History

Evidence seems to suggest that the land now known as Estonia could have had people in it as much as 9,000 years ago.  The first people that can be called Estonians date back to sometime around 3,500 B.C.  They were the Finno-Urgic tribes who came from the north to inhabit that region.  They settled the region down through part of what today is known as Latvia.  By 100 A.D. these people had become organized into different states.  The Estonians from this time period were farmers and hunters, living in small villages.  Trade occurred between these Estonian people and other nations of Northern Europe and people of Scandinavia.  

Beginning in 1193, Estonia along with the other states along the Baltic Sea became the target of many a leader and his nation who wanted control of Estonia’s position on the Baltic Sea for trade.  From the religious crusade of the Pope in Rome to the rule of German landowners,  the people of Estonia fought for their freedom in different wars from the early 1200’s until 1991 when they once again were able to declare their independence.

The Estonian people became the target of the Baltic Crusade begun by the Pope in 1193.  Because the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were considered to be pagan, the church in Rome wanted to see them converted.  Estonia also became a target of the nation of Germany which had a desire to control the trade in these Baltic States.  The Knights of the Sword, the crusaders from Germany, seized control of most of the southern part of Latvia.  By 1208 they had moved through Latvia into the southern part of Estonia.  Resistance by the farmers in the south of Estonia was strong, and it took the Knights 10 years defeat them.  The Estonian farmers lost their land to the Germans and were forced to serve the German owners and work the land for them.  During this time, the Danish King Wademar II invaded and took control of northern Estonia.

Control of Estonia was taken over byt the Teutonic Knights when The Knights of the Sword joined them in 1236.  In 1260 the Teutonic Knights joined the southern part of Estonia with the state of Latvia and called the territory Livonia.  In 1345 the northern part of Estonia was sold to the Teutonic Knights by the Danish who were not having an easy time with the Estonians in the north.

These were not the only nations to have controlled Estonia and the other Baltic states.  Ivan the Terrible attacked the east and central parts of Livonia.  The Teutonic Knights, at this time known as the Livonian Knights in the Baltic region were defeated.  Also, Poland took over the southern part of Livonia.  The Germans who owned land in the south, called upon Sweden to step in and liberate their land from the Russians.  The King of Sweden, Gustavus II, not only pushed the Russians out of Livonia in a war from 1613 to 1617, but the Polish as well from 1621 to 1629.

Even though the Swedish now controlled the government of Livonia, the Germans still held their land.  The lives of their Estonian servants were improved because of reforms that were put in place by the Swedish government.  The Swedish held power until 1709 when Peter the Great and the Russians defeated them.  The Russians took over the Estonian capital of Tallinn in 1710 but were unable to gain complete control of Estonia until the Swedish gave it up in 1721 during the Peace of Nystadt.

Following a rule by the Russians from 1721 until February 24, 1918, Estonia declared its independence, as Russia was experiencing challenges from within during the Russian Revolution in 1917.  After more than 700 years, Estonia was now free.