Rahvarinne
Rahvarinne ( Estonian for “Popular Front”) was the name for a democratic opposition movement against Soviet rule in Estonia in the late 1980s . It dissolved at the end of 1991 after Estonian independence was regained.
prehistory
When the new General Secretary of the CPSU , Mikhail Gorbachev , took office in March 1985, reform forces in Estonia, which was occupied and annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940, also began to hope that the rigid communist system would be relaxed.
While the head of the Communist Party of Estonia (EKP) under the First Secretary of the Central Committee, Karl Vaino , largely rejected Gorbachev's reform efforts, Estonian reform circles showed solidarity with the incipient policy of perestroika ( restructuring ). The reason for this in the Estonian SSR was the criticism of the Soviet plans for environmentally hazardous phosphorite mining at Kabala, Toolse and Rakvere . An independent environmental movement was founded at the end of 1986. It became more and more political and organized in the course of 1987. The Soviet authorities finally gave in to popular protests and stopped plans to mine phosphorite.
First dissident movements
Encouraged by this success of the citizens' movement, political dissidents founded the "Estonian Group for the Publication of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact " ( Molotov-Ribbentropi Pakti Avalikustamise Eesti Grupp - MRP-AEG ) in mid-August 1987 . They turned against the Soviet denial of the secret additional protocol of the German-Soviet non-aggression pact of August 23, 1939, demanded its publication and the "removal of its consequences". With the secret additional protocol, the German-Soviet spheres of interest in East Central Europe were delimited: Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Poland east of the Narew , Vistula and San rivers fell into the Soviet area of interest. The agreement had prepared the occupation of Estonia by the Soviet Union in June 1940, but had been denied by the Soviet Union even after the de-Stalinization . Moscow insisted that Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania had voluntarily joined the Soviet Union in the summer of 1940. The opposition MRP-AEG managed to hold a public political meeting in Hirvepark ( Hirvepargi miiting ) in Tallinn on August 23, 1987 without direct intervention by the state. This encouraged the Estonian people to continue to challenge Soviet state power.
At the end of 1987 a larger association was founded under the name "Estonian Monument Protection Association" ( Eesti Muinsuskaitse Selts - EMS ), which addressed the public with criticism of the dictatorship in Estonia and the demand for democratic rights and national self-determination. A demonstration in Tartu in February 1988 was violently broken up by police.At the beginning of 1988 calls for the establishment of an opposition democratic party, the "Party of National Independence of Estonia" ( Eesti Rahvusliku Sõltumatuse Party - ERSP ) grew louder. It was founded in August 1988.
Both groups used national Estonian memorial days to express their demands: the Estonian-Soviet Russian peace treaty of Tartu (February 2, 1920), the proclamation of Estonian state independence (February 24, 1918) and the Stalinist deportation terror of March 1949.
On 1st / 2nd In April 1988, Estonian intellectuals publicly called for a democratic change in society and the resignation of the communist leaders Karl Vaino and Bruno Saul, who were unwilling to reform . The communist party's power began to crumble.
Formation of the Rahvarinne
In mid-April, on a live broadcast on Estonian television , the oppositionist Edgar Savisaar called for the formation of a legal, democratic opposition, the “Estonian Popular Front in Support of Perestroika” ( Eestimaa Rahvarinne Perestroika Toetuseks - ERR ), or Rahvarinne for short . It quickly went from a rather loose network of like-minded people to an Estonian mass movement that demanded democratic reforms and an extensive separation of Estonia from the Soviet Union. The official establishment of the Rahvarinne took place on 1/2. October 1988 in the Tallinn Linnahall . The Rahvarinne worked closely with like-minded opposition movements in Latvia ( Latvijas Tautas Fronte ) and Lithuania ( Sąjūdis ). The Rahvarinne's leaders were mainly Edgar Savisaar, Viktor Palm and Marju Lauristin .
Singing revolution
The Rahvarinne meanwhile openly challenged the Soviet state power. In April 1988, members of the opposition publicly displayed the blue, black and white national flag of Estonia in Tartu, which was banned in the Soviet Union . In June 1988, under pressure from Gorbachev, the former strong man of the EKP, Karl Vaino, had to vacate his place due to unwillingness to reform. He was succeeded on June 16, 1988 by the reform-minded communist Vaino Väljas .
As early as June 17, 1988, the Rahvarinne organized a mass demonstration with 150,000 participants at the Tallinn Singing Stage . They sang Estonian patriotic songs including the old national anthem Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm, and displayed the Estonian national flag. The Singing Revolution formulated its clear national and democratic demands on the Soviet rulers. On September 11, 1988, the Rahvarinne organized the Eesti Laul ("The Estonian Song") demonstration in Tallinn, which was attended by 300,000 people, a third of the Estonian population. Demands for democracy and separation from the Soviet Union were now unmistakable.
Communist counter-movement
In the summer of 1988, a communist counter-movement to Rahvarinne came together . It demanded the integrity of the Soviet Union and turned against national Estonian aspirations. The Interliikumine (officially "International Movement of Workers of the Estonian SSR" - Eesti NSV Töötajate Internatsionaale Liikumine ) and the TKÜN ("Joint Soviet of Workers Collective " - Töökollektiivide Ühendnõukogu ), founded in autumn 1988, wanted to stick to the status quo.
The EKP split more and more about how to proceed. The majority of them proposed a "federation treaty" between Estonia and the Soviet Union. On November 16, 1988, the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR adopted a declaration on the sovereignty of Estonia and introduced far-reaching changes to the constitution . Estonian SSR laws should take precedence over Union laws. Relations between Estonia and the Soviet Union should be defined on the basis of an international treaty. But this idea failed because of resistance from Moscow . Demands of the moderate Rahvarinne for the proclamation of a “Third Estonian Republic” (after 1918–1940 and 1940–1988) by all Estonian residents (including the Russians who only came into the country after the Soviet occupation of Estonia in 1940) did not find a majority among the Estonians Nationalists who have called for the continuity of the Republic of Estonia to be recognized since 1918.
Democratic elections
In January 1989 the Estonian Parliament passed a language law that gave Estonian official status. February 24th was declared Independence Day again. The Rahvarinne got more and more support with their demands for state independence. On February 23, the flag of the Estonian SSR was hoisted at the Langer Hermann flag tower in Tallinn and the blue, black and white Estonian national flag was hoisted again the following day.
On August 23, 1989, the anniversary of the Hitler-Stalin Pact, the Rahvarinne organized the so-called Baltic Way ( Balti kett ), on which over two million Estonians , Latvians and Lithuanians over a distance of 600 km from Tallinn to Vilnius in one Linked human chain.
On February 24, 1990 elections were held for an opposition Estonian Congress ( Eesti Congress ). It included all the political opposition forces in the country and most exiles. The executive body of the Estonian Congress was a 78-member Estonian Committee ( Eesti Committee ) chaired by Tunne Kelam . At the same time, at the 20th party congress of the EKP in March, the Communist Party split into two camps: nationally-minded reform communists and supporters loyal to Moscow.
In the same month, on March 18, 1990, the first semi-free elections to the Estonian parliament since the 1930s took place. The Rahvarinne candidates won a relative majority of the 105 seats with 24% and 45 MPs. The Rahvarinne's strong man , Edgar Savisaar , was elected Prime Minister by the new parliament.
On March 30, 1990, Parliament declared a "phase of transition" which was to end with the restoration of independence. In May, the Estonian SSR was officially renamed the Republic of Estonia and the use of the state symbols of the Estonian SSR was banned. Union laws were no longer valid. However, tensions between the newly elected parliament and the Estonian Congress hampered the work of the reform forces.
Regaining state independence
On May 15, 1990, there were demonstrations by communist forces in Tallinn. Moscow threatened Estonia with an economic blockade and a state of emergency. All-union companies called for strikes. However, Estonia was spared parallel Soviet acts of violence in Riga and Vilnius against civilian targets.
The Rahvarinne was meanwhile also supported by anti-communist Russian reform forces. In March 1991 the Estonian government organized an "anticipatory" referendum on restoring the independence of the Republic of Estonia. 77.8% of the votes cast were yes, including a third of the Russian-speaking population of Estonia.
When the Soviet military carried out a coup d'état in Moscow in August 1991 and wanted to overthrow Gorbachev, the Estonian parliament, with the support of the Rahvarinne, adopted a declaration on August 20, 1991 to restore Estonian independence. At the same time, it called on all states to recognize them under international law. Iceland started on August 22nd, followed by Russia and Hungary . This marked the final separation from the Soviet Union. After the failure of the coup on September 6, 1991, it was also recognized by the Soviet Union under international law. On September 17, 1991, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were admitted to the United Nations .
resolution
The Rahvarinne dissolved with the fulfillment of its purpose, the achievement of democracy and the rule of law in Estonia and the separation from the Soviet Union, after the fall of the Wall. It officially ceased its activity on November 13, 1993. The popular movement was absorbed in the new Estonian party spectrum that was establishing itself. On October 12, 1991, the Rahva-Keskerakond ("People's Center Party ") was founded on the basis of the Rahvarinne , which later became the Estonian Center Party ( Eesti Keskerakond ) under its chairman Edgar Savisaar.
A constituent assembly, made up of equal numbers of representatives from Parliament and the Estonian Congress, drew up a new constitution .
literature
- Mati Laur et al .: History of Estonia. Tallinn ²2002 ( ISBN 9985-2-0606-1 ), pp. 307-315.
Web links
- History, documents, pictures, backgrounds (Estonian)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento from June 9, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ The protocols are published under J. Nõmm, A. Ottenson (ed.): Rahvakongress. Eestimaa Rahvarinde congress 1. – 2. X 1988. Materjalide kogumik. Tallinn 1988.
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento from June 9, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Text in German translation
- ^ Text in German translation