February 24: Independence Day

The Republic of Estonia was founded on February 24, 1918, when the Salvation Committee (Päästekomitee) declared the independence of the Republic of Estonia. This date was celebrated as the Day of Independence until the Soviet occupation of Estonia in 1940.

During the Soviet occupation, Independence Day was celebrated in Estonian communities around the world. Every year, the US Secretary of State would honour this day by sending greetings to the Ambassador of the Republic of Estonia to the United States Ernst Jaakson.

On February 24, 1989, the red flag of Soviet Estonia was replaced by the blue-black-white Estonian national flag on Toompea, and since that time Independence Day has been celebrated once again as a public holiday. This year Estonia will celebrate the 85th anniversary of the declaration of state independence.

A Quest for Independence

For centuries the Estonian people dreamed of establishing a state free of foreign domination. The 1917 revolution and the generally unstable situation in Russia created the opportunity for Estonia to gain its independence. The impetus for independence was provided by the National Front, Estonia's main ideological movement, which based its ideas on US President Woodrow Wilson's principle of self-determination.

On April 8, 1917, Estonian organisations and military personnel totalling 40,000 people held a demonstration in Petrograd (St. Petersburg) in support of self-government for Estonia. The peaceful demonstration achieved its goal when, on April 12, the Russian Provisional Government signed the Law on Estonian Autonomy, which united the Livonian counties of Tartu, Võru, Viljandi, Pärnu and Saaremaa with Estonia. For the first time an Estonian, Jaan Poska, was appointed as a Provincial Commissioner of Estonia.

A six-member Provisional National Council, the Maapäev, was formed. The Maapäev appointed a national executive that began to organise and modernise local government and educational institutions. Prior to its forceful dissolution by Bolshevik authorities and the impending invasion by German forces, the Maapäev took a decisive step toward sovereignty by declaring itself the supreme authority in Estonia on November 15, 1917.

Independence Proclaimed

The elections to the Estonian Constituent Assembly were held on February 3-4, 1918. The parties that supported the idea of national independence gained two-thirds of the popular vote. With Soviet forces hastily retreating and German forces advancing, the Maapäev elected a three-member Salvation Committee (Päästekomitee) and granted it full decision-making powers to ensure the continued activity of the Maapäev. The Päästekomitee drafted a declaration of independence.

On February 19, 1918, the elders of the Maapäev approved the manifesto and on February 24, 1918, the Päästekomitee publicly proclaimed Estonia an independent and democratic republic.

After declaring its independence, Estonia was forced to fight a war of independence against Soviet Russia and German forces. During this war, Estonia secured its borders and concluded the Tartu Peace Treaty with Soviet Russia on February 2, 1920.

Independence Restored

As the hope of restoring the nation's independence grew stronger in the late 1980s, the people already began to celebrate the Day of Independence publicly before the end of the Soviet occupation. Since the restoration of independence on August 20, 1991, Independence Day continues to be a day of celebration and a day of reflection for the Estonian people.