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Estonia declared neutrality at the outbreak of World War II (1939–1945), but the country was repeatedly contested, invaded and occupied, first by the Soviet Union in 1940, then by Nazi Germany in 1941, and ultimately reinvaded and reoccupied in 1944 by the Soviet Union.
In the course of Operation Barbarossa, Nazi Germany invaded Estonia in July–December 1941, and occupied the country until 1944. Estonia had gained independence in 1918 from the then-warring German and Russian Empires. However, in the wake of the August 1939 Nazi-Soviet Pact, the Soviet Union had invaded and occupied Estonia in June 1940, and ...
In August 1939, just prior to the start of World War II, Stalin and Hitler secretly decided the fate of the Republic of Estonia. The two leaders agreed to divide Eastern Europe into "spheres of special interest" as outlined by the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact in its Secret Additional Protocol.
The 25,000-strong Soviet 8th Estonian Rifle Corps, for example, saw combat in Tallinn, Estonia in Sep 1944, while in the same year the German 3rd Estonian SS Volunteer Brigade fought near Nevel, Russia. As the Germans fled from Estonia, the Estonians established a national government on 21 Sep 1944.
When World War Two broke out in September 1939, no-one could have imagined the horrific consequences it would have for Estonia and its people. At the start of the war, Estonia had declared itself neutral and for a period of time life went on as usual. The first people affected in Estonia by WWII were the Baltic Germans.
In early 1944, the Estonians were formed into the 200th Infantry Regiment of the Finnish army, which fought in the Karelian Isthmus. In August, before an armistice was concluded between Finland and the Soviet Union, the so‑called Finnish Boys were sent back to Estonia.
Apr 29, 2024 · 23 February – Institutions of military command were joined into the Staff of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armies under the command of Colonel Soots. 3 April – The Military School of the Republic was founded. 1920. 3 January – End of the War of Independence. The Estonian army lost 5000 men as killed, 14 000 men were wounded.
