Governorate of Estonia: Difference between revisions

Coordinates: 59°26′14″N 24°44′43″E / 59.43722°N 24.74528°E / 59.43722; 24.74528
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
m →‎Russification: word fixed
Line 64: Line 64:
Russification policies had also been taken in education: placing all Lutheran rural elementary schools under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education; creating the position of director and inspector so the ministry insured the state control; and introducing [[Russian language|Russian]] as an instruction language in the third year of the school in 1887 and then the first year in 1892.{{sfn|Raun|1991|p=79}}{{sfn|Thaden|2014b|p=316}} Initially, the result of Russification was disorganised: many schools, which the Baltic Germans withdrew support for as a protest, were closed; much of the teaching personnel were unable to teach Russian; and the number of pupils in the governorate declined, from 25,646 to 20,565 between 1886 and 1892.{{sfn|Thaden|2014b|p=317}}
Russification policies had also been taken in education: placing all Lutheran rural elementary schools under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education; creating the position of director and inspector so the ministry insured the state control; and introducing [[Russian language|Russian]] as an instruction language in the third year of the school in 1887 and then the first year in 1892.{{sfn|Raun|1991|p=79}}{{sfn|Thaden|2014b|p=316}} Initially, the result of Russification was disorganised: many schools, which the Baltic Germans withdrew support for as a protest, were closed; much of the teaching personnel were unable to teach Russian; and the number of pupils in the governorate declined, from 25,646 to 20,565 between 1886 and 1892.{{sfn|Thaden|2014b|p=317}}


[[File:Aleksander Nevski katedraal ja linnamüür Niguliste kiriku tornist 74.jpg|thumb|left|Bulit in 1894, the [[Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Tallinn|Alexander Nevsky Cathedral]] in Reval is the symbol of the Orthodox Church in the Governorate]]
[[File:Aleksander Nevski katedraal ja linnamüür Niguliste kiriku tornist 74.jpg|thumb|left|Built in 1894, the [[Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Tallinn|Alexander Nevsky Cathedral]] in Reval is the symbol of the Orthodox Church in the Governorate]]
The Russian Orthodoxy came unexpectedly into the Baltic area in the 1840s, causing the struggle between the Orthodox and the Luteran churches, which had attended since the [[Northern Crusades]], for the allegiance of Estonians.{{sfn|Thaden|2014b|p=324}} There, the Russification process was also performed for religious purposes. In 1883, in Wiek county, the conversation movement among 3,400 Estonian peasants began, which had the motivation of the strong anti-German settlement.{{sfn|Thaden|2014b|p=324}} During his first tenure as governor, Shakhovskoy sought to propagate Orthodoxy in his ruling governorate, which caused spiritual dissatisfaction among the Baltic natives who lived under a German-controlled [[Protestantism]]. In 1886, Shakhovskoy suggested to the procurator of the Holy Synod, [[Konstantin Pobedonostsev]], that Orthodoxy was the quickest way to unite the Estonians into the "great Russian family".{{sfn|Raun|1991|p=80}}{{sfn|Thaden|2014b|p=325}} Furthermore, in 1885, Alexander III reinstated that children of mixed Lutheran-Orthodox marriages be only baptised as Orthodox, and the reconverts to Luteranism were again considered members of the state church.{{sfn|Thaden|2014b|p=325}}
The Russian Orthodoxy came unexpectedly into the Baltic area in the 1840s, causing the struggle between the Orthodox and the Luteran churches, which had attended since the [[Northern Crusades]], for the allegiance of Estonians.{{sfn|Thaden|2014b|p=324}} There, the Russification process was also performed for religious purposes. In 1883, in Wiek county, the conversation movement among 3,400 Estonian peasants began, which had the motivation of the strong anti-German settlement.{{sfn|Thaden|2014b|p=324}} During his first tenure as governor, Shakhovskoy sought to propagate Orthodoxy in his ruling governorate, which caused spiritual dissatisfaction among the Baltic natives who lived under a German-controlled [[Protestantism]]. In 1886, Shakhovskoy suggested to the procurator of the Holy Synod, [[Konstantin Pobedonostsev]], that Orthodoxy was the quickest way to unite the Estonians into the "great Russian family".{{sfn|Raun|1991|p=80}}{{sfn|Thaden|2014b|p=325}} Furthermore, in 1885, Alexander III reinstated that children of mixed Lutheran-Orthodox marriages be only baptised as Orthodox, and the reconverts to Luteranism were again considered members of the state church.{{sfn|Thaden|2014b|p=325}}


Revision as of 20:16, 14 March 2024

For the governorate from 1917–1918, see Autonomous Governorate of Estonia.

Governorate of Estonia
  • Эстляндская губерния (Russian)
  • Eestimaa kubermang (Estonian)
  • Gouvernement Estland (German)
Governorate
Coat of arms of Governorate of Estonia
Coat of arms
Location in the Russian Empire
Location in the Russian Empire
CountryRussian Empire
Established1796
Abolished1917
CapitalReval
(present-day Tallinn)
Area
 • Total20,246.7 km2 (7,817.3 sq mi)
Highest elevation
(Emumägi)
166 m (545 ft)
Population
 (1897)
 • Total412,716
 • Density20/km2 (53/sq mi)
 • Urban
18.68%
 • Rural
81.32%
Part of a series on the
History of Estonia
LIVONIAE NOVA DESCRIPTIO
Ancient Estonia
Medieval Estonia
Swedish Estonia
Russian Estonia
Modern Estonia
Chronology
flag Estonia portal

The Governorate of Estonia,[a] also known as the Esthonia (Estland) Governorate,[1][2][3][4] was a province (guberniya) and one of the Baltic governorates of the Russian Empire. It was located in the northern Estonia with some islands in the West Estonian archipelago, including Hiiumaa and Vormsi. Previously, the Reval Governorate existed during Peter I's reign and was confirmed by the Treaty of Nystad, which ceded territory from Sweden to the newly established Russian Empire. The Estonia Governorate was established in 1796 when Paul I's reforms abolished the Reval Viceroyalty.

From the 1850s to 1914, the Estonian national awakening influenced and characterized the governorate by general modernization, the reorganization into a modern European society, and the success of the newly emerged nationalist awareness.[5] The accession of Alexander III in 1881 marked the beginning of a period of more rigid Russification; the previous Baltic civil and criminal codes were replaced with Russian ones, and the Russian language replaced the German language and Estonian language. Jaan Tõnisson founded the National Liberal Party and organized its first congress in 1905, in the course of the First Russian Revolution; in response, the Russian government suppressed the revolution declaring martial law, causing Konstantin Päts and the radical leader Jaan Teemant to flee abroad.[6] The governorate gained more territories from the Governorate of Livonia and was granted autonomy on 12 April 1917, and lasted for nearly a year. The Estonian independence that came on 24 February 1918 marked the permanently end for the governorate.

Until the late 19th century the governorate was administered independently by the local Baltic German nobility through a feudal Regional Council.[7]

History

German and Russian map of Governorate of Estonia

From 1561, Estonia had been under the control as a dominion of the Swedish Empire following the annexation of the northern part of the Livonian Confederation, in which nobilies swore obedience to the Swedish king Eric XIV as the Russians, in 1558, invaded Livonia, which prompted the Livonian War. The Treaty of Plussa forced Russia to cede to Sweden possessions along the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland, including northern Livonia and Ingria.

Seeking to regain lost territories, in 1701, Tsar Peter I and his allies invaded Sweden, beginning the Great Northern War. He initially met with setbacks by King Charles XII but later gained triumphs. In 1710, the Russians advanced into Estonia and Livonia, which were incorporated into Russia. In the Treaty of Nystad of 1721, Sweden formally ceded its former dominion of Estonia, Livonia, and its other territories to Russia, whereas Russia paid Sweden compensation of 2 million efimki (1.3 million rubles).

Initially named Reval Governorate after the city of Reval (now known as Tallinn), it was established in 1719 by decree of Peter the Great on 29 May, on the territory that was acquired from Sweden, along with the Riga Governorate. In 1783, the Reval Viceroyalty was formed from Reval Governorate, and in 1796, together with Narva county, which was separated from Saint Petersburg Governorate, Estonia Governorate was formed. During the reign of the Swedish kings, there was a tendency towards granting more autonomy to the peasantry, but under the Russian tsars, there was a shift towards tighter regulation. Serfdom remained in place until its abolition in 1816.[8][9]

Rise of the Estonian cultural identity

Main article: Estonian national awakening

The early course of the reign of Alexander II marked the emergence of the Estonian national movement, which periodised the so-called Estonian age of awakening that led to the birth of a distinctive Estonian national culture and laid the groundwork for its growing roles in Baltic politics.[10] As agricultural reforms, the spread of education, increasing communication beyond the Baltic, and the spirit of reformation were factors in the national awakening, from 1860, the Estonian national movement had gained more support from rising Estonians.[10] Although many Estonians still continued to assimilate into the German and Russian cultures, many nationwide efforts were seen, especially for the Estonian Alexander School [et], the Society of Estonian Literati, and the all-Estonian song festivals.[11]

The prominent figure in the period was Carl Robert Jakobson; he opposed the Baltic German dominance and took an anti-clerical position on the Luteran Church.[12] He had also begun campaigning for the introduction of zemstvo, which had already existed in the empire; in June 1881, seventeen Estonian societies requested that they do so with equal representations for Germans and Estonians, in a memorandum to Alexander III.[12][13] As a result, four of the ten points of the memorandum were implemented at the end of the 1880s.[14]

Also in this era, poet Lydia Koidula had been a prominent figure in the advocation of Estonian literature; she wrote her most important work, Emajõe ööbik [et] (The Nightingale of Emajõgi), which was published in 1867. Among Koidula were Mihkel Veske, Ado Reinvald, Friedrich Kuhlbars, and others. Many works in this era reflected the revival of Estonian culture, and from the mid-1890s on, these reflected on the condition of rural people and satirised the elites.[15] Publication of Estonian-language print grew rapidly from 1860 to 1900, and the number of books and brochures six times increased, from 55 to 312.[15] According to the 1897 census, 96.9 percent of Estonians, 10 years and older, could read and write, making the northern Baltic area the most literate region of the empire.[16][17]

Russification

In 1885, the new governor of Estonia, Sergey Shakhovskoy, was appointed by Emperor Alexander III, who had seemed to think the father's reforms were a threat to Russian culture; this marked the beginning of the Russification process in Estonia.[14]

Russification policies had also been taken in education: placing all Lutheran rural elementary schools under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education; creating the position of director and inspector so the ministry insured the state control; and introducing Russian as an instruction language in the third year of the school in 1887 and then the first year in 1892.[16][18] Initially, the result of Russification was disorganised: many schools, which the Baltic Germans withdrew support for as a protest, were closed; much of the teaching personnel were unable to teach Russian; and the number of pupils in the governorate declined, from 25,646 to 20,565 between 1886 and 1892.[19]

Built in 1894, the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Reval is the symbol of the Orthodox Church in the Governorate

The Russian Orthodoxy came unexpectedly into the Baltic area in the 1840s, causing the struggle between the Orthodox and the Luteran churches, which had attended since the Northern Crusades, for the allegiance of Estonians.[20] There, the Russification process was also performed for religious purposes. In 1883, in Wiek county, the conversation movement among 3,400 Estonian peasants began, which had the motivation of the strong anti-German settlement.[20] During his first tenure as governor, Shakhovskoy sought to propagate Orthodoxy in his ruling governorate, which caused spiritual dissatisfaction among the Baltic natives who lived under a German-controlled Protestantism. In 1886, Shakhovskoy suggested to the procurator of the Holy Synod, Konstantin Pobedonostsev, that Orthodoxy was the quickest way to unite the Estonians into the "great Russian family".[21][22] Furthermore, in 1885, Alexander III reinstated that children of mixed Lutheran-Orthodox marriages be only baptised as Orthodox, and the reconverts to Luteranism were again considered members of the state church.[22]

After the Russian February Revolution, on 12 April [O.S. 30 March] 1917 the governorate expanded to include northern Livonia, thereby forming the Autonomous Governorate of Estonia which existed for less than a year, until February 1918.[23][24]

Geography

The Governorate of Estonia was the northernmost of the Baltic governorates, located on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland. The westernmost point was Cape Kalana in Hiiumaa; in the east, the Narva river near the city of Narva; Cape Stenskär in the north; Kõrksaar in the Pärnu Bay in the south. The land border was 297 versts (317 km; 197 mi) in the west, 469 versts (500 km; 311 mi) in the north, 75 versts (80 km; 50 mi) in the east with Saint Petersburg Governorate along the Neva, and 371 versts (396 km; 246 mi) with Lake Peipus and Governorate of Livonia in the south. The provincial border between Wierland and Dorpat counties was 20,377 fathoms (37.265 km; 23.156 mi) long, and between Wierland and Fellin counties was 18,669.3 fathoms (34.1424 km; 21.2151 mi) long.

The area of the Governorate of Estonia was 17,791.7 square versts (20,248.1 km2; 7,817.8 sq mi); of this, 16,290.5 square versts (18,539.6 km2; 7,158.2 sq mi) were the mainland and 1,032.7 square versts (1,175.3 km2; 453.8 sq mi) were the islands, with 468.5 square versts (533.2 km2; 205.9 sq mi) were the of Lake Peipsi as a part the governorate.

The governorate consisted of the northern Estonia, approximately corresponding to: Harju, Lääne-Viru, Ida-Viru, Rapla, Järva, Lääne and Hiiu counties, and a small portion of Pärnu County.[citation needed]

Administrative divisions

The districts (уѣзды, uezdy; German: kreise) of the Governorate of Estonia in 1897 were as follow:[25]

County Administrative centre Area Population
(1897 census)[26]
Name in German Name in Russian
Wierland Везенбергскій/Вирляндскій Wesenberg (Rakvere) 7,143.2 km2
(2,758.0 sq mi)		 120,230
Jerwen Вейсенштейнскій/Ервенскій Weissenstein (Paide) 2,871.2 km2
(1,108.6 sq mi)		 52,673
Wiek Гапсальскій/Викскій Hapsal (Haapsalu) 4,697.9 km2
(1,813.9 sq mi)		 82,077
Harrien Ревельскій/Гарріенскій Reval (Tallinn) 5,739.5 km2
(2,216.0 sq mi)		 157,736

Former Subdivisions

  • Kreis Baltischport, now known as Paldiski

Governors

Demographics

According to the Russian Empire Census, the Estonia Governorate had a population of 412,716 on 9 February 1897 [O.S. 28 January], including 202,409 men and 210,307 women. The majority of the population indicated Estonian to be their mother tongue, with significant Russian and German speaking minorities.[27]

Linguistic composition of the Estonia Governorate in 1897[27]
Language Males Females Native speakers Percentage
Estonian 176,972 188,987 365,559 88.67
Great Russian[b] 12,441 7,998 20,439 4.95
German 6,991 9,046 16,037 1.39
Swedish 2,725 3,043 5,768 1.39
Jewish 852 417 1,261 0.31
Polish 921 316 1,237 0.30
Latvian 351 121 472 0.11
Finnish 271 91 362 0.09
White Russian[b] 215 15 230 0.06
Little Russian[b] 210 20 230 0.06
Norwegian 131 29 160 0.04
Other 329 224 553 0.13
TOTAL 202,409 210,307 412,716 100

It's urban population was 18.68% and rural was 81.32%.

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^
  2. ^ a b c Prior to 1918, the Imperial Russian Government classified Russians as the Great Russians, Ukrainians as the Little Russians, and Belarusians as the White Russians. After the creation of the Ukrainian People's Republic in 1918, the Little Russians identified themselves as "Ukrainians".[28] Also, the Belarusian Democratic Republic which the White Russians identified themselves as "Belarusians".[29]

Citations

  1. ^ The Baltic States from 1914 to 1923 By LtCol Andrew Parrott. Archived 19 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ William Henry Beable (1919), Russian Gazetteer and Guide, London: Russian Outlook
  3. ^ Thaden 2014a, p. 27.
  4. ^ Thaden 2014b, p. 34.
  5. ^ "National awakening". Estonica.org. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  6. ^ "Estonian national awakening". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  7. ^ Smith, David James (2005). The Baltic States and Their Region. Rodopi. ISBN 978-90-420-1666-8.
  8. ^ Raun 1991, p. 47.
  9. ^ Thaden 2014b, p. 122.
  10. ^ a b Raun 1991, p. 57.
  11. ^ Raun 1991, p. 59.
  12. ^ a b Raun 1991, p. 65.
  13. ^ Thaden 2014b, p. 306.
  14. ^ a b Raun 1991, p. 66.
  15. ^ a b Raun 1991, p. 78.
  16. ^ a b Raun 1991, p. 79.
  17. ^ Thaden 2014b, p. 318.
  18. ^ Thaden 2014b, p. 316.
  19. ^ Thaden 2014b, p. 317.
  20. ^ a b Thaden 2014b, p. 324.
  21. ^ Raun 1991, p. 80.
  22. ^ a b Thaden 2014b, p. 325.
  23. ^ Raun 1991, p. 105.
  24. ^ O'Connor 2015, p. 99.
  25. ^ Эстляндская губерния (in Russian). Руниверс. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
  26. ^ Первая Всеобщая перепись населения Российской империи 1897 года. Эстляндская губерния (in Russian)
  27. ^ a b "Первая всеобщая перепись населения Российской Империи 1897 г. Распределение населения по родному языку и уездам 50 губерний Европейской России" [The First General Census of the Russian Empire of 1897. Breakdown of population by mother tongue and districts in 50 Governorates of the European Russia]. www.demoscope.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  28. ^ Hamm, Michael F. (2014). Kiev: A Portrait, 1800–1917. Princeton University Press. p. 83. ISBN 978-1-4008-5151-5.
  29. ^ Fortson IV, Benjamin W. (2011). Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction. John Wiley & Sons. p. 429. ISBN 978-1-4443-5968-8.

Bibliography

59°26′14″N 24°44′43″E / 59.43722°N 24.74528°E / 59.43722; 24.74528

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Governorate_of_Estonia&oldid=1213729774"