European Kingdoms

Modern Estonia (Eesti) (Baltic States)
AD 1918 - Present Day
Incorporating Heads of State (1918-2026)

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The European region which today is known as the Baltic States sits at the junction in Eastern Europe with Northern Europe. While the southern two states of Lithuania and Latvia are counted as Eastern European, Estonia is more typically grouped with its Northern European cousins.

The modern republic of Estonia holds a majority population of Finno-Ugric speakers, part of the same wave of arrivals as the ancestors of today's Finns who entered the Early Baltics around 3000 BC from a Uralic-speaking homeland.

Independent of Soviet occupation since 1991, Estonia and its immediate neighbours have proven themselves to be some of the better former Eastern Bloc countries in terms of their economic performance and standard of life, although some problems do still exist. Estonia is neighboured by Finland to the north, across the bay of the same name, Russia to the east, Latvia to the south, and Sweden across the Baltic Sea to the west.

It was a conquering crusade by soldiers of the Holy Roman empire in the twelfth to thirteenth centuries which ended the freedom of a great many Baltic peoples, plus the southern Estonians, while the Danes took North Estonia to complete the work. After centuries of Danish, German/Livonian, Swedish, and Russian rule, Estonia entered the twentieth century still under the control of the last of these, but sweeping changes were coming.

The First World War resulted in the collapse of the Russian empire and, as civil war gripped its territories, Estonia gained its independence, creating its own nation state for the first time in history. It was formed of northern Livonia, the island of Ösel (Saaremaa), and North Estonia, with Tallinn as its capital. Physical independence was achieved on 23 February 1918, but the public announcement to that effect was made on 24 February - Independence Day, which is celebrated annually.

Estonia's newly-born independence lasted until the Second World War, which ended with it being occupied by the Soviets until 1991. Since then Estonia has powered ahead as a centre of technological excellence, with a vibrant economy and a tendency towards inventiveness (Skype and TransferWise - later Wise - were both Estonian creations, as is a functional e-society).

Modern Tallinn's Old Town is one of the best preserved Hanseatic town centres in the world, and many of its historic churches have also been preserved (see feature link). On the edge of this is the city's highly modern business centre with slick-looking office towers and luxury hotels, plus trendy neighbourhoods and large shopping centres. A member of the European Union since 2004, Estonia is one of the post-Cold War period's big success stories.

Please note that the History Files does not regularly monitor changes in modern heads of state or their representatives. Get in touch here if this section requires updating.

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(Information by Peter Kessler, Maret Tamjärv, and the John De Cleene Archive, with additional information by Katrin Kimmel and Kersti Hansen, from The History of the Baltic Countries, Zigmantas Kiaupa, Ain Mäesalu, Ago Pajur, & Gvido Straube (Eds, Estonia 2008), from the 15th Yearbook of the Estonian Learned Society in Sweden, 2010-2014 (Eesti Teadusliku Seltsi Rootsis aastaraamat XV. 2010-2014), Ants Anderson (Ed, Stockholm, 2015), from Estonia: Return to independence, Rein Taagepera (Westview Press, 1993), and from External Links: Life in Estonia (dead link), and Visit Estonia, and Encyclopaedia Britannica, and Russia Agrees to Full Withdrawal Of Troops in Estonia by Aug 31 (New York Times), and Great Depression in Estonia (Estonica.org), and Split By a Border and Fading Fast: Estonia's Unique Seto People, Helen Wright, and Interview with Helen Kulvik from Setomaa (Hear it from Locals), and President, and Estonia's Centenary (Estonian World), and Republic of Estonia Health Board, and Estonia's first female PM (The Guardian), and Estonian government relocates Narva tank monument (ERR), and Estonia elects human rights ombudsman Madise (Reuters).)

1917 - 1918

The collapse of the Russian empire following the February and October revolutions of 1917 allows Estonia to form its own autonomous governorate out of Russia's Reval Governate. This is forced underground by the Bolsheviks, but only months later the Bolsheviks are forced out of Estonia by the advancing German imperial army.

The twentieth century wrought great changes on the borders of the Nordic countries with Finland, controlled from Moscow since 1809, now becoming a battleground between Soviet and German interests, while Denmark and Norway were occupied by Germany (click or tap on map to view full sized)

The Estonians declare their independence on 24 February 1918 (which is celebrated annually). One day later German troops enter the capital, Tallinn, and end this briefest period of independence in favour of the rights of the Baltic German nobility.

Nevertheless the members of the Estonian liberation committee remain nominally in office between February 1918 and April or May 1919, albeit under house arrest in the case of the first of them. They are Konstantin Päts (Feb-Apr), Konstantin Konik (Feb-Apr), Jüri Vilms (Feb-Apr 1918), and Jaan Anvelt (Nov 1918-May 1919).

1918 - 1920

German capitulation at the end of the First World War results in political power formally being handed back to Estonians between 11-14 November 1918. A hastily-assembled Estonian army is mobilised to fight the Estonian War of Independence.

With some assistance from the Finns and the British Royal Navy, Estonian forces are able to repel Bolshevik troops who try to re-occupy the country. Estonian independence is formalised on 2 February 1920 by the Treaty of Tartu, signed with the post-revolution Soviet government.

The political instability in Estonia mirrored the situation in Germany, thanks to which Adolf Hitler was able to manoeuvre himself into a position of power

1919 - 1920

Chairman of the constituent assembly.

1920 - 1933

The constitution of April 1920 is remarkably liberal. Estonia's international status becomes more secure in 1921, when the world's leading nations recognise Estonia de jure. The new state becomes a full member of the League of Nations, and radical land reform (enacted in 1919) ends the economic and political supremacy of the Baltic German minority.

However, despite massive cultural and economic progress, political stability eludes the new republic. It has twenty short-lived coalition regimes before 1933, when a new constitution gives the new post of president sweeping authority.

1920 - 1921

State elder (essentially a president in the old Eesti form).

1921 - 1922

State elder.

1922 - 1923

State elder.

1923 - 1924

State elder again (to Mar 1924).

1924

State elder (Mar-Dec only).

1924 - 1925

State elder.

1925 - 1927

State elder.

1927 - 1928

State elder.

1928 - 1929

State elder (former constituent assembly chairman).

1929 - 1931

State elder.

1929 - 1933

The onset of the Great Depression hits Estonia's export economy very hard. Industry and agriculture decline by twenty and forty-five percent respectively. Incomes decline, unemployment rises, and the standard of living declines.

Despite the Great Depression hitting Estonia's exports, by the time this film was shot in Tallinn in 1938 the country's finances were recovering under the benevolent dictatorial control of President Päts

This triggers further political turmoil and more fragmentation of parliament. The government changes six times in the two years before 1933. The Vaps movement grows in popularity and influence, and a new constitution is drafted by the movement to be passed by a referendum in October 1933.

1931 - 1932

State elder for a third time (to Feb 1932).

1932

State elder for the second time (Feb-Jul only).

1932

State elder (Jul-Nov only).

1932 - 1933

State elder for a fourth time (Nov 1932-May 1933).

1933

State elder for the second time (May-Oct only).

1933 - 1934

State elder again (Oct 1933-on). Gained dictatorial powers.

1934

Political parties are abolished as President Konstantin Päts (ex-prime minister and previously the minister of war during the fight for independence) institutes an authoritarian regime under a state of emergency.

This is referred to as the 'Era of Silence', with Päts justifying his 'coup' as a pre-emptive move for the sake of national unity to prevent what he sees as a takeover by the anti-communist and anti-parliamentary Vaps Movement (the League of Veterans - Eesti Vabadussõjalaste Keskliit). He is largely supported by the populace because he still stands very strongly for Estonian national identity.

Konstantin Päts largely swept aside Estonia's liberal 1920 constitution in favour of granting himself far more centralised authority and putting an end to political opposition in response to the extreme instability of the 1930s

1934 - 1940

Unelected president who ruled by decree. Died 1956.

1938 - 1939

A new constitution comes into force in 1938 when Päts is formally elected the first president of the republic, ending the 'Era of Silence'. Then the Nazi-Soviet Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939 places the Baltic states under Soviet control, and the following month the USSR secures military bases in Estonia.

With twenty-five thousand Soviet troops now on Estonian territory, Estonian independence remains in name, but in practice the country is an unwilling Soviet ally. Päts is retained as a puppet before being shipped eastwards into Soviet captivity (following several moves, he dies a prisoner in 1956).

1940

Acting president (Jul-Aug only).

1940 - 1944

Following a rigged election, an Estonian parliament declares Estonia to be a constituent part of the Soviet Union in August 1940. Privately-owned land is forcibly redistributed and businesses are nationalised. By summer 1941 the majority of the elite have either been killed or have been arrested and deported to Soviet prison camps.

Joseph Stalin, who was born in Georgia, led the Soviet Union away from its initial idealistic concept of equal citizenship for all and instead instituted a brutal regime of fear

In June 1941 alone about 10,000 people are deported. There is almost a sense of relief amongst Estonians when Nazi Germany launches its eastern offensive against the Soviets on 22 June 1941. German forces reach the Baltic states within weeks, with Estonia being occupied until 1944. The Reichskommissariat Ostland (RKO) is established to govern the Baltic states.

1941 - 1944

Nazi German general kommisar for Estland. Died 1945.

1944

With other eastern front districts collapsing, German forces withdraw from Estonia in the face of the Soviet advance. On 18 September 1944, interim president Jüri Uluots inaugurates the government of Otto Tief, which declares neutrality in the war.

Tief's government lasts only four days because on 22 September the Red Army captures Tallinn (in 2007, the Estonian Parliament recognises 22 September as the 'Day of Resistance').

Soviet forces re-establish their control of Estonia, partly by means of the aerial bombardment of Narva and Tallinn, which flattens much of the former and leaves some long-lasting scars in the latter. In autumn 1944, approximately 70,000 Estonians flee from Estonia to Germany and Sweden.

A symbol of the re-establishment of Soviet control over Tallinn was in the ruins created by the 1944 bombing of Harju Street, which remained visible until they were covered over by a new public garden in 2007-2008

1944 - 1950s

Estonian society and industry are modelled along Soviet lines and absolute control rests with the Soviet Communist Party. A process of Russification involves hundreds of thousands of ethnic Russians being settled in the country while several thousand Estonians are exiled to Siberia.

The oppression of the Stalinist regime peaks with deportations in March 1949 when over twenty thousand Estonians are deported to Siberia. The collectivisation of farms, forced industrialisation, and the imposition of a rigid state-planned economy helps to destroy the traditional small state economic model.

The United Kingdom and most other western countries never recognise de jure the Baltic states' incorporation into the USSR. Instead, they continue to recognise the Estonian government-in-exile in Oslo and New York City, which has August Rei as the president-in-exile of Estonia.

1945 - 1963

President-in-exile. In Sweden, & Norway (1953-1962).

1950s

Thousands more Estonians have refused to accept the renewed Soviet occupation and have banded together in hiding under the banner of the 'Forest Brothers' (in Estonian, 'Metsavennad'). Other central-eastern and Eastern European countries have formed similar movements (with at least one, in Georgia, bearing the same name).

These movements are extensive, waging a guerrilla war against the Soviets until the period between 1952 and 1956, when military repression becomes overwhelming.

Photographed together here, John F Kennedy and Nikita Kruschev would, in 1962, play the world's biggest game of brinkmanship as the USA and Soviet Union vied for supremacy

1963 - 1970

President-in-exile. In Sweden.

1970 - 1990

President-in-exile. In Sweden.

1970s

The second half of the 1970s witnesses an intensification of Russification, propaganda which espouses a 'joint Soviet nation', and bilingualism. Ethnic Russians now number a third of Estonia's entire population.

Libraries have long since been emptied of the 'heritage of bourgeois society', with a considerable number of periodicals and books of fiction which had been published during the period of independence having been destroyed. Access to most of the remaining copies is restricted.

1987 - 1990

Estonians remain defiant against Soviet rule and now find themselves given a level of freedom by the Perestroika reforms of the Soviet Union. Soviet plans to establish phosphorite mines in northern Estonia are revealed in 1987, unleashing an extensive protest campaign nicknamed the Phosphorite War.

Estonians sing patriotic songs (many of which are especially composed) in a growing movement of passive resistance which later becomes known as the 'Singing Revolution'. This culminates on 23 August 1989 with one-third of the entire country's population holding hands in an unbroken chain which connects to similar chains in Latvia and Lithuania.

The Chernobyl disaster and the subsequent attempted cover-up by the Soviet authorities was the spark which brought down the already-fragile USSR, allowing Belarus amongst many other subject territories to gain its independence

Throughout this period Estonians gain increasing levels of control over their own country, and in March 1990 liberation groups assume control of government. Arnold Rüütel, as chairman of the supreme council and a member of the EKP (Estonian Communist Party), oversees the transition to independent democratic republic.

1990 - 1992

President-in-exile. In Sweden. Handed title back to Tallinn.

1990 - 1992

Chairman of the supreme council in Tallinn. EKP.

1991 - 1992

The restoration of Estonian independence takes place on 20 August 1991 when Estonia breaks from the USSR, catalysing its swift disintegration. Restored independence is first recognised by Iceland, with a swiftly changing Russia being the second.

The United Kingdom, with the rest of the European Community, follow on 27 August 1991. In 1992, Lennart Meri is the country's first elected president, being handed his credentials by the last prime minister of the government-in-exile, Heinrich Mark.

The Estonian declaration of independence in 1991 was met with Soviet tanks rolling through the countryside and paratroopers attempting (unsuccessfully) to take control of the tv tower just outside Tallinn - until the parallel attempted coup in Russia failed and more reasonable Russian elements called off the military action in Estonia

1992 - 2001

First elected president. Pro Patria (RK Isamaa).

1994

On 31 August, the last two thousand Russian soldiers on Estonian soil leave after some bad will by the Russian government. Talks about the removal have previously stalled over the fate of some ten thousand former Soviet officers who live in retirement in the country. All Russians in Estonia are offered the opportunity to apply for citizenship, although not all of them take up the offer.

2001 - 2006

President. People's Union of Estonia (ERL).

2004 - 2005

Estonians are very much in favour of joining the European Union, as they demonstrate in September 2003, when a large proportion of the population turns out to vote. Just over two-thirds of voters are favour of membership. In 2004 Estonia becomes a member both of the European Union and Nato, two important events in the country's modern history.

In May 2005, Estonia and Russia sign a treaty which delineates their joint border. This still results in Estonia accepting the loss of some eastern territory, most notably a large chunk of the Seto county of Petserimaa in the south-eastern corner of Estonia.

The Estonian parliament ratifies the border treaty in June but defies warnings from Moscow by introducing an amendment which refers to Soviet occupation. Russia reacts by withdrawing from the treaty.

2006 - 2016

President. Social Democratic Party (SDE).

2007

In February, parliament passes a law which prohibits the display of monuments which glorify Soviet rule, paving the way for the relocation of a controversial Red Army war memorial in Tallinn.

The 2007 riots in Tallinn resulted in smashed shop windows, some looting, and some visibly damaged cars which had been parked in the vicinity of the trouble, but after a couple of nights it faded out very quickly and a heavier police presence remained in place for some time

The following month, Estonia becomes the first country to allow internet voting for national parliamentary elections, a big step towards the introduction of a full e-society. Prime minister Andrus Ansip's Reform Party wins by a narrow margin, going ahead in April with the relocation of the Red Army war memorial in Tallinn.

Pro-Russian elements protest vocally, and protestors, mostly ethnic Russians, attempt to halt the removal. One person is killed and more than forty are injured during two nights of disturbance. The violence is largely confined to the boulevard on which the memorial is located prior to being moved, but some shop windows in the nearby Old Town are smashed as it overspills onto the cobbled streets.

2012

Estonia and Russia re-start talks on a border treaty in October, seven years after Russia had withdrawn from the 2005 agreement. The new treaty is signed in February 2014 after extensive negotiations, thereby ending their border dispute. Unfortunately, this confirms the loss of much of the Seto territory, including the Seto capital of Petseri.

When Estonia begins to erect a border fence to fend off Russian military incursions (which are never publicly admitted by Russia), this only serves to confirm the loss of the south-eastern Estonian territories, although Setos on the Russian side have already been offered resettlement in Estonia. By far the majority of them accept, preferring to live alongside their Finno-Ugric cousins. Unfortunately Seto culture continues to fade at an alarming rate.

Today the ethnic minority Seto people are fighting hard to preserve their ancient customs and beliefs, despite a swathe of their traditional territory now been enforcedly contained within the Russian federation (north-west Pskov Oblast)

2016 - 2017

Kersti Kaljulaid is elected president of the republic of Estonia in 2016, taking office in 2017. A graduate of the University of Tartu, previously she had served as a member of the European Court of Auditors, between 2004-2016. She is the country's first female head of state.

2016 - 2021

First female president. No party.

2018

The republic of Estonia celebrates its centenary: a hundred years since its first founding at the end of the First World War, after successfully fighting its own smaller independence war against the still-forming Soviet Union. Coincidentally, Estonia is also fresh off hold the presidency of the European Union (from the second half of 2017), which marks another important, but also challenging, milestone for the small country.

2019

To cap a recent spate of 'firsts' and anniversaries, the Estonian Song Celebration enjoys its one hundred and fiftieth anniversary (1869) with a spectacular national event which largely takes place at the 'Song Grounds' in Tallinn on 6-7 July. This unique event, which every five years brings together a huge choir of up to 30,000 people for one weekend, also brings in around 100,000 spectators to enjoy the concerts and sing along to the most popular songs.

The first Song Celebration had been initiated by newspaper publisher Johann Voldemar Jannsen to celebrate freedom and the fiftieth anniversary of the end of Estonian serfdom at the hands of the Russian czar (1819).

The Estonian Song Celebration of 2019 brought together an estimated 30,000 singers and 100,000 spectators for two days of national singing and festivities

Less widely celebrated in 2019 is the rise to power of the far-right EKRE party in Estonian politics. The sometimes controversial Centre Party under the leadership of Juri Ratas takes the main role in the new government with EKRE as its partner.

This is despite the moderate Reform Party winning the most votes in the country's election, as it is unable to form a government (coalition governments are the norm). It is the outspoken EKRE leader, Mart Helme, who accuses Finland's new female prime minister of being a 'sales girl'.

2020 - 2021

The Covid-19 pandemic reaches Europe through Italy which suffers badly during the first wave. Estonia itself has a low daily rate of infections and a death rate which fails to reach three figures. It is the third wave of the virus, in January and February 2021 which really hits hard. Rates of death shoot up above the thousand mark (a high figure for such a small population), and the infection rate for every 100,000 people also hits four figures before declining in April 2021.

In January 2021, with the controversial Ratas government having been felled by a corruption scandal, Estonia's new prime minister promises to restore the Baltic nation's reputation. Forty-three year-old Kaja Kallas is the country's first female prime minister, leading the Reform Party. Her father, Sim Kallas, had founded the party and had been prime minister in 2002-2003.

Prime Minister Kaja Kallas returned Estonia in 2021 from its right-wing-driven two year period of political scandal to the much more normal centre-left politics of this peaceful Baltic state

2021 - 2026

President. Born 1958. No party. Did not seek re-election.

2022

On Tuesday 16 August Estonia takes down a Soviet-era tank monument from its plinth in the eastern city of Narva. Several other monuments which are located alongside the River Narva are also to be removed. Prime Minister Kaja Kallas states that Soviet-era war monuments are now a matter of national security following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

2026 - On

President. Born 1974/75. Constitutional lawyer.