With the abolition of serfdom Estonians got the right to restricted self-government in the form of manor communities. In 1866 the communities were relieved of the manor's tutelage and started to manage their affairs independently. From then on it became a peasants' community with their own clerks, court and other institutions. The highest institution was the community assembly that also named the community elder. The community council was the local administrative power. Community courts represented a certain counterbalance to the landlords' power. Such activities were of remarkable importance for the Estonian people as a kind of school for statehood and democracy. By the second half of the 19th century Estonian peasants had learned to elect their representatives, to judge according to lawbooks, to held meetings and to keep the minutes. The initiating force of the National Awakening grew out from among local schoolteachers and community leaders.
In the second half of the 19th century societies were founded en mass throughout rural Estonia. However, unregistered choirs and instrumental choirs were active already in the first half of the 19th century. Choirs were founded all over Estonia from the 1820s onwards.In the beginning their repertoire was religious and they mainly sang in churches. Later the proportion of worldly songs increased under the influence of German music societies. In 1865 the choral society "Vanemuine" was founded in Tartu by J.V.Jannsen that for a long time remained the most important centre for the national movement. Choral and drama societies developed broader cultural activities, with the main emphasis on music and acting. Farmers' societies which also followed the German example, set themselves tasks that were much wider than purely agricultural. The local committees of the Estonian Alexander School developed activities analogical to those of the societies, organizing various meetings and parties in order to raise money. In 1870 the first Estonian amateur theatre "Vanemuine" was founded in Tartu. The Estonian Literary Society which united Estonian intellectuals studied the Estonian language, propagated the new ortography, published books and collected folklore. The song festival of 1869 became a manifestation of Estonian national identity. This tradition has continued to the present day.
|
|
Jakob Hurt initiated the greatest national action of the end of
the 19th century - the collecting of folklore.
Through a network of correspondents this grew to a nationwide activity
that also laid the foundations for Estonian national sciences.
It wasn't possible to establish purely national societies during the russification period. Therefore a great number of temperance societies were founded from the 1880s onwards. At the end of the 19th century the number of farmers' societies grew quickly, at the beginning of the 20th century voluntary firemen's and educational societies became popular. |
One of the central public figures at the turn of the century was Jaan Tõnisson, editor of the "Postimees" newspaper. He was firmly convinced that a small nation had the right and duty to preserve its identity. The "Teataja" that was edited by Konstantin Päts stressed the necessity to pay more attention to economic matters besides national ideals. These two competing trends in Estonian national ideology remained actual for the following decades as well.
The influence of Estonians grew in town councils. In the first years of this century the municipalities of Valga and Tallinn were wrested from the Germans.
The first decades of the 20th century was a period of great changes. Estonian society achieved the level and rate of development necessary to build up an independent state.
