Estonia Singing Revolution
Meghan Schulien, 5th period
About the Revolution
In the 1840s, Estonia was invaded by the Soviet Union. In retaliation, Estonia and the other Baltic countries held many peaceful protests (in which they sang songs) against the USSR demanding their freedom. Estonia managed to form a makeshift government because of the Soviet Union's illegal occupation and declare independence. The USSR began to fall apart due to a coup, allowing Estonia to secure their independence.
"The Baltic Chain"
On the 50th anniversary of the pact between Hitler and Stalin, the people of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia held hands, creating a chain that stretched 360 miles.
Laulupidu
At their annual song festival, Estonians came together and sang banned national songs and waved their banned country flag in a mass act of defiance towards the Soviet Union.
Broadcasting Tower
The people of Estonia surrounded their broadcasting center with trucks and made a human barricade to protect it from USSR tanks coming to destroy their only means of widespread communication.
Estonian Singing Revolution
In Relation to Thoreau's Key Points
The Estonian Revolution represents key points in Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience". Thoreau criticizes those who wait for reform and believes that, "Men generally, under such government as this, think that they ought to wait until they have persuaded the majority to alter them. They think that, it they should resist, the remedy would be worse that the evil." Estonians immediately rebelled against the USSR, in disagreement over the new law established. Thoreau believes that the only change will happen is if everyone comes together to disobey their government, such as,"If a thousand men were to not pay their tax bills this year, that would not be a violent and bloody measure, as it would be to pay them, and enable the State to commit violence and shed innocent blood. This is, is fact, the definition of a peaceable revolution, if any such is possible." The Baltic countries came together against their oppressors in a mass act of peaceful protest for their independence. These are just a few examples of how the Estonian Revolution mirrors ideas found in Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience".