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Soviet Union [USSR] Estonians
Although they have a shared history with the Lithuanians and
Latvians, Estonians are ethnically related to the Finns. The FinnoUgric tribes from which Estonians are descended migrated into the
present-day Estonian Republic thousands of years ago. They
maintained a separate existence and fought off invaders until the
thirteenth century, when they were subdued by Germans and Danes.
With the Danish presence in Estonia more nominal than real, German
control of Estonia lasted into the sixteenth century. Estonian
nobility was Germanized, and the peasantry was enserfed. Attempts
by German clergy to Christianize the Estonian peasantry were firmly
rebuffed, and it was not until the eighteenth century that most of
the Estonian population was finally converted to Lutheranism.
During the sixteenth century, Russians, Swedes, and Poles
fought for control of Estonia. Victorious Sweden held Estonia until
the beginning of the eighteenth century, when it was forced to cede
Estonia to Russia. By the beginning of the nineteenth century,
Estonia, granted autonomy under its own nobility, abolished serfdom
and enjoyed a period of national reawakening that lasted for most
of the century. In 1880, when the Russian government introduced a
Russification policy for Estonia, the national consciousness had
progressed too far to accept it. In 1918 Estonian nationalists,
after fighting both the Germans and the Russians, declared the
independence of Estonia. With the exception of a four-year period
of dictatorship, Estonia flourished as a democracy until 1940, when
the Soviet Union absorbed it along with the other two Baltic
states. The Estonians suffered the same fate as the Lithuanians and
Latvians. The Estonian peasantry was collectivized, and the
Estonian national elite was imprisoned, executed, or exiled.
Altogether about 10 percent of the Estonian population was deported
eastward. The remaining population was subjected to a policy of
Russification, made easier by the large influx of Russians into the
republic.
In 1989 Estonians were numerically the smallest nationality to
have their own republic. According to the 1989 census, just over 1
million Estonians lived in the Soviet Union, fewer than
nationalities without their own republics, such as the Tatars,
Germans, Jews, Chuvash, Bashkirs, and Poles. Almost 94 percent of
the Estonians lived in the Estonian Republic, the smallest and
northernmost of the three Baltic republics. In 1989 it had a
population of almost 1.6 million, of which Estonians made up just
over 61 percent. The largest national minority in the Estonian
Republic was the Russians, constituting over 30 percent of the
population. A small Estonian population resided in the Russian
Republic.
Estonians, like Finns, speak a language that belongs to the
Finno-Ugric group of languages. Like the other two Baltic
nationalities, Estonians use the Latin alphabet. Of the three
Baltic nationalities, Estonians have been the most tenacious in
preserving their own language. In the 1989 census, 95.5 percent of
the Estonians in the Soviet Union and 98.9 percent of those
residing in the Estonian Republic considered Estonian their first
language.
Estonians, the majority of whom live in cities and towns,
ranked as one of the most urbanized peoples in the Soviet Union. In
1989 the Estonian Republic was the second most urbanized republic,
with over 70 percent of its population residing in urban areas.
However, only two cities in the Estonian Republic had a population
of over 50,000: Tallin (482,000), the capital of the republic, and
Tartu (115,000).
The Estonian Republic ranked sixth among the republics in the
number of citizens with secondary and higher education per thousand
people. Within the Estonian Republic, the percentage of Estonians
among the educated elite was very high, particularly in cultural
and educational fields. Estonians also ranked high in the number of
scientific workers. Whereas Estonians have dominated the cultural
fields in the republic, Russians have held political power out of
proportion to their share of the republic's population. Only 52
percent of the party members in the Estonian Republic were
Estonians. In the past, Russians have not held the top posts in the
Estonian Republic's party leadership, but many of the top Estonian
leaders in the party were highly Russified.
Data as of May 1989
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