What about President Päts' involvement with Russian businessmen in the 30's, and generally speaking, the Russians strong support of Päts as "their man" in Estonia; what about the machhinations of the Harju Bank in the earlier 30's; what about arms sales in the 30's to Fraco's Spain? Estonia was very active in international affairs in this cruciall important historical decade, and we are sadly mistaken, if we imagine Estonia was "Isolationist" by nature-being a small European country. No-we were steeped in European affairs, and traded our interests both with our neighbours and others further afield. These interests came back to haunt us again in the late 30's, and no doubt part of Estonia's incorporation into the USSR was tied to these consequences.

it is safe to say that maxim ihas read far more widely than the people posting comments against him ... it would be interesting to get the real story on the collapse of the harju bank, armand hammer role and its financing of the december 1924 attempted coup

to is a preposition, children is the noun in the phrase .... try again

Of course it would pay to investigate why President Päts in 1934 dissolved the hard-fought elections which were won by the "Vaps" faction headed by Andres Larka. Päts claims the victory could have brought instability, but effectively, the President then disarmed the country, and Estonians were left to fend for their freedom with their own bare hands. Why would Päts be so alarmed by these veteran soldiers, and so madly driven to disarm the country, I wonder? Whose interests did he really serve? Certainly not Estonia's in any case! And now we mainly remember Päts for saving us from a bloody confrontation with the returned Soviet forces in 1944-hmm; something here doesn't quite add up, methinks.

Eesti Elu....14 inimest on surma saanud Naissaare läheduses olevas Eesti meres-kus te olete????

Your comments about the freemasons are interesting. I do not doubt that secret sovieties have had considerable influence in many different countries over the years. Sometimes they have even influenced governments openly. Besides the freemasons the Orange Order, Ku Klux Klan, Opus Dei, Bruderbond and Mafia have all been very powerful organizations in their respective countries.
The freemasons however, have not been a cohesive movement. They are so large that they have always been divided into different factions. For example, most of the comspiring that brought about the American, French and Russian revolutions took place in masonic lodges. However, the results of these revolutions were very different.
The Russian government led by Kerensky was made up of freemasons but they were overthrown by the communists, a group that also was heavily represented in this order who ended up closing all of the lodges in the Soviet union and making this secret society illegal. There were also many White Guard members who were masons, Gen. Kornilov among them.
It is true that Päts and Laidoner were masons but so was anyone in Europe at the time who was rich and powerful. I do not think that Päts let in the Soviet army because of a masonic conspiricy, he simply felt that he had no choice. Many criticize him now but what would they have done in his place?
It was probably just by a fluke of history that Estonia became independent. The English and French refused to recognize Estonian independence until the fall of Admiral Kolchak's government. They viewed Estonia as a renegade province and if they had their way we would have stayed under "One Russia, Great and Indivisable".
One thing I would like to mention about the masons is that I do not think that such an organization has a place in any modern, democratic society. I was very disappointed to find out that Laar and some other Estonian politicians had decided to join this anachronism. The Estonian people should convince their elected leaders that the place for political debating and decision making is in parliament, not in a masonic lodge.

Looks like big brother is making another attempt here to get his way-history lessons are obviously of little value to some. Stalin brought about a sense of "openness" to his society-out the window went the intelligentsia and all other threatening forms of life; the same happened in China with the Cultural revolution. And these days we are nudging harder and harder in the West to get people to reveal their identity when expressing their thoughts. The frog in the extreme water temperature syndrome, you could call it. Peep should know better-he lived in a one-candidate regime where someone looked over your shoulder in the ballot box; yet he wants a return of these good old days. These politically correct people argue that others should have nothing to hide, if they speak the truth-let them reveal themselves to those who really must know who they are. Try convincing someone who made it through a civil revolution (like Russia's or China's) as to whether that really is the case. If we didn't have the framework (made up of the politically correct police force!) for conspiring to rid free thinkers amongst us, then the picture today would be vastly different and considerably less threatening. Peep even manages to convey a sinister tone in his comment whether he admits to it or not. However, libel being what it is today, the first people to go underground in any so-called effort at "openness" are the free thinkers. What do you have left? The idiots who shout at others for saying something in the first place, when really the former wanted the Metropolis to be filled with their own egotistically-minded pollution. Eesti Elu-look out! Your days of freedom could be numbered, if the likes of Peep get their way.