Chapter 11.2: The Revolution
“The most beautiful of songs”, one of the 5 songs.
Ivo Linna (1949-...), one of the most beloved “revolutionary” singers at the time.
The event was broadcast on television and when the rest of the country tuned in to watch it from afar, they would see something incredible. One of the aforementioned songs is called “Eestlane olen ja eestlaseks jään”
Here are the translated lyrics:
https://lyricstranslate.com/en/eestlane-olen-ja-eestlaseks-j%C3%A4%C3%A4n-estonian-i-am-and-estonian-i-shall-remain.html
And here is the live performance of the song on that day:
People had gone and brought out the still illegal Estonian flags they had hidden for decades. This would signal the beginning of the era where the flag would be freely publicly displayed. Only three weeks later the Old Town Days were held in Tallinn, which ended with a concert on Town Hall Square and the performance of patriotic songs. However the crowd was so large that it was impromptu decided to walk to the song festival grounds where tens of thousands would sing songs for an entire night. And the night after that. And the night after that. And the night after that. Overall what would become known as the “Night Song Festivals” lasted for 4 nights, with each having more and more participants.
The pop music days, the Old Town Days and the first night of the night festivals. Towards the end you have people cheering as a guy climbed up to a flag pole to put an Estonian flag there. The pole in question had until this point hoisted the flag of the Soviet Union during the song festivals.
In the meantime there was a conflict of power in the Estonian Communist Party. An internal opposition of the so-called “nationalist” or “liberal” communists had risen to oppose the reactionary party leadership, mostly formed by the previously mentioned golden sixties generation. As Karl Vaino was seen as the cause of the “nationalist unrest” in Estonia, Gorbachev forced him to step down on the 16th of June. He was replaced by the Soviet ambassador to Venezuela, pro-reform Vaino Väljas. The same happened to the rest of the higher party leadership. 
On the 17th of June the 32 pro-reform delegates of Estonia went to attend the XIX conference of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Popular Front had won its fight against the reactionaries. As a victory celebration a mass event was held on the Song Festival Grounds, which also served another purpose: to pressure the delegates to stand for Estonian interests in Moscow. Slogans promoting the primacy of the Estonian language were displayed.
Some clips of the event. The speeches are pro-democracy and sovereignty. “When we are strong, when we feel our strength, then no more can someone else decide for us, cannot decide what we produce, cannot decide what we eat, cannot decide where we go, cannot decide who we elect, cannot decide what flag we bear.”
“This was our first victory, but not our final victory.”
Here is the full song.
https://lyricstranslate.com/en/isamaa-ilu-hoieldes-when-holding-fatherlands-beauty.html
And here are the lyrics translated. (the grammar is bad, but you can get the rough idea what it is about).
On the 23rd of June the display of the Estonian flag was legalised. The sparrow and cornflower were remade the national bird and flower of Estonia.
The release of political prisoners and dissidents would begin. The KGB stopped actively engaging in counter-measures as it was afraid of the public.
One of the goals of the heritage protection movement was to restore the destroyed War of Independence memorials. The first such memorials were restored this summer in Lalsi, Võru and Mihkli, as those had just been pushed over or buried. The wave of reconstructions that would follow is still ongoing till this day.
Not everybody was happy about the developments in Estonia. Some of the Russian speakers looked worryingly onto what they perceived as separatist and counter-revolutionary tendencies and wanted to take action in order to make sure that the Soviet empire was kept fully intact. For this purpose they founded the International Movement of the Workers of the ESSR, or Interliikume (Intermovement) for short on the 19th of July. This would try to act as a reactionary counterweight to the Popular Front. Jevgeni Kogan would be the most notable leader of the movement. Estonians would refer to them as Internatsid (Internazis) as they perceived them to promote the continued primacy of Russians in local and state affairs.
On the 10th of August the official newspaper of the Estonian Communist Party published the full text of the secret protocols of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. In just one year the MRP-AEG had managed to turn a taboo topic into a fully recognized truth in Estonia. However the central power in Moscow continued to refuse to acknowledge the existence of it.
Just 10 days after that the MRP-AEG would reform itself into the ERSP, Eesti Rahvusliku Sõltumatuse Partei or the Estonian National Sovereignty Party. They were much more radical than the Popular Front. Whilst the latter at this time wished to radically reform the Soviet Union into a fully democratic and federative state, the former was vehemently opposed to Estonia remaining a part of the Soviet Union. They had one goal on their mind, the full independence of Estonia.
On the 11th of September the Popular Front would host a mass gathering titled “Song of Estonia” on the Song Festival Grounds. Many of the speakers would call for independence.
The end of Heinz Valk´s speech, which would become the most famous part of the most famous speech of the Singing Revolution, with the words “One way or another, there will be a time when we will win!”
Another clip from the rally.
Here are a few more songs from this era:
“Go up on the hills!” was an anti-Russification and anti-immigration song. Bear in mind that by this point the portion of Estonians had fallen to less than 62% of the country's population.
“Dawn”, here are the lyrics translated.
From October onwards the Popular Front would slowly start shifting its support for their proposed “Union Treaty”, a grand reform where the Soviet Union would become a federation of independent socialist states, to complete and full independence. Nevertheless for a while they would still advocate for the Union Treaty.
In October the Estonian athletes would return from the Seoul Olympic Games with 4 medals, including 2 golds. They were regarded as national heroes and the recreation of the Estonian Olympic Committee was proposed, with hopes that in Barcelona in 1992 Estonian athletes would be able to compete under their own flag. The Committee would be restored on the 14th of January 1989.
On the 16th of November the Supreme Council under the guidance of Vaino Väljas approved the declaration of sovereignty of the ESSR. Estonian laws were declared supreme over Soviet Union ones and a demand for Soviet constitutional changes was clearly signalled. Moscow of course vetoed the declaration, but to no avail. Although there was no talk of independence in this declaration, this event would mark the beginning of the breakup of the Soviet Union. Over the course of next year most member states of the Soviet Union would release declarations like that.
Vaino Välja declaring the sovereignty of the ESSR in the Supreme Council.
On the 5th of December the government of the ESSR would start implementing the “IME” plan (IME means wonder in Estonian, but the acronym itself comes from IseMajandav Eesti - Self-Managing Estonia). Estonia would become economically independent from the rest of the Soviet Union. The tax and budget systems would be separated, the Estonian government would take over the economic control of Estonia (from central Soviet ministries) and a free, competitive market would be established within Estonia.
On the 7th of December the Supreme Council amended the constitution of the ESSR to make Estonian the national language, causing a wave of protests amongst the Russian minority. Until this point many public institutions had used only Russian in day-to-day business, it was not even fashionable to learn Estonian. On the 18th of January 1989 the Language Bill was passed as well, implementing the constitutional change.
On the evening of the 23rd of February the flag of the ESSR was lowered on top of the Tall Hermann Tower, which as part of the parliamentary complex hosts the symbolic flag, which signals the control over Estonia. The next morning, after 49 years, the Estonia tricolour is raised.
The lowering of the ESSR flag for the last time.
The Estonian flag being raised.
The Estonian flag was raised on other notable flag poles in other cities as well, like Tartu, Viljandi, Rakvere and Narva. Restored War of Independence memorials and restored plaques to the heroes of the war are also unveiled.
The events I mentioned taking place. The song which is sung is called the Estonian Flag Song.
On the same day the ERSP, the Estonian Heritage Society and the Estonian Christian Union established the Movement of Citizen Committees on the Town Hall Square in Tallinn. This signals the beginning of registration of the citizens of the interwar republic under jus sanguinis. An open preparation for the restoration of the republic. By July 150 thousand people had been registered, by October 314 000 and by January 1990, 500 thousand.
The emblem of the Estonian Citizen Committees.
On the 14th of March the Intermovement would organise a massive protest against IME, the Popular Front and the Language Bill. ´
On the 26th of March the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union elections were held, being the first partially free election in the Soviet Union. Estonia elects 14 Popular Front members, 13 mostly pro-Estonia Estonian Communist Party members, 7 Intermovement members and 3 Green Movement members. The ERSP boycott the elections, only one of the elected deputies was not a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The main goal of the Estonian deputies is to force Moscow to condemn the secret protocols of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.
On the 18th of May the Supreme Council openly declared the transition to self-managing (IME). On the 27th of July the Supreme Council of the Soviet Union gave permission for it.
To pressure Moscow to condemn the MRP and to demand freedom, the people of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania created a human chain on the 23rd of August 1989, the 50th anniversary of the pact. About 2 million people (out of 6 million natives of the Baltics) made a chain that was more than 700 kms long, starting in Tallinn, passing through Riga and ending in Vilnius. At seven in the evening the people started to chant the word “freedom” in their respective languages.
Here is a video of the event, along with the song “Wake Up, Baltics”, which was specially made for this event. (Is in all three languages, but in the video only the reprise of the Latvian and Lithuanian ones are included.)
Additional footage of the event.
In November Estonia began the design competition for the planned Estonian currency, Eesti Kroon. In December Estonian Bank was refounded. The 10th of December sees the first democratic local elections in Estonia. The Soviet Union finally condemned the secret protocols of the MRP on the 24th of December, declaring it null and void. Its relation with the occupation of the Baltic states is not acknowledged however.
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