1991 Estonian independence referendum

Transcription

Estonians have had a distinct culture for centuries, although the nation of Estonia did not exist until 1918. In 1869, a tradition of a massive singing festival, held every five years, called Laulupidu was established and still goes on. In the words of conductor Venno Laul, "The song festival for us is not only a musical event where we hear our best songs but it was, and still is primarily an opportunity to experience that we are Estonians." This is the story of how tiny nation held off a massive oppressor, not with weapons, but with song. This is the story of Estonia In 1939, the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression treaty with Nazi Germany known as the Molotov-Ribbentropp Pact, referred to as the MRP from now on. A secret protocol of the pact left Estonia open to Soviet takeover, and on June 21, 1939, the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed. The next year, the Germans turned on the soviets and brought their own regime to Estonia, but by 1944, after winning World War Two, the Soviets were back, bringing mass executions and deportations. Estonia was now devastated by the two powers. As a form of propaganda, Laulupidu inverted to a celebration of the Soviet Union. Until 1969, Soviet censors not notice when the choirs sang the national anthem, Mu Isamaa on Minu Arm, My Native Land, My Joy, My Delight. That year, the people sang anyway. After 1956, Russian workers were brought in to strip Estonian's of their culture. They were effective in this position because they fully believed that Estonia should be a part of Russia. In 1985, Mikhael Gorbachev became the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. He introduced a campaign of massive reforms to address a number of problems. Key among these was the idea of Glasnost, freedom of speech. [Trivimi Velliste]: "He made one very, very basic fundamental mistake, he didn't realize that [uh] whenever you give free speech to people then things get out of hand, the ghost gets out of the bottle." [Aarand Roos]: "But the Estonians here, that had their own government, they thought, aah, our big chance. If we are going to change something, okay, let's do it. Let's do it the real way. Let's do it our way. And, [eh] of course that wasn't exactly what [eh] Gorbachev had in mind." In spring, 1987, a strip mining project for phosphates put Glasnost to the test. Activists organized protests on the grounds that the project would be harmful to the environment, and potentially contaminate a major water reservoir. By staying nonpolitical, protesters of the "Phosphate Spring" were able to stop the mining, and opened a gateway for further protests. The next major protest, in August 1987 was against the legality of the MRP. Although the permit to assemble in the Tallinn town square was revoked at the last minute, thousands of protesters were allowed to move down the street, to Hirve Park, and a new organization, the MRP-AEG was formed. Soon, the Estonian Heritage Society was formed, and the Estonian National Independence Party replaced the MRP-AEG. The two are referred to together as radicals. Spring 1988, the illegal blue, black, and white flag began to appear. two new organizations emerged: the Popular Front of Estonia, PFE, which pursued autonomy within the Soviet system, and Interfront, a response by Russian colonists to the growing independence movement. In June 1988, nighttime demonstrations began at the Laulupidu grounds. For three nights tens of thousands of people came out to sing along to patriotic rock music, earning the name "Singing Revolution" from Heinz Valk. Karl Vaino, First Secretary of the Communist Party of Estonia, CPE, was dismissed on June 15, 1988 because the Kremlin feared that he could become dangerous. Vaino Veljas became the new head of the CPE, and immediately began radical reforms. the flag was made legal, and Estonian the official language of the republic. Come September, a more traditional singing event was organized by the PFE. Called the song of Estonia, 300,000 people came to sing traditional music and hear patriotic speeches. The next day, the radicals began registering citizens of Estonia. In a few months, nearly every adult had registered. The newly made citizens then organized and elected congress, which met for the first time on March 11, 1989. A new MRP debate was now beginning. Gorbachev honestly believed that the secret protocol was a falsification, and assigned a committee to investigate it. When he was proved wrong, he killed the issue. The people, however, didn't let it go that easily. On August 23, 1989, the anniversary of the MRP, over a million people joined hands in a human chain from Tallinn in the north to Vilnius in the south. the event received international news coverage. In May, 1990, the Supreme Council of the Legislature of the Communist Party illegalized the hammer and sickle flag and removed it at Toompea, the main government building. The next day, Interfront gangs mobbed the building. When Interfront became violent, Prime Minister Edgar Saavisar got on the radio. Thousands of people came to block in the demonstrators, and after Interfront called off the protest, the demonstrators were allowed to leave. August 19, 1991, Stalinists staged a coup in Moscow. Eighty tanks were ordered to Tallinn. In the confusion, the Supreme Council invited congress leaders to write a Resolution on the National Independence of Estonia. The tanks arrived at the Tallinn TV tower, the main news source for most of Estonia. Two unarmed policemen were dispatched to defend the tower. They watched as the Resolution passed unanimously at 11:03 PM, August 20, 1991. Thousands of unarmed civilians came to the tower, and the policemen threatened to use the tower's fire extinguishing system to kill everyone in the building if the army attacked. For eighteen hours, the army waited for orders. 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