The Popular Front of Estonia (; RR), introduced to the public by the Estonian politician

Edgar Savisaar Edgar Savisaar (31 May 1950 – 29 December 2022) was an Estonian politician, one of the founding members of Popular Front of Estonia and the Estonian Centre Party, Centre Party. He served as the Prime Minister of Estonia, acting Prime Minister ...

under the short-lived name Popular Front for the Support of Perestroika, was a political organisation in

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Edgar Savisaar introduced the idea of popular front during a TV show on 13 April 1988. The idea was developed through the year and finally The Estonian Popular Front was established on 1 October 1988 with a massively crowded congress which turned to a culmination of the first phase of the

Singing Revolution The Singing Revolution was a series of events from 1987 to 1991 that led to the restoration of independence of the three Soviet-occupied Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania at the end of the Cold War. The term was coined by a ...

. It was to a significant degree the precursor to the current

Estonian Centre Party The Estonian Centre Party (, EK) is a populist political party in Estonia. It was founded in 1991 as a direct successor of the Popular Front of Estonia, and it is currently led by Mihhail Kõlvart. The party was founded on 12 October 1991 f ...

, although with a much broader base of popularity at the beginning.

History

The Popular Front of Estonia was a major force in the Estonian independence movement that led to the re-establishment of the

Republic of Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

as a country independent from the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. It was similar to the Popular Front of Latvia and the

Sąjūdis The Sąjūdis (, ), initially known as the Reform Movement of Lithuania (), is a political organisation which led the struggle for Lithuanian independence in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was established on 3 June 1988 as the first oppositi ...

movement in

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

and a number of Popular Fronts that were created almost simultaneously in many parts of the USSR. The Baltic States were in a unique category among the constituent parts of the USSR in that they had been European parliamentary democracies in the

interbellum In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

and had been annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940. The Popular Front of Estonia was founded in 1988 by

Marju Lauristin Marju Lauristin (born 7 April 1940) is an Estonian politician, and former Member of the European Parliament and Minister of Social Affairs. She is a member of the Social Democratic Party, part of the Party of European Socialists. Lauristin is ...

and

. Savisaar initiated the founding in April 1988 in a live broadcast (''Mõtleme veel'') on Estonian TV, advocating support of Gorbachev’s

perestroika ''Perestroika'' ( ; rus, перестройка, r=perestrojka, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg, links=no) was a political reform movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s, widely associ ...

.Народный фронт (Rahvarinne)
Popular Front organised series of much-crowded and well-published events and actions which stressed on Estonian national pride but on democratic values as well. Huge amount of prints and newspapers were produced to popularise the PF movement. The top-leaders and sub-leaders of PF were everyday guests in every kind of media to talk about several kind of problems and ideas. Popular Front of Estonia made ideas of independent Estonia acceptable and possible for masses. The idea of independence had become a somewhat impossible and unbelievable dream for the majority of Estonians during decades under the Soviet Union. At one point, someway problematic character of Edgar Savisaar created growing opposition against PF among Estonians too. Those people formed their own smaller organisations which grew into important element of politics of independent Estonia next decade. The Popular Front of Estonia together with the Popular Front of Latvia and the Sąjūdis organised the

Baltic Way The Baltic Way (; ; ) or Baltic Chain (also "Chain of Freedom") was a peaceful political demonstration that occurred on 23 August 1989. Approximately two million people joined their hands to form a human chain spanning across the three Baltic ...

mass "arm-in-arm" manifestation extending through three

Baltic states The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

on 23 August 1989 that marked 50th anniversary of 23 August 1939, when the Soviet Union and

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

signed the

Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, officially the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and also known as the Hitler–Stalin Pact and the Nazi–Soviet Pact, was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Ge ...

, which resulted in the forcible incorporation of these three states into the Soviet Union and the loss of their independence. The front was opposed by the

Intermovement The Intermovement (formally International Movement of Workers in the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic) (, ) was a political movement and organisation in the Estonian SSR. It was founded on 19 July 1988

that represented the pro-Soviet part of Estonia's population including most of the country's Russian minority and other ethnic groups that had been settled in Estonia during the Soviet era. The Popular Front was a supporter of

, while the Intermovement was seen as opposed to Gorbachev's reforms. As time went by, an ever-greater chasm developed between the initial thrust of the Popular Front, leading members of which at first advocated mere autonomy within a Soviet system that Gorbachev was trying to reform in a cautious way, and the eventual context of the Estonian Popular Front, which came to stand for true independence, an idea supported by the rank and file. Consequently, the Estonian Popular Front changed a great deal over time, until political parties came to replace such movements in Estonia during the early 1990s. This rendered the Popular Front of Estonia an anachronism, and Popular Front was dissolved in 1993.

References

The Restoration of Estonian Independence

Nationalism and the Transition to Democracy: The Post-Soviet Experience

- ''Time'' magazine - August 21, 1989 {{Authority control Singing Revolution Defunct political parties in Estonia Political history of Estonia

1988 in the Soviet Union Political parties established in 1988 Popular fronts in the Soviet Union Anti-communist organizations in Estonia 1988 establishments in Estonia 1993 disestablishments in Estonia Dissolution of the Soviet Union Political parties disestablished in 1993 Political parties in the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic Restoration of the independence of the Baltic states

History

See also

References