1945-1949 since 1991






Sovietization of Estonia, 1949-1991



Resistance against Soviet occupation (Forest Brothers) continued into the 1950es, declined sharply after the west in 1956 failed to come to the aid of Hungary's rebels. Soviet harsh measures, such as the deportation of Estonians, the settlement of citizens from other parts of the Soviet Union in Estonia continued, declined after Destalinization (1956). In the early 1950es, the collectivization of farmland was enforced.
The Estonian Exile Government found itself isolated, as the western nations did not want to challenge the USSR over Estonia, and during the Cold War other regions and events attracted the world's attention.
Under Mikhail Gorbachev (1985-1991) the USSR went through a period of liberalization and democratization. Estonian politicians agreed in viewing the Soviet annexation of 1940 illegal, and thus Estonia still enjoying the status of political independence. Russia (Pres. Boris Yeltsin) recognized Estonian independence in 1991; the dissolution of the USSR late in 1991 removed the last obstacle to universal recognition of Estonia's independence.






EXTERNAL
LINKS 		Estonian Timeline, from BBC News
Library of Congress, Country Studies : Estonia
Forest Brothers, from Tartu City Museum
Michael Warm, The Forgotten War
Article Forest Brothers, from Wikipedia
Article History of Estonia after WW II, from Wikipedia
DOCUMENTS World Statesmen : Estonia
Historical Population Statistics : Estonia, from Population Statistics at Univ. Utrecht
REFERENCE David G. Kirby, The Baltic World 1772-1993, London : Longman 1995
Toivo U. Raun, Estonia and the Estonians, Stanford : Hoover Institution Press 2001 [G]
Rein Taagepera, Estonia and the Estonians, pp.75-93 in : Zev Katz et al. (ed.), Handbook of Major Soviet Nationalities, NY : The Free Press 1975 [G]
The Fifteen Soviet Republics, pp.63-78 in : John Gunther, Meet Soviet Russia, I : Land, People, Sights, NY : Harper & Bros. 1962 [G]
Article Estonia, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1950 p.260, 1951 p.260, 1952 p.258, 1953 pp.257-258, 1954 p.254, 1955 p.305, 1956 p.242, 1957 p.305, 1958 pp.239-240, 1959 p.237, 1960 p.236 [G]
Article : USSR : Estonia, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1970-1971 pp.1430-1432, 1975-1976 pp.1435-1436, 1976-1977 pp.1433-1434, 1978-1979 pp.1252-1254, 1979-1980 pp.1261-1263, 1980-1981 pp.1257-1259, 1981-1982 pp.1265-1267, 1983-1984 pp.1262-1263, 1984-1985 pp.1259-1261, 1985-1986 pp.1260-1262, 1986-1987 pp.1259-1261, 1987-1988 pp.1263-1265, 1989-1990 pp.1273-1275, 1990-1991 pp.1276-1278, 1991-1992 pp.1275-1277 [G]
Article : Estonia, in : Americana Annual 1957 pp.260, 1961 pp.243-244, 1962 pp.244-245, 1963 pp.226-227, 1964 pp.223-224 [G]


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on October 31st 2006, last revised on March 18th 2007

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