700 Years of Slavery
This is precisely how the times leading up to the moment of gaining long-awaited freedom on February 24, 1918, are defined in the history of this proud nation. But before that happened, fate was not kind to them…
An ancient people, whose ancestors arrived in the lands of modern-day Estonia thousands of years ago, were over time transformed from free people into slaves working for the needs of their masters.
At the beginning of the 13th century, the Northern Crusades struck the Estonian lands, dividing the territories of the indigenous inhabitants of the Baltic Coast. German knights became the landed elite, holding the original inhabitants of these areas in an iron grip. Slowly, darkness began to descend upon the Estonians…
The majority of the population was turned into peasants assigned to their owner. Only a few managed to escape this fate. The lucky ones could flee to the cities built by the new owners of these lands. Once they managed to survive there for a year and a day, they could feel a semblance of freedom, looking back at the fate that befell their compatriots who were not so fortunate.
At the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, Estonia came under the rule of the Kingdom of Sweden. This period in Estonia’s history was remembered as a brighter moment in the 700-year journey to freedom.
Yet, after the warmer days, darkness once again clung to the souls of the Estonians, draining their vital forces. Following the Treaty of Nystad/Uusikaupunki (1721), Estonia fell into the hands of the Russian Empire. Peter I, wishing to win over the Baltic German barons, restored their ancient rights. The fate of the Estonians became intertwined with the fate of a slave. They could be gambled away in cards, pawned as collateral, being bound by an invisible chain to the land of their owner. They were subject to corporal punishments depending solely on the whim of their masters.
Under the influence of Enlightenment ideas, Alexander I abolished serfdom in the lands along the Gulf of Finland. The peasants gained personal freedom, a surname, and nothing more. The lands still belonged to the invaders.
For a brief moment, they managed to catch their breath. Their lungs filled with the air of freedom on February 24, 1918. Only to submerge under the water once again. This time deeper. All the way to the muddy bottom…
The Evil Empire extended its tentacles once more. From 1940, Estonians passed from hand to hand again, becoming prey now to Moscow, now to Berlin. In just one operation, „Priboi” in March 1949, about 2.5% of Estonians – mostly women and children – were deported to slave colonies scattered across Siberia.
– It is estimated that as a result of World War II and ethnic cleansing directed by Moscow during the occupation, Estonia lost about 20-25% of its pre-war population.
– In 1945, Estonians made up 97% of their country’s inhabitants.
– In 1989, near the end of the occupation, they accounted for about 60% in their own country.
– This is as if 16.8 to 21 million inhabitants of modern-day Germany were wiped off the map. Within a few years, all the residents of Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, and Frankfurt combined would disappear.
– A loss of 20-25% of the population of modern-day Russia amounts to 28.8-36 million people. That is more than the entire population of modern Siberia.