Chapter 7.3.3: The years leading up to WW1
As the years following the revolution were restless, martial law was only ended in 1908. The censorship of publications continued however, political protests were banned and most organisations that had been established during the revolution remained closed. The only party that was allowed to officially exist was the Eesti Rahvameelne Eduerakond. Eesti Sotsiaaldemokraatlik Tööliste Ühisus was in a dire state, as most of its prominent members and leaders were either in exile or in jail. This caused the downfall of the national wing of socialism in Estonia. The international wing, led by the underground Venemaa Sotsiaaldemokraatlik Tööliste Partei, gained prominence as a result.
The leading faction within said party was the communist or the bolshevik faction. The main outlet of their politics was the underground newspaper Kiir (Ray) which was edited by Jaan Anvelt, an industrial worker and a prominent Estonian communist.
Jaan Anvelt (1887-1937)
The October Proclamation of 1905 meant that a parliament was established in Russia. The parliament had several issues however. Firstly, all the laws that they proposed could be vetoed and secondly it could be dissolved at any time, both by the emperor. The Estonian territory would roughly respond to five electable seats, in 1906 four of the politicians elected in Estonia were Estonian, one was Russian. In 1907, five Estonians were elected to the parliament. After this the election law was changed however, so in 1910 only two Estonians were elected and the same happened in 1912. The liberals within parliament were not able to pass any reforms they wished so any hopes for change fell through.
Estonians were more successful in local politics. Over time they managed to take control in the councils of 6 towns: Valga, Tallinn, Haapsalu, Pärnu, Rakvere and Võru. Tallinn got its first ever Estonian mayor, Voldemar Lender in 1906. Amongst other things, under his leadership the city established a free public library and as he was an architect by profession, he also designed a new type of affordable houses that would be very prevalent in the city, the so called “Lender house”. He led the city until 1913.
Voldemar Lender (1876-1939)
Lender type house.
After the 1905 revolution, russification laws also relaxed even further. The Estonian Youth Education Association's Secondary School for Girls (Now Miina Härma Gymnasium) was opened in Tartu in 1906. It became the first Estonian high school in the country, soon followed by others. As the school was a private school, like Hugo Treffner´s school, the graduates had to do the final exams at some other school in Russian. By 1913 it had 356 students.
Miina Härma Gümnaasium in Tartu. The building was opened in 1915.
What provided a boost to the Estonian industry was the decision by the central government to transfer the Baltic Sea fleet over to Tallinn and build the Peter the Great Naval Fortress in the Gulf of Finland to secure access to St. Petersburg from the sea. This involved the establishment of a couple of naval factories in Tallinn as well as large scale construction work to build the necessary infrastructure, artillery positions, ammunition depots and so on for the naval fortress.
By the beginning of WW1 Estonia was one of the most developed industrialised regions in Russia. The largest industries remained the textile industry and the quickly expanding machinery and metallurgy industry. Most of the resources and fuel, as well as now more and more workers were imported from Russia, the bulk of the products were also sold on the domestic market. The great influx of Russian workers caused the number of Russians in the country to increase. In Tallinn they numbered around 13 thousand (11,4% of the population) in 1913, overtaking the Germans as the second largest ethnic group.
Although the industry developed quickly, Estonia remained a primarily agricultural land. By the beginning of World War 1 manors owned about 58% of all fields and farm animals. There were 86 thousand farms and 1200 manors. Many manors became small scale industrial centres, which in addition to growing produce also dealt with processing them. More progressive manor owners utilised new inventions, like artificial fertilisers, modern machinery and also made strides in breeding and developing new varieties of plants. The most important agricultural field was dairy farming.
Next to manors small farmers also became more influential. By 1916 83% of land belonging to farms had been bought out in Estonia. New advances also spread amongst the small farms, both thanks to copying the manors as well as the result of the work of farmers' societies. Increasingly farms started to centre on lucrative dairy farming and realised most of their produce on the market.
In the meantime the social stratification in the countryside deepened. The number of people who did not have their own farm and instead had to make do by selling their labour to either the small farms or manors increased. They made up about ⅔ of the countryside populus. The lack of agricultural land became a pressing issue. The central government tried to alleviate the situation by giving out small pieces of state owned land and promoting emigration from Estonia to the internal gouvernates of Russia. Between 1906-1914 about 20 thousand peasants left Estonia, who established Estonian communities in Siberia, Crimea and Caucasia. Thousands of the poorer peasants also moved to the city.
The leading faction within said party was the communist or the bolshevik faction. The main outlet of their politics was the underground newspaper Kiir (Ray) which was edited by Jaan Anvelt, an industrial worker and a prominent Estonian communist.
Jaan Anvelt (1887-1937)
The October Proclamation of 1905 meant that a parliament was established in Russia. The parliament had several issues however. Firstly, all the laws that they proposed could be vetoed and secondly it could be dissolved at any time, both by the emperor. The Estonian territory would roughly respond to five electable seats, in 1906 four of the politicians elected in Estonia were Estonian, one was Russian. In 1907, five Estonians were elected to the parliament. After this the election law was changed however, so in 1910 only two Estonians were elected and the same happened in 1912. The liberals within parliament were not able to pass any reforms they wished so any hopes for change fell through.
Estonians were more successful in local politics. Over time they managed to take control in the councils of 6 towns: Valga, Tallinn, Haapsalu, Pärnu, Rakvere and Võru. Tallinn got its first ever Estonian mayor, Voldemar Lender in 1906. Amongst other things, under his leadership the city established a free public library and as he was an architect by profession, he also designed a new type of affordable houses that would be very prevalent in the city, the so called “Lender house”. He led the city until 1913.
Voldemar Lender (1876-1939)
Lender type house.
After the 1905 revolution, russification laws also relaxed even further. The Estonian Youth Education Association's Secondary School for Girls (Now Miina Härma Gymnasium) was opened in Tartu in 1906. It became the first Estonian high school in the country, soon followed by others. As the school was a private school, like Hugo Treffner´s school, the graduates had to do the final exams at some other school in Russian. By 1913 it had 356 students.
Miina Härma Gümnaasium in Tartu. The building was opened in 1915.
What provided a boost to the Estonian industry was the decision by the central government to transfer the Baltic Sea fleet over to Tallinn and build the Peter the Great Naval Fortress in the Gulf of Finland to secure access to St. Petersburg from the sea. This involved the establishment of a couple of naval factories in Tallinn as well as large scale construction work to build the necessary infrastructure, artillery positions, ammunition depots and so on for the naval fortress.
By the beginning of WW1 Estonia was one of the most developed industrialised regions in Russia. The largest industries remained the textile industry and the quickly expanding machinery and metallurgy industry. Most of the resources and fuel, as well as now more and more workers were imported from Russia, the bulk of the products were also sold on the domestic market. The great influx of Russian workers caused the number of Russians in the country to increase. In Tallinn they numbered around 13 thousand (11,4% of the population) in 1913, overtaking the Germans as the second largest ethnic group.
Although the industry developed quickly, Estonia remained a primarily agricultural land. By the beginning of World War 1 manors owned about 58% of all fields and farm animals. There were 86 thousand farms and 1200 manors. Many manors became small scale industrial centres, which in addition to growing produce also dealt with processing them. More progressive manor owners utilised new inventions, like artificial fertilisers, modern machinery and also made strides in breeding and developing new varieties of plants. The most important agricultural field was dairy farming.
Next to manors small farmers also became more influential. By 1916 83% of land belonging to farms had been bought out in Estonia. New advances also spread amongst the small farms, both thanks to copying the manors as well as the result of the work of farmers' societies. Increasingly farms started to centre on lucrative dairy farming and realised most of their produce on the market.
In the meantime the social stratification in the countryside deepened. The number of people who did not have their own farm and instead had to make do by selling their labour to either the small farms or manors increased. They made up about ⅔ of the countryside populus. The lack of agricultural land became a pressing issue. The central government tried to alleviate the situation by giving out small pieces of state owned land and promoting emigration from Estonia to the internal gouvernates of Russia. Between 1906-1914 about 20 thousand peasants left Estonia, who established Estonian communities in Siberia, Crimea and Caucasia. Thousands of the poorer peasants also moved to the city.
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