence and everything was awesome again.
But before he could get there, he got swept away. Oh, joy. ♥
Current Year: 1989
Basically, once upon a time, there was a bunch of land that became available after the ice caps melted in 8500 BC or so. Some people settled there and made tribes, and it generally ended up being awesome. So Estonia was born. (Little-known fact: Estonia is a direct decendent of Germania. Who knew, huh?) He spent many years running around with tribes and generally not doing much until the 13th century. Because of it’s strategic position on the Baltic Sea, just about all of Estonia’s first bits of history are the Livonian Crusades, where both Germany and Denmark came to claim land and try to convert Estonia to Christianity (which he was the last European country to submit). Estonia fought to keep them out, and it failed. Terribly. Northern Estonia fell to the Germans in 1217, and Southern Estonia to the Danish in 1219 in the Battle of Lyndanisse. By 1227, Estonia’s last outstanding bit of land, Ösel, was taken by the Danish.
Turns out, Denmark is a sucky caretaker. Little Estonia was totally forgotten about until 1343, when an uprising was held (now known as St. George’s Night Uprising), in which around 1800 people of German ancestry were killed. Then Prussia as the Livonian Order invaded, and Denmark decided he was broke and Estonia was cool to sell. So, Estonia went with Prussia, because Denmark needed cash. (Please note the Livonian Order was a denomination of the Teutonic Order, which at the time Estonia was taken in, consisted primarily of Prussia, Estonia, and eventually Riga (Latvia), who were against Lithuania and Poland.)
Estonia stayed with the Order for almost two hundred years, which included a lot of fighting, land-conquering, and drinking. Plus, Prussia decided one day to conquer a land and make it Riga- aka, little wee petit babby Latvia, which of course, Estonia was put in charge of. This took some adapting, but it wasn’t long before he was rather attached. They spent many years together until the Livonian War in 1558. The best part about this event? This is when Estonia gets crushed by Russia on the battlefield. Oh, fun. Ivan the Terrible was in power, and wanted trading access to the Baltic Sea; he lay waste across Estonia and Latvia, and the Order was dissolved. During the War, Northern Estonia came under control of the Swedish, mostly as protection so Russia would not take him over. The war did not end until the 1580’s, at which point Southern Estonia was claimed by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
What followed these events can only be described as a giant custody battle. Basically, Estonia was claimed to be divided between three different countries- Sweden in the north, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the south, and Denmark at Ösel and a few other territories. For roughly the next 50 years, Estonia was passed around from house to house, in an attempt to “share”; he spent time with all of his family, though it was a strenuous relationship. Latvia was also being passed around, and he never saw much of Prussia anymore, so it ended up being rather lonely. Plus, being with Lithuania felt almost like a defeat, seeing as he fought against him for years. Generally, Estonia in what might be called his younger teenage years was suffering through a horrible divorce and feeling very, very unloved, though everyone seemed to want him. Baww.
However, in 1625, Sweden decided he was tired of playing the pass-around-the-Eesti game, invaded Poland and took Southern Estonia for himself. Only 20 years later, in 1645, did Sweden go after Denmark, where they reached the Peace of Brömsebro, a treaty agreeing that Denmark would renounce it’s Estonian land. To be fair, everything was much calmer after that, and for a while once more, everything was peaceful. Plus, Estonia got to make a new bff in Finland who was there at the time, so life was good, for the most part.
But nothing ever stays peaceful, because this is the world, and everyone always wants something else. So, once again, everything decided to explode.
In 1700, the Great Northern War surged for control over the Baltic Sea. Basically, Russia beat Sweden mercilessly, and the Treaty of Nystad was signed, making Sweden give over Estonia to Russia. He was once more reunited with Latvia, and decided he needed to explore more of the world. So, Estonia had an awakening, almost simultaniously with Latvia.
Estonia lived under Russia’s rule without hopes of doing much else with himself until the Russian Revolution of 1905, when Estonia decided he wanted his freedom of press and assembley, along with universal franchise and national autonomy. He didn’t get much, but it let him get through when the Russian Empire collapsed in World War I and Germany decided to try and take over Estonia, which was sucessful. However, Estonian leaders slipped their way into the Bolsheviks of the Russian Soviet Democratic Labour Party, and two days before the Russian October Revolution, Estonian leaders violently took power from the legally constituted Maapäev in a coup d'état. By February, the Bolsheviks retreated to Russia, and with the Red Army’s retreat and German troops moving in, the Estonian Declaration of Independence was issued on February 23rd, 1918.
Then, of course, they had to fight in the Estonian War of Independence. In an awesome feat, the Estonian army cleared the whole country of the Russian Red Army within a year (February 1919). Finally, on February 2nd, 1920, the Treaty of Tartu was signed, giving Estonia independence. So, Eesti finally had a birthday and I’m sure there was tons of beer and awesome.
Of course, Estonia only got to have 22 birthdays before Germany and Russia signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, which was a non-aggression treaty that divided the countries between them into spheres of influence. Estonia had tried to keep a policy of neutrality, but as Russia was fighting Poland, a Polish submarine looked for shelter in Tallinn, Estonia’s capital. Because Estonia couldn’t disarm and stop the crew, he was charged by Russia with aid in their escape, and threatened to allow him to establish bases there or go to war. Estonia complied with the former.
Just about everything after this sucked. Estonia was invaded by the Soviet Union in June of 1940, and deciding he wanted no more bloodshed for his people, Estonia gave himself over willingly to Soviet troops. There was a ton of deportations and shooting and death, so when the Germans showed up in 1941 Estonia was more than happy to see them. There was a ton of fighting that was mostly losing and by January of 1944, the Red Army had pushed the Germans back to Estonia’s former border, and Estonia decided that maybe if he fought he could get Western support and become independent. So many Estonians joined the German front, they had their own section of the army; however, as Germany retreated, Estonia was captured once more and sent to his room with Latvia, also without any potatoes.
Basically, everything still sucked. Estonia had lost 1/5th of its population (about 200,000 people) over the course of WWII, and now he was stuck with Russia. Russification was enforced, but Estonia was defiant; despite the limitations placed on him, he still continued to practice his own language and culture in secret. He shared much of his history in this time period with Latvia, concerning that his people were deported and many were killed because the Russians were totally afraid of Estonia whipping out his badass and beating them all. So he was kept very busy so no one would have time for revolution or cool things like that. In their only lucky strike, the Estonians were allowed in the late 1950’s to have ties with other countries. Estonia re-established connection with Finland and were allowed to watch Finnish television, which kept them better up-to-date with the rest of the world.
But, nevertheless, everybody was really really pissed at the Russians for pulling all this, so Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania all decided they were gonna do something cool and show their awesome. On the 50th anniversary day of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact (August 23rd, 1989), a large human chain stretched from Tallinn, to Riga (Latvia), to Vilnius (Lithuania) and spanned over 600 kilometers, becoming one of the longest unbroken human chains in history. It became a singing revolution, with the people calling for independence. This event became known as the Baltic Way, and allowed Western countries to acknowledge that the pact was illegal and that they needed freedom. Two years later, Estonia regained independence and everything was awesome again.
But before he could get there, he got swept away. Oh, joy. ♥