The Estonian people have been living on this same peice of land for about 9,000 years. (To put that in perspective: it is almost 4,000 years before the invention of writting, 4,500 years before the building of the pyramids in Egypt, and 5,000 years before Abraham.) |
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| Toompea Castle, Tallinn |
They belong to a small cultural group called "Finno-Ugric" which is made up primarily of Finns, Estonians, Hungarians. They have a language and ethnic identity completely different from Swedes or Germans in the west, and completely different from Russians in the east.
Thousands of years ago, as mankind was spreading into Europe, the Estonians came to this peice of land and found a home, long before the Irish settled Ireland, or the Greeks settled Greece or any other nation in Europe found their way to their present home. As they are the oldest human inhabitants still residing in this part of the world, some anthropologists refer to the Finno-Ugric people as the "Indians of Europe."
For the first 8,000 years, Estonians lived in peace. However, just because they were here first, did not mean that they would be respected. For most of the last millenium, the Estonian people have been dominated by foreigners. First it was the Danish in 1219, towards the end of the Viking era. They quickly sold this land to a group of German knights, the Livonian Order. Under German rule, Estonia prospered financially through increased trade. As Sweden rose to be a super power in the late 1500’s, Estonia came under the Swedish Empire. The Swedish king started universities, schools, and generally improved the life of the Estonian people. But Sweden was the first to try to invade Russia in winter, and they, like Napolean and Hitler, lost. So then the Russian czar ruled Estonia from 1721 until 1918. Russia tried to push the Russian language, and the Orthodox church upon Estonians, in an attempt to "Russify" (make Russian) the population. In general, the condition of the Estonian people deteriorated under Russian rule.
The First Republic (1918-1941)
The Estonian people finally rose in revolt against Russia, eventually forcing Lenin to sign a peace treaty acknowledging Estonia’s independance. Estonia became a member of the League of Nations, and through hard work, they managed, by the late 1930’s, to reach a level equal with any nation in Europe.
Soviet Occupation (1944-1991)
As Russian Soviets invaded Estonia during WWII, the Estonian people's dreams of freedom and prosperity ended. 25% of Estonians were executed or deported to Siberia. Few of the deportees ever returned. Democratic and capitalistic Estonians were subject to indoctrination and brainwashing in a futile attempt to turn them into Communists. The Soviets brutally raped both the economy and the environment. The delberate policy of "Russification," used in the czarist empire, was re-instituted in a somewhat milder form. Of course the inevitable end result of this attempt to re-write the Estonian character was to cause deep rooted bitterness towards everything coming from Moscow.
Up until the mid 1980’s Christians faced persecution. In the early years this was active, resulting in deportation, imprisonment, or death. Towards the end it was passive, but still very real. Work with children was forbidden, Christians could not get good jobs, their young people were not allowed entrance to universities. If you were a Christian, Moscow insured that you could not get ahead. We were never as isolated as the rest of the Russian empire. Since we are so close to Finland, we could always receive Finnish TV: western movies and most importantly, news without communist censor!
Slowly, freedom came. We had practical freedom by 1988, and finally in 1991, the Estonian Parliament, peacefully declared that we were a free country. For us, World War II had finally come to an end.
Estonia Today…
Modern Estonian culture has decidedly more in common with western Europe than it does with Russia. Estonians have always had close contact with Sweden and Germany, and have always considered themselves western. It is only the Soviet occupation which tore Estonia out of western Europe and pushed her to the east. More than anything else, Estonians want to once again take their rightful place in Europe.
But it is not easy to erase the effects of 50 years of Communist occupation. Although Estonia has returned to the capitalistic economy she had before the Soviet invasion, and despite great improvements, there is still a long way to go. Estonia is already a member of the European Council, the political arm of the European Union, and on March 31st, 1998, Estonia has been invited to begin formal negotiations for full entry, including free trade with the European Union.
This drive to re-join Europe is extremely difficult. Wages and living standards must reach a minimum level to make financial union practical. This translates into extremely high inflation: in the early 1990’s it was close to 50%, in 1997 it had dropped to about 12%. Despite the difficulties, when you consider the improvements that Estonia has made in the last 5 years, it is almost certain that, if given the chance, Estonia will once again very soon be a full fledged western European nation.
Russia has been constantly trying to make the ethnic problems a basis for intervening in Estonian internal affairs. Moscow has accused the Estonian government of violating the human rights of the Russian minority (accusations repeatedly proven completely false by the UN, the European Union, Amnesty International, etc.). Russia has also seized every opportunity to smear Estonia’s reputation with bad publicity on the international scene. They are constantly looking for an excuse to interfere in Estonia’s internal matters and reassert Russian political power.
The constant threat of Russia can never be forgotten. They are powerful, dangerous, and extremely unstable neighbours. In the last Russian presidential elections, one of the issues was how to re-exert Russian control over Estonia. It was not a question of if they should, every single candidate just assumed that Russia had the right to control Estonia, the only question was how. Yeltsin was the only candidate to clearly oppose a military invasion, suggesting instead the use of political and economic arm-twisting. Russia’s assumption of a divine right to control both Estonia and her other tiny neighbours, is a matter of grave concern.
The Church in Estonia
Catholic missionaries brought Christianity to Estonia in the 12th century, and soon, the entire nation was Christian, at least in name. But as few of the people ever learned Latin, medeival writtings suggest that the pews were filled with sleeping Estonians every Sunday. Four years after Martin Luther nailed up his 95 Theses, the Reformation came to Estonia, and soon the Catholic Churches became Lutheran Churches. The Lutheran Church remains without rival, the dominant church in Estonia, although very few individuals ever attend a worship service.
From earliest times, the Lutheran church required couples to be confirmed in the church before they could be married, of course that meant that virtually all Estonians attended the confirmation classes. As an added bonus for society, since confirmation included demonstrating that one was able to read the Bible, it ensured that the Estonian people were literate.
Despite the presence of a church in every village, it was not until the large scale revivals of the late 19th century, that Christianity began to effect the lives of the people. Out of these revivals many denominations such as the Methodists and Baptists took root in Estonia.
When Communist Russia invaded Estonia during World War II, life changed instantly for Christians. The Lutheran Church was so much a part of the fabric of society that it was impossible to close, and so the Communists hoped that tight control would cause it to suffocate. The same tactic was used on the smaller denominations. However, as it was easier to control one or two churches than many, the 6 or 7 small denominations were all herded together into either the Lutheran or Baptist congregations. Although it was not easy for, for example, Pentecostal and Baptist congregations to be merged, the Soviet officials gave them little choice.
It was only the Methodist Church that refused to give in to the pressure to join the official churches. Through the leadership of courageous men, some of whom were imprisoned or killed, the Methodist Church remained as a separate denomination.
However, no one was free, least of all Christians. Pastors were regularily called in for questioning by the KGB. Special "church taxes" were emposed to punish church leaders. Many church members were arrested, or exiled to Siberia, some were martyerd. Work with children, and any large gatherings were forbidden. As the only context under which a large group could officially meet was a "birthday party," many Christians celebrated monthly birthdays, to allow believers to meet together in peace.
The general atmosphere of society created by the Soviets was one in which Christianity was looked down upon. Propoganda aimed especially at children regularily portrayed the church in a ridiculous light. Teachers and fellow students openly ridiculed children from Christian families. University education, or job promotions were out of the question for church members.
It was hoped that these tactics would slowly strangle the life out of the church. However, in the Methodist Church, the number of church members more than doubled during the 50 years of Communist occupation. The story is told that in the early 1980’s, a group of western tourists were being taken around Tallinn by an official Soviet tour guide. The group stopped outside the historic St. Olav’s church (home to the city’s Baptist congregation), the tour guide explained that most churches were empty, and that basically no Soviet citizens believed in any kind of God. By coincidence, it was Sunday, 12 o’clock, and as she said these words, the doors opened and several hundred Estonians poured onto the street, still singing and praising God.
As freedom came in the late 1980’s it was extremely popular to go to church, and services were packed with curious visitors. However, as the 90’s brought the difficult realities of making a living in a capitalistic society, the excitement faded, and the number of new members dropped. Today, this "love affair" which society had with the church is long over. People are wrapped in materialism with an unbelievable frenzy.
Still, the Church holds the answers to Estonia’s problems. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the only message which can heal the hurts of 50 years of brutal oppression. The healing effects of the Gospel can be seen in action in the church today. The dislike felt between Estonians and Russias is turned into love as they study together in the Baltic Methodist Theological Seminary. Society, including politicians, too busy with personal gain to look after the mis-fortunate, are being shown Christ’s love in action, as the church has almost single handedly begun to establish programs to care for the very poor.
Freedom has given the church a chance to express its message in ways that were impossible in Soviet times. Street evangelists, children’s camps, and Christian radio are just some of the ways in which the saving message of Jesus Christ is being proclaimed.