User:Petri Krohn/Restoration of Estonian independence

The re-establishment or restoration of Estonia's pre-war independence is an ongoing process, as well a political aim of Estonian nationalist. The restoration consist of cutting all political, historic, legal, linguistic, and demographic ties to Estonia's past as a Soviet Socialist Republic. The declaration of independence by the Estonian SSR in 1991 was only one step in this process. The aim of supporters of the restoration is to re-establish Estonia as an monolingual, Estonian language nation state. A final step in the process is the removal of symbols of Soviet Estonia, including war memorials of the Great Patriotic War.

opponets see it as an establishment of a...

History
In Imperial Russia, the territory of present-day Estonia was divided among one and a half provinces in two different Governorates Unlike its northern neighbour, the Grand Duchy of Finland, it did not have any centraliced government.

With the collapse of the Russian Empire in World War I, Russia's Provisional Government granted national autonomy to Estonia in April. A popularly elected assembly (Maapäev) was formed but was quickly forced underground by the Bolsheviks. The Committee of Elders of the underground Maapäev proclaimed the Republic of Estonia on February 24, 1918, one day before German troops invaded. After the collapse of the short-lived United Baltic Duchy and the withdrawal of German troops in November 1918, an Estonian provisional Government retook office. A military invasion by Soviet Russia followed a few days later, however, marking the beginning of the Estonian War of Independence (1918-1920). The Estonian army cleared the entire territory of Estonia of Soviet troops by February 1919. On February 2, 1920, the Treaty of Tartu was signed by the Republic of Estonia and Bolshevist Russia. The terms of the treaty stated that Russia renounced in perpetuity all rights to the territory of Estonia. The Republic of Estonia obtained international recognition and became a member of the League of Nations in 1921.

In Russia, Estonian independence was only supported by Vladimir Lenin and followers, as part of his national policy of self-determination.

Soviet Estonia
Soviet rule saw an increase in the Russian speaking population. Most of these were economic migrants, who had been drawn to Estonia by its rapid post-war industrialization and the major Soviet construction projects undertaken mostly in the northeastern regions of Estonia. A large number of non-Estonians also served in the Red Army or worked in Soviet military bases. By the 1980s, over a third of Estonia's population were non-Estonians.

Throughout the Soviet period the Estonian language had a strong position in Estonia, with Estonian languege literature, an Estonian press, Estonian shools and university education. (Only the department of sports medicine at the University of Tartu, the main unit in its field in the whole USSR, offered teaching in Russian.) Estonian nationalists however saw this influx of Russian as a threat to the Estonian language and Estonia's position as a nation.

After the rise of Mikhail Gorbachev to power in 1985, calls were made for increased Estonian autonomy.

Restoration
In 1991 the Estonian SSR, under premier minister Edgar Savisaar and Communist president Arnold Rüütel, declared itself independent from the Soviet Union.

In 1992, under prime minister Mart Laar, the pre-war citizenship law was reinstated, reserving Estonian citizenship to descendants of pre-1940 citizens. Ex-Soviet citizens could apply for Estonian citizenship after passing an Estonian language and history exam.

In 1992, 32% of Estonian residents lacked any form of citizenship. Of the ethnic non-Estonians approximately one third have received Estonian citizenship, one third have opted for Russian citizenship (or may hold illegal dual citizenship ) and a third have no citizenship at all. In April 2006, the Population Registry of the Estonian Ministry of the Interior reported that 9% of Estonia's residents have undefined citizenship and 7.4% have foreign citizenship. While there have been calls for the return of all non-Estonians to Russia, the official government policy has been of integration, demanding that all residents of Estonia learn the Estonian language on a basic level.

The issue of post-WWII history is at the core of the ethnic issues in Estonia. Non-Russian ethnic Estonians widely regard the period of Soviet Estonia as an illegal occupation of the Baltic States, a viewpoint that is the official position of the Estonian Government as well as major Western powers such as the US. As a consequence, the ethnic Russian and other non-native population that immigrated during the Soviet occupation have been labeled by some as illegal occupiers.