Estonia

When, in 1917, the Russian Empire crumbled, Estonia saw its chance. With courage and hope, the small Baltic nation declared its independence in 1918, only to be pulled into brutal conflict.

First came the German occupation, then the Bolsheviks, both trying to crush Estonia’s fragile sovereignty. Against all odds, Estonians fought and won the War of Independence in 1920. But peace was short-lived.

In 1940, the Soviet Union returned as the new conqueror. What followed was terror: mass deportations, executions, and the forced erasure of identity. Nazi Germany occupied Estonia next, bringing its own brand of horror.

Then the Soviets came back, harsher than ever. During World War II, Estonia lost a quarter of its population. Entire families vanished into Siberia. Culture was strangled, the Estonian language suppressed, and resistance met with bloodshed. The Kremlin sought not just control, but erasure and russification by force.

Yet the spirit endured underground and in exile. After decades of silence, songs turned into protests. With Gorbachev’s reforms, the Estonian voice rose again, not with weapons, but with unity, courage, and song. In 1991, independence was reclaimed.

Russia never apologized. No words of regret for the purges, the camps, the graves. Instead, hostility remains. Even today, many Russians, leaders and ordinary citizens alike, harbor a deep and incomprehensible hostility toward Estonia. Perhaps it stems from jealousy over Estonia’s current prosperity and success.

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