The Estonian Sovereignty Declaration (), fully: Declaration on the Sovereignty of the Estonian SSR (), was issued on 16 November 1988 during 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 ...

in the

Estonian SSR The Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, (abbreviated Estonian SSR, Soviet Estonia, or simply Estonia ) was an administrative subunit ( union republic) of the former Soviet Union (USSR), covering the occupied and annexed territory of Estonia ...

. The declaration asserted Estonia's

sovereignty Sovereignty can generally be defined as supreme authority. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within a state as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the person, body or institution that has the ultimate au ...

and the supremacy of the Estonian laws over the laws of 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 ...

. Estonia's newly elected parliament also laid claim to all natural resources: land, inland waters, forests, mineral deposits and to the means of industrial production, agriculture, construction, state banks, transportation, municipal services, etc. within Estonia's borders.

Background

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 ...

gained independence in 1918, in the

aftermath of World War I The aftermath of World War I saw far-reaching and wide-ranging cultural, economic, and social change across Europe, Asia, Africa, and in areas outside those that were directly involved. Four empires collapsed due to the war, old countries were a ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, on 16-17 June 1940, Estonia was invaded and occupied by the Soviet army, and its territory was subsequently annexed by the Stalinist Soviet Union in August 1940. The majority of Western nations refused to recognize the incorporation of Estonia ''

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' (; ; ) describes practices that are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. The phrase is often used in contrast with '' de facto'' ('from fa ...

'' by the Soviet Union and only recognized the government of the Estonian SSR ''de facto'' or not at all. Such countries recognized Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian diplomats and consuls who still functioned in the name of their former governments. These diplomats persisted in this anomalous situation until the ultimate restoration of Baltic independence. In the 1980s, new policies of

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 ...

and

glasnost ''Glasnost'' ( ; , ) is a concept relating to openness and transparency. It has several general and specific meanings, including a policy of maximum openness in the activities of state institutions and freedom of information and the inadmissi ...

were introduced and

political repression in the Soviet Union Throughout the history of the Soviet Union, tens of millions of people suffered political repression, which was an instrument of the state since the October Revolution. It culminated during the History of the Soviet Union (1927–1953), Stalin er ...

came to an end. As a result, during the

1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt The 1991 Soviet coup attempt, also known as the August Coup, was a failed attempt by hardliners of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) to Coup d'état, forcibly seize control of the country from Mikhail Gorbachev, who was President ...

on 20 August 1991, Estonia restored full independence, almost three years after the Estonian Sovereignty Declaration was made. On 6 September 1991, the Soviet Union recognized the independence of Estonia, and the country became a member of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

on 17 September 1991. After more than three years of negotiations, on 31 August 1994, the last remaining armed forces of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

withdrew from Estonia.

The Declaration

References

{{Restoration of Baltic independence Dissolution of the Soviet Union 1988 in the Soviet Union Singing Revolution Sovereignty 1988 in politics 1988 in Estonia Politics of Estonia November 1988 in Europe 1988 documents Democratization November 1988 in the Soviet Union Restoration of the independence of the Baltic states

Background

The Declaration

See also

References