Natsional'nye chasti Estonskoi armii i natsional'nye men'shinstva v voine za nezavisimost' Estonii v 1918–1920 gg. | National Minorities and National Units in the Estonian Army during the Estonian War of Independence, 1918–1920

Abstract

The article analyses issues related to the participation of national minorities in the Estonian War of Independence of 1918–1920. Due to the low numbers of national minorities, they were not treated as a serious problem in the Republic of Estonia during the war, but the question of their involvement was important in the principle of the strategy of active defence. This article is based on a doctoral thesis that was defended at Tallinn University in June 2018. The involvement of national minorities in the national units of the Estonian national army in the Estonian War of Independence is investigated from a cultural studies approach. The article aims to show the attitude of national minorities towards the Estonian state and the army, and to evaluate their role in the struggle by the Estonian army in the War of Independence.

Keywords

• Estonian War of Independence
• national minorities
• national units
• Baltic Germans
• Estonian Russians