What a holiday in Estonia is February 24th. Estonia's Independence Day: a holiday thanks to Bolshevik Russia

Estonia's Independence Day is celebrated on February 24th. The roots of the holiday go back to the beginning of the twentieth century, when the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed in Tallinn in 1918. It was in 1918 that the free and independent Republic of Estonia began its history.

After the First World War

Estonians associate the acquisition of independence with the First World War, when Estonia was also drawn into the war and defended its territory. The battles lasted for two years until, finally, in 1920, the country regained freedom. Estonia's Independence Day was celebrated for the next twenty years, until the country again fell under the influence of its larger neighbor. In 1940, after the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, little Estonia became part of one big country. This did not follow from the general points of the Soviet-German agreement, but from a small secret protocol where the two European superpowers divided Eastern Europe.

Before World War II

Isn't it true that the events before the start of the Second World War remind us very much of the current situation in the world. Just as then, major European powers such as France and England, who had secured overseas support, recognized the transfer of Estonia to the control of the USSR as illegal. None of the countries supported the formation of the new Soviet republic of the Estonian SSR. Moreover, none of the major Western powers accepted Estonia's annexation into the Soviet Union. Residents had to forget about such a holiday as Estonian Independence Day for forty long years.

On the ruins of an empire

Talk about freedom began to be heard more and more often in Estonia only in the 80s of the twentieth century, with the advent of glasnost, perestroika and the beginnings of democracy in the USSR. People were not afraid to openly express their position and took to the streets of Estonian cities and celebrated, albeit unofficially, but no less passionately, Estonian Independence Day. Already by 1988, a new declaration of independence of the country was ready, according to which priority was given not to the laws of the USSR, but to the new Estonian order.

Estonia Independence Day: A New Country

Estonia's new Independence Day came on August 20, 1991, when the country regained its pre-war status, lost in 1940. Soviet domination was seriously represented in small Estonia, so troops were withdrawn from the territory of the country over the next three years. Despite the fact that independence from the USSR came on August 20, as before, Estonia’s Independence Day is usually celebrated on February 24, in the old way.

When is Estonia's Independence Day?

Estonia celebrates the strangest Independence Day in the world

On February 24, Estonia celebrates a national holiday - Independence Day (Iseseisvuspaev). REGNUM news agency was informed about this today, February 22, by the Estonian public television and radio corporation ERR, noting that, according to a long-standing tradition, official ceremonial events are held on this day, including the raising of the national flag on the Long Hermann tower in Tallinn, services in the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran churches, laying wreaths at monuments in honor of statesmen or participants in the War of Liberation (1918-1920), a military parade and a presidential reception followed by a concert. All these events are shown live on Estonian state television. National flags are hung on the country's buildings, and numerous official and public events and promotions are held in various cities and counties of Estonia. In 2013, the 95th anniversary of the declaration of independence of Estonia on February 24, 1918 gives additional significance to the holiday.

T Nevertheless, the date celebrated on February 24, with all the variety of official “ceremonial” events held in Estonia, is considered among Estonian historians and journalists to be one of the strangest and most controversial. The reason is that the conditions and circumstances under which the independence of the Republic of Estonia was declared are clearly inconsistent with the meaning of the concept of “independence”. It was declared, and not implemented, because in fact “independent” Estonia ceased to be considered as such the very next day, February 25, 1918. That is why the “real and imaginary” history and the mythology created around it are assessed skeptically by many intellectuals in Estonia and are accepted as “inevitability” when forming a positive image of the young state.

The main online encyclopedia about Estonia, Estonica, in the chapter “1914-1920. The First World War and Estonia’s Independence,” admits that on February 24, 1918, the Rescue Committee adopted the “Manifesto of Independence” and announced the creation of the Republic of Estonia, taking advantage of its unique position. “Russian troops” (detachments of Estonian Bolsheviks and groups of Red Guards from among the former tsarist military personnel; the Red Army had not yet been formed - note by REGNUM news agency) were leaving Estonia, and the advancing German troops had not yet occupied the entire territory of the country. On February 24, in conditions of the strictest secrecy and under the protection of one of the detachments of the nascent Estonian army in Reval (now Tallinn), the Provisional Government of Estonia was formed, which remained “active”... until the evening of February 25, when German troops entered Tallinn, and Estonia was under German occupation order until November 1918. Members of the Provisional Government in the “independent” country they declared during this period (February-November 1918) either fled the country and hid at home, or collaborated with the occupying forces as representatives of the local (not state) administration, or were arrested by the Germans .

It is no coincidence that the main information site for foreign tourists, Visitestonia, in the chapter “History of Estonia: a chronicle of key events” immediately after the 1905 revolution in Estonia, names the events in the following sequence, ignoring the date of February 24:

*1905:* first Russian revolution.

*February 1918:* occupation of Estonia by Germany.

*February 1920*: Tartu Peace Treaty concluded between the RSFSR and Estonia, recognizing the independence of the latter.

In addition, historians of Estonia admit that not all Estonians and residents of the country enthusiastically accepted the independence of the Republic of Estonia, and the first declaration of independence of Estonia took place at all... on February 23 in Pärnu. As historian Ago Paur reports in his study “The Birth of the Estonian Independence Manifesto,” for a long time the self-proclaimed Salvation Committee was afraid to voice this document in Tallinn because of the “clear superiority of the Bolsheviks,” an attempt to proclaim it in Haapsalu (western Estonia, 100 km from Tallinn) at the location of the 1st Estonian Regiment on February 21, 1918 also failed, as German units entered the city. In an atmosphere of the strictest secrecy, the participants in the epic of the declaration of independence transmitted through a liaison - the clerk of the Zemstvo government, Jaan Soop - the text of this manifesto to the commanders of the Second Estonian Regiment, who took control of the center of the city of Pärnu (western Estonia) after the departure of the “Reds” from it and in the absence of the advancing Germans. This manifesto was first read out from the balcony of the local Endla theater on the evening of February 23, which can be considered the official date of the declaration of “independence” of Estonia. However, the official historiography of Estonia moved this date to February 24, since on this day this text was first announced in Revel. Prior to this, at four o'clock in the afternoon on February 24, the text of the manifesto was read out in Viljandi and Paide (central Estonia).

As historian Paur notes, on the night of February 24, 1918, the Estonian “Bolsheviks” received an official message from the Soviet government about the transfer of Estonia to German troops under the terms of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, and their hasty evacuation from Revel began. The Salvation Committee decided to take advantage of the period of anarchy. At noon on February 24, 1918, in honor of independence, an impromptu military parade from units of the 3rd Estonian Regiment took place in the center of Revel. Here, on the porch of the Real College, Konstantin Päts, appointed Prime Minister of the Provisional Government of Estonia by the Salvation Committee, publicly read the manifesto to the audience for the first time on behalf of the central government of the country. A few hours later, German units entered the Estonian capital, and Estonia’s “independence” ended. According to the historian, the first public proclamation of the Manifesto in Tallinn took place... on the morning of February 25, 1918, exclusively in Estonian gymnasiums and “Estonian” churches. It is known that the German community of Revel refused to read the manifesto, citing the lack of a translation into German.

The ideological contradictions regarding the issue of Estonian independence among the Estonians themselves at that time are eloquently evidenced by the fact that the workers of the Paevaleht printing house in Tallinn refused to print the text of the independence manifesto. As historian Payur notes, “it apparently was a matter of ideological contradictions,” so they were forced to do this with the help of firearms. It turns out that the “sacred” decree on the independence of the Republic of Estonia was printed using violence and threats.
14:46 22.02.2013

In 1918, the Salvation Committee proclaimed the sovereignty of Estonia as a separate state. Now the country's independence day is celebrated annually.

After the First World War and the bloody confrontation in the name of freedom in the period 1918-1920, a declaration was adopted in Tallinn recognizing the independence of Estonia as a state.
In 1940, the country became part of the USSR. The movement to restore the sovereignty of the republic stopped again for a long time and continued only in the 80s, but people still celebrated the significant date. In 1988, a declaration of Estonian sovereignty was issued, meaning that the laws of the state would now take precedence over the legislation of the USSR. The Soviet Union itself recognized the country's independence only in 1991. In 1994, the country was recognized for the first time as an independent state at the diplomatic level; The Icelandic government was a pioneer in this matter.

Other observances associated with independence

In addition to the generally recognized date of February 24, in connection with historical events associated with the long struggle for independence, residents of the state often celebrate other significant days:
- November 28 (the emergence of a government body in the Estonian province in 1918);
- February 23 (date of publication of the manifesto, which became a prerequisite for the recognition of autonomy);
- June 23 (in 1919, during the War of Liberation, during the Battle of Võnnu, the Estonian army defeated a division of German troops);
- February 2 (signing of the Tartu Peace Treaty with the Soviet government in 1920, which recognized the sovereignty of Estonia);
- May 8 (the adoption of the first six paragraphs of the Constitution during the collapse of the Soviet Union and the adoption of three state colors: black, blue and white);
- August 20 (Popular Front rally and adoption by the Supreme Council of the agreed decision “On Independence” in 1991).

Despite the presence of a large number of dates associated with the struggle for freedom, at the official level Estonians celebrate only February 24th. For Estonian citizens, this day is a symbol of hope and a reminder that the independence of their state was achieved at a very high price.

Sputnik Estonia collected comments on the parade and the centenary of Estonia’s independence from three well-known representatives of the Russian public of the country of different professions, who, by a funny coincidence, bear the name “Sergey”.

On Saturday, February 24, the national holiday of Estonian Independence Day, a parade of military personnel and equipment of the Estonian Defense Forces was held on Vabaduse Square in Tallinn, dedicated to the centennial anniversary of the proclamation of the “Manifesto to the Peoples of Estonia.” About 1,100 soldiers and a hundred pieces of military equipment clearly demonstrated to the assembled spectators the readiness of the Estonian army to defend the borders of the state from the encroachments of a potential enemy.

The parade was led by the Commander of the Estonian Defense Forces, General Riho Terras, and was hosted by President Kersti Kaljulaid. In total, according to ERR, the parade included members of 50 banner platoons, 4 companies, 3 batteries and 20 platoons of the Estonian Defense Forces.

Musical accompaniment for the parade was provided by the orchestras of the Defense Forces and the Estonian Police and Border Guard Department. In addition, the US Army Band also contributed.

All branches of the Estonian Defense Forces, the Joint Military Educational Institutions of the Defense Forces, the Baltic Defense College, the Guard Battalion, the Headquarters and Signal Battalion, the 1st and 2nd Infantry Brigades, and cadets of the Internal Security Academy were represented at the parade. the anti-tank platoon of the Rapla squad and the mortar platoon of the Harju squad of the Defense Union (Kaitseliit), the women's volunteer paramilitary organization Naiskodukaitse and the Academic sub- squad of the Tallinn squad of the Defense Union.

Ironically, foreign military personnel took an active part in the parade dedicated to the proclamation of Estonia’s independence, both from units stationed on Estonian territory on a permanent basis and those who arrived specifically for the holiday.

Foreigners were represented by banner platoons from the USA, Finland, France, Georgia, Denmark, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden and Ukraine. In addition, infantry platoons from Great Britain and Denmark, which are part of the NATO tactical group located near Tapa in order to “contain Russia,” marched through Vabaduse Square.

British Challenger tanks, Trojan engineer tanks and Warrior infantry fighting vehicles also rumbled their armor through the center of the Estonian capital, emitting clouds of stinking, acrid smoke.

Thanks to good weather, Estonian Air Force Robinson R44 helicopters, L29 trainer aircraft, Italian Eurofighters and Danish F-16 fighters flew over the center of Tallinn. To ensure that nothing could interfere with their pilots, flights of drones and any other aircraft over Vabaduse Square were prohibited.

After the end of the parade, everyone was able to get acquainted with the military equipment of the Estonian Defense Forces, the US Army and the Royal Armed Forces of Great Britain. The audience on Harju Street saw CV9035EE infantry fighting vehicles, Sisu XA-188 armored personnel carriers, British Challenger tanks, Warrior infantry fighting vehicles, Trojan engineer tanks and an AS90 self-propelled artillery unit, 155 mm and 122 mm howitzers, a Soviet ZU-23 anti-aircraft gun -2, as well as the Mistral anti-aircraft missile system, Milan and Javelin anti-tank systems, a 120-mm mortar and the Ground Master 403 mobile radar. The highlight of the program was the American Patriot anti-aircraft missile system, which arrived in Tallinn the day before and “decomposed” right on the square Vabaduse.

Three Sergei under the window...

Sergei Menkov, the author of the famous video commentary on the year before last’s parade in honor of Independence Day, for which he was fired from service in the Rescue Department, slept through the current “centennial” parade, by his own admission. He was awakened by the sounds of planes and helicopters flying over his house.

According to Menkov, the day before the parade, he listened to a radio broadcast, during which the presenter discussed the upcoming celebrations with radio listeners who called. He remembered the answer from one of the callers, who said that she did not want to freeze, but would rather watch the parade in the evening at home on TV.

“And I realized - this is the patriotism of our fellow citizens. They will give her a beautiful review of the parade, show beautiful, convenient angles, the president will “personally” smile at her and wave her hand. Everyone will be happy. And this presenter with her family, and the president, and those who will prepare this “salad”, and those frozen boys and girls walking past my frozen but very proud fellow countrymen. I congratulate my country, which declared democratic independence 100 years ago, although not everyone wants to remember that the Manifesto of Independence was addressed to. to all the peoples of Estonia," Menkov said.

Music producer Sergei Krutikhin joked that he also “prepared” for the defense of Estonia by eating a can of mulgikapsas (an Estonian national dish of pork, stewed cabbage and barley that causes increased gas in the stomach) in the morning.

According to Krutikhin, he really liked the performance of the American orchestra. This is the only thing, in his opinion, that deserved attention: they played beautifully, clearly and loudly. A parade, in his understanding, is something that shows the power and beauty of the country, for which there is “no shame.” However, the demonstration of “antediluvian technology and several airplanes” did not really fit with power.

“Estonia considers NATO not occupiers, but partners. Although I still don’t understand why Estonia can’t be independent and independent, as it shouts about it from every gateway. After all, a foreign boot has always plowed through the country of which I am a citizen. But still, I want to believe that prudence will prevail and smart people will come to power in our country, caring first of all about their people, about their well-being, and not about some tribe from Zimbabwe or refugees from Ukraine who have come to the Maidan and are ready to work for the stew,” said Krutikhin.

The famous human rights activist Sergei Seredenko, who in the best traditions of the dissident movement is forced to work as a school janitor, on the day of the centenary of Estonian independence, analyzed the first constitution of the Republic of Estonia and cleared the yard of snow. According to Seredenko, the Republic of Estonia will turn one hundred years old on June 15, 2020, on the centenary of the first Estonian constitution, which, in addition to being “too democratic,” was also terribly politically incorrect with its prohibitions on the right to vote for feeble-minded, blind, deaf-mute and bankrupt citizens Estonia.

The first paragraph of the Manifesto read: “All citizens of the Republic of Estonia, regardless of their religion, nationality and political views, are equally protected by the laws and courts of the republic.”

The preamble of the current Constitution of Estonia states that the state “is called upon to ensure the preservation of the Estonian nation, language and culture for centuries,” thus we are talking about one nation, one culture and one language.

“As one famous Estonian poet said at the dawn of the restoration of independence: “First the rights of Estonians, then human rights.” The slogan of the “Singing Revolution” period “For our freedom and yours!” was consigned to oblivion. This is true with slogans - they are forgotten. And I don’t let the slogan “Plats puhtaks!” (“Let’s clean up the site!”) be forgotten. And I continue as best I can, the case of Mart Laar, may God give him health until he reaches the trial. I saw him here on Finnish television - he’s really bad...” , Seredenko joked.

10:37 — REGNUM Today, February 24, Estonia celebrates a national holiday - Independence Day (Iseseisvuspaev). About it IA REGNUM reported in the Estonian public-legal television and radio corporation ERR, noting that, according to a long-standing tradition, official ceremonial events take place on this day, including raising the national flag on the Long Hermann tower in Tallinn, worship in the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church, laying wreaths at monuments in honor of state figures or participants in the War of Liberation (1918−1920), a military parade and a presidential reception followed by a concert. All these events are shown live on Estonian state television.

On February 23, on the eve of the holiday, a solemn presentation of state awards of Estonia takes place. National flags are hung on the country's buildings, and numerous official events are held in various cities and counties of Estonia. Many heads of state and royalty, including the Queen of Great Britain, sent their congratulations to Estonia on the occasion of the national holiday. Elizabeth the Second and the President of Russia Vladimir Putin.

However, the date celebrated today, February 24, with all the variety of official “ceremonial” events held in Estonia, is considered among the most strange and controversial among Estonian historians and journalists.

Reason: the conditions and circumstances under which the independence of the Republic of Estonia was declared clearly do not correspond to the meaning of the concept of “independence”. It was announced, and not implemented, because in fact “independent” Estonia ceased to be considered as such the very next day, February 25, 1918 due to the occupation of the country by the troops of the Kaiser’s Germany. That is why the history of “real and imaginary” and the mythology of the cult of February 24 created around it are assessed skeptically by many intellectuals in Estonia and are accepted as “inevitability” when forming a positive image of the young state.

The main online encyclopedia about Estonia, Estonica, in the chapter “1914−1920.” The First World War and Estonia's Independence" acknowledges that on February 24, 1918, the Rescue Committee adopted the "Manifesto of Independence" and declared the creation of the Republic of Estonia, taking advantage of its unique position. “Russian troops” (detachments of Estonian Bolsheviks and groups of Red Guards from among the former tsarist military personnel; the Red Army had not yet been formed - approx. IA REGNUM) were leaving Estonia, and the advancing German troops had not yet occupied the entire territory of the country. On February 24, in conditions of the strictest secrecy and under the protection of one of the detachments of the nascent Estonian army, the Provisional Government of Estonia was formed in Reval (now Tallinn), which remained “active” ... until the evening of February 25, when German troops entered Tallinn and in Estonia until November In 1918, the German occupation order was established. Members of the Provisional Government in the “independent” country they declared during this period (February-November 1918) either fled the country and hid at home, or collaborated with the occupying forces as representatives of the local (not state) administration, or were arrested by the Germans .

It is no coincidence that the main information site for foreign tourists, Visitestonia, in the chapter “Estonian Independence Day” manages not to mention the events of February 24, 1918 at all, focusing all the attention of the historical background on ... February 23, 1918, when the text of this declaration was first read and this happened not in Reval (now Tallinn).

In addition, historians of Estonia admit that not all Estonians and residents of the country enthusiastically accepted the independence of the Republic of Estonia. According to the historian Ago Payur in its study “The Birth of the Estonian Independence Manifesto”, for a long time the self-proclaimed Salvation Committee was afraid to voice this document in Tallinn due to the “clear superiority of the Bolsheviks”, an attempt to proclaim it in Haapsalu (western Estonia, 100 km from Tallinn) at the location of the 1st Estonian Regiment February 21, 1918 also failed, as German units entered the city. In an atmosphere of the strictest secrecy, the participants in the epic of the declaration of independence conveyed through a contact - the clerk of the Zemstvo government Jaana Soopa- the text of this manifesto to the commanders of the Second Estonian Regiment, who took control of the center of the city of Pärnu (western Estonia) after the “Reds” left it and in the absence of the advancing Germans. This manifesto was first read out from the balcony of the local Endla theater on the evening of February 23, which can be considered the official date of the declaration of “independence” of Estonia. However, the official historiography of Estonia moved this date to February 24, since on this day this text was first announced in Tallinn. Prior to this, at four o'clock in the afternoon on February 24, the text of the manifesto was read out in Viljandi and Paide (central Estonia).

As historian Ago Payur notes, the declaration of independence of the Republic of Estonia in Tallinn became possible thanks to... Bolshevik Russia. On the night of February 24, 1918, the Estonian “Bolsheviks” received an official message from the Soviet government about the transfer of Estonia to German troops following negotiations in Brest, and their hasty evacuation from Revel began. The Salvation Committee decided to take advantage of the period of anarchy. At the same time, the proclamation of the manifesto in Tallinn on the afternoon of February 24 on Town Hall Square was almost of a behind-the-scenes nature “for our own people.”

According to the historian, the first public proclamation of the Manifesto in Tallinn took place... on the morning of February 25, 1918, exclusively in Estonian gymnasiums and “Estonian” churches. It is known that the German community of Revel refused to read the manifesto, citing the lack of a translation into German. At noon, in honor of independence, an impromptu military parade from units of the third Estonian regiment took place in the center of Revel. Here, on the porch of the Real College, the Prime Minister of the Provisional Government of Estonia, appointed by the Rescue Committee Konstantin Päts For the first time, on behalf of the country's central government, he publicly read a manifesto to the audience. A few hours later, German units entered the Estonian capital, and Estonia’s “independence” ended.

The ideological contradictions on the issue of Estonian independence among the Estonians themselves are eloquently evidenced by the fact that the workers of the Paevaleht printing house in Tallinn refused to print the text of the manifesto on independence; as the historian Paur notes, “it was apparently a matter of ideological contradictions,” so they were forced to do it under threat of firearms.

And the historian spoke about the very specifics of “independent” Estonia Mati Graf in his book “Estonia and Russia 1917−1991: the anatomy of parting.” According to his calculations, at least three times in 1918, the government of the Republic of Estonia asked Great Britain to occupy its territories in order to protect itself from the Bolsheviks and Germans.