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Barricades in Toompea |
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| Title: | Barricades in Toompea |
|---|---|
| Image number: | 5KS00365 |
| Author: | Kalju Suur |
| Related keywords: | black-and-white, tower, stone, outdoors, defence, crane, block |
| Related categories: | Politics |
| Usage rights: | Advertising Free |
| Description: | The movement to restore Estonia's independence, which started in the late 1980s, culminated in 1991. By that time, Moscow's perestroika- policy had exhausted itself. It had not fulfilled its purpose and failed to change the socialist society in the Soviet Union by moderate alterations. Instead, it led to the collapse of the whole empire. The attempted coup of May 1991 in Moscow gave the small nations of the empire a chance to restore their historical independence. With the agreement of different political powers, the Supreme Soviet (the Estonian parliament of the time) passed 'A Resolution on the National Independence of Estonia'; it re-established the independent state both de jure and de facto.Within a short space of time, the newly independent state gained international recognition. On 6 September 1991, the Soviet Union Supreme Council also recognised the independence of the three Baltic states. The Constitutional Assembly was formed for drafting the new constitution. It included an equal number of members from both the Supreme Soviet and the Estonian Committee. On 17 September 1991, the Republic of Estonia and the other Baltic states were accepted as full members of the United Nations Organisation. The Republic of Estonia was again on the world political map as an independent and sovereign state. |