Chapter 7.3.8: The German occupation of 1918

The Estonian flags were promptly replaced with German ones. The Germans saw themselves as the liberators of the Baltic-Germans from the red terror and did not want to hear anything about some “independence” of Estonia. The Baltic-Germans really did see them as liberators. As German forces marched into Tartu on the 24th, they received a very warm welcome from the local Germans, whilst the Estonians were in low spirits. The same happened elsewhere.

Germany signed the Treaty of Brest on the 3rd of March 1918, ending the war on the Eastern Front. Russia gave up huge swathes of land, including Estonia.



The entrance of German troops in Tartu. You can see the Baltic-Germans greeting them.

The Estonian Provisional Government and Estonian units did remain active for some time but without any real purpose. The units were soon disbanded by the Germans and when the arrests of public figures began, then the government disbanded itself (officially, they still met in secret). Something that did happen however was the success of the Estonian delegation that had been sent out to the Entente nations and managed to get some countries to acknowledge (not recognize) Estonian independence.

Instead of communist dictatorship Estonia was now under strict military dictatorship. All communication with officials could only happen in German. Letters and telegrams would go through censorship. Commandant hours were established in cities, all people were given passes with their fingerprints on them. Taking pictures was banned. Hard rations were established and most of the produce was exported to Germany, which was itself in need of food due to the blockade imposed by the entente.

Local councils which were under the control of Estonians were just outright abolished and replaced by councils of local Germans. Meetings were banned, newspapers were either shut down or heavily censored. Schools were Germanized, the Univeristy of Tartu reopened as “Landesuniversität Dorpat” in September. All kinds of rules and regulations appeared. The people starved. Overall the summer of 1918 became known as the Black Summer in Estonia.



A parade of German troops in Tartu in 1918.

The German occupation also brought some good things however. Estonia went over to right hand traffic and started to use kilometres for distances.

The goal of the Baltic-Germans was to, and I quote, “unify this native German land with the motherland and make it an inseparable part of the German state for eternity.” For this purpose the Estonian Knighthood, which became the civilian side of the new administration, decided to create a duchy out of Estonia and Latvia, the so-called United Baltic Duchy (Balti Hertsogiriik), which would then join the German Empire as a member state. The duke was to be Adolf Friedrich of Mecklenburg and the land was supposed to be Germanized with German colonists from the motherland. Germany already recognized the new state in September, although it was finally proclaimed only on the 5th of November 1918. However by this point the losses on the Western front and the November revolution in Germany meant that the project would not have a future.





The planned flag of the United Baltic Duchy (Balti Hertsogiriik)



Eduard von Dellinghausen (1863-1939), the premier of the Estonian Knighthood during the German occupation.

Once the news about the anti-monarchist revolution reached Estonia, the remaining Estonian communists started agitation amongst German soldiers and sailors. It was not clear what would become of Germany, as communists also formed a big faction there. Estonian factories started a strike to stop the export of produce to Germany and demand the Germans to leave. The Germans ordered everyone to get back to work, with the threat that they would otherwise not give the strikers any food whatsoever. This caused the strike and protests to expand greatly and a mass of people ascended on the Toompea palace on the 9th of November. There a delegation of Estonians would be sent to meet with general Seckendorf, the commandant of Estonia. The Estonians demanded the power to be given to the Estonian Provisional Government. They would be refused. A day later the German soldiers would start forming their own soldier councils.

On the 11th of November Germany made a ceasefire with the Entente nations and on the same day gave power back over to the Estonian Provisional Government. That way the German authorities hoped to stop the bolsheviks from getting back into power and saw it as a way to protect the property of the Baltic-Germans. Dellinghausen hoped to have a joint government of Baltic-Germans and Estonians, but the Estonian side dismissed that idea.

The German occupation was later called the “I order-ban-hang-and-shoot” era.

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