Estonia–Russia relations are the bilateral foreign relations between Estonia and Russia. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established on 2 February 1920 after the Estonian War of Independence ended in Estonian victory with Russia recognizing Estonia's sovereignty and renounced any and all territorial claims on Estonia.
Despite Russia and Estonia signing a non aggression treaty on 4 May 1932, the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact and its Secret Additional Protocol of August 1939 gave Russia the opportunity on 24 September 1939 to threaten Estonia by land, sea and air, unless Russian troops were allowed to establish military bases in Estonia. This started the occupation of Estonia, which only ended with the fall of the USSR. On 6 September 1991, the State Council of the Soviet Union recognised the independence of Estonia.
Estonia began moving away from Russian influence, rejecting Russia's economic model in favour of an open market and joining the European Union and NATO in 2004. Relations remained cold, deteriorating further following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
History
Diplomatic relations between then newly independent Republic of Estonia and the Russian SFSR were established on 2 February 1920, when Soviet Russia recognized de jure the independence of the Republic of Estonia, and renounced in perpetuity all rights to the territory of Estonia, via the Treaty of Tartu (Russian–Estonian). At the time, the Bolsheviks had just gained control of the majority of Russian territory, and their government's legitimacy was being contested by Western powers and the Russian White movement.
Estonia and Tsardom of Russia In 1558 Ivan IV of Russia invaded the Livonian Confederation (the territory of present-day Estonia and Latvia), starting the Livonian War (1558–1582), a military conflict between the Tsardom of Russia and a coalition of Denmark, Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Kingdom of Poland (later the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth), and Sweden. Following the signing of the Treaty of Jam Zapolski in 1582 between Russia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Russia renounced its claims to Livonia. The following year, the Tsar also made peace with Sweden. Under the Treaty of Plussa, Russia lost Narva and the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland, being its only access to the Baltic Sea. The situation was partially reversed 12 years later, according to the Treaty of Tyavzino which concluded a new war between Sweden and Russia.
Estonia and Russian Empire Great Northern War Sweden's defeat in the Great Northern War in 1721 resulted in the Treaty of Nystad, in which the Russian Empire gained Sweden's Baltic territories, Estonia (nowadays northern Estonia) and Livonia (nowadays southern Estonia and northern Latvia). The legal system, Lutheran church, local and town governments, and education remained mostly German until the late 19th century and partially until 1918.
By 1819, the Baltic provinces were the first in the Russian Empire in which serfdom was abolished, allowing the farmers to own their own land. These moves created the economic foundation for the coming to life of the local national identity and culture as Estonia was caught in a current of national awakening that began sweeping through Europe in the mid-19th century.
Estonian Declaration of Independence
During World War I, between the retreating Soviet Russian and advancing German troops on 24 February 1918 the Salvation Committee of the Estonian National Council Maapäev issued the Estonian Declaration of Independence.
Estonia and Soviet Russia
The Estonian War of Independence (1918–1920) was Estonia's struggle for sovereignty in the aftermath of World War I and the 1917 Russian Revolution. The war ended in 1920 with Estonia's victory over Soviet Russia (Russian SFSR). The Treaty of Tartu was a peace treaty between Estonia and Russian SFSR signed on 2 February 1920 that ended the Estonian War of Independence. According to the treaty, Soviet Russia recognized Estonia's sovereignty and renounced any and all territorial claims on Estonia.
Estonia and Soviet Union Political relations
Soon after the foundation of the Soviet Union in 1922, the Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin's incapacity and death (on 21 January 1924) triggered a struggle for power between Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin. During the struggle Soviet foreign policy drifted. On 1 December 1924, Comintern conducted an unsuccessful military coup attempt in Estonia.
Treaties between Estonia and USSR Before World War II, the Republic of Estonia and USSR had both signed and ratified following treaties:
Kellogg–Briand Pact 27 August 1928 Kellogg–Briand Pact renouncing war as an instrument of national policy Ratified by Estonia and USSR on 24 July 1929
Non-aggression treaty Estonia, USSR on 4 May 1932League of Nations Treaty Series, Vol. CXXXI, pp. 297–307.
The Convention for the Definition of Aggression On 3 July 1933 for the first time in the history of international relations, aggression was defined in a binding treaty signed at the Soviet Embassy in London by USSR and among others, The Republic of Estonia.League of Nations Treaty Series, 1934, No. 3391.
Article II defines forms of aggression. There shall be recognized as an aggressor that State which shall be the first to have committed one of the following actions:
Relevant chapters:
Second– invasion by armed forces of the territory of another State even without a declaration of war. Fourth– a naval blockade of coasts or ports of another State.
Beginning of World War II
The fate of the relations between USSR and Republic of Estonia before World War II was decided by the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact and its Secret Additional Protocol of August 1939.
1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland. 3 September, Great Britain, France, Australia, and New Zealand declared war on Germany 14 September, the Polish submarine ORP Orzeł reached Tallinn, Estonia 17 September, Soviet Union invaded Poland 18 September, Orzeł incident, the Polish submarine escaped from internment in Tallinn and eventually made her way to the United Kingdom, Estonia's neutrality was questioned by the Soviet Union and Germany.
On 24 September 1939, warships of the Red Navy appeared off Estonian ports, Soviet bombers began a threatening patrol over Tallinn and the nearby countryside. In light of the Orzeł incident, the Moscow press and radio started violently attacking Estonia as "hostile" to the Soviet Union. Moscow demanded that Estonia allow the USSR to establish military bases and station 25,000 troops on Estonian soil for the duration of the European war.The Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania by David J. Smith, Page 24, The government of Estonia accepted the ultimatum signing the corresponding agreement on 28 September 1939. The Soviet–Estonian Mutual Assistance Treaty was made for ten years: Estonia granted the USSR the right to maintain naval bases and airdromes protected by Red Army troops on the strategic islands dominating Tallinn, the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Riga; Soviet Union agreed to increase her annual trade turnover with Estonia and to give Estonia facilities in case the Baltic is closed to her goods for trading with the outside world via Soviet ports on the Black Sea and White Sea; USSR and Estonia undertook to defend each other from "aggression arising on the part of any great European power" It was declared: the Pact "should not affect" the "economic systems and state organizations" of USSR and Estonia.
Soviet occupation of 1940
On 12 June 1940 the order for total military blockade of Estonia was given to the Soviet Baltic Fleet.
On 14 June, the Soviet military blockade of Estonia took effect. Two Soviet bombers downed a Finnish passenger airplane Kaleva flying from Tallinn to Helsinki and carrying three diplomatic pouches from the U.S. legations in Tallinn, Riga and Helsinki.The Last Flight from Tallinn at American Foreign Service Association
Molotov had accused the Baltic states of conspiracy against the Soviet Union and delivered an ultimatum to Estonia for the establishment of a government the Soviets approve of. The Estonian government decided according to the Kellogg-Briand Pact not to use war as an instrument of national policy. On 17 June 1940, the Soviet Union invaded Estonia. The Red Army exited from their military bases in Estonia, some 90,000 additional Soviet troops entered the country. Given the overwhelming Soviet force both on the borders and inside the country, not to resist, to avoid bloodshed and open war.The Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania by David J. Smith p.19
The Soviet occupation of Estonia was complete by 21 June 1940 and rendered "official" by a communist coup d'état supported by the Soviet troops.Estonia: Identity and Independence by Jean-Jacques Subrenat, David Cousins, Alexander Harding, Richard C. Waterhouse
Most of the Estonian Defence Forces and the Estonian Defence League surrendered according to the orders believing that resistance was useless and were disarmed by the Red Army. Only the Estonian Independent Signal Battalion stationed in Tallinn at Raua Street showed resistance. As the Red Army brought in additional reinforcements supported by six armoured fighting vehicles, the battle lasted several hours until sundown. There was one dead, several wounded on the Estonian side and about 10 killed and more wounded on the Soviet side. Finally the military resistance was ended with negotiations and the Single Signal Battalion surrendered and was disarmed.
On 14–15 July 1940 rigged "parliamentary elections" were staged where all but pro-Communist candidates were outlawed. Those who failed to have their passports stamped for so voting faced being arrested and executed by the Soviet regime. Tribunals were set up to punish "traitors to the people." those who had fallen short of the "political duty" of voting Estonia into the USSR. The "parliament" so elected proclaimed Estonia a "Soviet republic" on 21 July 1940, and on the same day unanimously requested Estonia to be "admitted" into the Soviet Union. Estonia was formally annexed into the Soviet Union (USSR) on 6 August 1940, and the new administrative subunit of the USSR was named the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic (Estonian SSR).Magnus Ilmjärv Hääletu alistumine, (Silent Submission), Tallinn, Argo, 2004, The 1940 occupation and annexation of Estonia into the Soviet Union was considered illegal and never officially recognized by Great Britain, the United States, Canada, France and most other democracies.
Soviet terror
During the first year of Soviet occupation (1940–1941) over 8,000 people, including most of the country's leading politicians and military officers, were arrested. About 2,200 of the arrested were executed in Estonia, while most others were moved to prison camps in Russia, from where very few were later able to return alive. On 19 July 1940, the Commander-in-chief of the Estonian Army Johan Laidoner was arrested by the NKVD, and subsequently deported together with his wife to Penza, Russia. Laidoner died in captivity in a Soviet prison Camp in Vladimir, Russia on 13 March 1953.General Johan Laidoner at the Estonian War Museum President of Estonia, Konstantin Päts was arrested and deported by the Soviets to Ufa, Russia on 30 July 1940, he died in captivity in a psychiatric hospital in Kalinin (now Tver) in Russia in 1956. 800 Estonian officers, about a half of the total, were executed or starved to death in Soviet prison camps.