| 100th Anniversary of the Estonian Republic Eesti Vabariik 100 | |
|---|---|
 Official logo | |
| Dates | April 2017-February 2020 |
| Location(s) |  Estonia |
| Website | https://www.ev100.ee/en |
The 100th Anniversary of the Estonian Republic (or more commonly used Estonia 100) is an official government program for the celebration of the Republic of Estonia's 100th anniversary. The official anniversary was marked on 24 February 2018, while related celebrations and events took place from April 2017 to February 2020. [1]
On 12 February 1919, the Estonian Provisional Government decided to consider 24 February to be the date of the independence of Estonia from Russia, which occurred when World War I was nearing its end. However, Estonia's independence came to a de facto end during World War II when the country was illegally occupied and annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940, then by Nazi Germany in 1941, before it was returned to Soviet rule in 1944 when it became the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic. As a result, a government in exile was established.
As political upheavals took place throughout the Soviet Union in the 1980s, during the events of the Baltic Way, Estonia declared sovereignty on its territory in 1988, which restored its de facto independence on 8 May 1990 and declared Soviet rule illegal. Following the aborted coup in Moscow, the country's full de facto independence was restored after the Soviet troops failed to seize the Tallinn TV Tower on 20 August 1991. The Soviet State Council recognized the Estonian independence on 6 September 1991. Since 2004, Estonia has been a member of NATO and the European Union.
The centenary celebrations of the Republic of Estonia took place over three years, beginning in April 2017 to mark a century since Estonia's administrative borders took their current form, peaking while events on various important dates took place throughout 2018 and 2019, and coming to a grand close on 2 February 2020 when the 100th anniversary of the Tartu Peace Treaty was honoured. [2]
A military parade on Freedom Square in Tallinn was held on the occasion of the 100th anniversary. 1,100 troops and more than 100 pieces of military equipment took part in the parade. The parade was led by Gen. Riho Terras, while President Kersti Kaljulaid was present to greet the different units.
All service branches of the Estonian Defence Forces took part in the parade as well as soldiers from countries from NATO and other military partners of Estonia. The foreign countries that were represented were Finland, France, Georgia, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Denmark, and the United States. [3]
The Singing Revolution was a series of events in 1987–1991 that led to the restoration of independence of the three Soviet-occupied Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania at the end of the Cold War. The term was coined by an Estonian activist and artist, Heinz Valk, in an article published a week after the 10–11 June 1988 spontaneous mass evening singing demonstrations at the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds.
A military parade is a formation of soldiers whose movement is restricted by close-order manoeuvering known as drilling or marching. Large military parades are today held on major holidays and military events around the world. Massed parades may also hold a role for propaganda purposes, being used to exhibit the apparent military strength of a country.
Russians in the Baltic states is a broadly defined subgroup of the Russian diaspora who self-identify as ethnic Russians, or are citizens of Russia, and live in one of the three independent countries – Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. As of 2021, there were nearly 900,000 ethnic Russians in the three countries, having declined from ca 1.7 million in 1989, the year of the last census during the 1944–1991 Soviet occupation of the three Baltic countries.
The Estonian Air Force is the aviation branch of the Estonian Defence Forces. The air force traces its history to 1918, and was re-established in its current form in 1991.
The Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania or Act of March 11 was an independence declaration by Lithuania adopted on March 11, 1990, signed by all members of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania led by Sąjūdis. The act emphasized restoration and legal continuity of the interwar-period Lithuania, which was occupied by the Soviet Union and annexed in June 1940. In March, 1990, it was the first of the 15 Soviet republics to declare independence, with the rest following suit over the ensuing twenty-one months, concluding with Kazakhstan's independence in 1991. These events led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991.
Estonia declared neutrality at the outbreak of World War II (1939–1945), but the country was repeatedly contested, invaded and occupied, first by the Stalinist Soviet Union in 1940, then by Nazi Germany in 1941, and ultimately reinvaded and reoccupied in 1944 by the Soviet Union.
The three Baltic countries, or the Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania – are held to have continued as legal entities under international law while under the Soviet occupation from 1940 to 1991, as well as during the German occupation in 1941–1944/1945. The prevailing opinion accepts the Baltic thesis of illegal occupation and the actions of the USSR are regarded as contrary to international law in general and to the bilateral treaties between the USSR and the three Baltic countries in particular.
The 90th Anniversary of Estonian Republic is an official government program for the celebration of the Republic of Estonia's 90th anniversary. It is currently the largest and longest Estonian Independence Day celebration event which is entirely funded by the Government of Estonia. The celebrations started on 28 November 2007 and finished on 28 November 2008 with the opening of the Estonian War of Independence Victory Column on the Freedom Square of Tallinn.
Estonia was under military occupation by the German Empire during the later stages of the First World War. On 11–21 October 1917, the Imperial German Army occupied the West Estonian archipelago, including the larger islands of Saaremaa (Ösel), Hiiumaa (Dagö), and Muhu (Moon).
Estonia–Lithuania relations refer to the bilateral relations between Estonia and Lithuania. Estonia has an embassy in Vilnius. Lithuania has an embassy in Tallinn. Both countries are situated in the Baltic region and are the full members of NATO and the European Union.
The Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as the Estonian SSR, Soviet Estonia, or simply Estonia, was a union republic and an ethnically based administrative subdivision of the former Soviet Union (USSR) covering the occupied and annexed territory of Estonia in 1940–1941 and 1944–1991. The Estonian SSR was nominally established to replace the until then independent Republic of Estonia on 21 July 1940, a month after the 16–17 June 1940 Soviet military invasion and occupation of the country during World War II. After the installation of a Stalinist government which, backed by the occupying Soviet Red Army, declared Estonia a Soviet constituency, the Estonian SSR was subsequently incorporated into the Soviet Union as a "union republic" on 6 August 1940. Estonia was occupied by Nazi Germany in 1941, and administered as a part of Reichskommissariat Ostland until it was reconquered by the USSR in 1944.
The three Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – were re-occupied in 1944–1945 by the Soviet Union (USSR) following the German occupation. The Baltic states regained independence in 1990–1991.
The Soviet Union (USSR) occupied most of the territory of the Baltic states in its 1944 Baltic Offensive during World War II. The Red Army regained control over the three Baltic capitals and encircled retreating Wehrmacht and Latvian forces in the Courland Pocket where they held out until the final German surrender at the end of the war.
Independence Day, formally the Anniversary of the Republic of Estonia is a national holiday in Estonia commemorating the Estonian Declaration of Independence which was published in the capital city Tallinn on 24 February 1918, establishing the Republic of Estonia. Since then, it has been the national day of Estonia.
Estonian Restoration of Independence, legally defined as the Restoration of the Republic of Estonia, was proclaimed on 20 August 1991. On that day at 23:02 local time, the Supreme Council of the Republic of Estonia, in agreement with the Estonian Committee, declared the illegal Soviet occupation and annexation of the country terminated, and proclaimed the full restoration of the independence of Estonia.
The Centennial of the Restored State of Lithuania marks the 100th anniversary of the Act of Independence of Lithuania which was signed on 16 February 1918.
Pope Francis visited the Baltic states—Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia—from 22 to 25 September 2018.
The 100th Anniversary of the Latvian Republic also commercialized as Latvia 100 was a national event in Latvia celebrating the country's 100th anniversary since its 1918 establishment. The main celebrations were held on 18 November 2018, and other commemorative events are set to take place from 2017 to 2021. Outside from the official celebrations, 18 November is also a public holiday, being the Proclamation Day of the Republic of Latvia.
Day of the Restoration of Latvian Independence is a Latvian national holiday and event, being celebrated annually on 4 May. It marks, like the other Baltic republics, the restoration of the Latvian Republic declaration by the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian SSR on 4 May 1990. This was the official declaration of the Restoration of Independence, and the actual one, that brought also the international recognition, was adopted as a constitutional law "On the Statehood of the Republic of Latvia" by Latvian Supreme Council on 21 August 1991, a day after the Restoration Act of Estonia during August coup. Soviet Union recognised Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania as independent states on 6 September 1991. Russian SFSR did so already on 24 August 1991.
Lithuania–Turkey relations are the foreign relations between Lithuania and Turkey. Turkey recognized Lithuania on July 28, 1922, and diplomatic relations were established on the same day. The Turkish ambassador to Estonia in Tallinn was also accredited to Lithuania. Following USSR occupation and annexation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, the Turkish embassy in Tallinn closed on September 5, 1940. Turkey, however, never recognized the Soviet annexation of Lithuania.