History

The first group into modern day Estonia were the Slavs in the 5th Century. In the 9th century, the Vikings invaded Estonia with little resistance from the Slavs. The Slavs tried to take their land back, but failed to hold it for very long. The danes, Swedes, and Germans tried to Christianize and conquer Estonia, but did not succeed. In 1193, the Pope in Rome declared the Baltics needed Christianity. Albert von Boxhoevden led the Knights of the Sword into the Baltic. They pushed all the way into Russia before being defeated by Alexander Nevesky. The new owners did not treat the ethnic Estonians very well though. In 1343 the peasants rose up against their foreign masters. The revolt was crushed, with thousands of Estonians dead. The result was peasant peace for 200 years. By the end of the fifteenth century Estonia, which was then known as the Teutonic Order, was being challenged for supremecy. In 1558, Ivan the terrible conquered must of Estonia and devasted the area's economy and farms and people. In the 1560's, Sweden fought the Russians back into their homeland. Russian tried to re-enter Estonia in the 1570's, but failed. Estonia was invaded by many foreign armies, and suffered many casualties. In the early 1600's, many revolts broke out, but none were successful. In the 1630's, the first schools and books were introduced. Peter the Great finally retook the land from the Swedes in the early 1700's. Trying to make the ruling class like him(which was only 1% of the people), he gave them control over the administration, police, school, justice systems, and land. Conditions for the peasants only worsened. They didn't gain their independence until 1914, the outbreak of WWI. They enjoyed their freedom without problem until 1939 when the Soviets seized control. The Soviets forced the Estonians to fight for their cause. They took the workers and sent them to death camps in Siberia. They depressed the country as much was possible. Estonia was finally able to get the Soviets out of their land when their economy collapsed. That was 1991. They have been free ever since.

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