A group of Estonian hussars photographed during their visit to Poland in 1930s.
VLADIMIR I. LENIN
Estonia - a country whose existence we seem to know little about, but which has become better known recently in the context of NATO's relations with Russia. And it was, after all, in the interwar period - let's be honest - one of the not-so-numerous countries with which the Second Polish Republic had more than correct relations. The Estonian road to independence was as turbulent as Poland's. In the years 1917- 1920, the Estonians fought with the Bolsheviks, among whom were many of their fellow countrymen, "white" Russians and German Freikorps, or the famous "Eiserne Division" (in their ranks, among others, Ewald von Kleist and Hans Guderian) and the so-called "Western Volunteer Army" of the Russian adventurer, Colonel Prince Pavel Mikhayowitch Bermondt-Awalov, remaining on the German payroll. In turn, Estonians were helped by numerous volunteers from Sweden, Finland and Denmark, as well as Latvians and British intervention forces.
Estonian cavalry in 1930.
The Mk V Hermaphrodite (Composite) tanks, the leading vehicle is named Uku photographed in the early 1920s.
The FT tanks originally sported French three-colour camouflage pattern.
Kalevipoeg (‘Son of Kaleva’) armoured car built on the A.E.C. lorry chassis. Note an Estonian flag is being flown in the third image.
“Soviet troops must occupy Lit huania, Latvia and Estonia. The Baltic Sea must be Soviet...”
There was no close cooperation between the Polish Army and the Estonians, to the extent that the Poles cooperated with the Latvians in regaining Daugavpils/ Dyneburg. However, on 5 June 1919, an advance party of Polish uhlans encountered Estonian cavalry at Jakobshtad (Jakubovo, Jekabpils), which temporarily cut off the possibility of communication between the Bolshevik main force and their troops in Latvia. These were horsemen from the 16th Uhlan Regiment and the 1st Estonian Cavalry Regiment.
The logic of history and geopolitics had for centuries worked against this one millionstrong nation. The territory of Estonia reached such a population only at the beginning of the 20th century. Estonians have mastered the art of existence on the verge of ethnic existence.
Establishment and defence of independence by Estonia is a process so complicated and complex that here we allow ourselves to refer the reader to strictly historical literature. At this point, it is just enough to say that Estonia declared independence on 24 February 1918, while the War of Independence began in November that year.
TANKS
The first tanks in the Estonian land were those that the British brought with them. In May 1919, an 89-strong British "military mission" was installed in Estonia. This was a direct result of the march of German forces commanded by General Helmut von der Goltz from Liepaja/Libau in the north with the clear intention of seizing the territory of Estonia. The army of von der Goltz - as events in Liepaja, Mitau, Klaipeda or Riga had shown - had so far been extremely aggressive, especially towards the civilian population (about 3,000 victims). This detachment was subordinated to Lieutenant General Hubert Gough. Two months earlier, he had been dismissed from the post of commander of the 5th British Army, which was heavily scarred by the German offensive on the Western Front. The general set up his quarters on one of the islands near Helsinki, from where he travelled around the region on board the cruiser HMS "Galatea".
He quickly made up his mind about Estonians. Namely, he wrote that they are reluctant about Germany, have deep distrust of "white" Russians - which is not surprising considering the fact that they demanded the restitution of the Tsarist empire in the pre-war borders - and also have open hostility towards the Bolsheviks. However, he noted, "they lack the tendency to attack Russia." According to some studies, this was supposed to be one of the fundamental reasons for the failure of the attack of General Yudenitch and his "whites" on Petrograd... Another British unit of 51 men (according to some authors 48), including 22 officers, had been recruited from the Tank Corps. Six Mark V tanks came with it to Estonia, but originally they were to strike Murmansk and strengthen the "whites" on the northern front. However, the Petrograd area was considered more important in London and they were to strengthen the impact of Yudenitch's attack. Similarly, as in the case of Denikin, with whose troops on the southern front British tanks had been operating for some time...