The Republic of Estonia is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland (with Finland itself just a short sail away), to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by the Russian Federation.
Estonia is a democratic parliamentary republic and is divided into 15 counties.
Over the centuries, the Estonians were subjected to Danish, Teutonic, Swedish and Russian rule. Foreign rule in Estonia began in 1227. In the aftermath of the Livonian Crusade the area was conquered by Danes and Germans. From 1228–1562, parts or most of Estonia were incorporated into a crusader state Terra Mariana, that became part of the Ordensstaat, and after its decline was formed the Livonian Confederation. During the era economic activities centered around the Hanseatic League. In the 1500s Estonia passed to Swedish rule, under which it remained until 1710 (de jure until 1721), when it was ceded to the Russian Empire.
Estonia gained independence in 1920. During World War II, Estonia was occupied and annexed first by the Soviet Union and subsequently by the Third Reich, only to be re-occupied by the Soviet Union in 1944. Estonia regained its independence on 20 August 1991.
Estonia was annexed by the Soviet Union after World War II, though the United States refused to accept this even as World War III began in 1951.[1] It joined a number of other places in revolt against the USSR in early June, 1952[2] Like the other Baltic states, while the Soviets quickly suppressed dissent in the cities, the countryside of Estonia belonged to the rebels.[3]
Despite its official independence, Estonia was firmly in the Soviet Union's sphere of influence. When the Second World War broke out in 1938, Estonia attempted to remain neutral in the war between the USSR and Germany. However, as Germany made advances into neighboring Lithuania, the Soviet Red Army marched into Estonia.[5] Although Soviet leader Joseph Stalin promised that the Red Army would withdraw once the crisis had passed, no one believed him.[6] Indeed, when the war ended in 1944, Estonia became a Soviet Socialist Republic and was incorporated into the USSR.[7]
The nationalism of Estonian people, whose homeland had been reabsorbed into the Soviet Union in the early 21st century, was offensive to the harsh rule of the CoDominium, and many such offenders were convicted of crimes such as subversion and exiled to colony planets. In the 2070s, a large Estonian group settled Tallinn Town in the Tallinn Valley of the moon Haven which orbited Cat's Eye in the Byers’ Star system.
Shortly before the Cairo Peace, British airmen George Bagnall, Ken Embry, and Jerome Jones, who had been serving alongside Germans and Soviets in Pskov for over a year, traveled across Estonia on their odyssey back to England.
1=denotes a character who was a POV for one volume or less
2=denotes a character who was a POV for two volumes
3=denotes a character who was a POV for three volumes
† Denotes a deceased POV.
*=denotes a character who was a POV for a single scene
1=denotes a character who was a POV for one volume
2=denotes a character who was a POV for two volumes
3=denotes a character who was a POV for three volumes
4=denotes a character who was a POV for four volumes
5=denotes a character who was a POV for five volumes
6=denotes a character who was a POV for six volumes
† denotes a deceased character.
