Estonian War of Independence
The Estonian War of Independence[c], also known as the Estonian Liberation War, was a defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies, most notably the United Kingdom, against the Soviet Russian westward offensive of 1918–1919 and the 1919 aggression of the pro–German Baltische Landeswehr. The campaign was the struggle of the newly established democratic nation of Estonia for independence in the aftermath of World War I. It resulted in a victory for Estonia and was concluded in the 1920 Treaty of Tartu.
Preface[edit]
During the 1917 Russian Revolution, the newly elected provincial legislature (State diet or Maapäev) of the Autonomous Governorate of Estonia proclaimed itself the highest sovereign authority in Estonia, instead of the new Bolshevik government of Russia. As a result, the local Bolsheviks soon dissolved the Maapäev and temporarily forced the democratically elected Estonian leadership underground in the capital Tallinn. A few months later, in February 1918, using the interval between the Red Army's retreat and the arrival of the Imperial German Army, the Salvation Committee formed by Maapäev issued the Estonian Declaration of Independence in Tallinn on 24 February 1918[11] and formed the Estonian Provisional Government. This first period of independence was extremely short-lived, as the German troops entered Tallinn the following day. The German authorities recognized neither the provisional government nor its claim for the independence of Estonia.
After the German Revolution with the capitulation of Imperial Germany at the end of World War I, 11–14 November 1918, the representatives of Germany formally handed over political power to the Estonian Provisional Government. On 16 November 1918, the provisional government called for voluntary mobilization and began to organize the Estonian armed forces, with Konstantin Päts as Minister of War, major general Andres Larka as the chief of staff, and major general Aleksander Tõnisson as commander of the Estonian army, initially consisting of one division.