History UsefulNotes / Estonia

* The ProfessionalWrestling promotion Wrestling/{{CHIKARA}} had [[https://www.cagematch.net//?id=2&nr=13235&name=The+Estonian+ThunderFrog The Estonian Thunderfrog]], essentially ComicBook/TheMightyThor as a frog. From Estonia. He teamed with The UsefulNotes/{{Latvia}}n Proud Oak and The UsefulNotes/{{Lithuania}}n Snow Troll as The Baltic Siege in the CHIKARA-affiliated Wrestling Is... promotions and CHIKARA itself from 2013-2014. In 2016, he won the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/pa/e/chikara/chikara-yl.html CHIKARA Young Lions Cup]] and held it the whole year.[[note]]The title is vacated at the start of every year for the annual tournament.[[/note]]

* The ProfessionalWrestling promotion Wrestling/{{CHIKARA}] had The Estonian Thunderfrog, essentially ComicBook/TheMightyThor as a frog. From Estonia. In 2016, he won the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/pa/e/chikara/chikara-yl.html CHIKARA Young Lions Cup]] and held it the whole year.[[note]]The title is vacated at the start of every year for the annual tournament.[[/note]]

* UsefulNotes/MarkkoMartin, former rally driver

* [[UsefulNotes/OttTanak Ott Tänak]], rally driver currently competing for Toyota in the UsefulNotes/WorldRallyChampionship

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Lotte}}'' is a popular cartoon character from several movies who's well on her way on becoming the Estonian equivalent of ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarepants'' or ''Franchise/MickeyMouse'' with the amount of merchandise (and apparently, a theme park) involving her.

* Despite being similar to countries like Switzerland or the Netherlands by area, Estonia is much smaller by population, with about 1,3 million people. [[/folder]]

* Ott Tänak, rally driver currently competing for Toyota in the UsefulNotes/WorldRallyChampionship

* The other larger cities besides Tallinn are Tartu, the "intellectual center" of the country, Narva, a city on the river bordering Russia, and Pärnu, a beach resort in southwestern Estonia.

* ''[[http://www.lotte-film.com/eng Lotte]]'' is a popular cartoon character from several movies who's well on her way on becoming the Estonian equivalent of ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Spongebob|Squarepants}}'' or ''Franchise/MickeyMouse'' with the amount of merchandise (and apparently, a theme park) involving her.

UsefulNotes/MikhailGorbachev's attempts to reform the Soviet Union and the resulting freedoms (with [[HoleInFlag similar developments in other satellite and occupied states]]) fueled a wave of pro-independence protests, ranging from spontaneous singing festivals to a human chain of 2 million people - the Baltic Way - through all three Baltic states. In 1990 free parliamentary elections were held and in 1991 a referendum showed strong support for restoring independence, which was made official on August 20 simultaneously with the hardliner coup against Gorbachev. Since the annexation was always considered illegal, it was seen as the re-establishment of the pre-war Estonian state.

Being free again, the [[TheNineties 1990s]] were a period of rapid modernizing and making up for lost time while reclaiming Estonia's place in Europe. It opened talks with the EuropeanUnion and UsefulNotes/{{NATO}} and joined both in 2004, as well as the Eurozone in 2011. After a long period of economic growth, Estonia more or less got through the Great Recession and has carved itself a niche as a "wired" and tech-savvy country. [[/folder]]

Among its various historical and cultural connections, Estonia feels itself to be more Nordic than anything else, and has joined the EuropeanUnion, contributing troops to the Nordic Battle Group and stating a desire to join the Nordic Council.

* Episode 4 of ''Series/SEALTeam'' has the overseas half of the episode go to Tallinn, Estonia, to snatch a Serbian war criminal-turned ArmsDealer before he can finalize a deal with a Chechen terrorist.

Estonia ('''Estonian:''' ''Eesti''), officially known as the Republic of Estonia ('''Estonian:''' ''Eesti Vabariik''), is the northernmost of the three Baltic states, which were the first to break away from the Soviet Union. The Estonian language is a Finno-Ugric language, closely related to Finnish, more distantly related to Sami (Laplandic) and Hungarian, and not related to any major European languages.

* Ilon Wikland, an artist, has illustrated most of AstridLindgren's books

* ''[[http://www.lotte-film.com/eng Lotte]]'' is a popular cartoon character from several movies who's well on her way on becoming the Estonian equivalent of [[WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants Spongebob]] or MickeyMouse with the amount of merchandise (and apparently, a theme park) involving her.

Before UsefulNotes/WorldWarII broke out, the non-aggression pact between UsefulNotes/NaziGermany and the SovietUnion included Estonia in the Soviet "sphere of influence" and so the USSR threatened Estonians with war if they're not allowed to set up military bases in Estonia. The government, wanting to avoid casualties, was forced to agree. A transfer of troops into the country and a rigged election later, the Soviet-approved puppet government "requested" that Estonia be admitted into the USSR.

After being conquered in the 13th century, Estonia has been ruled by [[UsefulNotes/{{Denmark}} Danes]], [[UsefulNotes/{{Germany}} Germans]], [[UsefulNotes/{{Sweden}} Swedes]] and [[UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} Russians]] throughout history before finally declaring its independence from the ashes of the Russian Empire in 1918. It wasn't to last - the SovietUnion occupied the Baltic states in 1940. When the [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany Germans]] rolled into town a year later, the Estonians initially greeted them as liberators, before realizing that the Nazis were no better than the Soviets.

* ''Tangerines'', Estonia's first UsefulNotes/AcademyAward nomination, about two Estonian tangerine farmers caught in the middle of the Abkhazian War in early 1990's Georgia.

After the Reformation, the Order fell and Estonia found itself as part of UsefulNotes/{{Sweden}} as a result of the Livonian War in 1561 (with southern Estonia briefly controlled by the UsefulNotes/PolishLithuanianCommonwealth). This period is remembered for advances in education (like the founding of Estonia's oldest university in Tartu) and for giving common people more rights. In UsefulNotes/TheGreatNorthernWar, Sweden lost its Baltic territory, including Estonia, to the [[TsaristRussia Russian Empire]]. Under both Swedish and Russian rule, the German nobility managed to keep most of its privileges, although serfdom ended decades earlier in the Baltic region than in most of the Russian Empire.

* Estonia won the EurovisionSongContest in 2001 back when it still took the contest reasonably seriously, setting off a wave of "new" countries winning.

[[folder:A brief summary of history]] Estonians - one of the several Finnic tribes that settled in northeastern Europe - have been living in the region since the last Ice Age. The Estonian land was split into various subdivisions by the 11th century (although no unified state had been formed yet) and vikings from the islands were occasionally raiding neighboring areas. In the 13th century the Northern Crusades with the goal to Christianize Estonians and other nearby pagans led to Estonia, after a long resistance, being taken over by the [[UsefulNotes/{{Germany}} Germans]] and the [[UsefulNotes/{{Denmark}} Danes]] (the latter ended up selling their part to the Germans and bailed due to an near-successful Estonian uprising in 1343). The Livonian Order, a branch of TheTeutonicKnights, created the "Order State" on Estonian and UsefulNotes/{{Latvia}}n territory (collectively known as Livonia) that lasted for the rest of the Middle Ages, during which Tallinn developed into an important trading hub as part of the UsefulNotes/HanseaticLeague.

By the 19th century Enlightenment ideas, as well as educated Baltic Germans' interest in Estonian cultural heritage, gave way to the "national awakening". Events like a movement for Estonian-language education, publication of the epic ''{{Literature/Kalevipoeg}}'' and the first Song Festival developed the Estonian national identity and eventually led to a demand for an independent state. Hot on the heels of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and TheRussianRevolution, elections for a provisional government and the following declaration of independence on February 24, 1918 resulted in Estonians fighting - and winning - the War of Independence, with a peace treaty signed with Russia in 1920.

MikhailGorbachev's attempts to reform the Soviet Union and the resulting freedoms (with [[HoleInFlag similar developments in other satellite and occupied states]]) fueled a wave of pro-independence protests, ranging from spontaneous singing festivals to a human chain of 2 million people - the Baltic Way - through all three Baltic states. In 1990 free parliamentary elections were held and in 1991 a referendum showed strong support for restoring independence, which was made official on August 20 simultaneously with the hardliner coup against Gorbachev. Since the annexation was always considered illegal, it was seen as the re-establishment of the pre-war Estonian state.

[[folder:A brief summary of history]] Estonians - one of the several Finnic tribes that settled in northeastern Europe - have been living in the region since the last Ice Age. The Estonian land was split into various subdivisions by the 11th century (although no unified state had been formed yet) and vikings from the islands were occasionally raiding neighboring areas. In the 13th century the Northern Crusades with the goal to Christianize Estonians and other nearby pagans led to Estonia, after a long resistance, being taken over by the [[UsefulNotes/{{Germany}} Germans]] and the [[UsefulNotes/{{Denmark}} Danes]] (the latter ended up selling their part to the Germans and bailed due to an near-successful Estonian uprising in 1343). The Livonian Order, a branch of TheTeutonicKnights, created the "Order State" on Estonian and UsefulNotes/{{Latvia}}n territory (collectively known as Livonia) that lasted for the rest of the Middle Ages, during which Tallinn developed into an important trading hub as part of the HanseaticLeague.

By the 19th century Enlightenment ideas, as well as educated Baltic Germans' interest in Estonian cultural heritage, gave way to the "national awakening". Events like a movement for Estonian-language education, publication of the epic ''{{Literature/Kalevipoeg}}'' and the first Song Festival developed the Estonian national identity and eventually led to a demand for an independent state. Hot on the heels of WorldWarI and TheRussianRevolution, elections for a provisional government and the following declaration of independence on February 24, 1918 resulted in Estonians fighting - and winning - the War of Independence, with a peace treaty signed with Russia in 1920.

Before WorldWarII broke out, the non-aggression pact between UsefulNotes/NaziGermany and the SovietUnion included Estonia in the Soviet "sphere of influence" and so the USSR threatened Estonians with war if they're not allowed to set up military bases in Estonia. The government, wanting to avoid casualties, was forced to agree. A transfer of troops into the country and a rigged election later, the Soviet-approved puppet government "requested" that Estonia be admitted into the USSR.

After being conquered in the 13th century, Estonia has been ruled by [[{{Denmark}} Danes]], [[{{Germany}} Germans]], [[{{Sweden}} Swedes]] and [[{{Russia}} Russians]] throughout history before finally declaring its independence from the ashes of the Russian Empire in 1918. It wasn't to last - the SovietUnion occupied the Baltic states in 1940. When the [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany Germans]] rolled into town a year later, the Estonians initially greeted them as liberators, before realizing that the Nazis were no better than the Soviets.

[[folder:A brief summary of history]] Estonians - one of the several Finnic tribes that settled in northeastern Europe - have been living in the region since the last Ice Age. The Estonian land was split into various subdivisions by the 11th century (although no unified state had been formed yet) and vikings from the islands were occasionally raiding neighboring areas. In the 13th century the Northern Crusades with the goal to Christianize Estonians and other nearby pagans led to Estonia, after a long resistance, being taken over by the [[{{Germany}} Germans]] and the [[{{Denmark}} Danes]] (the latter ended up selling their part to the Germans and bailed due to an near-successful Estonian uprising in 1343). The Livonian Order, a branch of TheTeutonicKnights, created the "Order State" on Estonian and {{Latvia}}n territory (collectively known as Livonia) that lasted for the rest of the Middle Ages, during which Tallinn developed into an important trading hub as part of the HanseaticLeague.

* ''[[http://www.lotte-film.com/eng Lotte]]'' is a popular cartoon character from several movies who's well on her way on becoming the Estonian equivalent of [[SpongebobSquarepants Spongebob]] or MickeyMouse with the amount of merchandise (and apparently, a theme park) involving her.