Behind the Iron Curtain: Soviet Estonia in the Era of the Cold War

by Olaf Mertelsmann (Editor), Tõnu Tannberg (Editor)

Overview

During the Cold War, Estonia lay behind the Iron Curtain. Even in the grip of Soviet rule, the country underwent many important developments. This volume brings together fourteen papers on the political, economic, and cultural history of Estonia during the Cold War. Their topics range from international relations and the border regime to tourism and the media. The papers are based on extensive archival research and make use of many previously unexamined documents. The resulting book offers new insights into the history of Estonia and of the Cold War on a local level.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783631668498
Publisher:	Peter Lang GmbH, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften
Publication date:	10/08/2015
Series:	Tartu Historical Studies , #5
Pages:	431
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.27(h) x (d)

About the Author

Tõnu Tannberg is Professor of Estonian Contemporary History at the University of Tartu and Research Director at the National Archives of Estonia.

Table of Contents

Contents: Tõnu Tannberg: Foreword – Tõnu Tannberg: The First Diplomats of Soviet Estonia on the Eve of the Cold War: The Creation of the Estonian SSR People’s Commissariat for Foreign Affairs in 1944 – Kaarel Piirimäe: National Self-Determination, Modernization, and the Estonian-Soviet Propaganda Contest in the Early Cold War Era – Olev Liivik: The ESSR Council of Ministers: An Ethnicity-Based Organ of Power for the Union Republic’s International Administration? – Meelis Saueauk: The «Estonian Affair» in the Context of Late-Stalinist Party Purges – Olaf Mertelsmann: The Economic Impact of the Early Cold War on the Estonian SSR – Meelis Maripuu: Cold War Show Trials in Estonia: Justice and Propaganda in the Balance – Karin Veski/Anu Raudsepp: Images of the Enemy and the Hero in Stalinist Estonian-Language Textbooks – Ivo Juurvee: KGB and Stasi Traces in Historiography: A Case Study of the Literature on the Estonian Prewar Military Intelligence Service – Tiiu Kreegipuu: The Press in Soviet Estonia: A Tool of a Closed Society – Vahur Made: Cold War-Era Germany and Eastern Europe in the Reports by Karl Selter, Ludvig Jakobsen, and Elmar Reisenberg to the Estonian Consulate General in New York – Oliver Pagel: Finnish Foreign Tourism in the Estonian SSR during the Cold War, 1955-1980 – Marek Miil: The Communist Party’s Fight against «Bourgeois Television» 1968-1988 – Atko Remmel: (Anti)-Religious Aspects of the Cold War: Soviet Religious Policy as Applied in the Estonian SSR – Indrek Paavle: Regulation and Control of the Border Regime in the Estonian SSR.

Preface

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Editorial Reviews

«Insgesamt bietet der Sammelband interessante Einsichten zu Aspekten des Lebens hinter dem Eisernen Vorhang.»
(Airi Uuna, Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas 8/2018)

«The volume is the outcome of a research project begun at the University of Tartu in 2009 on Estonia during the Cold War. The majority of the articles were first published in Estonian.1 The authors represent the younger generation of historians in Estonia, and most of them are native speakers of Estonian, which contributes to greater access to primary and relevant local secondary sources. The texts read well. Making this work accessible to a broader audience represents a significant achievement by the ed. and the unnamed translators. »
(Bradley Woodworth, Journal of East Central European Studies 3/2018)

From the Publisher