The year is 1939, and the Soviet Union has just signed a non-aggression pact called the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany. While the effects of this pact were myriad and far-reaching, what interests us here is the secret portion of the document dividing up the land in between the two rapidly growing empires. The tiny nation of Estonia, which only 20 years prior had successfully fought a war of independence against the Soviet Union, was handed back to the Soviets, and the Red Army marched in two months later to formally occupy and eventually annex it.
The Soviet military police were quick to root out (read: execute) opposition to their occupation, and a few months later, when the German-Soviet pact fell apart, the Red Army forced thousands of young Estonians into conscription. Estonia was the battleground of many violent German-Soviet clashes over the next few years.
Having twice fought Soviet invasions, and considering tens of thousands of Estonians were deported to Siberia in the post-war period, it is unsurprising that many people in Estonia don’t look back terribly fondly on their half century of Soviet occupation. It should not have come as a surprise then, either, when in April the Estonian government decided to move a large Soviet monument to the glories of the Red Army from the center of their capital city.
Perhaps more surprising is what happened next. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov condemned the move as ‘blasphemy’, and a resolution of the Russian Senate condemned Estonian officials as ‘neo-nazis’. All over a statue.
And that’s not all: the Russian Duma called for harsh economic sanctions and a few days later, as Moscow protesters hurled rocks at the Estonian embassy, the Russian government cut off oil and coal exports to the tiny Baltic republic. All over a statue.
And even that’s not the end of it. While Estonia and Russia continue to bicker over what ought to be a relatively minor matter, it spirals into an enormous international incident. The European Union has criticized Russia for its reaction, and NATO has warned Russia to crack down on the protesters. Russia, for its part, has lashed out at Western ‘connivance’ with Estonia.
Did I mention this whole thing is about a statue?