november 1918
northeastern europe russia has been
defeated in the great war and has
suffered two revolutions that have led
to the communist bolsheviks taking
control of most of the country
their power is being contested by the
political opposition
and remnants of the russian imperial
army who have formed the white guard
many areas of the country are engulfed
in a brutal civil
war the western borderlands of the
russian empire have been taken over by
imperial germany but now germany has
been defeated in the west
and is forced to abandon its conquests
the german army prepares to leave the
occupied territories as the red
army musters its forces to begin the
takeover meanwhile
many of the nations freed from the
occupation don't want to be ruled by
bolsheviks
and they prepare to resist the raids
lacking armed forces
effective government and having
politically divided populations
these new states attempt to hold back
raid army's advance
one of them is estonia all of estonian
territory had fallen on the german
occupation
in the end of november the estonian
government had only been in power for a
couple of weeks and was struggling to
gather its forces
meanwhile red army was assembling near
the border
among them were pro bolshevik red
estonian rifleman and the red fleet
soon most of the german troops had left
and the weak estonian forces were unable
to hold the line
on november 28th the red army attacked
narwha
with this battle the estonian war of
independence began
supported by the fleet thousands of red
army soldiers
overran natural defensive positions in
the forests of northeast estonia
estonian army was constantly
strengthened by new recruits
but morale was low and many men lacked
the faith in victory and deserted the
ranks
the next line of defense was established
on kunda river
by this time the estonian forces had
grown in manpower but the reds broke
through
and captured the town of raqqa
at the same time the estonian forces
were preparing to defend the town of
tarto
on that part of the front the red army
was numerically inferior but
estonian troops were plagued by low
morale
bolshevik agitators managed to incite
some units to rebel and estonian command
lost the control of the situation
tarto fell to the bolsheviks without any
resistance
and the estonian troops retreated to the
north
having witnessed the lackluster
performance of the estonian forces the
red army command came
to the conclusion that the estonian army
would soon be defeated and they began
reassigning units from estonia to other
fronts
however the balance of power was slowly
shifting in favor of the estonian side
despite of constantly being in retreat
the moral of the troops began to improve
red army continued to rely on its
numerical superiority to push the
estonian forces back but the strength of
the estonian troops was on the rise
and the resistance intensified day by
day
on the 12th of december the british navy
had arrived in the estonian capital
they brought much-needed arms including
lewis and matson light machine guns
a weapon unfamiliar to the red army the
royal navy also captured two red fleets
destroyers and transferred them to
estonian navy
when the red army units reached only 40
kilometers from estonian capital
thailand
they had exhausted their strength and
destonian forces put an end to their
advance
meanwhile the government of the estonian
southern naval latvia had far greater
difficulties
latvia had declared its independence
under a nationalist government but the
bolsheviks enjoyed a far
greater degree of support among the
local population therefore the red
army's elite units the red latvian
riflemen
advanced through the country almost
unopposed the latvian forces abandoned
the capital city of riga
and retreated towards the west in the
westernmost corner of the country
they managed to establish a defensive
line and were soon reinforced by german
troops
on the other hand estonia was able to
successfully immobilize and now many new
units were arriving at the front
estonian forces had also received help
from its northern neighbor
finland by the start of january the
numbers of the estonian forces and red
army troops
had become equal on the front however
the estonian forces were better equipped
in addition to possessing light machine
guns they had several armoured trains
and had gained the command of the sea
estonian army
began a counter-attack a strong push by
their armored trains coupled with an
amphibious landing forced the red army
frontline troops into a retreat
their attempts to set up a defense near
rockford failed when
estonian troops landed behind their
lines at kunda
the raid army forces became overextended
while attempting to counter the threat
from both sea and land
many of their units became scattered or
were captured during the retreat
however soon the front reached terrain
more suitable for defense
the reds managed to hold off the
estonian frontal advance at yuffie but
their position was flanked by a cavalry
unit
from the south and they were forced to
withdraw further now the red army
occupied heavily entrenched positions
at cinemath heights which were
impossible to bypass
estonian forces broke the deadlock by
landing more than a thousand men behind
the red army lines at utrea
the finnish volunteers broke into the
town of narwa and the encircled soviet
units at the front surrendered
now estonian forces established the
defensive line on the narwa river
during the following months the red army
made several attempts to go on an
offensive in this sector but they didn't
achieve much success
meanwhile the estonian high command was
gathering forces to recapture tartu
the armored train formations and
lieutenant julius cupriano's parties in
battalion decided not to wait for
reinforcements and retook the town with
a surprise knight attack
now the estonian forces were in position
to expel the reds from southern estonia
they directed the main attack towards
the important railway junction of volga
the soviets had sent the red latvian
riflemen against them and here
the best units of estonia and the red
army faced each other
with heavy fighting the estonian forces
and finnish volunteers pushed the
soviets back
and after a costly battle at paiu they
retook volga
meanwhile other units crossed the
estonian latvian border and took up
defensive positions
along the strategic riana walga narrow
gorge railroad
on the eastern part of the front
estonians were faced with demoralized
red army troops
mobilized from the war-weary russian
peasants these units disintegrated
before the estonian armies advance and
soon the estonian forces reached pettery
deep behind red army's lines
this threatened the red army's units
with encirclement and they were forced
to withdraw
now the estonian forces had reached
their national border
and their next goal was to establish
forward defensive positions on latvian
territory
in the middle of february they continued
their advance
the red army had received large
reinforcements and repelled the estonian
troops back into their territory
after the initial defeats the red army's
forces had been greatly strengthened
and now they were preparing to launch a
large-scale offensive
however the red army formations in
latvia and on the
scoff front lacked coordination which
allowed estonian forces to defeat them
one by one
the soviets in the east began their
offensive first by launching attacks
from the front
and over the frozen lake illamir after
their advance had been
fought to a standstill in march they
were joined by their latvian comrades
who achieved some success in the south
fighting against the estonian troops
stretched the latvian raid army's
resources and this allowed the latvian
white forces and german troops to
recapture most of western latvia
after having stopped the reds estonian
forces counter-attacked
and retook most of the lost land in the
south then with a concentrated assault
carried out by armored trains
they recaptured pettery and stabilized
the front lines
then the fighting was interrupted by the
spring thaw during the winter the
soviets had been preparing for a major
attack on estonia and had
organized new units now they were
deployed on the front
all red estonian latvian and russian
troops on that part of the front were
organized into a formidable estonian red
army
on april 17th the raids embarked on
their most serious attempt
to conquer estonia due to the lack of
ice cover the red army was unable to
attack over the lakes and their attacks
in the east
were channeled in a small corridor and
repelled however
in the south the soviet's numeric
superiority pushed the estonian forces
slowly back
the estonian army had used up most of
its reserves and their defenses were
stretching to a breaking point
only some kilometers from widow the
advancing rates were temporarily stopped
now the reds attempted to break the
stalemate by a diversionary attack in
the west
there the soviets lacked numerical
superiority but the morale of the
estonian soldiers was
low estonian troops were deployed in
latvian territory but they didn't have
the will to fight abroad and were also
exposed to propaganda by local
bolsheviks
the red latvian rifleman attacked and
pushed the estonian forces back over the
national border but they lacked the
reserves for a follow-up attack
eventually the discipline in estonian
units was restored and they
counter-attacked recapturing all of the
lost territory
meanwhile the onslaught of the reds
underworld continued
several weeks of unceasing fighting
along with intensive bolshevik
propaganda took the estonian soldier's
fighting spirit to its critical low it
was likely that soon the red army would
overrun
estonian defenses that's when a new
force
emerged since the beginning of the war
many former officers of the russian
imperial army had been gathering in
estonia with the goal of fighting the
bolsheviks
by the beginning of may they had
organized themselves into the northern
core
an elite formation of three thousand men
on may 13
they executed the thoroughly planned
offensive on the narwa front
their forces penetrated deeply behind
red army's lines through
unfavorable terrain and broke into the
rear of main soviet formations
in support of their offensive estonian
navy landed the ingrian battalion behind
red armies lines
the soviet units being threatened with
encirclement fled in disarray and their
resistance to the whites collapsed
now the northern corpse reached into
striking distance from petrograd the old
imperial capital
the soviet command could not afford to
lose petrograd
under any circumstances reserves and
forces from other fronts were scrambled
together and thrown against the whites
however many of these units had mixed
loyalties and defected to the northern
corpse
ultimately the soviets mustered large
amounts of troops and stopped the white
forces
many of these units were taken from
estonian fronts and so the red army's
positioned there became dangerously weak
after the northern corpse offensive into
russia some commanders of the red
estonian riflemen were coming to the
conclusion that the reds were going to
lose
the war they decided to defect to the
estonian side
estonian command decided to use this
opportunity
to capture scoff the defectors paralyzed
the red army's command which allowed
units to advance quickly into the red
armies rare
many soviet units got the false
impression that most of the red estonian
riflemen had defected
and fearing encirclement they fled
without offering resistance
the estonian white troops ended scoff
the red army in latvia had also been
overextended
the german and latvian forces exploited
this by
taking riga with a surprise attack then
the estonians broke through the reds
front near willow and advanced deep
into red army's rare threatening to cut
a bulk of the latvian soviet army off
from bolshevik russia
on dogova river they linked up with
lithuanian troops cutting off the red
army units in central latvia
the latvian red army had suffered a
major defeat and lost much of its
strength
however a new danger was emerging from
the south
the german forces operating in latvia
had deposed
the latvian nationalist government and
set up a puppet government
consisting of the local baltic german
nobility estonia continued to support
the previous latvian government
many latvian units loyal to the
nationalist government were already
serving under estonian command
estonian and german forces met near the
latvian town of
chases the german forces consisted of
baltic lanternswear
a unit of latvian baltic germans and the
iron division
consisting of volunteers from germany
they were well equipped
but estonians had the numbers and very
high morale
this conflict was seen by many estonian
soldiers as the high point
of the centuries-long power struggle
between the local baltic german
landowners and estonians
and they were eager to take part in the
fight the germans attacked the latvian
nationalist unit
and pushed it out of the town after the
initial clashes the military missions of
the antan countries attempted to broker
a peace between estonians and germans
but the talks failed
on july 19th the germans continued the
offensive
and the baltic london square broke
through the estonian lines
however the advance of the iron division
was repelled
and then the estonians counter-attacked
at chases
the german forces went into full retreat
their attempt to regroup at goya river
was thwarted and only on the entrenched
positions before riga did they managed
to stop the estonian advance
however the arrival of estonian fleet in
the mouth of daugher river
threatened to cut off the german's path
of retreat under the pressure of the
military missions of the anton countries
they were forced to sign
an armistice and abandon their positions
the nationalist government in latvia was
restored
and continued to be allied with estonia
until the end of the war
meanwhile the red army had gathered a
strong force and began pushing the
northern corps troops back along the
whole front
the situation was especially critical
near pskoff where the reds had large
superiority after defeating the germans
estonian units began to arrive to prop
up the white army's defense
estonian command ordered its forces to
push the red army deeper into russia
in order to create a buffer zone between
estonia and the soviets
the attack was initially successful but
estonian soldiers lacked the will to
fight abroad
and their performance suffered the
advance of the estonian and white army
was stopped short of their objectives
the red army counter-attacked directing
its main effort towards the estonian
army's communications and its path of
retreat
at the same time the soviets pushed the
estonians and whites
back from the front when the threat of
being cut off became too real the
estonian forces abandoned scoff and
retreated to the fortified positions on
estonian territory
for the rest of the war this part of the
front became stable and the only attacks
of diversionary character were attempted
here
the final act of the war took place in
the north here the northern cops had
fought off the soviets
and increased their strength the corpse
now consisted of 16 000 men
and was renamed to northwestern army
despite the increase in strength the
situation was becoming desperate for the
russian whites
they were in danger of losing their base
of supply as estonia was in the process
of making peace with the soviets and the
allies were about to stop delivering the
supplies
the only fighting chance for them was
conquering petrograd with an army that
wasn't fully prepared
first they carried out a diversionary
attack towards scoff
thus diverting some soviet troops
defending petrograd
then the main forces of the north
western army launched an
all-out attack on petrograd the reds
defenses collapsed
and the whites closed their distance to
the city estonian army had its own goal
in this offensive
their units were tasked with the capture
of grasnagorka naval fortress
in order to trap the russian fleet at
petrograd
it seemed that the city was about to
fall but then leon trotsky arrived there
and began feverishly organizing a
defense
as the red army reinforcements were
trickling to petrograd by rail the white
army's advance
became walked down and finally ground to
a halt
on their approaches to petrograd now the
soviets counter-attacked and began
pushing the whites back
the north western army exhausted by
continuous combat and having lost their
hope for victory began to lose its
ability to fight
their troops retreated towards estonian
border meanwhile peace negotiations were
being held between soviet russia and
estonia
in order to secure a more advantageous
border the red army was ordered to
capture the estonian city of narba
however the estonian forces had
established extensive fortifications
along the national border
red army attacked these positions in
strength but the defenses were well
prepared
the battles here resembled the ones in
the great war on the western front
the raids lacked artillery to achieve a
breakthrough and took
large casualties while pushing slowly
forward during november and december
estonians and remaining northwestern
army units repelled numerous red army
assaults on their positions and were
able to hold their ground
after the raid army had exhausted its
strength a truce was finally signed on
january 3rd
1920. the estonian war of independence
was over
it was officially concluded on february
2nd 1920 with the signing of tartu peace
treaty between the republic of estonia
and soviet russia
with the peace of tartu the fighting in
northeastern europe started to come to
an end
lithuania made peace in july latvia in
august
and finland in october 1920. poland
followed in march
1921 so finally peace came to eastern
europe it lasted for 20 years and then
the region was engulfed in another war
we'll look into it in our next video
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