Chapter 7.2.5: The Height of the National Awakening and the divide.

At the beginning of the 1870s, Jannsen stopped publishing articles from Hurt and from a man called Jakobson in Postimees, because he believed their views to be too radical. Jannsen was a moderate, he hoped for a peaceful coexistence and cooperation with the Baltic-Germans. Hurt and Jakobson saw the Baltic-Germans as the historical enemies and oppressors of Estonians, and were openly antagonistic against them. As a result of their attacks, the Baltic-German elite became increasingly weary of the national movement as they saw it as a source of danger to their position of power in society, and began attacks against the movement.

Both Jakobson and Hurt tried to establish their own newspapers, but at first both of their requests were turned back by both the Baltic-German local authorities as well as the Russian state authorities. Later Jakobson did get the permission to establish a newspaper, because he had more favourable views towards the activities of the Russian state. Starting from 1878, he would start publishing the newspaper Sakala from Viljandi, which signalled a new chapter in the national movement.



The front page of the first issue of Sakala.

In his newspaper, he formulated a radical programme for the time, demanding such things as Estonians having the same rights as the Baltic-Germans and called for Estonians to demand back the rights that rightfully belonged to them. It is important to note that back then, being anti-German elite was one of the central tenets of the national movement, how that animosity was expressed was the only point of contention. The newspaper was a big success and quickly became influential within the national movement. By the beginning of 1880 there were already over 6 thousand subscribers.

At first, Hurt and his supporters also published his articles in Sakala, but later that changed. In addition to attacking Baltic-German pastors, Jakobson also started to attack the Lutheran faith. He had more favourable views on Orthodoxy, probably due to tactful (read: cater to the right master) reasons. Hurt as a Lutheran pastor could not accept that. In his opinion the future of Estonians had to be based on the Western form of culture, on the basis of German influences, where Lutheranism had a central place. As a result, he had to publicly stop backing Sakala and in general retired from political life, focusing more on his work with Estonian folklore.

Due to complaints from Baltic-Germans, the publication of the newspaper was stopped temporarily a few times, the manor owners also sued Jakobson several times. As a result, the popularity of the newspapers amongst Estonians increased immensely.



Carl Robert Jakobson (1841-1882)

Jakobson,  the son of a schoolmaster, first worked as a writer for a rural municipality and owned a farm at Kurgja. In the autumn of 1868 he gave a national political speech in the Vanemuise society about the three main chapters of Estonian history: the eras of light (ancient freedom), darkness (from the crusade till the abolishment of serfdom) and dawn (the era of national awakening) (valguse, pimeduse ja koidu aeg). After that he also gave two more famous speeches, the trilogy became known as “kolm isamaakõnet” (three fatherland speeches). He also composed several schoolbooks, bringing a new level of sophistication to Estonian school literature.



Kurgja farm

He turned his farm into an “example” farm, where he always used the most cutting edge methods and technology as an example for others. He actively took part in the activities of the farmer´s societies, being elected president of the Viljandi Estonian Farmers Society (Viljandi Eesti Põllumeeste Selts) in 1876. With such actions he hoped to bring more wealth and therefore power to his fellow farmers. He also wrote several scientific guides to farming, explaining, among other things, how the market works and how to reap most benefits from farming, how to farm most efficiently and so on.


A geography textbook written by Jakobson, published in 1875 (with 55 pictures!!)

Jakobson died in 1882 as a result of pneumonia, although many Estonians at the time believe that he had been intentionally murdered by his Baltic-German doctor (which is by the way something that could have possibly happened, nobody knows for sure. He was strong and very healthy, so it is generally considered bizarre that he passed away so easily). After his death, Sakala lost its position as the leading newspaper to Postimees, and became a local paper.

The end of the 1870s and the beginning of the 1880s is generally regarded as the golden age of the national movement. The Aleksandrikooli movement went really well, the number of donations and activists increased immensely, the same happened to the membership of the Eesti Kirjameeste Selts. At the end of the 1870s the establishment of libraries began all across the country as a national effort. In 1879, the second song festival was held, also in Tartu and just a year later the third song festival was held, this time in Tallinn, which signalled the beginning of the national movement in Northern Estonia.



The Second Song Festival.

In 1881, a letter of political wishes was presented to the emperor Alexander II by the representatives of different Estonian societies. Some of the things demanded in the letter:
  • Fixing the price that the farms would be sold at.
  • The equal and fair distribution of taxation between the farms and the manors.
  • The expansion of the Russian police and court system to the Baltic provinces.
  • Forcing higher courts to use Estonian in appropriate cases.
  • Getting rid of the patronage of manor owners to the church, allowing practitioners to choose their own pastor.
  • Releasing schools from under the “care” of the manor lords and pastors.
  • The equal representation of different estates in the local administration of the provinces and curtailing the privileges of the knighthoods.
  • The wish to unite the Governorate of Estonia and the northern part of the governorate of Livonia into a new governate, based on the ethnic borders of Estonians.
Like the letter a few decades prior, this one was also ignored by the authorities, but this time there were no repercussions.

The organisation of Estonian university students in Tartu decided to establish a student corporation for Estonian students in 1881, with blue, black and white as its colours. The convent, which was in charge of the corporations, refused however. The disappointed theology student (and future philologist) Aleksander Mõttus put on a blue, black and white student cap, which was illegal according to university laws, and rode through the town with a foreman. The students of official corporations furiously stopped the wagon, took the cap and trod it under their feet. Mõttus was thrown out of university for this stunt.

In 1882, the idea of establishing a corporation was put aside due to the very negative attitude from the Baltic-German corporations. Instead they opted for the Society of Estonian University Students (Eesti Üliõpilaste Selts, EÜS), which was registered in 1883. The colors of the society remained blue, black and white and on the 4th of June, 1884, the blue, black and white flag of the society was concentrated in the Otepää church. Nowadays that date is celebrated as flag day in Estonia, as the flag of the society would later become first the national flag of Estonians and then the official flag of Estonia.



The coat of arms of the EÜS.


The first flag of the EÜS, the one concentrated in Otepää, and also the first ever Estonian flag. Hidden in a chimney during the Soviet occupation, now on display in the Estonian National Museum.

In the 1880s, the national movement was clearly split in two. First there was the radical Jakobson faction, which demanded the end to the Baltic Special Arrangement and increased political rights for Estonians. In the fight against the Baltic-German elite, they saw the central Russian government as their natural ally. The other, moderate side, which had been formerly led by Jannsen was now led by Hurt. This side focused on primarily advancing education and culture, as Hurt put it, “Estonians can not become great in numbers, so they must become great in spirit”. The side was against both germanization and russification, and looked for a third, Estonian path.

The goals of both sides were the same, the same rights for Estonians as the Baltic-Germans had, Estonia being part of the Russian Empire seemed inevitable. The main differences were in how to achieve these goals. This caused lots of infighting between the factions, and weakened the movement overall. With the death of Jakobson in 1882 and a new turn in policy from the central government in St. Petersburg, a new era for Estonians began.

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