In 1864 Jannsen moved from Pärnu to Tartu and, taking advantage of the more favourable circumstances there, started to publish a newspaper entitled Postimees (Estonian Courier). In 1865 on Jannsen's initiative the Vanemuine Singing and Theatrical Society was founded in Tartu, which served as an example for many national organizations of the same kind also elsewhere in Estonia. In 1869 Jannsen organized the First Song Festival in Tartu, to which choirs from all over Estonia assembled. By the words of a contemporary all Estonian people gathered for the song festival and sang themselves into a nation. Jakob Hurt, a young schoolteacher, made an inspiring speech there, calling for being faithful to the Estonian nation. The participants of the song festival took the national spirit into their homesteads and this resulted in an explosive growth of national identity in Estonia. So Jannsen had accomplished his task, proving to Estonians that they were a nationality; now others came who started to claim the rights of this nation.

The national awakening of Estonians frightened the Baltic-Germans, some of whom had expected to take advantage of estonians in their fight against the central authority of Russia. Now the Baltic-Germans were eager to restrict the spread of national ideas, which resulted in an open confrontation between the Germans and Jakob Hurt and Carl Robert Jakobson, the men of the younger generation, who had taken the lead in national movement. In spite of the opposition from Germans — or, perhaps, actually owing to that — people collected tens of thousands of roubles in order to establish the Aleksandrikool where Estonian was to be the language of tuition. The textbooks published with the support of the Estonian literary society modernized the Estonian school system, and national literature, art and theatre came into existence. People were influenced by the national poems written by Jannsen's daughter Lydia, whose penname was Koidula. A new level in Estonian journalism was the newspaper Sakala, which C. R. Jakobson started to publish in 1878.

It was quite soon that contradictions occurred between the leaders of the national movement. C. R. Jakobson considered it necessary, for tactical reasons, to rely on the central authority of Russia in the fight with Baltic-German landlords. Jakob Hurt, however, was seeking for a third direction or the "Estonian way" between the Russian and German influences. Different attitude towards church also provoked conflicts. For Jakobson the national movement was mainly a political campaign, while Hurt set a task for the nation to "become great in spirit". While initially these disagreements could not interfere in the national movement, then quite soon they overgrew into a direct power struggle. In early 1882 Carl Robert Jakobson died unexpectedly, and the activity of his "comrades in arms" resulted in the final split in the national movement, completely ousting Hurt and his fellow workers.

The conflicts in the national movement created a favourable soil for the Russification campaign that started in the Baltic countries. In the 1880s the Estonian education, court and self-government systems were Russified. National organizations, the press and the Lutheran Church fell under strong pressure. The Russian officials hoped for a fast Russification of Estonians, expecting that already in a short while Estonian mothers would sing Russian lullabies to their children.

But the attempt made for the Russification came too late. In the national awakening period Estonians had become a modern nation, and it was not easy to break them any more. Ousting Germans and the German language from public life, Russification actually paved the way to Estonianism. So Estonian society recovered from the first shock quite fast and started a fight for their existence. In 1884 the Estonian Students' Society consecrated their blue-black-and-white flag in Otepää, which was gradually taken into use as the national flag of Estonia. In 1888 Jakob Hurt started an all-Estonian campaign for the collection of folklore, which turned into a powerful manifestation of nationalism and as a result of which one of the most representative folklore collections in the world was created. Villem Reiman, a pastor from Kolga-Jaani, became the connecting link between the different generations of national movement. As it was quite difficult to establish other societies, it was temperance societies that started to disseminate national ideas.

In the early 1890s a new generation in national movement led by the young lawyer Jaan Tõnisson emerged. He emphasised that although Estonians were not numerous, they were still a nation. In 1896 the biggest Estonian daily Postimees (Courier) went into the hands of the younger generation. In polemics with the Russian-minded politicians Tõnisson gained the upper hand. This was the rise known under the name Renaissance of Tartu.

Breaking the backbone of Russification increased Estonians' self-assertion. While for a long time Tartu had been the sovereign centre of national movement, then now Tallinn also made its move. Under the editorship of the young lawyer Konstantin Pats a newspaper entitled Teataja (Announcer) started to be published. In 1904 the Estonian-Russian bloc won elections in Tallinn, ousting Germans from power. Estonian culture reached a new level. The grouping called Noor-Eesti (Young Estonia), which joined the younger generation of intellectuals, declared that it was necessary to remain Estonians but also become Europeans.

The Russian Revolution that had started in 1905 soon also spread into Estonia, bringing about people's political activeness. Under the leadership of Jaan Tõnisson the first political party in Estonia — Eduerakond (the Progressive Party of Estonia) — was formed. The demand for the autonomy of Estonia came forward. Under the pressure exerted by the activating left-wing forces the revolutionary movement became violent. At the end of 1905 about a hundred manors were burnt down in Northern Estonia. Punitive detachments were sent to the rural areas, and they unleashed ruthless terror there. Many a national figure fled the country. Although several concessions granted during the revolution were annulled, some of them were still valid. The permission to establish gymnasiums with mother tongue as the language of tuition was very important for Estonians.

The post-revolution years saw rapid development in Estonia. Through cooperation agriculture got on its feet again and towns prospered. Magnificent theatre buildings in Tartu and Tallinn as well as Estonian-language gymnasiums established by people gave evidence of the rising nation. Estonians had proved that they were able to survive even under the most unfavourable conditions. Therefore it was only natural that they were eager to become masters in their own home.

A favourable moment arrived in 1917. The losses incurred in World War I remarkably weakened tsarist Russia and in February 1917 a revolution broke out there. Nikolai II was forced to abdicate. Dual power reigned in Russia, where on the one hand, the committees of workers and soldiers that had been established in the course of the revolution exercised power, and on the other — the Provisional Government steering Russia towards democracy. Estonians took advantage of the February Revolution, uniting Estonia into one administrative region and gaining autonomy for it. When the Provisional Government started to drag out the decision, Estonians organized a powerful demonstration in St. Petersburg on March 26, 1917, under blue-black-and-white flags, which made the Provisional Government grant autonomy to Estonia on March 30, 1917. At the election to the Maapäev (Diet) in May national parties won, which caused a conflict between the Maapäev, and the workers and soldiers committees that were gradually moving under bolshevists' control. On the other hand, the positions of the Maapäev, were strengthened by the formation of the first Estonian national units.

In September 1917 the German troops, which had already earlier occupied most of Latvia and Lithuania, conquered Estonian islands. The collapse of Russia became more and more visible. This made Estonian politicians contemplate aiming their activities at fighting for the independence of their homeland. Jaan Tõnisson was the first among the most renowned politicians who made the idea public on August 25, 1917. At the same time chaos in Russia increased. The influence of bolshevists, who were financially supported by the German intelligence service, grew everywhere, including Estonia. One of the mediators of German money to the bolshevists was Aleksander Keskküla, an Estonian who this way hoped to destroy the Russian Empire and fight independence for Estonia. In October 1917 bolshevists seized power in Tallinn and elsewhere in Estonia. Officially it was exercised by the Estonian War-Revolutionary Committee headed by Viktor Kingissepp, but actually it fulfilled the orders given from St. Petersburg.

The Maapäev that convened on November 15, 1917, ignoring the ban from the bolshevists, did not recognize the seizure of power and proclaimed themselves the highest power in Estonia. Although the Maapäev was dissolved on the same day, their decisions were still influential. Foreign delegations started to act abroad, seeking for support to Estonia from the western countries. Despite the counteraction of the bolshevists, the idea of independence spread in Estonia as well. By the beginning of 1918 Estonia's strivings for independence were supported by all the political parties of Estonia, except for the bolshevists.

A favourable opportunity for proclaiming independence came in February 1918, when the bolshevists left Estonia under threat of the attack of the imperial German army. Taking advantage of the mess, national circles seized power in different parts of Estonia already before the arrival of the German troops. On February 24, 1918, Estonia proclaimed itself an independent democratic republic. The Elders' Council of the Maapäev set up the Estonian Salvation Committee headed by Konstantin Pats, who, in its turn, appointed the Estonian Provisional Government. However, the German troops who had occupied Estonia did not recognize the Republic of Estonia. Several government members were arrested, and Jüri Vilms, member of the Salvation Committee, who had fled to Finland, was shot there together with some of his associates. Germans established a severe occupation regime in Estonia, with the aim to found the Baltic Duchy under German protectorate. National movement once again went underground, making preparations for coming public at a suitable moment.

This moment came in November 1918, when Germany, who had been defeated in World War I, was forced to retreat from the Baltic countries. The withdrawing Germans transferred power to the Provisional Government, whose position was first rather insecure. The greatest threat for Estonia was the Red Army, which moved west after the retreating German troops, and who had been ordered by Lenin to wipe out the independent border states and kindle the flame of revolution in Europe.

On November 28, 1918, the Estonian War of independence started with the attack of the Red Army to Narva. The Red Army, which greatly outnumbered the Estonian troops, occupied greater part of Estonia by early January 1919, reaching at the distance of 30-40 kilometres from Tallinn. Many Estonians did not believe that Estonia could fight big Russia; the ones who went to the front were mainly volunteers, especially schoolchildren.

However, in 1919 an unexpected turn occurred in military action. Estonian troops were organizing themselves, and they were supported by the Fleet of Great Britain from the sea. People's morale was also boosted by the arrival of Finnish volunteers. Under the leadership of General Johannes Laidoner, Commander-in Chief of the Estonian defence forces, Estonians went to a counterattack and by the end of January practically ousted the Red Army from Estonia. Estonians' success made the bolshevist leaders anxious. The Red Latvian Rifles, who were moving west, were ordered to stop and attack estonians, but the latter crushed the Latvian Rifles. During the new offensive in the spring of 1919 Estonian units occupied Pskov and Northern Latvia. As from the south the German expedition corps (Landeswehr) under general von der Goltz was advancing, this meant the liquidation of bolshevist power in Latvia. In June 1919 the Estonian-Latvian troops in the so-called Landeswehr War in Northern Latvia encountered van der Goltz, who was striving to seize power in Latvia. In fierce battles the German army was defeated and national government was restored in Latvia. The victory over Landeswehr which was achieved under Võnnu (Cesis) on July 23, 1919, started to be celebrated as Victory Day in Estonia.

In the autumn of 1919 the Red Army, following the shreds of the retreating White Russian Northern Corps, again reached the border of Estonia. Fierce battles were waged in the vicinity of Narva, but in spite of heavy losses the Red Army was not able to break through the Estonians' defence. At the same time Estonia was exhausted by the war as well. Russia, who was interested in breaking through the blockade of the western countries, proposed Estonia to start peace negotiations. Although the western countries objected the latter, Estonia decided to proceed from its national interests and terminate the war. The negotiations that started on December 5, 1919, in Tartu, turned out to be complicated. The Estonian delegation was headed by Jaan Poska. During the peace negotiations Russia was still repeatedly trying to break through the frontline at Narva. It was only after the attacks had failed that Russia agreed to terminate its military action, which they also did on January 3, 1920, and on February 2, 1920, the peace treaty was signed in Tartu, in which Russia recognized the independence of Estonia.

So Estonia had been fighting and had gained independence. In the years to come the majority of the countries all over the world recognized Estonia de jure. The beginning of independence was hard for Estonia, as its economy had been closely connected with Russia and it was not easy to adapt it to the needs of an independent country. The experience of governing a state was negligible, and a number of institutions had to be built up which Estonia had lacked up to that time. All this required means which otherwise could have been used in other spheres of life. Here and there people were disappointed as the Estonian state did not seem to be as perfect as it had been expected.

In spite of all difficulties the building of a new society went fast. The Constituent Assembly, which had been elected during the battles of the War of Independence in the spring of 1919, worked out the constitution and passed the law on land reform, providing with land the men who had fought for the independence of Estonia. The liquidation of landlords' big landed properties first caused problems in country life, but these were overcome in a decade. The building-up work in Estonia was interfered by the attempts of Soviet Russia to destabilize the situation in Estonia and subject it to their own influence, for which the local communists, who had gained support due to the problems that Estonia faced, were used. On December 1, 1924, Moscow leaders tried to organize a communist coup d'tat in Estonia with the help of terrorists trained on the territory of Russia, but they failed. Estonians suddenly realized that independence was not to be taken for granted and that it could be lost very easily. This changed people's attitudes. The situation in Estonia stabilized, and economy started to prosper.

Despite problems and repercussions Estonia underwent rapid development in the period of independence. In 1934 the economic crisis and the fight in domestic policy that was becoming fiercer brought to power in Estonia, analogously to many other European countries, an authoritarian government. The activity of political parties was terminated, and power went over to Riigivanem (Prime Minister in the Duties of the Head of State) Konstantin Pats. As the measures taken in earlier years started to exert their influence now, the 1930s were the time for fast progress in Estonia. The living standard in Estonia was still lower than that of the wealthier countries of Europe, but it was almost equal to that of Finland. In 1938 the new constitution was adopted in Estonia an election to Parliament took place; all political prisoners were granted amnesty.

The peaceful development of Estonia was interrupted by World War II, which broke out in 1939. On August 23 of the same year on the basis of the secret protocols of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact concluded between Nazi Germany and communist Russia, Estonia was included in the sphere of influence of Russia. In September 1939 the USSR in the form of an ultimatum demanded permission from Estonia to set up military bases on its territory. The claims were accompanied by the demonstrations of military power. The USSR had concentrated its military forces on Estonian border and was ready to attack Estonia if the claims had been rejected. In order to prevent the war from breaking out, the Estonian government decided to satisfy the demands. Red Army bases were established in Estonia. Ignoring the concluded agreement, the USSR demanded by the ultimatum of June 16, 1940, the deployment of a supplementary contingent of troops in the territory of Estonia and the formation of a new government acceptable for the USSR, occupying the whole territory of Estonia on the following day. Soviet security organs started to operate here, and arrests and terror began. Stalin's envoy Andrei Zhdanov arrived in Estonia; he dictated the composition of the new government and started preparations for incorporating Estonia into the USSR. In order to exchange the existing Riigivolikogu (lower chamber of the Parliament), the so-called election was organized in 1940, which was only meant for the candidates approved by Zhdanov. The "puppet parliament" that convened on July 21, 1940, proclaimed Estonia a socialist republic and applied to the USSR with a request to incorporate it. The annexation of Estonia was registered by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on August 6, 1940. The majority of the countries of the world never recognized the annexation of Estonia by the USSR, and in many countries Estonian diplomatic missions continued their work throughout the whole period of Soviet occupation.

The first year of Soviet occupation was hard for Estonia. The former life style was wiped away, and a bloody terror started. An especially severe blow was the so-called June deportation, in the course of which on June 14, 1941, over 10,000 people were sent to Siberia, most of them women and small children. In all, Estonia lost in one year approximately 60,000 of its inhabitants. The shock that hit the people in 1940-1941 was so great that in a year's time it wiped out the reluctance towards Germans that had persisted for 700 years.

Therefore the news about Germany attacking the Soviet Union was accepted with relief. The groups of Forest Brothers or partisans, who had gathered in the woods after deportation, became active, freeing a great part of the Estonian territory before the German troops arrived. When leaving, the soldiers of the Red Army and those of the destroyer battalions formed by communists slaughtered people all over Estonia. In early July, 1941, a uprising broke out in Tartu, as a result of which power in the southern part of the town went over to partisans, under whose protection the politicians of independent Estonia, who had been saved from the terror, gathered in Tartu. Under the leadership of Jüri Uluots, the last legal Prime Minister of Estonia, a memorandum was drawn up to be presented to the German authorities, proposing the restoration of legal governmental power in Estonia on the basis of legal continuity.

However, the restoration of independence in Estonia did not fit in the plans of Nazi Germany. By the end of August, 1941, the German troops, supported by the Estonian partisans, had ousted the Red Army from mainland Estonia; on the islands battles still continued for a few months. Power in Estonia was not given to the legal government of Estonia but the Estonian Self-Government formed by Germans. A typical occupation regime was established in Estonia, which was accompanied by burning books and exterminating the Jews who had remained in Estonia. It became clear to Estonians that one occupant had simply replaced the other. The resistance groups, which had fought against the Soviet power, went underground again, establishing a foundation for the national resistance movement oriented to the western countries, which in the course of years gathered under the sign of the National Committee of the Republic of Estonia. By an agreement with Jüri Uluots the National Committee started to operate from the spring of 1944 as a pseudo-Parliament uniting all the political parties of Estonia.

In January 1944 the Red Army broke through the blockade at Leningrad and reached the Estonian border. In order to stop the offensive of the Red Army, the German high command needed additional forces, which had to be guaranteed by the mobilization carried out in Estonia. While so far the attitude of national circles towards the mobilizations carried out by Germans had been negative, then now they decided to support it. As a result of the address given by Jüri Uluots, tens of thousands of Estonians joined the German army, participating in decisive battles, which stopped the invasion of the Red Army to Estonia. Uluots's aim was to establish the foundation for Estonia's own army in the form of Estonian units, which could be used at the right time to restore the independence of Estonia. Hitler, after Finland had dropped out of the war, decided to withdraw his army from Estonia. National circles took advantage of this moment to restore independence. On September 18, 1944, Uluots appointed in Tallinn a government headed by Otto Tief. Armed conflicts started between Estonian soldiers and Germans, and the blue-black-and-white national flag was hoisted at the top of the Pink Hermann Tower. Unfortunately, the government lacked the strength to stop the Red Army units that were approaching Tallinn. On September 22, 1944, the Red Army troops occupied Tallinn, replacing the blue-black-and-white flag with the red one. The government was trying to escape from the country, but most of its members were arrested by the Soviet security organs. However, this served as the foundation for the attempt to achieve independence, on which in the years to come the refugees continuing their fight for Estonia's freedom in the free world could rely.

The new Soviet occupation brought about new sufferings for Estonia. Once again a bloody terror began, to which tens of thousands of people fell victim. In March 1949 over 20,000 Estonian people were deported to Siberia in the hope of breaking down resistance to coercive collectivization in agriculture. In all, approximately one third of the population suffered from repressions, and Estonia lost 17% of its pre-war population as a result of the Soviet occupation. The Estonians who had been sent to Siberia were replaced by colonists from the other regions of the USSR, hoping, by doing so, to turn Estonians into an ethnic minority in their own country.

Although after Stalin's death the situation in the Soviet Union started to improve gradually and economy set to the path of progress, the essence of occupation still remained the same. The colonization and Russification policy continued and gained special impetus beginning from the late 1970s. The proportion of Estonians in the population of Estonia decreased rapidly. While at the end of the war it had amounted to approximately 90% of the total population, then by the end of the 1980s it was barely over 60%. The living standard in Estonia was higher than in many other parts of the Soviet Union; vet, it was gradually more and more lagging behind the developed countries. It was especially clear in comparison to Finland, which before World War II had been almost at the same level with Estonia.

In spite of pressure, Estonians did not give up resistance to the Soviet power. In the first post-war decade it occurred in the form of armed resistance or the movement of Forest Brothers, which the Soviet authorities were able to suppress only by the mid-1950s. The last Forest Brother — August Sabbe — was caught only in 1978. After smothering the movement of Forest Brothers it was the secret organizations of schoolchildren who took over the baton of resistance movement, and beginning from the late 1960s — the dissidents. In 1972 several resistance organizations from Estonia sent a joint memorandum to the UNO, demanding the termination of occupation in Estonia. In 1979 the dissidents of the Baltic States demanded in the so-called Baltic Appeal the denouncement of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The intensifying Russification brought about the growth of protest movement. In 1980 spontaneous youth unrests occurred in Tallinn, which were brutally quelled by the Soviet power. In protest against that some well-known Estonian cultural figures composed the so-called "letter of the 40", which was distributed as manuscript copies and aroused great interest. The Soviet authorities arrested many people who participated in the resistance movement, but failed to destroy it.

Although the number of people openly participating in resistance movement was not great, it was supported by the passive resistance spread among people, the main component of which was the preservation of their own culture, language, memory and mentality. Culture became a peculiar weapon for Estonians, which helped them oppose the wish of the totalitarian communist system to subject every sphere of life to its control.

All this created preconditions for activating the resistance movement in the second half of the 1980s, when the loss in the "cold war" and the innovations resulting from this gradually started to disintegrate the Soviet Union more and more. Estonians immediately took advantage of the weakening of the Soviet power, first cautiously and later on more and more actively controlling the limits of their freedom.

In 1986 a foundation was laid to the Estonian Heritage Movement, which aimed its activities at restoring the nation's historic memory. Although the authorities were trying to impose restrictions on the Heritage Movement, they failed to ban it completely. The "phosphorite war" — a protest movement against the new mines designed to be opened up in Estonia — which broke out in the spring of 1987 involved even greater masses. Under people's pressure the authorities were forced to give in and to dismiss the idea of opening new mines. The victory achieved exerted stimulating influence on people: the protest movement was gradually turning into an openly political one.

On August 23, 1987, the released political prisoners organized demonstrations demanding the denouncement of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in the capitals of all the three Baltic States. The number of people participating in them was unexpectedly large, which testified to the slackening of the atmosphere of terror. The Estonian Disclosure Group of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (MRP-AEG) was founded in Estonia, and it organized several more demonstrations in early 1988. The authorities' attempts to stop them either by force or by frightening failed. Wider and wider masses started to protest against the situation in Estonia.

The Plenum of Creative Unions that took place in early April 1988, demanded the termination of the Russification policy and the granting of more rights to Estonians in making their own decisions. In mid-April, 1987, Edgar Savisaar, who had attained renown as the initiator of the economic reform IM (Isemajandav Eesti — Self-Managing Estonia), put forward a proposal to establish the Rahrarinne (Popular Front) in support of perestroika. The proposal found wide support and support groups of the Rahvarinne started to be organized all over Estonia.

Due to all these events people's activities got out of control. In April 1988 on Heritage Protection Days in Tartu people regained the right to life for Estonian national colours, and blue-black-and-white symbols and flags spread like wildfire all over Estonia, waking people from as if a long sleep. In early June hundreds of thousands of young people gathered on the song festival grounds in Tallinn to sing under blue-black-and-white flags. The patriotic songs composed by a young composer Alo Mattiisen aroused particular enthusiasm. The "Singing Revolution" had begun in Estonia. Mass demonstrations took place all over the country. On the initiative of the Heritage Protection Society monuments destroyed by the alien power — and alongside this also people's historic memory — were restored.

Moscow, facing unexpectedly strong pressure, decided to escape by manoeuvring. The unpopular local leaders were replaced, and the new ones yielded to most of the demands made by the Rahvarinne (Popular Front). However, this could not silence people's activity any more. While at first they had dreamed of autonomy and more freedom, then quite soon course was set for the restoration of independence. A leading role in the radicalization of society was played by the movement of citizens' committees, which started to operate in 1989, registering the legal citizens of the Republic of Estonia in order to convene, on behalf of them, the Eesti Kongress (Estonian Congress), which could take decisions about the future of Estonia. The non-Estonians residing in Estonia were offered an opportunity to register themselves during one year as applicants for Estonian citizenship.

At the same time the "Estonian virus" spread all over the Soviet Union. An important role in it was played by the activities of the deputies elected from Estonia to the all-Union pseudo-Parliament.

On August 23, 1989, a chain of people — the Balti kett (Baltic Chain) was formed through all the three Baltic States, which demonstrated to the whole world that the Baltic peoples were determined to stand up for their freedom.

At the election to the local representative organs in 1990 the forces supporting independence achieved a victory. Lithuania was the first one to proclaim independence; Latvia and Estonia followed in a slightly different form.

The Soviet authorities tried, by using different methods, to get the defiant republics under their control again, but failed.

In January 1991 Soviet special forces used military invention in Lithuania and Latvia; in Estonia the attack was called off owing to the intervening of Boris Jeltsin, President of Russia, and the wave of protest that occurred in the world. However, the Soviet administration was still unwilling to recognize the independence of the Baltic States.

It happened only in August 1991, when after an unsuccessful military coup d'etat the whole Soviet Union collapsed. From among foreign countries Iceland was the first to recognize the independence of the Baltic States de jure, and it was quickly followed by other greater western powers. On September 17, 1991, the Baltic States were granted membership of the UNO: they had returned to the family of free nations.

So independence had been restored, yet, the Baltic States were still in a very difficult situation. The fifty-year-long occupation had left its devastating imprint. Economy was in a disastrous situation, environment and human minds were contaminated. In many respects the Baltic States were independent only on paper, in real life depending on Russia almost in all spheres of life. In this situation Estonia decided to choose the path of radical reforms, decisively breaking loose from its Soviet past.

A new constitution was adopted and on the basis of that a new parliament and president were elected for Estonia. In 1992 a radical monetary reform was carried out in Estonia, which was followed by other economic reforms.

In the first half of the 1990s Estonia took a sharp turn from east to west. A significant event was the withdrawal of the Russian troops from Estonia on August 31, 1994. This turn was made irreversible in the second half of the 1990s, as Estonia was granted full membership both in the European Union and in the NATO. On the world level Estonia has achieved renown as one of the most successful transition states.

At the beginning of the new millennium Estonian society can be seen as having successfully passed the transition period. However, the EU and NATO membership are issuing new challenges. We have become part of the big world, and in order to act there we have to set new targets, yet not forget about our roots. Key to success both for Estonia and many other countries is hidden in the balance between openness and national identity. And now it depends on Estonia and not anyone else how we are able to take advantage of the opportunities we face.

Kim Ernest

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