Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Republic of Estonia (1918-1940)

Republic of Estonia (1918-1940)

Republic of Estonia (1918-1940) (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) – (View log · Stats)

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WP:CONTENTFORK, article poorly duplicates information in Republic of Estonia and History of Estonia. Similar content fork created by Elevatorrailfan (talk · contribs) was recently deleted at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Ireland (1937-1949). --Nug (talk) 13:08, 30 December 2014 (UTC)

• Comment I am finding some aspects of the nomination slightly confusing. Republic of Estonia is, and has been for a very long time, a redirect to Estonia. The Republic of Estonia entry in Template:Estonia topics is (and has also been for a very long while) positioned as if referring to the history of Estonia during the 1920s and 1930s but, rather than linking to the article under discussion here or to Republic of Estonia, links to History of Estonia#Republic of Estonia - however, there is no longer a Republic of Estonia section in History of Estonia, as the nominator has, since the start of this AfD, removed its heading, effectively merging the section with the previous one in that article. Having said that, the current article under discussion here covers its supposed topic even less well than the relevant sections of Estonia and History of Estonia - while these both skip from 1920 to 1933, the current article skips from 1920 to 1940. We need a Wikipedia article that covers this period of Estonian history properly - and we don't have it. PWilkinson (talk) 22:10, 31 December 2014 (UTC)

Sure, the article History of Estonia needs improvement and the relevant templates cleaned up to reduce confusion, deleting this content fork is part of that clean up. The two sections in the article subject of this AFD adds nothing new, both have text copy pasted from the articles Estonian War of Independence and Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic which is already summarised in Estonia and History of Estonia anyway. --Nug (talk) 23:08, 31 December 2014 (UTC)

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Estonia-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 01:03, 2 January 2015 (UTC)

Note: This debate has been included in the list of History-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 01:03, 2 January 2015 (UTC)

Keep due to the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic having existed from 1940 to 1991. GoodDay (talk) 03:26, 2 January 2015 (UTC)

The articles Republic of Estonia and History of Estonia already mention and discuss Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic as a part of that country's history. This article remains a content fork, it adds nothing that isn't already in (or could be added to) those other articles. On another level this article could also be considered a POV fork as it creates the impression that the Estonian republic founded in 1918 came to an end in 1940, however consensus has solidified in reliable sources over the past decade that the Republic of Estonia before the Soviet era is the same and continuous with the Republic of Estonia after the Soviet era. The following is a list of sources:

• Marek, Krystyna (1968). Identity and continuity of states in public international law (2 ed.). Geneva, Switzerland: Libr. Droz.
• Hiden, Johan; Salmon, Patrick (1994). The Baltic Nations and Europe (Revised ed.). Harlow, England: Longman. ISBN 0-582-25650-X.
• Gerard, Craig. The Baltic question during the cold war. Routledge. ISBN 9781134197309.
• Mälksoo, Lauri (2003). Illegal Annexation and State Continuity: The Case of the Incorporation of the Baltic States by the USSR. M. Nijhoff Publishers. ISBN 90-411-2177-3.
• Van Elsuwege, Peter (2003). State Continuity and its Consequences: The Case of the Baltic States. Leiden Journal of International Law (Cambridge Journals) 16: pp.377–388. doi:10.1017/S0922156503001195.
• Ziemele, Ineta (2005). State Continuity and Nationality: The Baltic States and Russia. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. ISBN 90-04-14295-9.
• Van Elsuwege, Peter (2008). From Soviet republics to EU member states: a legal and political assessment of the Baltic states' accession to the EU. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-16945-6.

As it stands this article is factually incorrect as the infobox says the Estonian government-in-exile succeeded it, however the sources cited above state otherwise, and Estonia's 1938 constitution remained in force until it was amended by referendum in 1992, one year after its de facto independence was restored. Note that this article was for a long time, since 2007[1], a redirect to History of Estonia#Independence. Only in May 2012 was it turned into an article[2] but that was promptly reverted back some days later into a redirect[3]. But again it was turned back into an article in December 2014[4], so deletion is necessary given that this is turning into a potential POV magnet. --Nug (talk) 09:08, 2 January 2015 (UTC)

IMHO, the redirect Republic of Lithuania (1918–1940), should be restored as an article & the redirect Republic of Latvia (1918–1940), should be changed to an article. GoodDay (talk) 05:55, 5 January 2015 (UTC)

• Keep - This is a rational periodization of Estonian history, much like the above-cited Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic and worthy of in-depth presentation as a sub-page of Estonia. Pretty easy call here, it would seem. Wikipedia is not paper, etc. Carrite (talk) 05:24, 5 January 2015 (UTC)
• Delete - Truly, it is difficult to see any meaningful information added to this article, which would not be already present in 'Estonia' or 'History of Estonia'. Also, the POV issue. Oth (talk) 05:56, 5 January 2015 (UTC)