Back to the Roots: The Debate Over Citizenship in Estonia
Understanding the complex situation of stateless ethnic Russians
in Estonia—discussed in a recent blog post by Lauri
Malksoo—requires understanding the history of Estonia itself.
Situated on the coast of the Baltic Sea, at the crossroads of
the Eastern and Western cultural space, Estonia has often been
called a borderland. For nearly 700 years, this territory and
its people were governed by foreign rulers. It wasn’t until
World War I put Estonia on the political map of Europe in 1918
as a fully independent state, thus realizing the dream of a
nation of just a million people.  But independence did not last
long. As the result of the secret pact between Hitler and Stalin
in 1940, Estonia was forced into the Soviet Union under the
dictatorship of Stalin, one of the cruelest dictators of
history. The Soviet occupation not only meant a new flag and a
new anthem but for thousands of native inhabitants it also meant
losing their home and property, deportati