This paper addresses the issue of anti-German sentiment in interwar Estonia. Particular emphasis is given to the form, content, and argumentation justifying anti-German sentiments in Estonian nationalist ideology. The resettlement (Umsiedlung) of 12,660 Baltic Germans in 1939-1940 drew widespread attention and media interest in Estonian public opinion at the time. Many renowned politicians and intellectuals, in particular the Estonian Nationalists’ Club with its journal, ERK (Eesti Rahvuslaste Klubi), openly demonstrated their anti-German attitudes directed against the departing Baltic Germans and their cultural heritage. This paper also argues that while vocal anti-Germanism united a few, primarily right-wing patriotic grouping, hidden anti-German sentiment was characteristic in broader social strata of Estonian society.
Keywords: germany, estonia, history, wwii
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