Reykjavík Grapevine - 23.05.2008, Blaðsíða 22

22 | Reykjavík Grapevine | Issue 06 2008 | Article
Every now and then, someone suggests changing
Estonia’s name in English to “Estland,” the reason
most likely being that Estonia is what those pesky
Russians call the country, while Germany and the
Scandinavian countries – countries that Estonia
likes to be compared with – call it Estland in their
native tongues. This does not, however, apply to
Estonia’s immediate neighbours. The Finns to the
north call it Viru, after the Estonian province clos-
est to Finland, while the Latvians call it after the
southernmost province, Ugandi.
Some have worried that if the name Estland
were adopted, it would be confused with that of an-
other small, northern country, namely Iceland. This
is probably true, as we in Iceland are used to hav-
ing our mail end up in Ireland. In a previous article
in The Baltic States City Paper, it was suggested that
as Icelanders were known to be melancholy, vodka
drinking techno-geeks with a love of nature poetry,
perhaps it would only be right that they be confused
with Estonians. As an Icelander, I can attest that
this image of the Icelanders is largely true, give or
take the love of nature poetry. When Icelanders go
out into nature, usually in their SUV, they are likely
to bring along their barbecue, stereo, their six pack
(of beer, not belly) and a fortress size tent, so that
they can feel “right at home” in the wild. Anyone
seen wandering about in the highlands with only
a backpack full of canned food is most likely to be
a German tourist. And, being a German tourist, he
or she does not know that the Icelandic highlands
are not the sort of place one should go with noth-
ing but a backpack of canned food. As no one lives
there, one is very likely to get lost and eventually
has to be rescued by Iceland’s helicopter, which is
employed by the Coast Guard and, being the only
one of its kind, should be helping sailors in distress
rather than German tourists in the highlands.
Estonia does not have this particular prob-
lem. Its tourists rarely venture outside Tallinn’s Old
Town, and if they get lost they can usually a) ask for
directions, b) use the St. Olaf Church for navigation,
or c) simply sod it all and have another beer while
they decide where it was that they really wanted to
go anyway. However, a brief comparison of both
country’s histories will reveal similarities, as well as
differences, between Iceland and “Estland.” Both
are countries on the periphery of Northern Europe,
one on its westernmost part, the other to its east.
And both have through most of their history been
ruled by their neighbours.
Something rotten in the State of Denmark?
Iceland was first settled in 874 and remained an
independent commonwealth for four centuries, be-
fore coming under the suzerainty of the king of Nor-
way in 1262, which in turn later became governed
from Denmark. Estonians have been living in pres-
ent Estonia a lot longer. When they first came here
is not precisely known, but they are first mentioned
by the Roman historian Tacitus in the first century
AD. In the year 1219, under king Valdemar II, the
Danes conquered northern Estonia and founded
Tallinn, still the capital city. Its name is derived
from Taani Linn, which means “Danish Town.”
In 1397, the Danes had managed to unite
all the Nordic countries, Iceland and Norway as
well as Sweden and Finland, in the Kalmar Union,
which ruled, of course, from Copenhagen. Esto-
nia, however, just missed out on belonging to this
Union, which did not have quite the same welfare
benefits as the Nordic countries today. In 1346, the
Estonians had been sold to the German knights af-
ter a rebellion that convinced the Danish king that
they were more trouble than they were worth.
Trading Places
The king of Denmark, however, never quite man-
aged to unload Iceland. Perhaps he never got the
right price from any prospective buyer and, in any
case, the Icelanders were somewhat less trouble-
some. Little by little the Danish Empire disintegrat-
ed, but the king still kept his colony in Iceland. In
1523, the Swedes left, taking the Finns with them. In
1809, the Swedes lost Finland to the Russians and,
much like someone who has their bicycle stolen
and goes out and steals someone else’s, took Nor-
way from the Danes. This left the Danes with only
Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. To make
matters even worse, the Germans took Slesvig-Hol-
stein from them in 1866.
While Iceland remained within the same
kingdom, Estonia changed hands every other cen-
tury. Other neighbours were not as businesslike
as the Danes, and instead of buying it or at least
trading it for something else, they had to fight for it.
Sweden ruled a part; Poland had a part, and even
the Danes had the island of Saaremaa for a while,
until it was all taken over by the Russians in 1710. It
was to remain Russian for the next 200 years.
English and North-African pirates
Iceland and Estonia were two of the poorest areas
of Europe until the late 1800’s. Iceland, like Esto-
nia, managed to preserve its language and culture
despite foreign domination from the 13th century
until the early 20th. One major difference was, how-
ever, that while the king was Danish, most of the
ruling class were actually Icelandic. In Estonia the
situation was more complex. The peasants were
Estonian, the ruling class German but the tsar was
Russian.
There are other obvious differences in the his-
tories of the two countries. Iceland was an infertile
land with no forests. It was far removed from the
rest of the world with sometime not so much as one
ship arriving a year. And despite occasional raids
from English or even pirates from North Africa,
Iceland was never under threat from foreign pow-
ers. The natural enemies of the Icelanders were not
foreign armies, but the harsh soil, the climate, and
occasional volcanic outbursts which at one point
killed around a third of the population, causing the
Danes to consider moving the survivors to a more
hospitable island outside Copenhagen.
In Estonia, things were rather different. For
centuries, and in fact until 1945, Estonia was the
battlefield of invading armies from Germany, Po-
land, Sweden and Russia. In every war the Estonian
people suffered and the longer the wars dragged
on, the more they suffered. So whereas the prob-
lems of the Icelandic farmer were mainly geologi-
cal, for the Estonian farmer they were primarily
political.
The Russians are Coming… or the British
Both countries became independent as a result of
World War I. But the circumstances were vastly dif-
ferent. Iceland became a free state in a union with
Denmark after a plebiscite. The Estonians had to
struggle more for their independence in 1920.
Both countries were occupied in World War
II, but again the circumstances were very different.
The British arrived in Iceland in May 1940, set up
military bases but promised not to interfere in local
affairs. They largely kept their promise. The Rus-
sians set up bases in Estonia in the autumn of 1939
and made the same promise, but did not keep it.
Less than a year later Estonia was incorporated into
the Soviet Union and its former leaders executed or
jailed.
In 1941, both countries changed occupiers. In
Iceland, the local government actually had a hand
in this, as they negotiated that US troops take over
from the British. In Estonia, the Germans arrived
uninvited and pushed the Russians out. Estonia
declared its independence again, but the Germans
had little interest in a free Estonia.
In the summer of 1944, Iceland became a
fully independent country under US protection. At
the same time, the Red Army again pushed into Es-
tonia, and again incorporated the country into the
Soviet Union. The results of the war could not have
been more different. Iceland emerged a more inde-
pendent and richer country, having profited from
selling fish to the allies and did not have to endure
any substantial war damages. It received Marshall
Aid, joined the UN in 1946 and NATO in 1949. Esto-
nia, however, lost a quarter of its population, its cit-
ies bombed, its bridges blown up and the country
lost its independence. But the histories of the two
countries would become intertwined once more.
When Estonia re-declared independence in August
1991, Iceland was the first country to recognise it.
Text by Valur Gunnarsson
A Tale of Two Countries
“Both countries were oc-
cupied in World War II.
The British arrived in
Iceland in May 1940,
set up military bases
but promised not to in-
terfere in local affairs.
They largely kept their
promise. The Russians
set up bases in Estonia in
the autumn of 1939 and
made the same promise,
but did not keep it.”
Iceland and Estonia, two cheeks on the same butt.
Illustration by Rakel McMahon