CULTURE: LITERATURE Due to the lack of national independence, and leaving aside an ancient and rich popular poetry, literature proper developed relatively late in Estonia. The first book is printed there in 1517, but only in 1708 with the elegy of Hans Kasü there is also the first poem by an Estonian author. In the… Read More »
1945 Coercive Collectiveization When Germany’s offensive against the Soviet Union began in 1941, German troops also invaded Estonia and instituted a terrorist regime. The Soviet first recaptured the Baltic States in 1944. The Russians initiated forced industrialization and forced collectivization of agriculture. The same “development model” Stalin had implemented in the Soviet Union since 1929.… Read More »