On 12 April 1917, the Russian Provisional Government approved the law on the provisional autonomy of Estonia. Based on this law, the Governorate of Estonia and the Estophone northern part of the Governorate of Livonia (Tartumaa, Võrumaa, Pärnumaa, Saaremaa) where joined together.
In other words, this date marked the beginning of the preparations for the proclamation of the independence of the Republic of Estonia on 24 February 1918.
This day is celebrated in Mihkli Parish for the reason that, back in the old days, this parish was the only one of which a half belonged to the Governorate of Estonia and a half to the Governorate of Livonia.
Click here to read the speech by Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas:
The founding of the Republic of Estonia would have been inconceivable without our sense of unity
The lands settled by Estonians were unified and the Estonian contour was created.
Additional reading.
A hundred years ago the lands settled by Estonians were divided between the Governorate of Estonia and the Governorate of Livonia. Even though Estonians lived and the Estonian language was spoken both in the Governorate of Estonia and the northern part of the Governorate of Livonia, those settlements were separated by a strict border. After the February Revolution in Russia in 1917, Estonian nationalists started to demand that the Russian Provisional Government establish a unified and autonomous national governorate. To this end, a demonstration was organised in Petrograd on April 8, 1917, after which on April 12 the Russian Provisional Government issued a decree to join the counties of Pärnu, Saare, Tartu, Viljandi and Võru in the Governorate of Livonia with the Governorate of Estonia. The lands on which Estonians had lived for thousands of years were once again united, and we could now enjoy the sea views, the silence of the marsh and the scent of our spruce and pine forests without a dividing border.
