When Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians read the moniker 'ex-Soviet state' in the foreign press when referring to their countries, tempers often flare in great indignation. It is obvious that the writers of these articles have little or no knowledge of the history of the Baltic States. If they did, they would refrain from using it. As many critics have duly pointed out, we don't refer to Germany as a 'post-Nazi state', or India as the 'ex-British colony' or Ireland as 'former British dominion'. All these countries, like Estonia, have long been independent nations and require no such tags or "former" references. The Soviet Union no longer exists, it died in 1991. The terms 'ex-Soviet', 'post-Soviet' or 'former Soviet state' are in today's world entirely irrelevent, out-dated and highly offensive for three main reasons.
1. Estonia never joined the Soviet Union. In 1940 the Soviet Union invaded Estonia, occupied it and forcibly annexed it into the USSR against its will.
2. The
incorporation of Estonia into the Soviet Union was completely illegal. When Soviet troops first arrived in Estonia they systematically went
after anyone who would oppose Soviet rule. Thousands of Estonian military
personnel, politicans, police officers and other professional people were
arrested and deported. Many of them later murdered. Estonia was essentially
robbed of its leaders and left helpless to repel the occupation. But people did resist in spite of the harsh repressions, jail sentences
and deportations to Gulags. The Soviet occupation of Estonia lasted 50 years.
3. The Soviet Union was an evil empire that destroyed millions of people's lives. Up until 1940 Estonia was a thriving functional democracy with a high standard of living which dropped significantly when communism was forced up its people. Estonians had ownership of their homes taken away from them, they lost control of their farms, property and financial livelihood. Estonia lost 20 percent of its population due to the Soviet occupation. This lost population includes the thousands of people who were murdered, deported, or who managed to escape to the West to find safety abroad.
This year on August 20, Estonia will celebrate 32 years since it rid itself of Soviet rule. It took many years of hard work and dedication to get the country back on track after independence was restored in 1991. Estonia is once again a vibrant and functional democracy with a standard of living that is now even higher than the pre-occupation period. There is now a whole generation of young Estonians who have no experience of living under Soviet occupation, they have only ever known freedom. This is how it should be and will remain for generations to come.
