History of Estonia

In general, histories of the Russian Revolution do not touch upon events in the Baltic provinces of the empire in any detail. Only the apparently exceptionally large number of Latvians who supported the Bolsheviks in the election to the Russian Constituent Assembly (72%) is mentioned. This paper argues with Ronald G. Suny's typologization of imperial ethnic groups according to their relationship to ‘class’ and ‘nationalism’ in order to qualify the latter's conclusion that the Latvians in 1917 turned towards Bolshevism whereas the Estonians moved towards nationalism. In fact, closer investigation proves that the difference was not so clear cut. There was certainly much sympathy for social revolution in the littoral as a whole, as had been proven in the elections in late 1917, but there was no sympathy for class war. The emergence of a nationally oriented Estonian and Latvian social democracy ultimately covered the gap between ‘revolutionaries’ and ‘nationalists’ and paved the way to the foundation of nation‐states. Thus in both cases, this article argues, ‘class’ and ‘nationalism’ reinforced each other, rather than operating as antagonistic categories.

Latyshi and Chukhontsy: locals and strangers in
Estonia and Latvia during the Livonian War (1558–1582)
The medieval and early modern society in Estonia and Latvia was multilingual.
The language of the people of higher social status was (Middle
Low) German, while the peasants and lower urban classes spoke Estonian,
Latvian, Livic, and other local languages. Latvian and Estonian were not
the languages of office in the sixteenth century. The common language of
oral contact between different strata of society was, probably, the language
of the majority. Different contact situations, however, definitely required
the use of different languages.
During the Livonian War (1558–1582/83), a large part of medieval Livonia
was conquered by Muscovy. Russians introduced their administration
there and shared manors with pomeshchiki (serving nobles) of Russian origin.
Ivan the Terrible deployed his garrisons in the towns and castles of
Estonia and Latvia. At the same time the Russian contingent also included
Tatars and members of other ethnicities of the Muscovy, and it remained
very mobile. The Russian administrative records, on the one hand, did not
care for the details of the ethnic situation in the occupied land. The words
Latyshi (Latvians) and Chukhontsy (Estonians) became widely used as
synonyms for local common people, denoting no ethnic difference. Nevertheless,
the Livonian peasants were of economic and military importance
for Russians. A number of reports survive indicating the use of Estonians
and Latvians as messengers and spies between areas of different political
control. The role of the local population as intermediators of information
manifested also the importance of Livonian “non-German” languages in
the communication between areas under various rulers. This hypothesis
can be proven by the usage of Livonian place names in Russian sources of
18 Ajalooline Ajakiri, 2010, 1 (131)
the time. Albeit some towns and castles in Estonia and Latvia had original
Old Russian place names (Kolyvan, Rugodiv, Yur’ev), the Russian toponymy
of Livonia in the 1550s–1580s were based as a rule on Estonian and Latvian
names, sometimes even when the original Old Russian name existed.
Probably, the persons involved in the Russian military and civic administration
were eventually unfamiliar with the earlier Old Russian names or
came from remote areas where no pre-war contacts with Livonia existed.
The records of diplomatic negotiations and treaties often registered
several multilingual forms of a place name at the same time to indicate a
locality in a clearly identifiable way. Significantly, sometimes the originally
Estonian toponyms are referred to as “Russian” ones, juxtaposing them
with German names. When in diplomacy and politics Russian had contact
mainly with Germans, the languages of rural and everyday life were the
languages of local peasants. For example, according to existing directions,
all areas subjugated by Russians should be described by including the names
of farms and peasants, and the amount of agricultural areas. This kind of
inquisition could pass only using local languages and became recorded
in Russian administrative documents. Due to the mobility of the Russian
military contingent, the translators were members of the local population.

Th e Miracle in Narva, 11 May 1558:
On the History of Russian Polemics against
the Reformation in the 16th Century
Narva was the fi rst town occupied by Russian forces in 1558 during the
Livonian War (1558–1582). Th e conquest of this border town had a huge
propaganda meaning: both contemporary Livonian and Russian chronicles
paid special attention to it. On 11 May 1558 a confl agration broke out
in Narva that quickly spread throughout the whole town due to a strong
wind. Having seen what was happening in Narva, Russian forces successfully
attacked Narva from Ivangorod. Th e Russians interpreted their victory
as a sign of divine mercy. Th is belief was connected most notably with
a miracle that apparently had happened in Narva. According to Russian sources, the reason for the confl agration that brought fortune to Russian
forces was a Narva citizen who threw an Orthodox icon into fi re. However,
when the Russians entered the town they found the icon undamaged.
Several more or less similar variants of this story are found in diff erent
sources although they diff er in details. Th e article argues that this miraculous
story is signifi cant with regard to interdenominational relations in
16th century Eastern Europe. At that time Russian polemics against heresy
and the Reformation made accusations of iconoclasm against Lutheranism,
which was widespread in Livonia.
Recent research on the Livonian War has begun to focus on the religious
aspects in Moscow’s politics, i.e. understanding the military campaigns of
Ivan IV as struggle against Lutheran heretics in Livonia and Lithuania.
Th us the conquest of Narva appears to be one of the fi rst episodes in the
war of the Orthodox tsar against the heretics. Th e importance of these ideas
was confi rmed already in 1558 by the fact that the icons found in Narva
became offi cial objects of worship immediately after the town’s conquest.
Th e icons were sent to the Moscow, where they were take to the Kremlin
and handed over to the Church of the Assumption of the Birth-Giver of
God. Later the icons were kept in the tsar’s palace for a while before being
additionally decorated and sent back to Narva. At that time, it was a common
practice to bring icons from all over Russia to Moscow for a temporary
or permanent deposit. Th e main person organising the worship of the Narva
icons, as well as others from Novgorod seemed to be Archbishop Pimen
of Novgorod, who was at that time prominent within the tsar’s immediate
circle. Th e main motive behind the Narva miracle may be considered
the Russian polemics of the 16th century related to Lutheranism and other
movements that denied the worship of icons. At the same time, it was quite
logical that there were Orthodox icons in the border town. Th e Icons of
Narva represented St. Nicholas the miracle-worker and Mother of God
Hodegetria who were the two most popular subjects depicted on icons.

The Silver Cup of Elam, an astoundingly beautiful drinking flagon, resides in the Archaeological Museum of Tehran, capital of Iran. Persian laborers found the silver cup in 1966 while digging an irrigation ditch near Persepolis, the ancient ceremonial center of the Persian Empire. The front and back contain life-like images of two sisters dressed in identical robes, trimmed with fox or faux fox. They both look over their shoulder in the same direction, as if watching someone approach. After the cup was completed, a formal inscription just below the rim was carefully applied from the outside. Vertical lines separate phrases of evenly-spaced letters.
The script, called Linear Elamite, is a version of Old European that came from Estonia, whose national emblem is the fox. Dated 2240 BC, the inscription says the cup is a wedding gift from Kiririsa, the Elamite goddess of war and fertility, to her sister Narunte, goddess of victory, on the eve of her marriage to Sargon of Akkad. This is incredibly important, because almost nothing is known about his wife except that he was always faithful to her. This marriage combined the two regional powers, Akkad and Elam.

ÖZET Anton Hansen Tammsaare'nin adını taşıyan beş bölümlük edebiyat klasiğine dayanan, Tanel Toom'un ilk uzun metrajlı denemesi"Gerçek ve Adalet" filmi, saygılı, iyi yapılmış bir edebi uyarlamanın kendi ülkesi Estonya'da kabul görerek, Oscar için de adaylığıyla sınırları aşmasıyla öne çıkan bir sanatsal yapım olarak öne çıkmaktadır. Film, 19. yüzyılın son çeyreğinde, sorunlu bir toprak parçasını verimli bir çiftliğe dönüştürme hırs ve kararlılığıyla adeta gözleri gerçeklere kör olacak idealist genç bir çiftçinin on yıllara yayılan öyküsüdür. Zor şartlarda döneminin mülkiyet, mücadele, metanet, feodalite ve toplum, toprağa bağlılık, inanç ve sorgulama, gerçekliğin döngüsü ve gerçek adalet ile ahlak duygusunun karışımında kendisi ve ailesi için mutlu ve güzel bir hayat kurmaya kararlı bir adamın, Andres Paas (Priit Loog) adlı bir Estonyalının öyküsüdür. Genç karısı Krõõt (Maiken Schmidt) ile borçlanarak satın aldığı bir tepe çiftliği olan Robber's Rise virane çiftlik evi, bataklık arazisi ve kayalıklarıyla olduğu kadar buraya gelenlere rahat vermeyen komşu çiftçi Pearu Murakas'ın (Priit Võigemast) düşmanca doğası nedeniyle zor bir mülk olacaktır. Andres, kararlı ve inatçı karakteriyle yılgınlık göstermeden zorluklarla baş etmek üzere canla-başla işe koyulacaktır. Tarlalara baskından korumak için komşusuyla anlaşarak, yardımcısıyla arazi drenajı için komşunun sınırlarında bir hendek kazdıracak ve ortaklaşa çalışmayla su baskınlarını önlemek üzere çalışacaklardır. Ancak komşu anlaşmaya uymayacak, tüm zorluğu çeken Andres güvendiği komşunun yalan söylediğini, ona ihanet ettiğini ve kendi topraklarını koruyup onun arazisini sular içinde bıraktığını görünce konu adalet mekanizmasına taşınır. Ancak komşu her şeyi kılıfına uydurmuş, gerçeği çarpıtmış, Tanrı önünde verdiği söze sadık kalmayarak kutsal kitaba aldırmadan haklı çıkmıştır. Buralarda, bu zorlu uzak ve vahşi topraklarda Tanrı da Andres'in elinden düşürmediği İncil'de yazanlara rağmen, gerçeğin açık olmasına rağmen, adaleti insan elinden dağıtılmasını sağlamıyorsa "gerçek nedir o zaman" kuşkusuna düşürür kahramanımızı. Pearu'nun kötü niyetli ve düşmanlığı, Andres'i tiranca, "Hıristiyan olmayan" davranışlara sürüklerken yerel mahkemelerde de defalarca tekrarlanacak aldatmacalar bu defa kuralına göre işlemeye başlayacak, Andres hep karşı çıktığı adaletsizlik ve gerçeğin saptırılmışlığını kendisi de hem de kutsal kitabın açık sözlerine dayandırarak uygulamaktan kaçınmayacaktır. Başarmak ve haklı olmak hırsıyla yanıltılmış gerçek ve adaletsizliği gidermek, haklı davasında galip gelmek ve böylece karısıyla çocuklarına mutlu bir gelecek vermek için doğru yolda yanlışları uygulamaktan kaçınmayacaktır. Andres'in çok önem verdiği ailesi, İncil'i, doğruluk ve dürüstlük yolunda adalete olan inancı tümüyle başka bir duruma gidecek, ataerkil damarlarından akan yoğun erkek egemen dürtüleriyle çok sevdiği karısının ölümünü, ona çok istediği erkek çocuğunu verdiğinde görecektir. Gerçekler ve adalet terazisinin onun hükümlerine uymayan dengesinde, ölen karısının ve çiftliğin kahyasının çok sevdiği Mari'nin(Ester Kuntu) duygularına aldırış etmeden onu "kendi kadını" yapması, kendi kadınını aynı zamanda "kölesi" olarak da algılaması tüm ailesinin, çocuklarının ve Mari'nin onu çok seven eşi Juss'un (Simeoni Sundja) intiharı da çiftliğin tüm işlerini eski çizgisinden çok uzaklara götürecektir. Yıllar geçip, ailesine ve çocuklara Robber's Rise çiftliğini "yuva" yapamayan Andres için ise ailesiyle mutlu güzel günlere ulaşmak isteğiyle "doğru" olarak çıktığı yolda "Gerçek ve Adalet" terazisinin kılıcı kınından çıkmış, çoktan yönünü kaybetmiş olacaktır: "İnsan ne ister? Bir yere ulaşmak. Başlangıçta bir tepede durur, nereye gitmek istediğini görür, yola koyulur. Yol boyunca ormanlardan geçer, nemli çayırlar ve dipsiz bataklıklar arasında debelenip durur. Sonra durur ve yönünü yitirdiğini fark eder. Yolunu kaybetmiş ve nasıl devam edeceğini bilmeyen bir kişi ne yapabilir?"… (Filmden)

The article analyses issues related to the participation of national minorities in the Estonian War of Independence of 1918–1920. Due to the low numbers of national minorities, they were not treated as a serious problem in the Republic of Estonia during the war, but the question of their involvement was important in the principle of the strategy of active defence. This article is based on a doctoral thesis that was defended at Tallinn University in June 2018. The involvement of national minorities in the national units of the Estonian national army in the Estonian War of Independence is investigated from a cultural studies approach. The article aims to show the attitude of national minorities towards the Estonian state and the army, and to evaluate their role in the struggle by the Estonian army in the War of Independence. Key words: Estonian War of Independence, national minorities, national units, Baltic Germans, Estonian Russians.

Представленные в сборнике "Резиденты сообщают..." неизвестные документы советской внешней разведки раскрывают подоплеку событий 1939 - 1940 гг., приведших к инкорпорации стран Прибалтики в состав Советского Союза. Ложившиеся на стол Сталина разведывательные материалы существенно дополняют представления о советской политике в Прибалтике, сложившиеся при ознакомлении с вышедшим три десятилетия назад классическим сборником документов МИД СССР "Полпреды сообщают..." - и открывают новые перспективы для осмысления политики Кремля в регионе.

В сборник, подготовленный научным сотрудником Института российской истории РАН Александром Дюковым, вошло 102 документа из архивов России, Латвии, Литвы и Эстонии, подавляющее большинство которых публикуется впервые.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the restoration of Estonia's independence, it has become commonplace to emphasize that at least during the latter stages of Soviet occupation most Estonian artists (or at least those with worthwhile artistic legacy) worked in relative autonomy from the Soviet official ideological and artistic discourses. Jaak Kangilaski has influentially argued that three competing discourses existed in Estonian art throughout the Soviet period. These were the discourse of the Soviet ideology and regime, the discourse of the avant-garde, and the nationalist-conservative discourse. The majority of the figures active on the artistic scene inhabited a grey area between the discourses, so that each fraction was able to interpret their output in a manner that suited their particular objects and ideals. During the first half of the Soviet period (until the end of the 1960s) the nationalist-conservative fraction and the avant-garde minded fraction formed an alliance against the Soviet power minded discourse, forcing the latter to retreat. As a consequence, a relatively moderate, even bourgeois model of autonomous apolitical art came to dominate Estonian art from the end of the 1960s. 1

Praca omawia sytuację wewnętrzną w Rzeczypospolitej w latach 1587-1589. Wówczas po rozdwojeniu sejmu elekcyjnego i wojnie między Zygmuntem Wazą a Maksymilianem Habsburgiem, tron polski zdobył królewicz szwedzki.
Pierwsze lata panowania Zygmunta III stanowią okres bardzo istotny w dziejach dawnej Rzeczypospolitej. Decydując o wyborze przedziału chronologicznego kierowałem się sytuacją wewnętrzną w Koronie. Stąd pierwszą cezurę wyznacza podwójna elekcja na polach pod Warszawą, gdzie dokonano wyboru Zygmunta Wazy i arcyksięcia Maksymiliana Habsburga. W wyniku tego, doszło do wojny o tron między zwolennikami obydwu elektów. Natomiast drugą cezurę wyznacza sejm 1589 r., który jako pierwszy w naszych dziejach zyskał miano pacyfikacyjnego. Ustabilizował on sytuację wewnętrzną w Rzeczypospolitej, przywracając stronników Habsburga do życia publicznego.
Podjęta problematyka wpisuje się w szeroki nurt badań nad parlamentaryzmem i życiem politycznym Rzeczypospolitej. Nie ulega wątpliwości, że sejm pozostawał najważniejszą instytucją życia publicznego w państwie polsko-litewskim, stanowiącą prawo pospolite.
Pierwszy rozdział pracy omawia skutki rozerwania sejmu elekcyjnego oraz sejmiki poelekcyjne. Dokonuję w nim analizy akt sejmikowych, przebiegu zjazdów szlacheckich i wpływu liderów życia politycznego na ich postanowienia. W toku badań nad tymi zagadnieniami udało się uwypuklić stanowisko szlachty wobec nominacji dwóch elektów. Większość szlachty uznała wybór arcyksięcia Maksymiliana za nielegalny i uczyniony wbrew większości. Wobec tego sejmiki w Koronie poparły Zygmunta Wazę. W celu wsparcia królewicza szwedzkiego szlachta przedsięwzięła określone działania, w postaci zaciągów powiatowych bądź pospolitego ruszenia. W celu zabezpieczenia ziem i województw na wypadek walk z oddziałami arcyksięcia, szlachta podjęła na sejmikach i zjazdach decyzje o ich obronie.
Neutralność i sprzeciw na polach elekcyjnych wyraziła za to szlachta województwa ruskiego, domagając się anulowania postanowień wyborczych. W obawie przed najazdami tatarskimi, ale także chcąc wpłynąć w poważniejszym stopniu na decyzje sejmu koronacyjnego, Rusini zawiązali konfederację. Przez dłuższy czas do wydarzeń w Polsce oficjalnie dystansowało się Wielkie Księstwo Litewskie, jednak po porażce Habsburga pod Krakowem, było skłonne uznać Zygmunta pod pewnymi warunkami.
W kolejnym rozdziale omawiam sejm koronacyjny Zygmunta III. Podjęto wówczas ważkie decyzje. Rozpoznałem działalność parlamentu zarówno w zakresie polityki wewnętrznej – zatwierdzenia praw i przywilejów, określenie działań wobec zagrożeń zewnętrznych oraz wewnętrznych, dorobku ustawodawczego, jak i zagranicznej – wysłanie poselstw do państw europejskich z wiadomością o unormowaniu władzy w Rzeczypospolitej, przedłużeniu obowiązujących rozejmów. Należy podkreślić, że w wielu aspektach sejm koronacyjny stanowił istotną  cezurę. Przede wszystkim zamykał okres burzliwego interregnum po śmierci Batorego. Ponadto podjął szereg istotnych decyzji, wyznaczając kierunki postępowania króla i Rzeczypospolitej. Za główne z nich należy uznać: dążenie do zawarcia pokoju z Habsburgami i uspokojenie wewnętrznych nastrojów w kraju. Z pewnością sejm ten okazał się bardzo istotny z punktu widzenia relacji Korony z Wielkim Księstwem Litewskim, które znalazły się w największym impasie od czasów unii lubelskiej.
W dalszej części pracy odtworzyłem działalność króla, senatorów oraz szlachty, w okresie wypełnionym trzema konwokacjami senatu i sejmikami deputackimi. Zamknięcie sejmu koronacyjnego i zwycięstwo hetmana wielkiego koronnego Jana Zamoyskiego pod Byczyną, oznaczały de facto ukształtowanie nowego układu sił w Koronie. Przejawiło się to dekompozycją stronnictwa Zborowskich, a co za tym idzie wzmocnieniem „zamoyszczyków”. W rozdziale trzecim szukam więc odpowiedzi na pytanie, jaki był stosunek głównych graczy politycznych wobec ówczesnej sytuacji politycznej państwa, po klęsce arcyksięcia Maksymiliana. Odtwarzam przebieg i rezultaty konwokacji senatu z Piotrkowa oraz Lublina. W ten sposób udało się postawić tezę, że część senatorów nie akceptowała pozycji kanclerza, również młody król próbował ograniczyć hegemonię ministra, jednak bez powodzenia. Niemniej na wspólnych konwokacjach w Koronie udało mu się wypracować jednolite stanowisko wobec rokowań z „domem rakuskim”.
W tym rozdziale odnoszę się ponadto do sytuacji w Wielkim Księstwie Litewskim oraz relacji elit litewskich z Zygmuntem III. Stąd bardzo ważny okazał się zjazd w Brześciu, który chociaż rozczarował króla, w odniesieniu do uchwalenia podatku na Litwie oraz udziału senatorów Wielkiego Księstwa w rokowaniach z Habsburgami, to umożliwił mu nawiązanie współpracy z nieświeską linią Radziwiłłów.
W pracy dokonałem także rekonstrukcji obrad sejmu 1589 r., który stał się epilogiem rozdwojonej elekcji. Temu zagadnieniu poświęciłem czwarty i zarazem ostatni rozdział. Parlament zatwierdził pokój z Habsburgami i ogłosił amnestię dla zwolenników arcyksięcia. Uchwalił szereg ważnych konstytucji dotyczących głównie unifikacji terytorialnej oraz prawno-sądowniczej. Odnosiło się to w pierwszej kolejności do Inflant, których miejsce w państwie polsko-litewskim zostało uregulowane oddzielnymi uchwałami; a w drugiej do województw południowo-wschodnich i Prus Królewskich, włączonych do Trybunału Koronnego. Sejm ten podjął także pierwsze decyzje o wydzieleniu skarbu nadwornego oraz utworzył Ordynację Zamojską. Istotny jest fakt, że w czasie sejmu pacyfikacyjnego próbowano uchwalić egzekucję konfederacji warszawskiej, co stanowiło kontynuację burzliwych dyskusji z okresu koronacji. Sejm był także areną nieudanych finalnie rozmów o reformę elekcji viritim.
W rozdziałach drugim, trzecim i czwartym, odnoszę się także do polityki rozdawniczej i nominacyjnej Zygmunta III. Szukam odpowiedzi na pytanie, czy młody król posiadał możliwości prowadzenia niezależnej polityki personalnej, czy też był ograniczony dominującą pozycją Zamoyskiego w Koronie i Radziwiłłów birżańskich na Litwie. Podczas skrupulatnej analizy nadań okazało się, że większość urzędów i królewszczyzn w Koronie trafiła w ręce ludzi powiązanych z kanclerzem. Jednakże w kilku istotnych przypadkach królowi udało się dokonać awansów dla osób, które mu odpowiadały i mogły stanowić oparcie dla jego rządów. W pierwszym roku panowania Zygmunta III duży wpływ na obsadę wakansów litewskich miał Krzysztof Radziwiłł „Piorun”. Niemniej i tutaj monarcha dokonał kilku nadań dla przedstawicieli kilku rodów, które w przyszłości mogły stać się zalążkiem stronnictwa regalistycznego. Prześledzenie nadań z tego okresu w połączeniu z sytuacją polityczną pozwala wysunąć wniosek, że król nie mógł i nie chciał na dłuższą metę zaakceptować dominującej pozycji Zamoyskiego i Radziwiłła.
W pracy wykorzystałem głównie dokumentację obrazującą aktywność króla, senatorów i szlachty. Badałem materiały związane z działalnością polityczną. przede wszystkim korespondencję, rozmaite dokumenty i pisma mające charakter publiczny (wychodzące z kancelarii królewskiej, projekty sejmowe, akta sejmikowe). Rozpoznałem materiały rękopiśmienne z polskich zasobów: Archiwum Archidiecezji Warmińskiej w Olsztynie, Archiwum Głównego Akt Dawnych w Warszawie, Archiwum Narodowego w Krakowie, Archiwum Państwowego w Gdańsku, Archiwum Państwowego w Lublinie, Biblioteki ks. Czartoryskich w Krakowie, Biblioteki PAU-PAN w Krakowie, Biblioteki Raczyńskich w Poznaniu, Biblioteki PAN w Kórniku, Biblioteki Narodowej w Warszawie, Biblioteki Zakładu Narodowego im. Ossolińskich we Wrocławiu; z zagranicznych: Archivio Segreto Vaticano w Rzymie, Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv we Wiedniu, Центральний Державний Історичний Архів України we Lwowie,  Львівська національна наукова бібліотека України ім. В. Стефаника oraz polonika z AGAD. W pracy wykorzystałem również edycje źródłowe i stare druki; w znacznej mierze były to zbiory korespondencji, kroniki, pamiętniki, konstytucje sejmowe, dziełka propagandowe, poezja okolicznościowa i pisma polityczne.
Głównym celem pracy było zweryfikowanie tez starszej historiografii o początkach rządów Zygmunta III w Rzeczypospolitej. Z jednej strony dominuje pogląd o nieudolności tego króla, jego niechęci do poddanych, odpowiedzialności za złe relacje z częścią elity senatorsko-dygnitarskiej oraz lekceważenie przez monarchę szlachty. Z drugiej strony, zarzuca się właśnie szlachcie obojętność wobec toczonych sporów. Opinie te, rozpropagowane 90 lat temu w książce Kazimierza Lepszego, Walka stronnictw w pierwszych latach panowania Zygmunta III, Kraków 1929, opierały się na bardzo ograniczonej bazie źródłowej, a mimo tego wciąż się utrzymują.
Szczegółowa analiza materiału źródłowego pozwoliła ustalić szereg nowych faktów, a także postawić nowe hipotezy i tezy. Poszerza to naszą wiedzę odnośnie biografii poszczególnych osób, genezy i znaczenia dorobku ustawodawczego sejmów, w końcu przebiegu oraz postanowień sejmików, zjazdów oraz konwokacji senatu z lat 1587–1589.

After the Second World War 'homeland Estonians' and 'Estonians living abroad' co-existed on two sides of the Iron Curtain equally maintaining to be the rightful bearer of a 'true' Estonianess. Based on a sample of life story interviews with 42 historians from Estonia, I identify narratives of (1) hope, betrayal and loss; (2) 'purity', 'pollution' and whitewashing; and (3) transgression and return, that at times conflict and at times converge. I argue that notions of 'authenticity' were at centre stage in these competing identity claims and that in the context of their mutual (mis-) perceptions, 'pollution' was primarily defined as 'moral degradation' and 'ideological contamination'. Overall these three sets of narratives relate closely to the process of identity re-configuration among Estonians after 1991.

Archaeology can contribute greatly to our understanding of past metalworking. The main goal of this thesis is to provide new information on Estonian metalworking between the 7th–17th centuries, based on archaeological sources. During this period there were political changes and technological developments that impacted Estonian society. The most important event was the 13th century crusade, after which Estonia was brought into Christian Europe. Western craftsmen started to settle into Estonia with the founding of new towns, bringing new techniques and tools as they came. My main contribution is the study of metalworking sites and the analysis of their production waste. Smithies, forges, iron blooms and bars are all investigated to gain a better understanding of ferrous metalworking. Local iron production and the scattered locations of smithies retained the pre-crusade workshop layout up until the 14th century. The 14th–17th century smithy site of Käku was studied in detail and the excavations between 2007–2014 revealed the remains of four consecutive smithies and thousands of finds. The smithy of Käku more resembles the 14th century urban smithies at Haapsalu, than the 13th–14th century rural smithy of Paatsa, which indicates a convergence of rural and urban smithing traditions by the 14th–15th centuries. Metallographic analysis of iron blooms and bars from the smithy site of Käku provides insight into how the smiths processed bloomery iron and how steel tools were reused. The non-ferrous metalwork is studied via crucibles and casting moulds. The residue they contained was analysed with a portable spectrometer (pXRF) and a scanning electron microscope (SEM-EDS). The results show that in the 7th to early 13th centuries the casting of silver and tin took place at hill forts and strongholds. Silver residues were detected in 27% of the crucibles, which suggests that silver casting was common. After the crusade, the towns became the main centres for the casting and crafting that previously was undertaken in the fortified centres. Foreign craftsmen introduced imported crucibles that were more durable at high temperatures than crucibles made from local clay. A few of the studied crucibles had residues of pure gold, which indicates a higher level of specialist goldsmithing, compared to the work of pre-crusade craftsmen.

Джон Роузамериканский офицер, остзейский барон, русский волонтёр В конце октября 1893 г. во время работы в Чикаго Всемирной «Колумбовской» выставки два иностранных джентльмена посетили Пенсильванское Историческое общество. Осматривая коллекции, один из них, указывая на висевший на стене портрет героя Войны за Независимость, генерала Уильяма Ирвина, поинтересовался судьбой семьи генерала. Свой интерес он объяснил тем, что его прадед служил адъютантом Ирвина. «Не служил ли ваш предок под вымышленным именем?тотчас обратился к иностранцу библиотекарь общества Фредерик Д.

This is a short presentation of chapter 5 in the anthology "Christianity and War in Medieval East Central Europe and Scandinavia",
ed. R. Kotecki, C.S. Jensen & S. Bennett (Leeds: Arc Humanities Press, 2021), 97-115.

The entire book can be purchased here: https://arc-humanities.org/products/c-67104-10597-68-8253/

What happens to an imperial economy after empire? How do economics, security, and ideology interact at the new state frontiers? Does trade always break down ideological barriers? The eastern borders of Poland, Latvia, and Estonia comprised much of the interwar Soviet state’s western frontier – the focus of Moscow’s revolutionary aspirations and security concerns. These young nations paid for their independence with the loss of the Imperial Russian market. Łódź, the “Polish Manchester,” had fashioned its textiles for Russian and Ukrainian consumers; Riga had been the Empire’s busiest commercial port; Tallinn had been one of the busiest – and Russians drank nine-tenths of the potato vodka distilled on Estonian estates. Eager to reclaim their traditional market, but stymied by the Soviet state monopoly on foreign trade and impatient with the slow grind of trade talks, these countries’ businessmen turned to the porous Soviet frontier. The dissertation reveals how, despite considerable misgivings, their governments actively abetted this traffic. The Polish and Baltic struggles to balance the heady profits of the “border trade” against a host of security concerns shaped everyday lives and government decisions on both sides of the Soviet frontier. Drawing on government archives, business records, and periodicals from seven countries, the dissertation uncovers the changing composition and scale of these “semi-contraband” (and fully-contraband) flows that Soviet authorities struggled to stem. It reveals the centrality of cross-border Jewish networks to this trade, and the implications of this centrality for Polish and Latvian Jews. It traces (and maps) the proliferation of hundreds of government-sanctioned “barter stations” along Poland’s, Latvia’s, and Estonia’s Soviet frontiers, and profiles their operators and visitors. While these bustling shops supplied smugglers with goods, they supplied the Bolsheviks with a tangible, everyday manifestation of hostile capitalist encirclement. In the end, the dissertation suggests that by linking Soviet consumers with the outside world against Moscow’s wishes, the ports and distilleries of Riga, Tallinn, and Tartu and the cloth factories of Łódź inadvertently fashioned the foundations of the interwar Iron Curtain.

This is the second edition of this translation. Errors present in the 1st edition were corrected and the translation now follows strict chronological order. In addition to being on the Internet (https://sites.google.com/site/pskovrelease3/), it can now be downloaded.

Впервые выходящие на русском языке воспоминания Августа Виннига повествуют о событиях в Прибалтике на исходе Первой мировой войны. Автор внес немалый личный вклад в появление на карте мира Эстонии и Латвии, хотя и руководствовался при этом интересами Германии. Его книга позволяет составить представление о событиях, положенных в основу эстонских и латышских национальных мифов, пестуемых уже столетие.

Saaremaa (known also as Ösel in Swedish and German) is the second largest island in the Baltic Sea. German crusaders conquered it, as they did with the rest of Estonia, in the beginning of the 13th century.

The aim of the present  study is to define in more detail the Osilian political organisation in the Viking and Late Iron Age and its transition into a feudal society in the post-conquest period. Graves and burial customs, the archaeological find material which is represented best of all on Saaremaa, have been chosen as the initial source of  the study. As far as possible, other kinds of archaeological data, historical and human geographic information were included in the discussion.

This article addresses the issue of how it was possible to justify a crusade to a region, such as the eastern shore of the Baltic, where there were no sacred shrines to protect or Christian lands to reconquer. Adopting a pluralist perspective of crusades, it argues that the Livonian crusade of the early thirteenth century offers some interesting clues to the new developments of crusading ideology. Conceiving of the conquest and conversion of Livonia as a crusade, albeit not quite equal to the liberation of Jerusalem, its initiators and apologists employed legal and rhetorical devices to justify the occupation of a region under the auspices of a crusade. This article examines these strategies through the medium of contemporary chronicles and papal letters.

The Reformation has often been seen as a force which diminished the North-South connections. Even though it certainly was a new obstacle, relations not only continued but reached unprecedented levels. When Johan III became the new King of Sweden in 1568, as part of his foreign policy, he approached the Catholic powers of Southern Europe and among other things, he proposed formalizing an alliance with Philip H. This episode has been little studied and consequently, it has never been given the importance it really deserves, especially if we consider the great impact it had at political, military and commercial levels. This article uses little known sources mainly preserved in Simancas and contributes to the improvement our knowledge about the relations existing between the Baltic and the Mediterranean in times of the counter-reformation. As we demonstrate, the huge Spanish naval projects and necessities reached to the outskirts of the continent, stretching as far as Sweden and even to the remote tar-burning villages of Finland.

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A menudo la Reforma se ha visto como una fuerza que deterioró las conexiones Norte- Sur. Aunque ciertamente resultó un nuevo obstáculo, las relaciones no solo se mantuvieron, sino que alcanzaron niveles sin precedentes. Cuando Johan III se convirtió en el nuevo rey de Suecia en 1568, como parte de su política exterior, se acercó a los poderes católicos del sur de Europa y, entre otras cosas, propuso formalizar una alianza con Felipe II. Este episodio ha sido poco estudiado y consecuentemente, nunca se le ha dado la importancia que realmente merece, especialmente si consideramos el gran impacto que tuvo a nivel político, militar y comercial. Este artículo emplea fuentes poco conocidas principalmente preservadas en Simancas y contribuye a mejorar nuestro conocimiento acerca del Báltico y el Mediterráneo en tiempos de la Contrarreforma. Como demostramos, los enormes proyectos y necesidades navales españolas llegaron hasta la periferia del continente, alcanzado a Suecia e incluso hasta las remotas aldeas productoras de alquitrán de Finlandia.

The essay deals with the activities of the Relief Centre for the Political Prisoners in the USSR (Eesti Vangistatud Vabadusvõitlejate Abistamiskeskus – EVVA), established in Stockholm in 1978 and managed by Ants Kippar. The EVVA was the first emigre organization that created contacts with the resistance movement in occupied Estonia. For the Estonian resistance movement, the EVVA became the foreign center, which mediated public protest letters and other materials of the Estonian resistance movement from Estonia to the Western media. According to the statute, the EVVA was a humanitarian organization for the relief of imprisoned freedom fighters. Practical relief activities consisted of moral and financial support of political prisoners and their family members. This support could be done by writing letters and sending support parcels to them. With the regard to the assistance of political prisoners, the EVVA co-operated with international organizations such as the United Nations Organization, Amnesty International, the Baltic Prisoners of Conscience Group, and other relevant organizations.
The essay is the translation of the book “The EVVA. Eesti Vangistatud Vabadusvõitlejate Abistamiskeskus”, which was published in Estonian as the eBook in 2013.

This is a special issue of the Acta Historica Tallinnensia on historical studies in Estonia in the first two decades of the twenty-­first century. The whole issue is open access and available for free: https://kirj.ee/acta-publications/?filter[year]=2020:%20Eesti%20ajalooteadus%2021.%20sajandil&filter[issue]=402

The main aim of this dissertation is to investigate how its two objects of research – Estonian Nordic identity and the World War I-era Estonian activist regionalism – were related to each other. More particularly, it is a study of how the idea of Estonia's Nordic identity took form in the context of early Estonian nationalism (Article I), what kind of political expression it found in the activities of Aleksander Kesküla and other Estonian activists during World War I (Article II), and finally, how this period of wartime “émigré intrigue” failed to be integrated into “official” Estonian foreign politics and diplomacy, emerging in 1917-18 (Article III).

In the articles included in the dissertation, these specific questions are given detailed answers. However, another and at least as important outcome of this study is the formulation of these questions themselves: the creation of a factual and interpretative basis for making them relevant and answerable. This is reflected in the fact that much of the overview article of this dissertation is allocated to a presentation of a unified theoretical framework, based on the articles, but is now more coherent and more easily applicable, making explicit the author's theoretical assumptions and facilitating research into similar issues in the future.

The methodological approach used in the dissertation is a combination of political and cultural history, which means that I suggest cultural explanations for political developments and – vice versa – political explanations for features of cultural identity. A novel contribution to the historical research is the attempt to understand the political activities of Aleksander Kesküla and other Estonian activists during World War I as expressions of a certain aspect of early Estonian nationalism – the Estonian Nordic identity. At the same time, this identity itself is understood as an important and integral feature of the Estonian nationalism as a political ideology and movement, which even in hindsight should not be discarded as simply a product of romanticism or wishful thinking.