Estonia's Independence Day

Greetings to our northern neighbors — Estonians — on the Independence Day of the Republic of Estonia.

How easy was the path to independence for Estonia?

The formation of an independent Estonian state, like Latvia and Lithuania, began at the end of the First World War. The February Revolution in Russia in 1917 made the idea of Estonian autonomy possible. On 12 April 1917, Estonian politicians succeeded in uniting the established province of Estonia and the Estonian part of Livonia into an autonomous province of Estonia, sanctioned by the Russian Provisional Government. A Provincial Council was elected through indirect universal suffrage. 

The situation changed in February 1918 when, following the failure of the first phase of the Brest peace negotiations, German troops resumed their eastern front offensive and occupied the entire territory of Estonia. Under these circumstances, on 24 February 1918 in Tallinn, the executive body of the Provincial Council - the Estonian Rescue Committee - proclaimed an independent and democratic Republic of Estonia and established its Provisional Government. 

Imperial Germany did not recognise Estonia's independence or its Provisional Government. The German military occupation authorities had effective authority on Estonian territory. In autumn 1918, with German support, a United Baltic Duchy – a Baltic state – was established, comprising the historical provinces of Estonia and Livonia, joined shortly after by the province of Courland. 

Consolidation of this duchy was disrupted by the German military defeat and revolution in November 1918. August Winnig, the representative of the new German government in the Baltics, withdrew recognition of the Baltic Duchy and supported the creation of independent national republics in Estonia and Latvia. On 19 November 1918, he signed an agreement with representatives of the Estonian Provisional Government to transfer power to them. The Estonian War of Independence and the consolidation of the state followed. On 26 January 1921, the Supreme Council of the Entente decided to recognise the Republic of Estonia and the Republic of Latvia de jure.