Retracing Estonia's Russians: Mikhail Kurchinskii and interwar cultural autonomy

Nationalities Papers

Volumn 27, Issue 3, 1999, Pages 455-474

  Smith, David J ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 0009893067     PISSN: 00905992     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/009059999108966     Document Type: Article

References (101)

1. Tat'iana Shor, "Problemy Kul'turnoi Avtonomii v Trudakh M.A. Kurchinskogo," unpublished draft document (Tartu, 1998), p. 1. My thanks to Dr Shor for her kind permission to use this material. I am also extremely grateful to Professor Lyubov Kiseleva of the University of Tartu and Mr Aleksandr Dormidontov for their invaluable assistance in the preparation of this paper. Finally, I wish to thank Dr Rein Ruutsoo for providing me with certain key source materials.
2. Rogers Brubaker, Nationalism Reframed: Nationhood and the National Question in the New Europe (London: Cambridge University Press, 1996), p. 55.
3. Ibid, p. 2.
4. Ibid, p. 105.
5. Ibid, pp. 5-6.
6. The model according to which minority groups are granted not only equal rights as citizens but also certain specific collective minority rights. Ibid, pp. 47, 105-106.
7. Aleksandr Dormidontov, "Russkie v Estonii," unpublished draft document prepared for the Estonian Institute, 1994, p. 10. For a useful summary of the 1925 law, see G. Von Rauch, The Baltic States: The Years of Independence 1917-1940 (London: Hurst, 1995), pp. 135-145.
8. Aleksandr Dormidontov, "Russkie v Estonii," unpublished draft document prepared for the Estonian Institute, 1994, p. 10. For a useful summary of the 1925 law, see G. Von Rauch, The Baltic States: The Years of Independence 1917-1940 (London: Hurst, 1995), pp. 135-145.
9. Rein Ruutsoo, "Rahvusvähemused Eesti Vabariigis," Vähemusrahvuste Kultuurielu Eesti Vabariigis (Tallinn: Olion, 1993), pp. 13-14. Similarly, Kristian Gerner and Stefan Hedlund (The Baltic States and the End of the Soviet Empire (London: Routledge, 1993), p. 57) reiterate the widely held view that the Päts regime maintained certain essential traits of the rechtsstaat.
10. Rein Ruutsoo, "Rahvusvähemused Eesti Vabariigis," Vähemusrahvuste Kultuurielu Eesti Vabariigis (Tallinn: Olion, 1993), pp. 13-14. Similarly, Kristian Gerner and Stefan Hedlund (The Baltic States and the End of the Soviet Empire (London: Routledge, 1993), p. 57) reiterate the widely held view that the Päts regime maintained certain essential traits of the rechtsstaat.
11. Sergei Isakov, Russkie v Estonii 1918-1940: Istoriko-kul'turnye ocherki (Tartu, 1996); Baltiiskii Arkhiv, 3 vols (Vilnius: Avenarius, 1996); see also Dormidontov, op. cit.
12. Sergei Isakov, Russkie v Estonii 1918-1940: Istoriko-kul'turnye ocherki (Tartu, 1996); Baltiiskii Arkhiv, 3 vols (Vilnius: Avenarius, 1996); see also Dormidontov, op. cit.
13. Sergei Isakov, Russkie v Estonii 1918-1940: Istoriko-kul'turnye ocherki (Tartu, 1996); Baltiiskii Arkhiv, 3 vols (Vilnius: Avenarius, 1996); see also Dormidontov, op. cit.
14. John Hiden, The Baltic States and Weimar Ostpolitik (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987), p. 38.
15. Rein Ruutsoo, "Rahvusvähemused Eesti Vabariigis," op. cit.; Die Herausbildung einer russischen Minderheit in der Republik Estland 1918-1940 (Lüneberg: Nordost-Archiv, 1995) ; "Russkoe natsional'noe men'shinstvo I formirovanie novoi identichnosti russkikh v Estonskoi Respublike (1920-1940)", Proceedings of the Estonian Academy of Sciences, (Tallinn: Kiriastus, 1996), pp. 203-204. The two chapters by Viktor Boikov in Baltiiskii Arkhiv, Vols. I and II are also a useful source of factual information.
16. Rein Ruutsoo, "Rahvusvähemused Eesti Vabariigis," op. cit.; Die Herausbildung einer russischen Minderheit in der Republik Estland 1918-1940 (Lüneberg: Nordost-Archiv, 1995) ; "Russkoe natsional'noe men'shinstvo I formirovanie novoi identichnosti russkikh v Estonskoi Respublike (1920-1940)", Proceedings of the Estonian Academy of Sciences, (Tallinn: Kiriastus, 1996), pp. 203-204. The two chapters by Viktor Boikov in Baltiiskii Arkhiv, Vols. I and II are also a useful source of factual information.
17. Rein Ruutsoo, "Rahvusvähemused Eesti Vabariigis," op. cit.; Die Herausbildung einer russischen Minderheit in der Republik Estland 1918-1940 (Lüneberg: Nordost-Archiv, 1995) ; "Russkoe natsional'noe men'shinstvo I formirovanie novoi identichnosti russkikh v Estonskoi Respublike (1920-1940)", Proceedings of the Estonian Academy of Sciences, (Tallinn: Kiriastus, 1996), pp. 203-204. The two chapters by Viktor Boikov in Baltiiskii Arkhiv, Vols. I and II are also a useful source of factual information.
18. Rein Ruutsoo, "Rahvusvähemused Eesti Vabariigis," op. cit.; Die Herausbildung einer russischen Minderheit in der Republik Estland 1918-1940 (Lüneberg: Nordost-Archiv, 1995) ; "Russkoe natsional'noe men'shinstvo I formirovanie novoi identichnosti russkikh v Estonskoi Respublike (1920-1940)", Proceedings of the Estonian Academy of Sciences, (Tallinn: Kiriastus, 1996), pp. 203-204. The two chapters by Viktor Boikov in Baltiiskii Arkhiv, Vols. I and II are also a useful source of factual information.
19. Shor, op. cit. Viktor Boikov has produced a paper (as yet unseen by the present author) on Kurchinskii's work as a parliamentary deputy.
20. Ruutsoo, "Rahvusvähemused Eesti Vabariigis," p. 12. A similar point is made by Michael Garleff, "Ethnic Minorities in the Estonian and Latvian Parliaments: The Politics of Coalition," in V. Vardys and R. Misiunas, eds, The Baltic States in Peace and War 1917-1945 (London: Pennsylvania University Press, 1978), p. 86; and Rein Taagepera, Estonia: Return to Independence (Boulder: Westview Press, 1993), p. 51.
21. Ruutsoo, "Rahvusvähemused Eesti Vabariigis," p. 12. A similar point is made by Michael Garleff, "Ethnic Minorities in the Estonian and Latvian Parliaments: The Politics of Coalition," in V. Vardys and R. Misiunas, eds, The Baltic States in Peace and War 1917-1945 (London: Pennsylvania University Press, 1978), p. 86; and Rein Taagepera, Estonia: Return to Independence (Boulder: Westview Press, 1993), p. 51.
22. Ruutsoo, "Rahvusvähemused Eesti Vabariigis," p. 12. A similar point is made by Michael Garleff, "Ethnic Minorities in the Estonian and Latvian Parliaments: The Politics of Coalition," in V. Vardys and R. Misiunas, eds, The Baltic States in Peace and War 1917-1945 (London: Pennsylvania University Press, 1978), p. 86; and Rein Taagepera, Estonia: Return to Independence (Boulder: Westview Press, 1993), p. 51.
23. "To the fundamental principles which humanity has elaborated in its cultural evolution ... such as religious and personal liberty ... must now be added national liberty and the possibility of free development of national culture, not only for the single individual, but also for every national group." From "The Proposals of the Congress of Nationalities for the Improvement and Generalisation of the Rights of Minorities and the Procedure of the League of Nations, Address by Professor M. Kurtschinsky," in The Congress of the European National Minorities, London Meeting 14th-15th July 1937 (Vienna and Leipzig: Wilhelm Braumüller, 1938), p. 32.
24. All details taken from a copy of Kurchinskii's Curriculum Vitae (undated), obtained by the author in Tartu, May 1998.
25. Raymond Pearson, "Miliukov," in E. Acton, V. Cherniaev and W. Rosenberg, eds, Critical Companion to the Russian Revolution 1914-1921, (London: Arnold, 1997), p. 168.
26. Eesti Riigiarhiiv (ERA), f.1108, n.8, s.233, p. 101.
27. Shor, op. cit., p. 2.
28. M. A. Kurchinskii, Apostol Egoizma: Max Stirner i ego Filosofiia Anarkhii (St Petersburg: Ogni, 1920). On Stirner, see R. Paterson, The Nihilistic Egoist: Max Stirner (London: Oxford University Press, 1971); M. Stirner, The Ego and His Own (London: Jonathon Cape, 1971).
29. M. A. Kurchinskii, Apostol Egoizma: Max Stirner i ego Filosofiia Anarkhii (St Petersburg: Ogni, 1920). On Stirner, see R. Paterson, The Nihilistic Egoist: Max Stirner (London: Oxford University Press, 1971); M. Stirner, The Ego and His Own (London: Jonathon Cape, 1971).
30. M. A. Kurchinskii, Apostol Egoizma: Max Stirner i ego Filosofiia Anarkhii (St Petersburg: Ogni, 1920). On Stirner, see R. Paterson, The Nihilistic Egoist: Max Stirner (London: Oxford University Press, 1971); M. Stirner, The Ego and His Own (London: Jonathon Cape, 1971).
31. Kurchinskii, Apostol Egoizma, p. 251.
32. Ibid.
33. Kurchinskii, Curriculum Vitae.
34. M. A. Kurchinskii, Evropeiskii Khaos: Ekonomicheskie Posledstviia Velikoi Voiny (Dorpat, 1925).
35. M. K. Kurtschinsky, "Die slavischen Minderheiten," Nation und Staat, January 1929, p. 255. See also Sbornik Postoiannago Byuro Russkikh Men'shinstv' v Zhenev', Vypusk' Pervyi, August 1927, p. 2.
36. M. K. Kurtschinsky, "Die slavischen Minderheiten," Nation und Staat, January 1929, p. 255. See also Sbornik Postoiannago Byuro Russkikh Men'shinstv' v Zhenev', Vypusk' Pervyi, August 1927, p. 2.
37. Kurtschinsky, "Die slavischen Minderheiten," loc. cit.; Sitzungsbericht des Kongresses des Organisierten Nationalen Gruppen in den Staaten Europas, Genf, 3 bis 6. September 1930 (Wien-Leipzig: Wilhelm Braumüller, 1931).
38. Kurtschinsky, "Die slavischen Minderheiten," loc. cit.
39. Baron A. Heyking, The Main Issues Confronting the Minorities of Latvia and Estonia (London: P. S. King & Son, 1922). p. 20. Cited in Hiden, op. cit., p. 51.
40. Baron A. Heyking, The Main Issues Confronting the Minorities of Latvia and Estonia (London: P. S. King & Son, 1922). p. 20. Cited in Hiden, op. cit., p. 51.
41. Sbornik ... , op. cit., p. 6.
42. Isakov, op. cit., p. 12.
43. Sbornik ... , op. cit., p. 20; P. Bogdanov, "Nuzhdy Prichudskikh dereven," Vestnik Sel'skogo Khoziastva, November 1929; S. Klenskii, "Zemledel'cheskaia Palata i Russkoe Krest'ianstvo," Vestnik Sel'skogo Khoziastva, December 1931.
44. Sbornik ... , op. cit., p. 20; P. Bogdanov, "Nuzhdy Prichudskikh dereven," Vestnik Sel'skogo Khoziastva, November 1929; S. Klenskii, "Zemledel'cheskaia Palata i Russkoe Krest'ianstvo," Vestnik Sel'skogo Khoziastva, December 1931.
45. Sbornik ... , op. cit., p. 20; P. Bogdanov, "Nuzhdy Prichudskikh dereven," Vestnik Sel'skogo Khoziastva, November 1929; S. Klenskii, "Zemledel'cheskaia Palata i Russkoe Krest'ianstvo," Vestnik Sel'skogo Khoziastva, December 1931.
46. Ruutsoo, "Rahvusvähemused Eesti Vabariigis," op. cit., p. 12.
47. M. A. Kurchinskii, Kul'turnaia Avtonomiia (Narva: Russkii Natsional'nyi Soyuz, 1930), p. 9.
48. Ibid., pp. 8-12.
49. ERA, f.1108, n.8, s.197, p. 10.
50. Shor, op. cit., p. 5.
51. Kurchinskii, Kul'turnaia Avtonomiia, p. 10.
52. Ibid., p. 11.
53. M. A. Kurchinskii, Soedinennie Shtati Evropy: Ekonomicheskie i Politicheskie Perspektivy Etoi Idei' (Yur'ev [Tartu], Series: Eesti Vabariigi Tartu Ülikooli toimetused, B. 18, 1930), p. 12.
54. Ibid.
55. Kurchinskii, Soedinennie Shtati Evropy, op. cit., p. 27.
56. Ibid., p. 33.
57. Ibid., p. 32.
58. Ibid.
59. Ibid.
60. Kurtchinsky, "Die slavischen Minderheiten," op. cit., pp. 264-265.
61. Hiden, op. cit., p. 56.
62. Ruutsoo, "Rahvusvähemused Eesti Vabariigis," op. cit., pp. 20-21.
63. Sitzungsbericht des Kongresses des Organisierten Nationalen Gruppen in den Staaten Europas, Genf, 29 bis 31. August 1928 (Vienna and Leipzig: Wilhelm Braumüller 1928), pp. 40-43.
64. Ibid.
65. Kurchinskii, Kul'turnaia Avtonomiia, p. 9.
66. Ibid.
67. All biographical details taken from Isakov, op. cit., pp. 377-378.
68. Ruutsoo, "Rahvusvähemused Eesti Vabariigis," op. cit., p. 15.
69. ERA, f.1108, n.8, a. 190, p. 63.
70. ERA, f.1108, n.8, a.243, p. 11.
71. Isakov, op. cit., pp. 379.
72. ERA, f.1108, n.8, a. 190, p. 41.
73. ERA, f.1108, n.8, a. 196, p. 3.
74. ERA, f.1108, n.8, a. 190, pp. 58-59.
75. Letter from Janson to the head of the Prinarova branch of the Russian National Union, 14 February 1923, ERA, f.1108, n.8, a. 190, p. 15.
76. This list incorporated the Russian National Union, the Russian Peasant Workers Party, URECS and the Union of Russian Teachers. ERA, f.1108, n.8, a. 190, p. 19.
77. "'Ob'iasneniia' ili 'Obvinenie,'" Nasha Gazeta, 25 November 1927.
78. "Waba Maa ob' Ukhod' A. Iansona," Nasha Gazeta, 3 December 1927.
79. A. Egorov', "K' Ukhodu A.K. Iansona," Nasha Gazeta, 1 December 1927.
80. "Sotsialistu A.K. Iansonu," Nasha Gazeta, 21 August 1927.
81. "'Ob'iasneniia' ili 'Obvinenie."
82. Isakov, op. cit., p. 380.
83. Garleff, op. cit., p. 89.
84. Letter from Janson to the editor of Posledniia Izvestiia, 12 May 1925, ERA, f.1108, n.8, a.190, p. 66.
85. Shor, op. cit., pp. 8-9.
86. Kurtschinky, "Die slavishen Minderheiten," p. 265.
87. Von Rauch, op. cit., pp. 169; Ruutsoo, "Rahvusvähemused ... ," p. 13.
88. Von Rauch, op. cit., pp. 169; Ruutsoo, "Rahvusvähemused ... ," p. 13.
89. Shor, op. cit., pp. 9-10.
90. ERA, f.1108, n.8, s.233, p. 103.
91. Ruutsoo, "Russkoe natsional'noe men'shinstvo ... ," p. 204.
92. Isakov, op. cit., pp. 380-381.
93. Professor Lyubov Kiseleva, interview with author, Tartu, May 1998.
94. On favorable attitudes among the younger generation, see J. Rotko, "Viron Venäläisten Asenne Virolaisuuteen Riipuu Iästä," Helsingin Sanomat, 6 January 1997. In 1995, however, 62% of Russian speakers surveyed in Tallinn considered the language provisions of the citizenship law to be "unfulfillable" within the next two years. Tartu University Market Research team, The Attitude of Town Residents of North-Eastern Estonia towards Estonian Reforms and Social Policy: A Comparative Study of 1993, 1994 and 1995 (Tartu: University of Tartu, 1995), p. 8.
95. On favorable attitudes among the younger generation, see J. Rotko, "Viron Venäläisten Asenne Virolaisuuteen Riipuu Iästä," Helsingin Sanomat, 6 January 1997. In 1995, however, 62% of Russian speakers surveyed in Tallinn considered the language provisions of the citizenship law to be "unfulfillable" within the next two years. Tartu University Market Research team, The Attitude of Town Residents of North-Eastern Estonia towards Estonian Reforms and Social Policy: A Comparative Study of 1993, 1994 and 1995 (Tartu: University of Tartu, 1995), p. 8.
96. Statement by H.E. Mr Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Foreign Minister of Estonia, on the meeting of the foreign ministers of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and the United States of America in Vilnius, Lithuania, on 13 July 1997, to discuss NATO enlargement in the light of the Madrid Summit, the charter between the United States and Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and regional cooperation.
97. Lennart Meri, "Euroopa on programm," speech at the conference "The Baltic States in the Architecture of the New Europe," Tallinn, 2 March 1991, in Lennart. Meri, Presidendi Kôned (Tartu-Ilmamaa, 1996), p. 255; Lennart Meri, "Euroopa kui Eesmärk," speech at the Council of Europe, Strasbourg, 26 November 1991, in L. Meri, President Kôned (Tartu: Ilmamaa, 1996), p. 268; T. Tammerk and E. Lucas, "Meri Blasts Moscow's Monroe Doctrine," Baltic Independent, 14-20 May 1993; Lennart Meri, "Meie Piir on Euroopa Väärtuste Piir," speech at the "Estonia" Concert Hall, Tallinn, on 75th Anniversary of Estonian Independence, 24 February 1993, in Lennart Meri, Presidendi Kôned, pp. 325-331.
98. Lennart Meri, "Euroopa on programm," speech at the conference "The Baltic States in the Architecture of the New Europe," Tallinn, 2 March 1991, in Lennart. Meri, Presidendi Kôned (Tartu-Ilmamaa, 1996), p. 255; Lennart Meri, "Euroopa kui Eesmärk," speech at the Council of Europe, Strasbourg, 26 November 1991, in L. Meri, President Kôned (Tartu: Ilmamaa, 1996), p. 268; T. Tammerk and E. Lucas, "Meri Blasts Moscow's Monroe Doctrine," Baltic Independent, 14-20 May 1993; Lennart Meri, "Meie Piir on Euroopa Väärtuste Piir," speech at the "Estonia" Concert Hall, Tallinn, on 75th Anniversary of Estonian Independence, 24 February 1993, in Lennart Meri, Presidendi Kôned, pp. 325-331.
99. Lennart Meri, "Euroopa on programm," speech at the conference "The Baltic States in the Architecture of the New Europe," Tallinn, 2 March 1991, in Lennart. Meri, Presidendi Kôned (Tartu-Ilmamaa, 1996), p. 255; Lennart Meri, "Euroopa kui Eesmärk," speech at the Council of Europe, Strasbourg, 26 November 1991, in L. Meri, President Kôned (Tartu: Ilmamaa, 1996), p. 268; T. Tammerk and E. Lucas, "Meri Blasts Moscow's Monroe Doctrine," Baltic Independent, 14-20 May 1993; Lennart Meri, "Meie Piir on Euroopa Väärtuste Piir," speech at the "Estonia" Concert Hall, Tallinn, on 75th Anniversary of Estonian Independence, 24 February 1993, in Lennart Meri, Presidendi Kôned, pp. 325-331.
100. Lennart Meri, "Euroopa on programm," speech at the conference "The Baltic States in the Architecture of the New Europe," Tallinn, 2 March 1991, in Lennart. Meri, Presidendi Kôned (Tartu-Ilmamaa, 1996), p. 255; Lennart Meri, "Euroopa kui Eesmärk," speech at the Council of Europe, Strasbourg, 26 November 1991, in L. Meri, President Kôned (Tartu: Ilmamaa, 1996), p. 268; T. Tammerk and E. Lucas, "Meri Blasts Moscow's Monroe Doctrine," Baltic Independent, 14-20 May 1993; Lennart Meri, "Meie Piir on Euroopa Väärtuste Piir," speech at the "Estonia" Concert Hall, Tallinn, on 75th Anniversary of Estonian Independence, 24 February 1993, in Lennart Meri, Presidendi Kôned, pp. 325-331.
101. Lennart Meri, "Euroopa on programm," speech at the conference "The Baltic States in the Architecture of the New Europe," Tallinn, 2 March 1991, in Lennart. Meri, Presidendi Kôned (Tartu-Ilmamaa, 1996), p. 255; Lennart Meri, "Euroopa kui Eesmärk," speech at the Council of Europe, Strasbourg, 26 November 1991, in L. Meri, President Kôned (Tartu: Ilmamaa, 1996), p. 268; T. Tammerk and E. Lucas, "Meri Blasts Moscow's Monroe Doctrine," Baltic Independent, 14-20 May 1993; Lennart Meri, "Meie Piir on Euroopa Väärtuste Piir," speech at the "Estonia" Concert Hall, Tallinn, on 75th Anniversary of Estonian Independence, 24 February 1993, in Lennart Meri, Presidendi Kôned, pp. 325-331.