Much War and Little Peace: Estonia’s Long Road to Find an Identity

Travel Story by Eric-Mackenzie Lamb
The St Kitts and Nevis Observer

TALLINN, ESTONIA: Beyond a doubt, there are few places in today’s world where history has imposed so many dark and desperate moments, with so many struggles, as this small, almost picture-postcard country situated on the northeast edge of the Baltic Sea. Medieval cities and villages, traditional rural farms, green rolling pastures, verdant forests, and spectacular offshore islands-all in a corner of the world where, during the summer months, you can still read a newspaper at midnight under the reflected light from the northern skies.

But it hasn’t always been such a tranquil place. Much like its neighbors, Latvia and Lithuania, Estonia’s quest for its own identity spans more than a thousand years. And, along with that journey has come a never-ending succession of wars, famines, deadly epidemics, foreign occupations, near-genocide, even a medieval form of virtual slavery. The fact is, the history of Estonia would fill many volumes, most of it deeply disturbing.

As far as has been determined, the first permanent human settlements in what’s now called Estonia date back to around ten thousand years. Estonia, due to its access to the Baltic Sea, was a frequent target for Vikings and other seaborne marauders. Over the following centuries, the country was almost constantly occupied by competing neighboring powers like Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and Russia. There was little, if any, formal religion, only pagan rites which largely identified with nature, an example being the practice of so-called “wind magic”. Much of this was subdued-but not entirely eliminated-after Pope Celestine III called for a crusade to bring Christianity to these “heathen” lands of the far north. In response, Estonia was invaded by forces from Denmark and Germany, among others, all of whom considered it a sacred duty to bring Christianity to these pagan regions. But territorial gain was also a motive. Denmark, as a result, became the “protector” of Estonia.

…

Today, Estonia can boast of having one of the world’s highest per capita literacy rates: 98.6 percent.

And Estonians are highly skilled in multiple fields, especially when it comes to IT technology, art, manufacturing, and design. (Would it surprise you to learn that Skype was invented in Estonia? Well, it was). Estonia was also the first country in the world to approve elections of parliamentary candidates through the Internet, in 2007.

A fascinating and upbeat country in every sense of the word. And an inspiration as well.