1

Country in a Box:

Republic of Estonia
Eesti Vabariik



A view of Tallinn, Estonia









A Teachers Guide
Compiled by the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies
Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
http://ceres.georgetown.edu
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Estonia in a Box: Table of Contents


Estonia: Facts at a Glance

3-5
Estonian Political History

6-7
Timeline of Major Events in Modern Estonian
History

8
Estonian Culture

9-10
Childrens Folklore: The White Lady in the Window

11
Additional Resources on Estonia

12





Traditional Estonian dances
3




Three equal horizontal
bands of blue (top), black,
and white; various
interpretations are linked to
the flag colors; blue
represents faith, loyalty,
and devotion, while also
reminiscent of the sky, sea,
and lakes of the country;
black symbolizes the soil of
the country and the dark
past and suffering of the
Estonian people; white
refers to the striving
towards enlightenment and
virtue, and is the color of
birch back and snow, as
well as summer nights
illuminated by the midnight
sun.
Estonia: Facts at a Glance
_______
Text taken directly from Central Intelligence Agency. The World Factbook: Estonia. Available
at: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-
factbook/geos/en.html

Country Name: Republic of Estonia

Background: After centuries of Danish, Swedish, German,
and Russian rule, Estonia attained independence in 1918.
Forcibly incorporated into the USSR in 1940 an action
never recognized by the US it regained its freedom in 1991
with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Since the last Russian
troops left in 1994, Estonia has been free to promote
economic and political ties with the West. It joined both
NATO and the EU in the spring of 2004.

Capital: Tallinn

Location: Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and Gulf
of Finland, between Latvia and Russia.

Area: total: 45,228 sq km (slightly smaller than New Hampshire and
Vermont combined)
land: 42,388 sq km
water: 2,840 sq km (includes 1,520 islands in the Baltic Sea)

Terrain: marshy, lowlands; flat in the north, hilly in the south.

Elevation Extremes: lowest point: Baltic Sea 0 m
highest point: Suur Munamagi 318 m

Natural Resources: oil shale, rare earth elements, phosphorite, clay,
limestone, sand, dolomite, arable land, sea mud.

Natural Hazards: sometimes flooding occurs in the spring.

Environmental Issues: air polluted with sulfur dioxide from oil-shale
burning power plants in northeast; however, the amount of pollutants
emitted to the air have fallen steadily, the emissions of 2000 were 80%
less that in 1980; the amount of unpurified wastewater discharged to
water bodies in 2000 was 1/20 the level of 1980; in connection with the
start-up of new water purification plants, the pollution load of
wastewater decreased; Estonia has more than 1,400 natural and
manmade lakes, the smaller of which in agricultural areas need to be
monitored; coastal seawater is polluted in certain locations.
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The new Estonian currency is
the euro, adopted in January
2011. Taken directly from
http://www.bankofestonia.info/fr
ontpage/en/

Population: 1,282,963 (July 2011 est.)


Ethnic Groups: Estonian 68.7%, Russian 25.6%, Ukrainian 2.1%, Belarussian 1.2%, Finn 0.8%,
other 1.6% (2008 census)


Religions: Evangelical Lutheran 13.6%, Orthodox 12.8%, other Christian (including Methodist,
Seventh-Day Adventist, Roman Catholic, Pentecostal) 1.4%, unaffiliated 34.1%, other and
unspecified 32%, none 6.1% (2000 census)


Government Type: parliamentary republic

Executive Branch: chief of state: President Toomas Hendrik ILVES (since 9 October 2006);
head of government: Prime Minister Taavi Rivas (since 24 March 2014); cabinet: Ministers
appointed by the prime minister; elections: president elected by Parliament for a five-year term
(eligible for a second term); if a candidate does not secure two-thirds of the votes after three
rounds of balloting in the Parliament, then an electoral assembly (made up of Parliament plus
members of local councils) elects the president, choosing between the two candidates with the
largest number of votes; election last held on 29 August 2011 (next to be held in the fall of
2016); prime minister nominated by the president and approved
by Parliament

Legislative Branch: unicameral Parliament of Riigikogu (101
seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four terms)

Judicial Branch: National Court or Riigikohus

Economy Overview: Estonia, a 2004 European Union entrant,
has a modern market-based economy and one of the higher per
capita income levels in Central Europe and the Baltic region.
Estonia's successive governments have pursued a free market,
pro-business economic agenda and have wavered little in their
commitment to pro-market reforms. The current government has
followed relatively sound fiscal policies that have resulted in
balanced budgets and very low public debt. The economy benefits
from strong electronics and telecommunications sectors and
strong trade ties with Finland, Sweden, and Germany. Tallinn's
priority has been to sustain high growth rates - on average 8% per
year from 2003 to 2007. Estonia's economy slowed down
markedly and fell sharply into recession in mid-2008, primarily as
a result of an investment and consumption slump following the
bursting of the real estate market bubble. GDP dropped nearly
14% in 2009, among the world's highest rates of contraction. As
for 2013 Estonian economy grew by 2.2 percent.
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Rising exports to Sweden and Finland lead an economic recovery in 2010, but unemployment
stands above 17%. Estonia joined the OECD in December 2010 and adopted the euro in January
2011.

GDP (purchasing power parity): $24.69 billion (2010 est.)


GDP (composition by sector): Agriculture: 2.7%
Industry: 29.1%
Services: 68.2% (2010 est.)

Labor Force (by occupation): Agriculture: 2.8%
Industry: 22.7%
Services: 74.5% (2008)

Industries: engineering, electronics, wood and wood products, textiles; information technology,
telecommunications.

Exports (commodities): machinery and electrical equipment 21%, wood and wood products 9%,
metals 9%, furniture 7%, vehicles and parts 5%, food products and beverages 4%, textiles 4%,
plastics 3%.

Exports (partners): Finland 18.5%, Sweden 17%, Russia 10.4%, Latvia 9.8%, Germany 5.7%,
Lithuania 5.3% (2010).

Imports (commodities): machinery and electrical equipment 22%, mineral fuels 18%, chemical
products 3%, foodstuffs 6%, plastics 6%, textiles 5%.

Imports (partners): Finland 15.7%, Germany 11.9%, Sweden 11.6%, Latvia 11.5%, Lithuania
8.2%, Poland 6.8%, Russia 4.5% (2010)

Debt (external): $22,14 billion (as of 3
rd
Quarter of 2013 est.)

International Disputes: Russia recalled its signature to the 1996 technical border agreement
with Estonia in 2005, rather than concede to Estonia's appending a prepared unilateral
declaration referencing Soviet occupation and territorial losses; Russia demands better
accommodation of Russian-speaking population in Estonia; Estonian citizen groups continue to
press for realignment of the boundary based on the 1920 Tartu Peace Treaty that would bring the
now divided ethnic Setu people and parts of the Narva region within Estonia; as a member state
that forms part of the EU's external border, Estonia must implement the strict Schengen border
rules with Russia.





6


The Hanseatic League: Commerce
developed rapidly because Estonia's larger
urban centers at the time--Tallinn, Tartu,
Prnu, and Narva--were all members of the
Hanseatic League, an organization established
by merchants of various, mostly German, cities
to protect their mutual trading interests. Still,
foreign rivalries over the strategic Livonian
region began to reemerge in the mid-sixteenth
century as the fighting capacity of the
Germans diminished and that of neighboring
Muscovy began to increase. The ensuing
twenty-five-year struggle for control of
Livonia was precipitated by an invasion by
Ivan IV (the Terrible) (r. 1533-84) in 1558.




History of Estonia
_______
Text taken directly from the Library of Congress http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/eetoc.html

Early history: Estonia's struggles for independence
during the twentieth century were in large part a
reaction to nearly 700 years of foreign rule. Before
1200 the Estonians lived largely as free peasants
loosely organized into parishes (kihelkonnad ), which in
turn were grouped into counties (maakonnad ). In the
early 1200s, the Estonians and the Latvians came under
assault from German crusaders seeking to impose
Christianity. Although the resistance to the Teutonic
Knights lasted some twenty years, the lack of a
centralized political organization as well as inferior
weaponry eventually brought down the Estonians in
1227. The Germans, moving from the south, were
abetted by Danish forces that invaded from the north
and captured Tallinn. Together with present-day Latvia,
the region became known as Livonia; the Germans and
Danes settled down as nobility, and the Estonians were
progressively subordinated as serfs. During 1343-45 an
Estonian peasant uprising against the German and
Danish nobility prompted the Danes to relinquish their
control of northern Estonia to the Germans. After this
resistance was crushed, the area remained generally
peaceful for two centuries.
Under Swedish rule, northern Estonia was
incorporated into the Duchy of Estland. The southern part, together with northern Latvia, became
known as Livland. This division of Estonian lands would last until 1917. The German-based
nobility in both areas retained and even strengthened its position under Swedish suzerainty.
Meanwhile, the Estonian peasants saw their situation worsen as more and more of their land
were appropriated by seigniorial estates. Still, during the Swedish era, Estonian education got its
start with the founding of Tartu University in 1632 and the establishment of the first Estonian
parish schools in the 1680s.
In his first attempt to conquer Estland and Livland, during the Great Northern War (1700-
09), Peter the Great (r. 1682-1725) met with defeat at Narva at the hands of Sweden's Charles
XII (r. 1697-1718). A second campaign in 1708 resulted in a victory for Russia and acquisition
of a "window to the West." In taking control of Estland and Livland for what would be the next
200 years, tsarist Russia recognized the rights and privileges of the local German nobility, whose
members amounted to only a small fraction of the population. The first real reforms of serfdom,
which gave peasants some rights, took place in 1804.
By the mid-nineteenth century, the Estonians were fast developing into an independent
society and nation. The number of urbanized Estonians had grown considerably, overtaking what
had been German majorities in the cities. Industrialization was also breaking down the old order.
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An Estonian cultural awakening began in the 1850s and 1860s. Political demands for Estonian
autonomy found strong expression during the Revolution of 1905, and an All-Estonian Congress
was organized in Tartu that same year.
The Bolshevik takeover in Petrograd in November 1917 extended to Estonia as well, until
Germany occupied Estonia in February 1918. Most of Estonia's other political parties realized
they were caught between the two forces and agreed to begin an active search for outside
support. Representatives were sent to the major European capitals to secure Western recognition
of an Estonian declaration of independence. As the Bolsheviks retreated from Tallinn and the
German occupation army entered the city, the Committee of Elders (or standing body) of the
Maapev declared the country independent on February 24, 1918.
Independence and the Soviet Period: After three years of de facto autonomy following the
Russian revolution in 1917, Estonia became fully independent under the Treaty of Tartu signed
with post-revolutionary Russia in February 1920. A brief period of liberal democracy followed,
which ended in 1934 when Prime Minister Konstantin Pats switched to an authoritarian regime
in a bloodless coup. Estonia was forcibly annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940 under the terms
of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact of August 1939. A rigged election followed, and the parliament
that resulted declared Estonia one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union on August 6th
1940. From July 1941 Estonia was occupied by German forces, but the Soviet Union regained
control of the republic in August 1944.
A more tolerant political atmosphere developed in the late 1980s, as the Soviet president,
Mikhail Gorbachev (1985-91), sought glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) in
order to reinvigorate the centrally planned economy. Pro-independence groups came to the fore
in Estonia. In February 1990 the Estonian Supreme Soviet (the national assembly) called on the
Soviet authorities to enter into negotiations with the aim of securing Estonia's independence from
the Soviet Union. Following an election in March 1990, nationalist groups took control of the
structures of government. Estonia proclaimed full independence on August 20th 1991, following
the abortive coup against Gorbachev, and the Soviet authorities recognized its independence on
September 6th 1991.
Post 1991: Following independence, Estonia rapidly
restructured its political and economic institutions. A new
Council of Ministers (government) replaced the rouble with
the Estonian kroon in June 1992. In the same month a new
constitution was adopted by referendum. A Citizenship
Law adopted in 1992 excluded a sizeable portion of the
population, mostly ethnic Russians, who could not prove a
family connection to someone who had been a resident of
Estonia before 1940. Estonia's first government, formed
after the September 1992 election, was led by a 32-year-old
historian, Mart Laar. His government created the most
open, free-market economy of all the former Soviet Union
countries, and reoriented trade away from Russia towards
Finland and other Western countries. Russia finally
withdrew its remaining troops from Estonian soil in August
1994. The economic dislocations and insecurity caused by
Estonia's sweeping reforms eroded support for Mr. Laar's
government, which was replaced in 1995 by a left-leaning


Mart Laar
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coalition. This, however, continued with most of its predecessor's policies.
Timeline of Major Event in Modern Estonian History
_______
Text taken directly from BBC News. Timeline: Estonia. Available at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1107800.stm

1918 - Independence proclaimed.

1934 - Prime Minister Konstantin Pats leads bloodless coup and establishes authoritarian rule.

1940 August - Estonia incorporated into Soviet Union.

1941 - German troops invade.

1944 - Estonia reannexed by the Soviet Union. Tens of thousands of Estonians deported to
Siberia and Central Asia.

1988 - Popular Front campaigns for democracy. "Singing revolution" brings a third of the
population together in a bid for national unity and self-determination.

1991 - Communist rule collapses. Soviet government recognizes the independence of the Baltic
republics.

1994 - Russian troops leave. Estonia joins Partnership for Peace, allowing limited military
cooperation with NATO.

2001 October - Former member of the Central Committee of the Soviet-era Communist Party
Arnold Ruutel sworn in as president.

2001 December - President Ruutel signs into law a bill scrapping the requirement for candidates
for public office to be proficient in the Estonian language.

2004 March - Estonia admitted to NATO; May - Estonia is one of 10 new states to join the EU.

2005 June - Parliament ratifies border treaty with Russia but defies warnings from Moscow by
introducing amendment referring to Soviet occupation. Russia reacts by withdrawing from
treaty.

2007 February - Parliament passes a law prohibiting the display of monuments glorifying Soviet
rule, paving the way for the removal of a controversial Red Army war memorial in Tallinn.

2007 April - Authorities remove a controversial Red Army war memorial in Tallinn. One person
is killed and more than 40 injured as protesters, mostly ethnic Russians, try to halt the removal.
Russia warns of serious consequences.

2011 January - Estonia adopts the euro.
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Estonian Culture
_______
Text taken directly from the World InfoZone. Estonia Information. Available at:
http://www.worldinfozone.com/country.php?country=Estonia

Food
Traditional Estonian cuisine includes porridge, soups,
stews, casseroles, black pudding, sauerkraut
(mulgikapsad), dark rye bread, preserves and pickles.

Main meals consist of meat (chicken, pork, lamb, veal
or beef) or fish (eel, cod, herring, plaice and salmon)
with vegetables such as potatoes, cabbage, beans, beets,
carrots, peas and mushrooms.

Dairy products, cheese, eggs, milk, cream and yoghurt,
are part of the Estonian diet.

Favorite desserts
are cakes, pastries,
ice cream and fruit: apples, cherries, pears, cranberries,
raspberries and strawberries. Honey is used as a sweetener.

Beer and kvass are the traditional drinks and tea and coffee
are popular.

Arts

Johann Koler (1826-1899), an Estonian painter, is
considered to be the founder of Estonian art. With his
unique and easily recognizable style, depicting city life,
Eduard Wiiralt (1898-1954) is no doubt one of the most
interesting Estonian artists of the twentieth century. August
Weizenberg (1837-1921), a classical sculptor, was the
founder of Estonian sculpture. Amandus Adamson (1855-
1929) was another famous Estonian sculptor, whose
allegorical works reflected his feelings for his country.

The first book containing a text in Estonian was published in
1525. The national epic, Kalevipoeg (Son of Kalev), was
written by Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald (1803-1882) in
the mid-nineteenth century. Systematic collection of folk
poetry started more than a hundred years ago, and the
collection is now one of the largest in the world.


Kaneelirullid
(Estonian cinnamon rolls)

Leivasupp rabarbriga
(Rhurbarb and rye bread soup)

Johann Koler self-portrait (1859)
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Anton Hansen Tammsaare (1878-1940) is acclaimed as
Estonia's greatest writer and Marie Under (1883-1980) is
considered to be Estonia's greatest modern poet. Other
Estonian authors include Lydia Koidula, Eduard Vilde,
Juhan Liiv, Gustav Suits, Karl Ristikivi, Jaan Kross, Jaan
Kaplinski, Doris Kareva, Juhan Viiding, Viivi Luik and
many others.

Arvo Part, born in 1935, is one of the most frequently
performed contemporary composers in the world. In 1970,
he produced his original, 'tintinnabulatory' pieces, but
achieved his renowned subtlety and world fame with his
large-scale religious works in his later period.

Folk singing and dancing helped Estonians preserve their
national identity during their country's occupation. In the
late 1980s mass singing demonstrations took place in
Tallinn and elsewhere in Estonia that gathered hundreds of thousands of people. This was known
as the "Singing Revolution".

Sports

Estonia is a sporting nation. The most popular spectator sport is basketball. Hockey and football
are also played. Some Estonians play football for foreign teams.

Estonians are successful in athletics. Erki Nool won the Gold Medal for the decathalon at the
Sydney Olympics. Cycling is also popular with Estonian Jaan Kirsipuu a leading international
cyclist.

Estonians are well known for cross-country skiing,
especially Andrus Veerpalu and Kristiina Shmigun.
Other winter sports are skating and ice-boating. Turkish
basketball and football are popular team games.

Holidays

Independence from Soviet Russia on 24 February 1918
is celebrated as well as Victory Day (over the Baltic
German Landeswehr in the War of Independence 1919)
on 23 June. Day of Restoration of Independence on 20
August 1991 is also observed.

New Year, Christmas, Easter, Spring Day, Pentecost
and St. John's Day are celebrated.


Arvo Part (2008)

Traditional Easter Pashka
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Childrens Folklore: The White Lady on the Window

_______
Legend of the White Lady. Available at: http://www.haapsalulinnus.ee/?id=1324

Behind the mysterious walls of Haapsalu Bishop's Castle lives
the most famous Estonian legend - the White Lady. The White
Lady Festival is dedicated to the legend, taking place every
August during the full moon.

According to the legend, a white figure of a woman will
appear at the window of the round chapel adjacent to Haapsalu
Castle Church - she is only visible during the night.

During the time when Saaremaa was ruled by the bishop, the clergymen
had to lead a virtuous life, but there was one clergyman who had snuck
in a young woman dressed in a choir boy's clothes. The youngster's
gender remained secret for a long time.

When the bishop visited Haapsalu after a long time, he noticed
something peculiar about the choirboy and had him investigated. In the
presence of all the clergymen, every suspicious room was searched and
in the end, found the young woman dressed as a choir boy. The bishop
summoned his council and it was decided that the young woman would
be buried alive inside a wall, and the clergyman would be imprisoned
and let to die of hunger.

The young woman was thus placed inside a crevice in the wall, she was given some bread and
water, and then the wall was closed up. For some time, inhabitants of the castle could hear her
pleas and cries, and since then a white female figure appears in the window every full moon.
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Select Bibliography of Sources on Estonia

Aalto, Pami. 2003. Constructing post-Soviet geopolitics in Estonia. London: Frank Cass.

Cavalcanti, Carlos Brando. 1999. Estonia: implementing the EU accession agenda. Washington,
D.C.: World Bank.

Council of Europe, and European Steering Committee for Intergovernmental Co-operation in the
Youth Field. 2001. Youth policy in Estonia: report by an international group of experts appointed
by the Council of Europe. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Pub.
http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/youth/Source/IG_Coop/YP_Estonia_en.pdf.

Geistlinger, Michael, and Aksel Kirch. 1995. Estonia--a new framework for the Estonian majority
and the Russian minority. Wien: Braumuller.

Kasekamp, Andres. 2000. The radical right in interwar Estonia. Houndmills, Basingstoke,
Hampshire: Macmillan Press. Raun.

Laar, Mart. 2002. Estonia: little country that could. London: Centre for Research into Post-
Communist Economies.

Miljan, Toivo. 2004. Historical dictionary of Estonia. Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press.

Open Society Institute. 1997. Estonia and Latvia: citizenship, language and conflict prevention, a
special report. New York: Open Society Institute.

Rausing, Sigrid. 2004. History, memory, and identity in post-Soviet Estonia: the end of a
collective farm. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Reutersward, Anders, and Veerle Slootmaekers. 2010. OECD reviews of labour market and
social policies . Estonia. Paris: OECD.

Smith, David J. 2001. Estonia: independence and European integration. London: Routledge.

Subrenat, Jean-Jacques. 2004. Estonia: identity and independence. Amsterdam: Rodopi.

Taagepera, Rein. 1993. Estonia: return to independence. Boulder: Westview Press.

Toivo U. 2001. Estonia and the Estonians. Stanford, Calif: Hoover Institution Press, Stanford
University.

Statistics Estonia, Ministry of Finance of Estonia
http://www.stat.ee/ (accessed on September 7, 2014)