Estonia.
Identity and Independence.
SUBRENAT, Jean-Jacques (Ed.) Translated into English by David Cousins, Eric Dickens, Alexander Harding, Richard C. Waterhouse.
Amsterdam/New York, NY, 2004, IX, 310 pp.

Series:
On the Boundary of Two Worlds: Identity, Freedom, and Moral Imagination in the Baltics 2

“the book can only be thoroughly recommended as a reliable and very readable overview with an interesting concept.”
Ab Imperio 3/2005

“The restoration of Baltic independence has provoked an outpouring of publications on identity, too many of them hastily thrown together and showing a lack of rigor in thought and writing. The present volume generally escapes this charge. The book … stimulates debate – which is what its editor set out to do.”
Slavic Review, Vol. 64, No. 2, Summer 2005

“So kann die intensive Lektüre sehr empfohlen werden.“
Osteuropa 2/2005

“Include[s] a number of interesting contributions. Of particular value among the historical articles are those from leading Estonian scholars whose work is not yet widely known or available in English.”
Nordost-Archiv XIV (2005)

In the span of only seventy years, Estonia first proclaimed its independence, was occupied and deprived of its sovereignty, saw many of its citizens deported, and yet managed to recover its independence. How did this small nation keep its language and traditions alive during half a century of occupation, and how did it maintain such a vivid sense of identity? For the first time in English, this book gives a comprehensive view of the events which shaped the destiny of contemporary Estonia. The Editor, Jean-Jacques Subrenat, has called upon an unusually broad spectrum of the best experts (in history, archeology, political science, genetics, literature), but also on some of the leaders who took part in the rebuilding of Estonia, to offer more than a history, rather a unique testimony on a nation reborn.
Estonia: Identity and Independence provides rare insight into the many aspects of a country whose location in Northern Europe, within the European Union, and as a NATO ally, but also as a close neighbour of Russia, deserves the attention of scholars, journalists, and informed readers today.

This volume includes a thorough chronology of Estonia (from prehistory to accession to the European Union), and a brief c.v. of each co-author.

Estonia: Identity and Independence is also available in three other languages
(A. Bertricau is the pen-name of Jean-Jacques Subrenat, the initiator and Editor of this book):
- Estonian: 1st and 2nd edition : A. Bertricau, Eesti identiteet ja iseseisvus, published by Avita in Tallinn, 2001 and 2002;
- Russian: A. Bertricau, Samoopredelenie i nezavissimost' Estonii, published by Avita in Tallinn, August 2001;
- French : A. Bertricau, Estonie, identité et indépendance, published by L'Harmattan in Paris, November 2001.

Table of Contents
Lennart MERI: Foreword
Acknowledgements
Jean-Jacques SUBRENAT: Introduction
Hando RUNNEL : A Very Ancient Nation
I. From the Origins to the Mid-19th Century
Richard VILLEMS: Marginalia on the Topic of Identity
Tarmo KULMAR: The Time of Shadows
Andrei HVOSTOV, Mart LAAR, Harri TIIDO: Historical Myth in National Identity: An Exchange of Ideas
Tiina KALA: Estonia from the 13th to the 16th Centuries
Margus LAIDRE: From the Reformation to National Awakening 1520-1850
II. The National Awakening and the Building Up of an Independent State
Ea JANSEN: The National Awakening of the Estonian Nation
Eero MEDIJAINEN: Estonia and the World
III. The Soviet Period (1940-1988)
Andres TARAND: The Soviet Period
Jaan KAPLINSKI, Jaan KROSS, Paul-Eerik RUMMO, Kalev KESKÜLA: Resistance, Scepticism and Homo Sovieticus: An Exchange of Opinions
Jaak ALLIK: The Strong People of Kalev Remained… (An Opinion)
Raimo RAAG: The National Identity and Culture of Estonians Living in the West 1944-1991
Toomas Hendrik ILVES: An Opinion
Mari-Ann KELAM: An Opinion
Liis KLAAR: The Estonian identity in Exile: An Opinion
Aino-Lepik von WIRÉN: An Opinion
Helga NOU: An Opinion
IV. The “Singing Revolution” and Independence Regained (1988 to the Present)
Mart LAAR: The Restoration of Independence in Estonia
Tunne KELAM: An Opinion
Küllo ARJAKAS: Reflections on the Late 1980s and Early 1990s: An Opinion
Rein RAUD: The Conditions for a Multicultural Estonia
Sergei IVANOV, Jaan KAPLINSKI, Mart NUTT, David VSEVIOS, Harri TIIDO: The Pragmatic and the “National” Approach to the Question of the Russian-Speaking Population in Estonia: An Exchange of Ideas
Jüri LUIK, Jean-Jacques SUBRENAT, Harri TIIDO: Globalisation, Integration into European Structures and their Effect on National Identity and Culture: Discussion
Co-Authors
Chronology (compiled by Lore Listra)

Co-Authors

ALLIK, Jaak (born 8 October 1946), politician, theatre director and
publicist. Served in the Ministry of Culture of the Estonian SSR (1977–1981).
Minister of Cultural Affairs (1995–1999). President of the Estonian Theatre
Union. Director of the Ugala Theatre in Viljandi (2001–2003). Member of the
Riigikogu. Member of the Estonian People’s Union.

ARJAKAS, Küllo (born 10 October 1959), historian and politician. Member
of the Riigikogu. Member of the Estonian Centre Party. Author of several
history textbooks.

HVOSTOV, Andrei (born 10 July 1963), journalist. Studied history at the
University of Tartu. Author of a collection of essays, Conceptual Estonia
(Mõtteline Eesti, 1999), dealing principally with the mythologisation of
Estonian history.

ILVES, Toomas Hendrik (born 26 December 1953), politician and diplomat.
Estonian Ambassador to the USA, Canada and Mexico (1993–1996). Minister
of Foreign Affairs (1996–1998 and 1999–2001). Member and former leader
of the Mõõdukad Party. Member of the Riigikogu.

IVANOV, Sergei (born 5 January 1958), politician. Studied systems
engineering at Tallinn Polytechnic Institute and political studies at the
Institute of State and Municipal Management, St Petersburg. Member of the
Riigikogu. Member of the Estonian Reform Party.

JANSEN, Ea (born 14 November 1921), historian. Researcher at the Institute
of History (1968–1998). Author of several works on the period of National
Awakening in Estonia, notably on the life and work of Carl Robert Jakobson.

KALA, Tiina (born 15 October 1967), historian. Researcher at Tallinn City
Archives. Medievalist, specialist in ecclesiastical history.

KAPLINSKI, Jaan (born 22 January 1941), writer. Author of poems and
essays influenced by Oriental philosophies. Included amongst his dominant
themes are the tragic estrangement of man from reality and the rejection of
analytical and classifying western thought.

KELAM, Mari-Ann (born 26 June 1946), politician. Vice-President of the
Estonian American National Council (1987–1993). Spokesperson for the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1993–1996). Former member of the Riigikogu.
Member of the Pro Patria Union (Isamaaliit).

KELAM, Tunne (born 10 July 1936), politician. President of the Congress of
Estonia (1990–1992). Leader of the Estonian National Independence Party
(1993–1995). Head of the Estonian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe (1992–1995). Member and former Vice-President of
the Riigikogu. Leader of the Pro Patria Union (Isamaaliit).

KESKÜLA, Kalev (born 22 October 1959), poet and journalist. Cultural
editor of the weekly Eesti Ekspress newspaper since 1991. Also a renowned
oenologist.

KLAAR, Liis (born 25 January 1938), sociologist, politician and
philanthropist. Has lived and worked in Sweden, Switzerland and Canada.
Former member of the Riigikogu. Member of the Mõõdukad Party.

KROSS, Jaan (born 19 February 1920), writer. Author of numerous
historical novels and short stories bringing important Estonian historical
figures to life. Works translated into English: Estonian Character (1992), The
Czar’s Madman (1992), The Ashtray (1993), Professor Martens’ Departure
(1994), The Conspiracy and Other Stories (1995), Treading Air (2003).

KULMAR, Tarmo (born 13 August 1950), historian. Doctor of theology.
Professor of Comparative Religious History at the University of Tartu.

LAAR, Mart (born 22 April 1960), historian and politician. Prime Minister
(1992–1994 and 1999–2001). Member of the Riigikogu, member and former
leader of the Pro Patria Union (Isamaaliit). Author or co-author of numerous
historical works, notably concerning the “forest brothers,” the folklorist Jakob
Hurt, and the restoration of independence in Estonia.

LAIDRE, Margus (born 18 September 1959), historian and diplomat.
Estonian Ambassador to Sweden (1991–1996), Germany (1996–2000) and
the Holy See (1997–2000). Fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of War
Sciences. Author of several historical works, particularly covering the
Swedish era in Estonia.

LEPIK VON WIRÉN, Aino (born 28 October 1961), lawyer. Legal
Counsellor to the Government of Estonia (1993–1994). Head of the Human
Rights Bureau of the Legal Department (1994–1997) and Director of the
Legal Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1997–1999). The
Secretary of State of the Republic of Estonia (1999–2003). Ambassador to
Portugal (2003–).

LUIK, Jüri (born 17 August 1966), politician and diplomat. Minister of
Foreign Affairs (1992–1993). Minister of Defence (1993–1994, 1994–1995,
1999–2001). Estonian ambassador to NATO and the WEU, as well as to
Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg (1996–1999), and to the USA
(2003–). Member of the Pro Patria Union (Isamaaliit).

MEDIJAINEN, Eero (born 1 December 1959), historian. Doctor of
Philosophy. Senior lecturer in the department of Contemporary History at the
University of Tartu. Author of works on Estonian foreign policy and
diplomatic relations between the two World Wars.

MERI, Georg Lennart (born 29 March 1929), writer, cinematographer and
statesman. Founder of the Estonian Institute. Minister of Foreign Affairs
(1990–1992). Estonian Ambassador to Finland (1992). President of the
Republic (1992–2001). Has written travel accounts and made ethnographic
films about the Finno-Ugric peoples.

NÕU, Helga (born 22 September 1934), pedagogue and writer. Worked as a
primary school teacher for 30 years in Sweden, mainly in Uppsala. Starting in
the sixties, her novels and short stories made an important contribution to the
revival of Estonian literature abroad.

NUTT, Mart (born 21 March 1962), politician. Studied history at the
University of Tartu. Former member of the Riigikogu. Member of the Pro
Patria Union (Isamaaliit).

RAAG, Raimo (born 20 August 1953), linguist. Senior lecturer in the
Department of Finno-Ugric Languages at Uppsala University. Author of a
work on Estonians abroad (Eestlane väljaspool Eestit, 1999).

RAUD, Rein (born 21 December 1961), writer and translator, poet, novelist
and essayist. Head of the Department of Asian Studies and General Theory of
Culture at the Estonian Institute of Humanities. Professor of Japanese
Language and Culture at the University of Helsinki.

RUMMO, Paul-Eerik (born 19 January 1942), writer, translator and
politician. From the 1960s to the 1980s, one of the most outstanding poets in
Estonia. Minister of Culture (1992–1994). Minister for Population and Ethnic
Affairs (2003–). Member of the Reform Party.

RUNNEL, Hando (born 24 November 1938), poet. Chairman of Ilmamaa
Publishers (1992–). In the 1970s and 1980s, his poems played an important
role as an expression of social and national protest.

SUBRENAT, Jean-Jacques (born 9 June 1940), worked at the CNRS,
Centre for scientific research, in Paris (1967–1971), French diplomat (1972–).
Permanent representative to the WEU in Brussels (1995–1998), Ambassador
to Estonia (1998–2002), to Finland (2003–).

TARAND, Andres (born 11 January 1940), politician and naturalist. Minister
of the Environment (1992–1994). Prime Minister (1994–1995). Member of
the Riigikogu. Member and former leader of the Mõõdukad Party.

TIIDO, Harri (born 8 October 1953), journalist. Studied English at the
University of Tartu. Worked for several radio stations, including Estonian
Radio, Voice of America and Kuku Raadio. Deputy Secretary General at the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2000–2003). Ambassador to NATO in Brussels
(2003–).

VILLEMS, Richard (born 28 November 1944), molecular biologist,
academic. Member of the Estonian Academy of Sciences. Professor at the
University of Tartu.

VSEVIOV, David (born 27 May 1949). Studied history at the University of
Tartu. Researcher in the Institute of History at the Academy of Sciences
(1981–1991). Professor at the Estonian Academy of Arts.