The Cycle of Terror in Estonia, 1917–1919: On its Preconditions and Major Stages

Abstract

World War I changed more than just the political map of Europe. One noteworthy consequence of the revolutions and war in East and Central Europe was the brutalization of human relations. Estonia saw three major “paroxysms” of violence in 1918–1919, which, although relatively limited in scale, are examples of the brutalization of human relations that occurred in the postwar period. The years 1918 and 1919 marked the first explosion of mass terror in Estonia, which led to the death of almost 2000 civilians. This article explores the preconditions and the stages of this terror focusing on the relationship between occupation, revolution, and land distribution. The author argues that the cycle of violence was unleashed by the radical transformation of landownership at the end of 1917. The previous owners often took advantage of the arrival of the German forces in February 1918 to exact revenge on those who had seized their property. The temporary return of the Bolsheviks at the beginning of the Estonian War of Independence was often seen as a pretext to avenge the injustices suffered under German occupation. The liberation of Estonia from the Red Army at the beginning of 1919 resulted in yet another wave of violence. The terror abated with the strengthening of state authority and the coming to power of a democratically elected government in April 1919.

Keywords:

• terror
• violence
• repressions
• Estonia
• revolution
• War of Independence

Notes

1. One should note that, from the legal perspective, at the end of the nineteenth and at the beginning of the twentieth century, the concept of “war crime” strongly differed from the modern, post-1949 understanding. The Lieber Code of 1863, which later became the basis for the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 and had a strong influence on the 3rd and 4th Geneva Conventions (1949), allowed measures that were finally banned by the Geneva Conventions of 1949: for instance, reprisals (art. 28–29), executions of the prisoners of war (art. 59), but also the summary executions of enemy collaborators (Section 5) and taking hostages (art. 54 and 55).

2. Reports of the Red Army 6th Division Right Flank Column Commander to the Division Commander, 3–17 December 1918, Russian State Military Historical Archive (Российский государственный военный архив, РГВА) 1171. 2. 2. PP. 1–8.

3. Manifest of the Council of the Workers’ Commune of Estonia. ERAF, 28. 1. 1–2. P. 1–3; Minutes of the Provisional Government session, 5 December 1918. Estonian State Archive (ERA), 31. 1. 11. P. 5.

4. Lists of employees of Estonian Commissions for Combating Counterrevolution, 15 December 1918, ERAF 28. 1. 164. P. 1–27.

5. Minutes of the Council of the Workers’ Commune of Estonia, 5 December 1918, ERAF, 28. 1. 1–2, P. 8.

6. Minutes of the Central Committee of the Estonian Sections of Russian Communist Party, 15 November 1918: ERAF, 28. 1. 1–2. L. 1–3.

7. While the Bolsheviks labeled their enemies “White Guards” or “counterrevolutionaries,” the opponents of the national government were automatically tagged as “Reds” or “Bolsheviks.” A characteristic example was a revolt against mobilization by the Estonian authorities in the exhausted and impoverished islands of Saaremaa and Muhumaa in February 1919. While the local militia termed the rebels “mutineers” rather than “Reds” (see Saaremaa militia reports of the period 18–21 February 1919: ERA, 30. 2. 5. P. 12, 39-p. 39, 40–41, 53–54, 106), the military dispatched from the mainland to quell the uprising described the rebels as “Reds.” The bulletin of the army operations HQ for a major newspaper stated that “Bolsheviks from mainland” rather than locals had started the uprising in Saaremaa and Muhumaa (Päevaleht nr. 43, 21 February 1919; Sotsiaaldemokraat nr. 43, 21 February 1919).

8. Lists of prisoners, December 1918 to May 1919: ERAF, 28. 1. 68. L. 15; 28. 1. 751. L. 1–6; 28. 3. 66. L. 25–164; 28. 1. 69. P. 1–89.

9. Records of the commissions investigating the Bolsheviks’ activities, sent to the Estonian Embassy in Paris, 6–8 February 1919: ERA, 1585. 1. 82a. P. 29, 87.

10. Reports of the Commissar of the Southern Group of the Red Army: ERAF, 28. 3. 77. P. 1–31.

11. Secret letters to the Head of Department of National Affairs, comrade Traksmann, 23 May 1919: ERAF, 28. 1. 69. P. 19–20.

12. Russian National Archive of Socio-political History (Российский государственный архив социально-политической истории, РГАСПИ) 17. 67. 7. PP. 25–28.

13. Ajutise Valitsuse määrus välikohtute asutamise kohta: Riigi Teataja (RT), Nr. 6, 11 December 1918.

14. Minutes of the Provisional Government session, 9 January 1919, in: ERA, 31. 1. 13. P. 20.

15. Decisions made by the court martial of 2nd Estonian Infantry Regiment, 27–31 January 1919, in: ERA, 541. 1. 307. P. 3–51.

16. Instructions for court martials. ERA, 527. 1. 6a. PP. 1–2.

17. Report of ltn Julius Kuperjanov: ERA, 518. 1. 217. P. 192.

18. Postwar Estonian civil courts viewed the Saaremaa uprising as a revolt against mobilization rather than an attempt to overthrow the state (Court decisions in the case of Jaan Tuulik, Isak Öövel, Juri Pruuli and Vassili Saksakulm. ERA. 32. 3. 139. PP. 59–61).

19. Reports about people who were either killed in combat or murdered by “Reds” in Saaremaa, 20 March 1919: ERA, 813. 1. 29. P. 120.

20. NKVD dossier of Bernhard Rahamägi, 30 January 1941: ERAF, 130SM. 1. 13852. P. 39, 44.

21. The request to provide alcohol for executioners, 28 February 1919. ERA, 813. 1. 29. P. 380.

22. Leaflet “Langenute nimel” (“In the name of the Fallen”), 24 February 1920. РГАСПИ, 17. 67. 7. P. 2. The same leaflet considers the army commander Major General Johan Laidoner as Hellat’s accomplice.

23. Eesti wabaduse sõda XI.1918–II.1920: terwishoidline osa, Tallinn 1921, table nr. 20 “Eesti sõjaväe kaotused Vabadussõjas” (Estonia’s military losses in the War of Independence).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Doctoral Studies and Internationalization Program of European Social Fund (DoRa), administered by Foundation Archimedes.

Notes on contributors

Taavi Minnik

Taavi Minnik is a Ph.D. candidate in History at the Institute of History, Tallinn University, in Estonia. He is also a lecturer at the Law School of Tallinn University.