Restoration of Independence Day (Taasiseseisvumispäev) is marked on August 20 each year to celebrate the date in 1991 when Estonia regained the freedom it had lost to the Soviet Union more than five decades earlier. ERR News briefly explains the day’s significance and the following chain of events.
On August 20, 1991, an attempted coup by Communist hardliners in Moscow precipitated a succession of events in Estonia that, on the same day, led to a resolution of the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR to declare the country’s independence from the collapsing Soviet Union.
Since then, Estonia has ce-lebrated its regained independence on this date every year.
Thirty-three years ago, on August 20, 1991, volunteers rushed to protect Tallinn’s TV tower after Soviet forces were sent to the country to cripple its communication systems.
The events took place during a three-day attempted coup in Moscow by hardline members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union who were unhappy with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev’s perestroika and glasnost reforms.
When the 76th Guards Air Assault Division arrived in Tallinn from Pskov, they were met by volunteers who had responded to a call to take up the defense of Toompea Hill as well as the city’s radio and television buildings. That night, at just after 11 p.m., 69 members of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Estonia voted in favor of the Resolution on the National Independence of Estonia. The decision was announced to the public the following day. Latvia also declared independence the same day.
On August 22, Iceland became the first country to formally recognize Estonia’s newly re-established independence. Sweden became the first country to open its embassy in Tallinn on August 29, and on September 6 the Soviet Union recognized Estonia’s independence. On September 17, Estonia joined the United Nations.
On Christmas Day, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev resigned, declared his office extinct, and handed over its powers to Russian President Boris Yeltsin. One day later, the Soviet Union was officially dissolved.
However, Russian troops remained in the country for another three years.
On July 26, 1994, Estonian President Lennart Meri and Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed an agreement for the complete withdrawal of Russian troops from Estonian territory, the culmination of years of negotiations. At the start of August, Russian troops were completely withdrawn from both Estonia and Latvia.
August 20 is now celebrated as a national holiday. Estonia’s Independence Day is celebrated on February 24.
The link below contains the translation of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Estonia’s Resolution on the National Independence of Estonia, which was published on August 21, 1991 in the State Gazette (Riigi Teataja).
https://news.err.ee/1609429462/restoration-of-independence-events-of-august-20-1991-explained
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