Fascism and Nazism as ideologies display some classic common characteristics:
- Extreme nationalism with a sense of historic mission. Restoring “national pride” is one of Vladimir Putin’s prime goals. Russian leadership still asserts its right to meddle in the internal affairs of neighbouring former Soviet Republics as per the recent Ukrainian presidential elections. Practically daily, it singles out Latvia and Estonia with various threats. Xenophobes like Vladimir Zirinovsky have substantial followings.
- Aggressive militarism. Invading Afghanistan, using artillery against rebellious Russian parliamentarians, totally leveling cities in separatist Chechnya are just a few examples.
- Authoritarian reliance on a leader or elite not constitutionally responsible to the electorate. Putin insists that Russians need and thrive in a strong, paternalistic state. He intends to dispose of elections for 89 regional governors and to appoint them directly. Parliamentary elections are to be based on slates chosen by party leaders he controls.
- A cult of personality around a charismatic leader. Thirty governors, showing necessary fealty to Putin’s authority, have quickly joined Putin’s United Russia party. In paying homage to the ruthless Yuri Andropov, long-time KGB head and briefly Soviet leader, Putin has restored Andropov’s statue in the Lublyanka. Changes in Russia’s constitution are expected so that Putin’s reign as president can be extended.
- Forging of an alliance with an elite sector of society. Putin has provided privileged government positions to selected KGB and FSB colleagues. Most of his influential inner circle are ex-KGB and FSB elite. Separating the leadership from the intelligence/security apparatus of the country has blurred – a reminder of Andropov’s overwhelming network of government informers. The only oligarchs out of favour with Putin are those who support opposition politicians. The rest enjoy access and privileges.
- Identifying the enemy in national/cultural terms. Soviet-Russian history is replete with examples: Pogroms against Jews, Kremlin initiated famine against Ukrainians, the mass removal and deportation of Crimean Tatars and other ethnic groups, the Russification of the Baltic states etc.
One would be hard pressed to find similar historic or current trends/situations in Estonia.
We have stated that individual Estonians, in German controlled military/police units were culpable in war crimes. But did Estonia as a society and nation buy into nazi/fascist racial ideology? Was anti-semitism endemic in Estonia? In prewar Estonia ethnic conflict did not exist. Estonia’s law on cultural autonomy was not only internationally acclaimed but praised by the Jews themselves. A Zionist organization in Palestine presented Estonia with a special award for its benevolent treatment of Jews. Tartu University’s Chair of Jewish Studies was unique in Europe at the time. The Jewish Chronicle of 1938 said this: “Estonia is the only country in Eastern Europe where neither the government nor the people practice any discrimination against Jews and where Jews are left in peace.” After WWII Jewish immigration into Estonia was stimulated by Estonia’s hospitable atmosphere as compared to the rest of the USSR.
Were Estonians fighting in German uniforms consciously advancing German ambitions and interests? Did Germans consider them to be politically trustworthy? Before the last battles in Estonia in the fall of 1944, Prime Minister Jüri Uluots, who had escaped Soviet execution and Nazi detainment, said in a famous radio broadcast that resonanted with the beleagured population: “Estonia is not at all involved in the struggle between super powers. We are defending our nation and that’s the only reason we’re fighting.” In dispatches to Berlin German officers often complained they couldn’t muster any genuine Estonian support for the German cause and expressed anxiety about Estonians turning their weapons on the German military.
Note to the Kremlin: Estonians know who’s a fascist.
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Sources: International Commission for the Investigation of Crimes against Humanity – report of 2001, Estonia; Estonian Foreign Ministry press, author Dr. Andres Kasekamp; Legacy of Holocaust, Anna Badkhen, San Francisco Chronicle; “Fifty Years of Tyranny”, the Centre for Security Policy; “Meie Elu”, series of articles entitled “The Holocaust”, Dr. Tönu Parming, 1998; The Jewish Chronicle, London, 1938.