Estonia, the land of the Eastians on the East Sea. This remark points to the Estonian being defined by the Germanic peoples to the west. The early history of the Estonians was as a branch of the Finno-Ugric people who migrated into the region at time so distant that the millenium cannot be specified. The Estonians were probably not initially distinguable from the Finns. The linguistic and cultural differentiation from the Finns came as a result of the impact of the Germanic and Slavic conquests of the region. However initially the Finno-Ugric peoples shared the region only with the Baltic peoples, now represented by the Latvians and Lithuanians.

By medieval times, Estonia was a land of farmers not organized into any significant political structures. In the early 13th century the Teutonic Knights began to invade Estonia as well as the other Baltic lands. The Teutonic Knights came as conquerors with the sanction of the Catholic Church. The Teutonic Knights would gain not only territory and subjects but could justify their conquests as Christianizations. The Prussians who were a Baltic people akin to the Latvians and Lithuanians were conquered first. The Prussian were so thoroughly conquered that they disappeared as a people. The Prussian men were killed and the Prussian women taken as wives and concubines of the conquering Knights.

The Teutonic Knights were joined by Danes in the invasion. The Estonians fought as best they could against the Teutonic invaders but they lost to the superior military organization and weaponry of the Knights. By 1227 the conquest of Estonia was complete. As in Prussia the Teutonic Knights occupied Estonia as feudal lords. Overtime the descendants of the invaders became an Estonian social class, the so-called nobility.

The Estonians attempted a rebellion in 1343. It lasted until its final defeat in 1345 but only succeeded in inducing the Danes to relinguish their conquests in Estonia to the Germanic nobility.

Conditions were quiet in Estonia until in the 16th century Russian began to covet the Baltic territories.

Ivan the Terrible launched an invasion in 1558 and nearly conquered the area. The German nobility of Estonia were no match for the Russian invaders, but Sweden and Poland also coveted the Baltic territories. Sweden and Poland prevented the Russians from gaining contol of the area and eventually Sweden prevailed over Poland. By 1629 Sweden was in control of the region. The peasantry suffered greatly in the wars between Russia, Sweden and Poland, but the Germanic nobility re-emerged as the local powers.

The failure of Ivan the Terrible's invasion of the Baltic lands did not deter the Russian rulers from trying again. Peter the Great launched another war against Sweden in 1700. Peter's forces were defeated at Narva in 1707. But a second campaign brought Peter's forces victory in 1710. Recognizing the need for local allies, Peter permitted the Germanic feudal lords to retain their rights and privileges. The Germanic lords then supported Russian suzerainty over the Baltic states.

Estonian ethnic consciousness did not emerge until the middle of the 19th century.

(To be continued.)