Moscow’s strident insistence that Estonia joined the USSR voluntarily, that the 50-plus years of Soviet subjugation was an amicable partnership underlies Russia’s hostility toward Estonia.

A recent example: the Estonian parliament recently added historical references to a preamble of a signed border treaty with Moscow. The additions referred to Estonia’s legal succession of the republic that declared its independence in 1918, the Soviet occupation, and the 1920 Peace Treaty of Tartu between Estonia and Communist Russia.

The preamble did not involve the agreed upon border demarcations, nor the 5% of territory gained by Russia. Simply put, the additions did not, even minutely, affect the substance of the treaty. Yet references to occupation strike a sensitive nerve in the Kremlin that induce a vehement denial of Pavlovian predictability.

Moscow anticipated, that with the passage of time, the mellowing of historical memory, that the initial perception of the USSR’s military aggression would become acceptable, that the brutal Soviet occupation would eventually be seen as legitimate.

However, with the exception of the Soviets, it is generally agreed that the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic (ESSR) was the product of unprovoked pre-planned aggression, military occupation and forcible annexation. The de jure recognition of the continuity of the Estonian republic as established in 1918 by most western countries was the practical yet unobtrusive application of this principle.

An intense diplomatic offensive was launched by Moscow in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s to break the West’s resolve in this matter. Though the USSR gained all they coveted in Central and Eastern Europe through the Teheran, Jalta and Potsdam agreements, Washington and London did not yield on the non-recognition policy. Neither did the West cede at the 1946 Paris peace conference nor at the establishment of the UN. The so-called Soviet “foreign ministers” of the three countries were deliberately and demonstratively ostracized at diplomatic encounters. While that gave little comfort to the subjugated peoples of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, it had far-reaching ramifications on the international chess board.

In 1974 the labour government of Australia recognized de jure the Soviet annexation of Estonia. This was an anomaly in the west. The next government duly returned to the internationally prevalent position.

This de jure non-recognition of the Soviet presence in Estonia was initiated by the USA on July 23, 1940 when Estonia had been militarily occupied. While this doctrine was generally accepted internationally in the west, the stance of the USA, the Vatican and Ireland was even more categorical – they even refused to recognize the Soviet annexation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania de facto.

The Estonian Consulate General established in New York in the 1920’s had full diplomatic recognition from the State Department, and functioned in many matters as the accepted and legitimate foreign mission of an existing country.

(An aside: prior to August of 1991, - whenever the Estonian Central Council in Canada with their Latvian and Lithuanian counterparts organized events on Parliament Hill, whenever the honorary consuls of the three subjugated countries were acknowledged by the House of Commons, the Senate or hosted by the Department of External Affairs - the Soviet embassy in Ottawa protested profusely.)

In subsequent articles we will look at certain aspects of the USSR’s aggression, annexation and extended occupation.

Previously the Estonian Central Council had announced a commemorative gathering for the 65th anniversary of the Estonian occupation’s inception, to be held August 4th. This date has been changed, and the new date will be announced once final details are confirmed.

In the planning stages are a series of speakers forums, “Meel ja Mälu” (Mind & Memory.) Invited speakers will recount personal recollections of their lives during Soviet occupation in Estonia.The first “Meel ja Mälu” will be held on Thursday, Sept 8th at 1:00 pm at the Estonian House in Toronto.

THE ESTONIAN CENTRAL COUNCIL IN CANADA - LL

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