Bronze Soldier of Tallinn

[Sohni]

I have been asked about bronze soldier problem earlier and also now by a Stirpes member, so I thought to post a little background story to it. To understand the problem behind bronze soldier of Tallinn, one needs to know a bit of Estonian history – a long story, but I will try to make it as short as possible.

First, if you don’t exactly know what Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (German-Soviet alliance) was, READ this first: Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

On September 24, 1939, the Soviet Union threatened Estonia with war unless provided with military bases in the country –- an ultimatum with which the Estonian government complied.
On June 16-17, 1940, the Soviet troops occupied the whole territory of Estonia and demanded a change to a new pro-Soviet puppet government. Similarly to the developments in neighboring Latvia and Lithuania, the occupation and change of government was then in the three countries followed by "parliamentary elections" where all but pro-Communist candidates were outlawed. The "parliament" so elected proclaimed Estonia a Socialist Republic on July 21, 1940 and unanimously requested Estonia to be "accepted" into the Soviet Union. Estonia was formally annexed into the Soviet Union on August 6 and renamed the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic.
History of Estonia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Soviet-putinist version: Estonian workers and peasants overthrew the tyrant rulers and the new democratically elected parliament and government asked to be accepted to Soviet Union as Estonian SSR.

Then two allies went to war against each other in June 1941. After a horrifying year of terror, Estonians rebelled and fought Soviet forces all over Estonia, liberating many settlements before Germans even arrived, also Estonians who had escaped soviet occupation to Finland, trained and armed there, landed on northern coast and started to fight retreating red monsters who tried to leave scorched land behind them. Many estonians were forcefully deported to slave camps far in east, where a great part of them died because of inhuman conditions. Wehrmacht was welcomed as liberator all over Estonia.

Soviet-putinist version: With the help of local murderous fascist collaborators, Germans occupied Soviet Estonia and its people. Fortunately some of them managed to escape to free parts of Soviet homeland to work hard for the victory of Soviet people.

Germans quickly lost their liberator-image because of intense German-glorifying and national-socialist propaganda that started fast and reluctance to grant us restoration of independence. Finally it led to arrests of our political leaders and great decline in numbers of volunteers for East Front. "Germans mistrust Estonians, Estonians despise Germans and only a common enemy keeps them cooperating. If there would be third power, like Great Britain, guaranteeing the borders of Estonia after the war, there would be immediate rebellion", as German intelligence services reported to Berlin.
The situation lasted until the time when Red Army came close to Estonian borders, when the decision was made by Estonian leaders to call all Estonia to arms - not to fight for Germany, but to hold the Red Horde away from Estonia with German help until the war ends with the defeat of Germany from west. People answered the call with unseen enthusiasm – Estonian Legion (20th Waffen-SS Grenadier Division) was created along with many units of Omakaitse (literally “Self-Defence”, poorly equipped and trained but highly motivated militia). Also experienced veterans of Karelian front, Finnishboys returned to Fatherland. Estonians were counting on Germany to lose, but helping to stop soviets first.
May seem like a naive fantasy now, but in the desperate situation Baltic States were then, it was a desperate plan and offered hope to people in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Soviet-putinist version: Local Estonian fascist collaborators and few who were fooled by their propaganda, joined Germans, but the great majority of Estonian people was waiting for the liberation by Red Army and reunification of Estonians with the family of Soviet nations.

After many heavy battles (most significant of them Battle of Sinimäed or Tannenbergstellung, where Estonian Legion performed with heroic excellence along with many other European volunteers, stopping invasion from north-east and preventing a critical strike of Red Army to whole army group “Nord”), Estonia was finally invaded by Soviet forces from south-east and our capital Tallinn captured on September 22, 1944.
About 80,000 people escaped to Finland, Sweden and Germany ( a great number for a nation of 1 million…) and red terror started almost immediately.
Many fighters of Estonian units went to forest along with many civilians and thus began partisan war of Forest Brothers, as they were called. Active war continued until 1953 along with forced creation of kolkhozes, mass deportations and extermination of country population that was the main supply base for resistance fighters. Last known Forest Brother was killed 1978, but in middle of 1980s in Southern Estonia a Forest Brother bunker was discovered by soviet security forces with a coffee pack from 1981 in it.

Soviet-putinist version: The people of Estonia ecstatically welcomed liberators who finally rescued them from nazi terror. Heores of Soviet Army liberated many countries from fascism (including Estonia) and destroyed Nazi Germany, thus eliminating threat to whole World. The World should be eternally grateful for that, especially the countries that were liberated by the glorious Red Army!
Few gangs of criminals and fascist collaborators terrorized the population of Baltic States and Ukraine after the war, but were destroyed in few years.

Men of Estonian Legion continued fighting retreating with German units, gaining notoriety among soviet troops as battlehardened veterans who never took prisoners. Those men knew their homeland had fallen and all they had was revenge and hatred – broken souls who had nothing to fear and lived to die with as many Red Horde soldiers with them as possible. They fought until May 11, 1945 in Czech. Many of the men still standing were deceived by local communist rebels who promised safe passage to American-occupied territories for giving away weapons and were executed after they did it… But many still made it to U.S. forces, slashing their way thorugh Red Horde units and hostile Czechs.

Soviet-putinist version: F***ing fascist scum! Traitors of Soviet people!


So much of a very short history summary. Just to add a little bit:

The memorial was unveiled on September 22, 1947, on the third anniversary of Red Army entering Tallinn in 1944, an event which Soviet Union viewed as taking Tallinn back from Nazi Germany. The monument replaced a wooden memorial (a meter high wooden pyramid, which was only about 20 centimetres in diameter; it was of a plain blue colour and its top was decorated by a red star) that had been blown up in the night of May 8, 1946, by two Estonian school girls, 14 year old Aili Jürgenson and 15 year old Ageeda Paavel, who were both later arrested by the KGB and sent to the Gulag.
Bronze Soldier of Tallinn - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Now about the monument itself:
It was made by Estonian sculptor Enn Roos and he said the protoype of the bronze soviet was “a young worker living nearby” – a perfct explanation in an empire of communist terror which claimed to be a “country of workers and peasants”, good way to avoid saying “I made it to look like the hero of pre-war Estonia, double olympic champion who spitted on you, red scum”:

Estonian wrestler confirmed as model for controversial Soviet statue

National hero told daughter of posing for sculpture

The daughter of Estonian Olympic medalist and national hero Kristjan Palusalu (1908-1987) has confirmed that her father served as the model for the bronze statue of a Soviet soldier, sparking a major dispute between Russia and Estonia.
The Estonian government's decision to move the monument from the centre of Tallinn to a military cemetery sparked rioting in the city and led to a severe cooling of relations between Estonia and Russia.
"Father told me about it in the 1960s", says Kristjan's daughter, Helle Palusalu, 68, at home in Tallinn.
"Victory Day was no big celebration back then. Representatives of the government brought flowers to the statue. Father said that if they only knew that they were bringing flowers to him."
According to Helle Palusalu, her father had modelled for art students at the Estonian Academy of Art on many occasions since 1932, and he continued to do so into the 1970s.
"He had a good body and well-balanced muscles."
Sculptor Enn Roos and architect Arnold Alas designed the monument to the "liberation" of Tallinn in 1946, when Palusalu was unexpectedly released from custody, where he had been held on a well-founded suspicion of desertion from the Red Army to Finland.

Preliminary versions of the sculpture were made, and sent to the Council of Culture for assessment.
"They recognised Palusalu immediately and said that he cannot be the model for this statue", Helle Palusalu says. "Then the face of the statue was altered according to the features of my father, architect Alas, and an assistant of the artist, and the one whose features displayed the greatest power was the one that was chosen.
The statue was not changed except for the face. "For instance, the hands are completely his", Helle Palusalu says.

The statue was set up in the centre of Tallinn in 1947, where it stood until late April when it was moved to a nearby military cemetery, sparking anger among Estonia's ethnic Russians, and in Russia itself.
"Whenever I went to the library, I would walk past it and look at Father", Helle Palusalu says. "I never brought any flowers, and the name Alyosha [given to the statue by the Russian population] was never to my liking."

The daughter of the Olympic hero lives in a house built by her father in the early 1960s in a pleasant neighbourhood on the northeast side of Tallinn.
"It's too bad that Father is a part of this", Helle Palusalu says, commenting on the issue that was the centre of the dispute. "I would not have wanted the statue to be destroyed. I said once that they should bring it here."

Helsingin Sanomat - International Edition - Foreign

Also read: Model for controversial Tallinn memorial defected to Finland during war Helsingin Sanomat - International Edition - Foreign


The bronze soldier monument was unveiled on September 22, 1947, on the third anniversary of the Soviet Red Army entering Tallinn in 1944 . Originally intended as an official war memorial to Soviet soldiers who died fighting in World War II, an eternal flame was added in front of the monument in 1964. The Soviet liberation theme was changed when Estonia re-established independence in 1991, stating "For those fallen in World War II"; at the same time the eternal flame was put out.
Bronze Soldier of Tallinn - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


The main question asked about it: Why did bronze soldier became a problem in 2006, after 15 years of restoration of independence of Estonia?
There are two answers:
* In 1994, after three years of negotiations, last Soviet/Russians troops withdrew from Estonia and we became a truly independent country.
One of the conditions was that Estonia won't touch the monuments of Soviet Army (despite the fact that dozens and dozens of monuments and graveyards of Estonian soldiers of our Independence War were brutally destroyed during occupation of 1940-41 and after 1944). Estonia agreed.
* Some older soviet colonists in Estonia were veterans who came to the monument each year on May 9 to remember their fallen comrades. Estonians understood it and tolerated it despite the fact they had been fighting against us. It wasn't political, it was human - to come together and remember dead friends...
BUT: those veteran gatherings included more and more aggressive-minded people each year, which was clearly seen in 2005 and culminated with May 9, 2006 when directly anti-Estonian speeches were openly had, while waving flags of Russia and Soviet Union and screaming for annihilation of Estonians. Then some Estonian nationalists appeared with our national flag and were of course attacked by furious neostalinists. That brought a wave of furious demonstrations from both sides in following months.

Estonians were fed up with wild anti-Estonian hysterics in the middle of their capital (200 meters from Freedom Square!), homo sovieticus russian colonists were fed up with not being the master nation since 1991.

As one of the show hosts of an Estonian TV channel well said:
"If mongols would gather each year in couple of hundred meters from Red Square in Moscow at a bronze state of Batu Khan to celebrate destruction of the city in 1237, drinking, dancing and shouting demands to annihilate all russians ---- how would russians like it?"


Those soviet colonists who have been willing to integrate to Estonian society (learning our language, showing respect to our traditions and culture) have done it already and nobody has a problem with it.
But unfortunately the rootless homo sovieticus imperialist mentality and vulnerability to propaganda from putinist-controlled russian media is VERY widespread in our russian minority.

And all that along with planning and funding from Moscow led to events in end of April 2007 called the Bronze Nights.
There's already a topic about it and it is very late here (sorry for possible typos)... so I won't continue from here and just suggest this thread: Estonian capital suffers second night of violence

More coming on next days