The Baltic Sea region saw several political developments once the German Empire collapsed and World War One ended. Notably, several young democracies emerged from the fire of the world war, including Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland. However, in their case, declaring independence was not enough. They had to fight for their land and the right to remain sovereign. Once the German occupation ended, Estonia became concerned about the Eastern flank. The Bolsheviks had no intention of keeping up with promises made within the Brest-Litovsk Peace and were getting ready to attempt to regain the land of the former empire. Estonia was closest to Petrograd, so it was evident that the Bolsheviks would try to come here first.
Estonian War of Independence (i1)
The preparation for the war started at the beginning of November when it became apparent that Germany would not last long. Soviets used the 6th Red Rifle Division and the 2nd Novgorod Division as the primary force of the invasion, attacking Estonia from both ends of Lake Peipsi. Estonian troops mainly consisted of volunteers and members of the Defence League, supported by multiple allies (1). The confrontation officially started on November 28, 1918, the day when the Soviets launched a full-scale assault on Narva. The attack was successful, and the city was captured the same day. On November 29, the Estonian Workers' Commune was formed in Narva as a puppet regime competing against the Estonian Provisional Government in claiming authority over Estonian territory (2). The only recognition the Commune ever received was from the Bolsheviks, and it was later extensively used in state propaganda. Soviets intended to use the Commune as justification for their invasion since they could claim that their puppet regime represented the aspirations of all the workers of Estonia.
Capturing Narva was just the first step of the Soviet offense. Their next goal was to expand to the western part of Estonia while gradually capturing essential railroad stations. By the end of December 1918, the Soviets took control over a significant part of southern Estonia and managed to conquer Tartu, the second-largest city (3). The scale and speed of Soviet advance made it seem that Tallinn would fall in a matter of weeks. Yet, the hope never died. On December 23, one day after Tartu fell into the arms of the Bolsheviks, Johan Laidoner was appointed the commander-in-chief of the Estonian forces. His mission seemed challenging, to say the least; he had to kick the Soviets back and liberate the occupied territories. It did not help that at the beginning of 1919, Soviet forces were a mere forty kilometers or two days of marching away from Tallinn (4). The time has come to show how resilient Estonia could be.
Johan Laidoner (i2)
At the beginning of January 1919, the Estonian counter-offense began. Supported by many European States and reinforced by volunteers from Scandinavia, Estonian forces decisively liberated the Northern part of the state and ultimately took Narva back by the middle of January (5). The naval landing operation that resulted in the liberation of Narva was conducted using predominantly Finnish volunteers, who showed courage while fighting away from their homeland. The Northern Front was stabilized thanks to the success of Narva's operation. On January 14, Tartu was liberated, and the fighting moved southward. By the first anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Estonian forces managed to push back the Soviet troops, repelling the first wave of the Bolsheviks' offense. Yet, the war was far from being over.
The first celebration of Estonian Independence Day 1919 (i3)
The fighting continued, and as the war moved on, Estonia needed more supplies to withstand the constant attacks by the Soviet forces. Already in the spring of 1919, the first national units within the Estonian army were formed (5). Though they varied in organizational structure, number of conscripts, and conditions under which they took part in the conflict, these units significantly helped Estonian forces fight against the invaders. Just like that, units made of Finnish, Swedish, and Danish volunteers were deployed on two fronts (ibid). Units that were made of Russians who opposed Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War, Ingrians who fought for the independence of Ingria, and Latvians who wanted to liberate their motherland also actively participated in the War of Independence. Even the former privileged elites, the Baltic Germans, formed a unit to support the common cause, but that is where the second enemy appeared on the horizon (6).
The success of the counter-offense conducted in May 1919 brought fighting upon the Russian side. The White Russian forces, fighting against the Bolsheviks, conducted several operations in coordination with Estonian forces and advanced eastward from Narva, capturing Pskov and preparing to assist an offense on Petrograd. Estonia's involvement in the Russian Civil War was not a matter of choice, but rather a necessity since all the forces that opposed Bolsheviks in the region were united by a common enemy. On the Western part of the Southern front, the joint efforts of Estonian and Latvian forces shifted the front to Latvian territory. During this campaign, at the beginning of the summer of 1919, the Estonian troops discovered a new enemy they now had to face: the Baltische Landeswehr. This encounter was not pleasant by any means and it meant that Estonian forces had to be spread to maintain the enlarged frontline.
British tanks supplied to the Northwest Army of the Russian White Forces (i4).
Due to the unique situation on the Eastern Front, not all the German forces were forced to be completely disarmed and withdrawn from the region at the end of WW1. Instead, some of them were expected to take part in repelling the imminent Bolsheviks' attack. Several detachments consisting of former imperial troops and local Baltic Germans actively participated in the Latvian War of Independence, switching sides and pursuing different agendas. The Latvian situation was so intricate that depending on the month, the same military units would help or oppose the Latvian government (7). Eventually, Estonian involvement made those forces retreat and effectively helped Latvia liberate Riga. But the Latvian War of Independence is not our focus. If you want to learn about the goals that the former German units pursued in hopes of getting a piece of Latvian land, feel free to pay a visit to the Latvian War Museum.
Coming back to the Eastern front, Estonian forces were forced to assist the Northwest Army of the Russian White Movement in their attempt to capture Petrograd and kick Bolsheviks out of the former imperial capital. The Entente approved this requirement as the countermeasure to the Soviet Westward offense. In case of success, operation "White Sword" would have demoralized the Bolshevik forces, potentially turning the tables on the Russian Civil War. However, the operation ended up failing to reach the anticipated outcome, resulting in Soviet counter-offense that placed Narva at risk again and eventually made the peace negotiations between Estonia and Soviet Russia look more compelling. (8)
The White Army Propaganda Poster (i5)
Soviets tried different means of indicating that they were interested in starting peace negotiations already in the middle of 1919. The most apparent one was the dissolution of the Estonian Commune. With this puppet regime gone, the Soviets abandoned the claim of defending the interests of the Estonian workers. The first peace talks had already taken place in August 1919, but due to the remaining turbulence in the region and the undetermined status of other fighting parties, they remained largely fruitless. The second round of negotiations that took place in December of the same year was far more productive despite the fearsome fighting on the Estonian border that took place parallel to the talks. (9)
The effort to end the war resulted in the signing of the Tartu Peace Treaty or Tartu Rahu between the Estonian Republic and Soviet Russia on February 2, 1920. This document became the first de jure recognition of Estonia, which opened the gates for the Estonian State to join the frantically developing world of International Relations during the interbellum period. The following year, Estonia joined the League of Nations, and a massive chain of establishing bilateral relations with foreign states began. Fun fact: the most recent development in Estonia's diplomacy was the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in 2020 (10).
Members of the Estonian delegation at the conclusion of the Tartu Peace. From the left - Jaan Poska, General Jaan Soots, Colonel Victor Mutt. (peace)
References:
(1) World War I and the War of Independence (n.d.). Retrieved from: https://esm.ee/exhibition/permanent-exhibitions/wwi-war-of-independence
(2) Karsten Brüggemann (2006) “Foreign Rule” during the Estonian War of Independence 1918–1920: The Bolshevik Experiment of the “Estonian Worker's Commune”, Journal of Baltic Studies, 37:2, 210-226
(3) Military Heritage Museum. 1918 – 1920 I Wars of Independence - timeline. (n.d.). Retrieved from:
(4) Minnik, T. (2015). THE CYCLE OF TERROR IN ESTONIA, 1917–1919: ON ITS PRECONDITIONS AND MAJOR STAGES. Journal of Baltic Studies, 46(1), 35–47.
(5) Leivat, L. (2012). Estonian War of Independence – the allies then and now. Estonian Life No. 26. Retrieved from: https://eestielu.ca/estonian-war-of-independence-the-allies-then-and-now/
(6) Õismaa, S. (2011). The Formation and Composition of the Baltic-German Battalion of the Estonian Army in the War of Independence (1918–1920) Retrieved from: https://media.voog.com/0000/0038/0044/files/2011-69-72.pdf
(7) Centek, J (2014). Baltische Landeswehr. Retrieved from: https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/baltische_landeswehr
(8) Kukk, H. (1981). THE FAILURE OF IUDENICH’S NORTHWESTERN ARMY IN 1919: A DISSENTING WHITE RUSSIAN VIEW. Journal of Baltic Studies, 12(4), 362–383.
(9) Arjakas, K. (2020) How Was the Tartu Peace Treaty Reached? Retrieved from: https://icds.ee/en/how-was-the-tartu-peace-treaty-reached/
(10) Estonian MFA (2020) Order of Malta. Retrieved from: https://vm.ee/en/order-malta#:~:text=The%20Estonian%20government%20decided%20to,Rome%20on%2010%20March%202020
Images
(i1) Estonian War of Independence Map (2007). Retrieved from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Estonian_War_of_Independence,_map.JPG
(i2) Photograph of the Estonian lieutenant-general Johan Laidoner (1920) retrieved from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Johan_Laidoner.jpg
(i3) Tallinn Estonia February 24 1919 during Estonian War of Independence, the first celebration of Estonian Independence Day. Retreived from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tallinn24Feb1919.jpg
(i4) Kotelnykov, K. (2022) Retrieved from: https://diletant.media/articles/45243266/
(i5) White Army Propaganda poster. Retrieved from: https://alphahistory.com/russianrevolution/white-armies/
(peace) Armin Lomp (1920). retrieved from:
Comments