Estonia
Estonia (Republic of Estonia) or simply Estonia (Eesti) is a country in northeastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea in the west and north (including the Gulf of Bothnia in the north). The country also borders Latvia to the south and Russia in the east. Estonia became an independent state in 1918 and in 1934 completed Pats dictatorship. Annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940. Estonia declared independence on 20 August 1991. Since 2 April 2004, Estonia has been a member of NATO, and since the first May the same year also by the European Union.
Estonia has been populated by Finno-Ugric tribes since prehistoric times. They were christened after protracted crusade, which ended in 1227, when Denmark had conquered the north and the German Knight Order Sword Knights of the South. Denmark kept the northern occupied Estonia until the year 1346th After this the German domination in the northern part of the country until Sweden conquered this part in 1561. However there were Russian invasions in both 1481 and 1558, but both were repulsed. The southern part of Livonia, was under German control, to the Polish-Lithuanian conquered province in 1580s.
In 1300 and 1400-century capital Tallinn grew strongly, and it was a Hanseatic town in the Hanseatic League. The name means “Dane Castle.” Estonia became a Protestant in the 1524th
In 1625 came the whole mainland of Estonia under Swedish rule. The Swedes kept the administrative division into two provinces. Estonia was the name of the coastal strip in the north along the Gulf of Bothnia, while Livonia in the south also included parts of present Latvia. This division lasted until 1900-century. King Gustav II Adolf forced the German nobility to give farmers greater freedom and established a printing and a (German language) University of Tartu in 1632.
During the Great Northern War, Sweden was broken as a superpower when Russia conquered Estonia and Livonia in 1710. A conquest, which was confirmed by the Peace of Nystad in 1721. But landowners and villagers remained predominantly German speaking during the entire Russian government, and Estonian language was largely spoken by the peasants.
After the Russian empire’s collapse during the October Revolution, Estonia declared itself independent on 24th February 1918. In 1934, imposed dictatorship in Estonia.
Soviet Union forced Estonia to allow the establishment of military bases in October 1939 as a result of the secret appendix to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with Germany. In June 1940 the country was completely occupied, and the Soviet Union took full control of the handlebars. At an election the same year showed the Communists a majority in parliament, who asked that the country might join the Soviet Union as Estonian SSR. This was done formally in August 1940, but the addition was not recognized by other states than Germany and its allies. Many politicians, military and intellectuals, were executed or deported.
In 1941, Estonia came under German occupation, when Germany attacked the USSR.
Soviet forces liberated the country in 1944. The Soviets deported former members of Waffen-SS and other Nazis in mass deportations in March 1949. Concurrently they implemented a forced collectivisation. The situation has improved gradually, however after Stalin’s death. Due to its proximity to Finland and access to watch Finnish television, Estonia was the Soviet republic of core that was most strongly influenced by Western values and Western culture. During the Soviet “thaw” of glasnost and perestroika grew a political movement for national independence forward. Soviet Union made secession possible.
The Estonian membership in the Soviet Union lasted until the 20th August 1991. The last former Soviet troops left Estonia on 31st August 1994.
The Danish patrol Beskytteren were donated to the Estonian Navy, 21 November 2000, when the ship was renamed the Admiral Pitka.
Estonia joined the EU on 1 May 2004. Estonia was also a member of NATO in 2004.
Ethiopia & Eritrea
