History of Estonia

Fragments of the Wanradt–Koell Catechism (1535), the first book printed in Estonian

The history of Estonia forms a part of the history of Europe. Human settlement in what is now Estonia became possible 13,000–11,000 years ago, after the ice from the last glacial era had melted, and signs of the first permanent population in the region date from around 9000 BCE.[1]

The medieval indigenous population of Estonia was one of the last pagan civilisations in Europe to adopt Christianity following the Northern Crusades in the 13th century.[2] After the crusaders had conquered the area by 1227, Estonia was ruled initially by the King of Denmark in the north, by the Livonian Order, an autonomous part of the Monastic state of the Teutonic Knights and by the ecclesiastical states of the Holy Roman Empire. From 1418 to 1562 the whole of Estonia formed part of the Livonian Confederation. After 1559, Estonia became part of the Kingdom of Sweden until 1710, when the Tsardom of Russia (Muscovy) conquered the entire area during the Great Northern War of 1700–1721. Throughout this period the local local German-speaking nobility enjoyed significant autonomy, and High German (earlier also Low German and Latin) served as the main language of administration and education.

The Estophile Enlightenment Period (1750–1840) led to the Estonian national awakening in the middle of the 19th century. In the aftermath of World War I (1914–1918) and the revolutions of 1917 that brought the end to the Russian Empire, Estonia was declared an independent democratic republic in February 1918. In the Estonian War of Independence (1918–1920) the newly proclaimed state successfully fought against the Russian Russian Bolshevist invasion, and in the February 1920 Russian-Estonian Peace Treaty the Soviet Russia recognised Estonian independence in perpetuity.

During World War II (1939–1945) the Soviet Union invaded and occupied Estonia in June 1940 and illegally annexed the country.[a] In the course of Operation Barbarossa, Nazi Germany occupied Estonia in 1941; the Soviet Army reoccupied Estonia in 1944. Estonia regained its independence in August 1991 and joined the European Union and NATO in 2004.

  1. ^ Esselmond, Tom (26 August 2011). "Spirituality in Estonia - the world's 'least religious' country". BBC.
  2. ^ "Country Profile – LegaCarta". Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  3. ^ Fried, Daniel (14 June 2007). "U.S.-Baltic Relations: Celebrating 85 Years of Friendship". U.S. State Department.
  4. ^ "Motion for a resolution on the Situation in Estonia". European Parliament. 21 May 2007. Retrieved 19 September 2009.
  5. ^ Socor, Vladimir (25 May 2005). "U. S. SENATE, EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT CONDEMN OCCUPATION OF BALTIC STATES". The Jamestown Foundation.


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