Misplaced Pages

#483516

83-552: The institutions mission is to train and educate regular officers for the Estonian Defence Forces and Estonian Defence League , as well as for other military institutions. It has established a national reputation for expertise in military research and development. The academic program of EMA provides a balanced education in military and civilian subjects. The academic staff members of the EMA are supported by members of

166-566: A Finnic language rather than a variety of Estonian. Modern standard Estonian evolved in the 18th and 19th centuries based on the dialects of northern Estonia. During the Medieval and Early Modern periods, Estonian accepted many loanwords from Germanic languages , mainly from Middle Low German (Middle Saxon) and, after the 16th-century Protestant Reformation , from the Standard German language. Estonia's oldest written records of

249-455: A broad classical education and knew Ancient Greek , Latin and French . Consider roim 'crime' versus English crime or taunima 'to condemn, disapprove' versus Finnish tuomita 'to condemn, to judge' (these Aavikisms appear in Aavik's 1921 dictionary). These words might be better regarded as a peculiar manifestation of morpho-phonemic adaptation of a foreign lexical item. Article 1 of

332-648: A common feature of Estonian typologically over the course of history with the development of a rich morphological system. Word order is considerably more flexible than in English, but the basic order is subject–verb–object . The speakers of the two major historical languages spoken in Estonia, North and South Estonian , are thought by some linguists to have arrived in Estonia in at least two different migration waves over two millennia ago, both groups having spoken considerably different vernacular; South Estonian might be

415-793: A counteroffensive, the May Offensive , under Commander-in-Chief Johan Laidoner . The Ground Forces were supported by the U.K. Royal Navy as well as Finnish , Swedish , and Danish volunteers . By the end of February 1919, the Red Army had been expelled from all of Estonia's territory. On 2 February 1920, the Peace Treaty of Tartu was signed by the Republic of Estonia and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic . After winning

498-835: A futile and hopeless war, on 17 June 1940 the Estonian government decided not to resist. The military occupation of Estonia was complete by 21 June 1940. The armed forces of Estonia were disarmed in July 1940 by the Red Army according to Soviet orders. Only the Signal Battalion , stationed in Tallinn at Raua Street in front of the Tallinn School No. 21 , continued to resist. As the Red Army brought in additional reinforcements supported by armoured fighting vehicles ,

581-462: A national emergency. In crises, the main tasks of the EDF are to increase the readiness levels of units as required, prepare for transition to wartime structure and begin mobilization as ordered, integrate units from other ministries, and prepare for assistance from and reception of friendly forces. In wartime, the main tasks of the EDF are to defend the territorial integrity of the state, to facilitate

664-514: A responsible to security incidents in .ee computer networks. Its task is to assist Estonian internet users in the implementation of preventive measures, in order to reduce possible damage from security incidents, and to help them in responding to security threats. The unit deals with security incidents that occur in Estonian networks, are started there, or which they have been notified of by citizens or institutions in Estonia or abroad. On 25 June 2007, Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilves met with

747-562: A school for non-commissioned officers was formed. Cadets were taught tactics, topography, administration, fortification, machine-gun employment, military law, health care, Estonian, artillery science and gymnastics. The first courses lasted 4 months. After completion of the course, cadets were promoted to the rank of ensign . Infantry school was founded on May 20, 1920. In 1921, studies were lengthened to three years and divided into three classes: general class, I special class, and II special class. Young men with six-grade education were admitted to

830-576: A singular unit) and after service are sent to the reserve as one unit. The Estonian Army is always in a state of constant defence readiness in co-operation with the other services. Estonia instituted compulsory military service in late 1991. Around 3200 conscripts, including a small number of women, enter military units of the Estonian Defence Forces every year. There are no conscripts in the Estonian Air Force. The service

913-542: A voluntary military organisation- which acts in the area of responsibility of the Ministry of Defence. It consists of four territorial districts. It is tasked with planning and conducting military operations with the units under its command. The Defence League possesses arms and engages in military exercises. The main goal of the Defence League is, on the basis of the citizens’ free will and initiative, to enhance

SECTION 10

#1732764898484

996-544: Is 11 months long for those trained as junior NCOs, drivers, military policemen and specialists. Other soldiers serve 8 months. Conscripts are serving in infantry, artillery, air defence, engineering, communications, naval, and combat service support units as well as antitank, recce, mortar, and military police subunits. In 2023, the Estonian Minister of Defence proposed extending the maximum term of compulsory service to 12 months for certain specialties. According to

1079-599: Is among the countries with which Estonia has very close cooperation in the defence and security fields. Currently, Estonia participates in the NATO Response Force and contributes to the NTM-I (NATO Training Mission - Iraq). Until 2009, Estonia had 40 soldiers fighting alongside American Forces in the Iraq War and 150 soldiers, or about 3% of its total active military force, fighting alongside British Forces during

1162-734: Is based on central dialects, it has no vowel harmony either. In the standard language, the front vowels occur exclusively on the first or stressed syllable, although vowel harmony is still apparent in older texts. Typologically, Estonian represents a transitional form from an agglutinating language to a fusional language . The canonical word order is SVO (subject–verb–object), although often debated among linguists. In Estonian, nouns and pronouns do not have grammatical gender , but nouns and adjectives decline in fourteen cases: nominative , genitive , partitive , illative , inessive , elative , allative , adessive , ablative , translative , terminative , essive , abessive , and comitative , with

1245-652: Is implemented by the Operational Staff, which plans and controls operations, ensuring defence readiness and mobilisation. The departments for training and development are responsible for long-term and mid-term planning, resource planning, organisation, and control over the implementation of national defence activities. The General Staff of the Defence Forces is headed by the Chief of the Headquarters of

1328-758: Is pronounced [æ], as in English mat . The vowels Ä, Ö and Ü are clearly separate phonemes and inherent in Estonian, although the letter shapes come from German. The letter õ denotes /ɤ/ , unrounded /o/ , or a close-mid back unrounded vowel . It is almost identical to the Bulgarian ъ /ɤ̞/ and the Vietnamese ơ , and is also used to transcribe the Russian ы . Additionally C , Q , W , X , and Y are used in writing foreign proper names . They do not occur in Estonian words , and are not officially part of

1411-492: Is pronounced) and in the use of 'i' and 'j'. Where it is very impractical or impossible to type š and ž , they are replaced by sh and zh in some written texts, although this is considered incorrect. Otherwise, the h in sh represents a voiceless glottal fricative , as in Pasha ( pas-ha ); this also applies to some foreign names. Modern Estonian orthography is based on the "Newer orthography" created by Eduard Ahrens in

1494-711: Is responsible to the Government of Estonia through the Ministry of Defence, rather than to the Riigikogu , as it had been before. This was due to constitutional amendments proposed by the former President of Estonia, Toomas Hendrik Ilves . In peacetime, the main tasks of the EDF are to monitor and maintain control over territorial borders and airspace, maintain combat readiness, train conscripts, develop reserve units, participate in NATO and UN-led international missions, and to provide assistance to civilian authorities in case of

1577-406: Is structured according to the principle of a reserve forces, which means that the majority of state defence forces are reserve units. In peacetime, the reservists conduct periodic training, and the state purchases equipment and weapons. In wartime the reservists are mobilized into military units. The reserve units are formed on the territorial principle, (i.e. conscripts from one area are called into

1660-998: Is the President, who is advised in national defence matters by the National Defence Council . The council is composed of the chairman of the Parliament, the Prime Minister, the Chief of the Defence Forces (Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces in wartime), the Defence Minister, the Minister of Internal Affairs, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Chairman of the Parliamentary National Defence Committee. The federal government holds executive power in

1743-668: Is the unified military force of the Republic of Estonia . The Estonian Defence Forces consists of the Estonian Land Forces , the Estonian Navy , the Estonian Air Force , and the paramilitary Estonian Defence League . The national defence policy aims to guarantee the preservation of the independence and sovereignty of the state and maintain the integrity of its land area, territorial waters, airspace, and constitutional order. Its main goals remain

SECTION 20

#1732764898484

1826-757: The idamurre or eastern dialect on the northwestern shore of Lake Peipus . One of the pronunciation features of the Saaremaa dialect is the lack of the 'õ' vowel. A five-metre monument erected in 2020, marking the "border" between the vowels 'õ' and 'ö', humorously makes reference to this fact. South Estonian consists of the Tartu, Mulgi, Võro and Seto varieties. These are sometimes considered either variants of South Estonian or separate languages altogether. Also, Seto and Võro distinguish themselves from each other less by language and more by their culture and their respective Christian confession. Estonian employs

1909-670: The 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS , which fought against the Allies ' USSR. The Estonian Defence Forces was restored on September 3, 1991, by the Supreme Council of the Republic of Estonia . Since its reformation in 1991, the armed forces of Estonia have re-opened and restored more than 30 old and new units, as well as several army branches. Since 2011, the Commander of the Estonian Defence Forces has been appointed by and

1992-658: The Balkan states . The Defence League and its affiliated organizations have positive relations with partner organizations in the Nordic countries , the United States , and the United Kingdom . The Defence Forces consist of basic military units totaling 6,500 officers and conscripts. The planned operational wartime size as of 2017 was 21,000 personnel, which is to be increased to over 24,400 by 2026. The Estonian Army

2075-634: The Finnic branch of the Uralic language family . Other Finnic languages include Finnish and some minority languages spoken around the Baltic Sea and in northwestern Russia. Estonian is typically subclassified as a Southern Finnic language, and it is the second-most-spoken language among all the Finnic languages. Alongside Finnish, Hungarian , and Maltese , Estonian is one of the four official languages of

2158-712: The Germanic languages have very different origins and the vocabulary is considered quite different from that of the Indo-European family, one can identify many similar words in Estonian and English, for example. This is primarily because Estonian has borrowed nearly one-third of its vocabulary from Germanic languages, mainly from Low Saxon ( Middle Low German ) during the period of German rule , and High German (including standard German ). The percentage of Low Saxon and High German loanwords can be estimated at 22–25 percent, with Low Saxon making up about 15 percent. Prior to

2241-581: The Latin script as the basis for its alphabet . The script adds the letters ä , ö , ü , and õ , plus the later additions š and ž . The letters c , q , w , x and y are limited to proper names of foreign origin, and f , z , š , and ž appear in loanwords and foreign names only. Ö and Ü are pronounced similarly to their equivalents in Swedish and German. Unlike in standard German but like Swedish (when followed by 'r') and Finnish, Ä

2324-540: The Merevägi mineships fleet was modernized and equipped with Sandown class minehunters. In 2010, in accordance with the long-term defence development plan, it was announced that the Merevägi will receive some new capabilities. Of those new warfare capabilities, the procurement of multirole fast patrol boats was the priority. The benefits of the vehicles to operations are the increased defence of territorial waters and improvement of maritime surveillance. In addition to

2407-647: The Ministry of Defence and the Cabinet on the proposal of the President of the Republic of Estonia. The Headquarters of the Estonian Defence Forces is the headquarters of the military of Estonia, and acts as the working body of the Commander of the Estonian Defence Forces. The General Staff is a joint staff, engaged with operational leadership, training, and development of the defence forces. Operational leadership

2490-466: The Peoples Force ( Estonian : Rahvavägi ), was initially pushed back by the Red Army into the vicinity of the capital city of Estonia - Tallinn . A mere 34 kilometers separated Tallinn and the front line. The USSR's forces were stopped, in part, because of the timely arrival of a shipment of arms brought by a British naval squadron . In January 1919, the Estonian armed forces launched

2573-536: The Proto-Finnic language , elision has occurred; thus, the actual case marker may be absent, but the stem is changed, cf. maja – majja and the Ostrobothnia dialect of Finnish maja – majahan . The verbal system has no distinct future tense (the present tense serves here) and features special forms to express an action performed by an undetermined subject (the "impersonal"). Although Estonian and

Estonian Military Academy - Misplaced Pages Continue

2656-765: The War in Afghanistan . Estonian forces have since been withdrawn from Iraq . In both cases, the units were regularly rotated. Estonia also provides peacekeepers for international missions in both Bosnia and Kosovo within the framework of the KFOR , contributes to EU battlegroups and NATO Response Force rotations, and participates in the EU's anti-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia . The Estonian military employs STANAG (NATO interoperable) weapons and equipment acquired from Finland , Sweden , Germany , Denmark, Great Britain,

2739-544: The Ämari Air Base , where renovation was completed in 2012. The airfield and garrison at Ämari are focused on preparing for and facilitating cooperation with NATO and the air forces of partner nation. It enables the supply of standardized airfield and aircraft services necessary for host nation support. Estonian Special Operations Force (ESTSOF) is the special operations command of the Estonian Defence Forces. Its tasks include special reconnaissance and surveillance, military support, and direct action. The primary objective of

2822-485: The 1870s to the 1890s) tried to use formation ex nihilo ( Urschöpfung ); i.e. they created new words out of nothing. The most well-known reformer of Estonian, Johannes Aavik (1880–1973), used creations ex nihilo (cf. 'free constructions', Tauli 1977), along with other sources of lexical enrichment such as derivations, compositions and loanwords (often from Finnish; cf. Saareste and Raun 1965: 76). In Aavik's dictionary (1921) lists approximately 4000 words. About 40 of

2905-926: The 1930s. There are 9 vowels and 36 diphthongs , 28 of which are native to Estonian. All nine vowels can appear as the first component of a diphthong, but only /ɑ e i o u/ occur as the second component. A vowel characteristic of Estonian is the unrounded back vowel /ɤ/, which may be close-mid back , close back , or close-mid central . Word-initial b, d, g occur only in loanwords and some old loanwords are spelled with p, t, k instead of etymological b, d, g : pank 'bank'. Word-medially and word-finally, b, d, g represent short plosives /p, t, k/ (may be pronounced as partially voiced consonants), p, t, k represent half-long plosives /pː, tː, kː/, and pp, tt, kk represent overlong plosives /pːː, tːː, kːː/; for example: kabi /kɑpi/ 'hoof' — kapi /kɑpːi/ 'wardrobe [ gen sg ] — kappi /kɑpːːi/ 'wardrobe [ ptv sg ]'. Before and after b, p, d, t, g, k, s, h, f, š, z, ž ,

2988-524: The 19th century during the Estophile Enlightenment Period (1750–1840). The birth of native Estonian literature was during the period 1810–1820, when the patriotic and philosophical poems by Kristjan Jaak Peterson were published. Peterson, who was the first student to acknowledge his Estonian origin at the then German-language University of Dorpat , is commonly regarded as a herald of Estonian national literature and considered

3071-490: The 200 words created by Johannes Aavik allegedly ex nihilo are in common use today. Examples are * ese 'object', * kolp 'skull', * liibuma 'to cling', * naasma 'to return, come back', * nõme 'stupid, dull'. Many of the coinages that have been considered (often by Aavik himself) as words concocted ex nihilo could well have been influenced by foreign lexical items; for example, words from Russian , German , French , Finnish , English and Swedish . Aavik had

3154-494: The Estonian Air Force, which had, by the middle of the 1930s, more than 130 modern aircraft. The organization consisted of the Naval Aviation Group, Flight School, Air Base, and Air Defence Artillery Group. Estonian engineers designed and constructed the fighter aircraft, which displayed outstanding performance. The Estonian Air Force was re-established in 1991, with the objectives of controlling Estonian airspace and

3237-617: The Estonian Defence Forces. The Estonian Land Forces (Estonian: Maavägi ) is the main arm of the defence forces. The average size of the military formation in peacetime is about 6,700, about 3,200 of whom being conscripts. The Army component of the operational structure consists of the Estonian Division , which includes the 1st and 2nd Infantry Brigades , as well as an artillery battalion and support units. Both infantry brigades act as training and support frames for deployable units. The Land Force's development priorities are

3320-671: The Estonian Liberation War against the USSR and German Freikorps volunteers, Estonia maintained its independence for twenty-two years. In August 1939, just prior to the start of World War II , Stalin and Hitler secretly decided the fate of the Republic of Estonia. The two leaders agreed to divide Eastern Europe into "spheres of special interest" as outlined by the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact in its Secret Additional Protocol . According to this treaty, Estonia

3403-611: The Estonian Reserve Officers’ Association, cadet council of the City of Tartu and the Defence Forces. The Estonian National Defence College offers the first level and, since the 2005/2006 study year, the second level of military higher education. 58°22′24.64″N 26°43′20.75″E  /  58.3735111°N 26.7224306°E  / 58.3735111; 26.7224306 Estonian Defence Forces The Estonian Defence Forces ( Estonian : Eesti Kaitsevägi )

Estonian Military Academy - Misplaced Pages Continue

3486-548: The Estophile educated class admired the ancient culture of the Estonians and their era of freedom before the conquests by Danes and Germans in the 13th century. When the Republic of Estonia was established in 1918, Estonian became the official language of the newly independent country. Immediately after World War II , in 1945, over 97% of the then population of Estonia self-identified as native ethnic Estonians and spoke

3569-463: The European Union that are not Indo-European languages . In terms of linguistic morphology , Estonian is a predominantly agglutinative language . The loss of word-final sounds is extensive, and this has made its inflectional morphology markedly more fusional , especially with respect to noun and adjective inflection. The transitional form from an agglutinating to a fusional language is

3652-482: The Finnic languages date from the 13th century. The "Originates Livoniae" in the Livonian Chronicle of Henry contains Estonian place names, words and fragments of sentences. The earliest extant samples of connected (north) Estonian are the so-called Kullamaa prayers dating from 1524 and 1528. In 1525 the first book published in Estonian was printed. The book was a Lutheran manuscript, which never reached

3735-773: The Information and Communication Technology Center, and the Cyber Information Operations Center and Strategic Communications Center. The Military of Estonia has been introducing new 21st century based cyber warfare and defence formation in order to protect the vital infrastructure and e-infrastructure of Estonia. One of the leading state organizations in Estonian cyber defence is the CERT (the Computer Emergency Response Team of Estonia), established in 2006, as

3818-563: The Military School, Higher Military School and the School of Non-Commissioned Officers. In 1927, prior military service became a prerequisite for entering the military school. In 1928, training of conscript NCO's ended in the School for Non-Commissioned Officers. The school itself was moved from Juhkentali to Tondi. Officer training also changed, with a class for aspirants , and classes for junior cadets and senior cadets. Aspirant class

3901-504: The National Defence Development Plan, the annual number of conscripts should reach 4000 by 2022 after a revision of medical and physical requirements. Increasing the number of soldiers would require more barracks, weapons and other infrastructure. Since 2004, Estonia has been a full member of NATO ; membership had become one of its foremost priorities after the restoration of independence. The United States

3984-574: The Special Operations Force is the development of capabilities for unconventional warfare . The Estonian Defence Forces Cyber Command is responsible for conducting cyber operations that support the Ministry of Defence's area of responsibility. Its tasks include ensuring the operation of IT services and conducting defensive and offensive cyberwarfare . It consists of the Headquarters Support and Signal Battalion ,

4067-514: The United States and Israel. Estonian language Estonian ( eesti keel [ˈeːsʲti ˈkeːl] ) is a Finnic language of the Uralic family . Estonian is the official language of Estonia . It is written in the Latin script and is the first language of the majority of the country's population; it is also an official language of the European Union . Estonian is spoken natively by about 1.1 million people: 922,000 people in Estonia and 160,000 elsewhere. Estonian belongs to

4150-464: The academic community from universities throughout Estonia. The school was established on April 3, 1919, by the decree of the commander-in-chief of Estonian Defence Forces, General Major Johan Laidoner . During the Estonian War of Independence , preparation of non-commissioned officers was limited because men and resources were needed on the front line. However, after the war, there was a growing need for officers, who could train and teach soldiers. Thus

4233-502: The air defence of strategic objects. The Estonian air force was slow to reform due to the severely damaged infrastructure left behind by the Soviet Air Force and air defence units. The Estonian Air Force was restored on April 13, 1994. From 1993 to 1995, Estonia received two Let L-410 UVP transport aircraft, three Mil Mi-2 , and four Mil Mi-8 helicopters. The service branch received old Soviet radar and AAA equipment. The majority of Estonian Air Force units are currently stationed at

SECTION 50

#1732764898484

4316-410: The alphabet. Including all the foreign letters, the alphabet consists of the following 32 letters: Although the Estonian orthography is generally guided by phonemic principles, with each grapheme corresponding to one phoneme , there are some historical and morphological deviations from this: for example preservation of the morpheme in declension of the word (writing b, g, d in places where p, k, t

4399-466: The arrival and deployment of forces from other countries and co-operate with them, to maintain control over national airspace, and to facilitate the air defence of strategic assets in co-operation with forces from other countries. The national defence of Estonia is conducted on the principles of civilian control, being inherently bound with the democratic organization of the state. Democratically elected and appointed executive institutions make decisions on

4482-412: The autumn 2007. In the aftermath of the Cyberattacks on Estonia in 2007 , plans to combine network defence with Estonian military doctrine, and related NATO plans to create a Cybernetic Defence Centre in Estonia, were nicknamed the "Tiger's Defence" ( Estonian : Tiigrikaitse ), in reference to Tiigrihüpe . The Territorial Defence is a reserve force, which is based on the Estonian Defence League-

4565-433: The battle lasted several hours until sundown. In the end, there was one dead and several wounded on the Estonian side and about 10 killed and more wounded on the Soviet side. Military resistance ended with negotiations . Signal Battalion surrendered and was disarmed. In the Second World War , many Estonians joined Nazi Germany 's Wehrmacht auxiliary units, as well as eventually contributing volunteers and conscripts for

4648-533: The capability to participate in missions outside the national territory and the capability to perform operations to protect the territory of Estonia, also in co-operation with the Allies. The Estonian Navy (Estonian: Merevägi) is responsible for all naval operations and protecting of Estonia's territorial water. The main functions of the naval force are the defence of the territorial waters and coast line, ensuring maritime security, maintaining and managing communications and sea traffic, and co-operation with NATO and

4731-413: The case and number of the adjective always agreeing with that of the noun (except in the terminative, essive, abessive and comitative, where there is agreement only for the number, the adjective being in the genitive form). Thus the illative for kollane maja ("a yellow house") is kollasesse majja ("into a yellow house"), but the terminative is kollase majani ("as far as a yellow house"). With respect to

4814-401: The current capabilities, the command and control and shore-to-vessel communications were also to be improved further. The Estonian Air Force (Estonian: Õhuvägi ) is the main arm of the Estonian aviation forces . The roots of the current organization date back to 1918, when August Roos organized the first Estonian aviation unit. The Independence War gave great impetus to the development of

4897-420: The development and maintenance of a credible capability to defend the nation's vital interests and of the defence forces in a way that ensures their interoperability with the armed forces of NATO and European Union member states in order to participate in the full range of missions for these military alliances. The Estonian Defence Forces has its origins linked to the Estonian War of Independence . After

4980-422: The end of the 20th century has brought the proportion of native Estonian-speakers in Estonia now back above 70%. Large parts of the first- and second-generation immigrants in Estonia have now adopted Estonian (over 50% as of the 2022 census). The Estonian dialects are divided into two groups – the northern and southern dialects, historically associated with the cities of Tallinn in the north and Tartu in

5063-410: The first phase of the German Revolution in November 1918 ended the German occupation in Estonia , the representatives of Germany formally handed over political and military power to the Government of Estonia . A few days later, Estonia was invaded by the military forces of the USSR , marking the beginning of the Estonian War of Independence . The small, poorly armed Estonian military, also known as

SECTION 60

#1732764898484

5146-535: The founder of modern Estonian poetry. His birthday, March 14, is celebrated in Estonia as Mother Tongue Day. A fragment from Peterson's poem "Kuu" expresses the claim reestablishing the birthright of the Estonian language: In English: In the period from 1525 to 1917, 14,503 titles were published in Estonian; by comparison, between 1918 and 1940, 23,868 titles were published. In modern times A. H. Tammsaare , Jaan Kross , and Andrus Kivirähk are Estonia 's best-known and most translated writers. Estonians lead

5229-415: The general class, where they were taught gymnasium subjects alongside military subjects. Men with secondary education were admitted to the I special class, and II special class was for reserve officers. During that same year, infantry-, artillery- and cavalry schools were merged into the non-commissioned officer school. On 29 August 1923, all military schools were merged into the academy, which consisted of

5312-435: The institution adapted its curriculum in line with the Bologna declaration . In 2005, it became a vocational university, which could also issue a master's degree. The university received its first accreditation from an international commission in 2006. In 2008, the academy opened its curriculum for air force officers, and in 2011, for navy officers. Between 2010 and 2013, the academy offered a course for junior officers. In 2010,

5395-403: The language. When Estonia was invaded and reoccupied by the Soviet army in 1944, the status of Estonian effectively changed to one of the two official languages (Russian being the other one). Many immigrants from Russia entered Estonia under Soviet encouragement. In the 1970s, the pressure of bilingualism for Estonians was intensified. Although teaching Estonian to non-Estonians in local schools

5478-437: The leadership of the national defence. In peacetime, the Estonian Defence Forces and the national defence organisations, including the Defence League, are led by the Commander of the Estonian Defence Forces . In wartime, all these components are commanded by the commander-in-chief of the defence forces. The Chief of the Defence Forces and the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces are both appointed and released from office by

5561-488: The naval forces are situated at the Miinisadam Naval Base . Its current structure operates the Mineships Division which also includes a diving group. In addition, there is the Naval Academy and the Naval Headquarters which are situated in Tallinn. Since 1995, numerous mine clearance operations have been carried out in Estonian waters in close co-operation with other navies of the Baltic Sea region in order to find and dispose ordnances and contribute to safe seagoing. In 2007

5644-455: The navies of other friendly countries. In case of a crisis situation, the Merevägi must be ready to defend sea access points, harbour areas, maritime lines of communication, and to co-operate with coalition units. The Merevägi includes units of patrol ships, minesweepers , a frigate, and coast guard units. This equipment is necessary to ensure the security of maritime communications lines and to establish and clear mine barriers. The majority of

5727-645: The other provided diploma studies for future company and battalion commanders. Studies took three and a half years and gave the students basic knowledge of history, politology, social-, behavioral-, and humanitarian sciences, natural- and exact sciences, and native and foreign languages. The academy operated on the premises of Estonian Academy of Security Sciences until 1999, when it moved to Tartu . Between 2001 and 2002, Finland helped organize courses for logistics, engineering, artillery and communication specialties. Finland also helped in organizing logistics, artillery, and air-defence courses between 2003 and 2004. In 2004,

5810-473: The president of United States , George W. Bush . Among the topics discussed were the attacks on Estonian e-infrastructure. The attacks triggered a number of military organisations around the world to reconsider the importance of network security in modern military doctrine. On June 14, 2007, defence ministers of NATO members held a meeting in Brussels , issuing a joint communiqué promising immediate action. The first public results were estimated to arrive by

5893-592: The reader and was destroyed immediately after publication. The first extant Estonian book is a bilingual German-Estonian translation of the Lutheran catechism by S.   Wanradt and J.   Koell dating to 1535, during the Protestant Reformation period. An Estonian grammar book to be used by priests was printed in German in 1637. The New Testament was translated into the variety of South Estonian called Võro in 1686 (northern Estonian, 1715). The two languages were united based on Northern Estonian by Anton thor Helle . Writings in Estonian became more significant in

5976-443: The readiness of the nation to defend its independence and constitutional order, including in the event of military threat. It plays an important role in supporting the civil structures. Its members aid in putting out wildfires, volunteer as assistant police members, and ensure safety at various public events. Units, consisting of voluntary members of the Defence League, also participate in international peace support operations such as in

6059-492: The second half of the 19th   century based on Finnish orthography. The "Older orthography" it replaced was created in the 17th   century by Bengt Gottfried Forselius and Johann Hornung based on standard German orthography. Earlier writing in Estonian had, by and large, used an ad hoc orthography based on Latin and Middle Low German orthography. Some influences of the standard German orthography – for example, writing 'W'/'w' instead of 'V'/'v' – persisted well into

6142-419: The sounds [p], [t], [k] are written as p, t, k , with some exceptions due to morphology or etymology. Representation of palatalised consonants is inconsistent, and they are not always indicated. ŋ is an allophone of /n/ before /k/. While peripheral Estonian dialects are characterized by various degrees of vowel harmony , central dialects have almost completely lost the feature. Since the standard language

6225-405: The south, in addition to a distinct kirderanniku dialect, Northeastern coastal Estonian . The northern group consists of the keskmurre or central dialect that is also the basis for the standard language, the läänemurre or western dialect, roughly corresponding to Lääne County and Pärnu County , the saarte murre (islands' dialect) of Saaremaa , Hiiumaa , Muhu and Kihnu , and

6308-542: The university also started offering external studies for officers who would not be able to partake in regular studies. The Estonian National Defence College received its flag in 2013, from the Estonian Reserve Officers’ Association. In 2019, the university went through a restructuring and was renamed the Estonian Military Academy. To reflect that change, in February 2020, it received a new flag from

6391-459: The use of the defence forces, determine their respective objectives, allocate necessary resources, and monitor the attainment of the objectives. The implementation of the principles of civilian control is guaranteed by defence-related rights, obligations, and responsibilities legislated by parliament , the President , and the government of the republic. The highest leader of the national defence

6474-514: The wave of new loanwords from English in the 20th and 21st centuries, historically, Swedish and Russian were also sources of borrowings but to a much lesser extent. In borrowings, often 'b' and 'p' are interchangeable, for example 'baggage' becomes 'pagas', 'lob' (to throw) becomes 'loopima'. The initial letter 's' before another consonant is often dropped, for example 'skool' becomes 'kool', 'stool' becomes 'tool'. Estonian language planners such as Ado Grenzstein (a journalist active in Estonia from

6557-464: The world in book ownership, owning on average 218 books per house, and 35% of Estonians owning 350 books or more (as of 2018). Writings in Estonian became significant only in the 19th century with the spread of the ideas of the Age of Enlightenment , during the Estophile Enlightenment Period (1750–1840). Although Baltic Germans at large regarded the future of Estonians as being a fusion with themselves,

6640-687: Was dissolved and a new school was formed in its place. In 1940, after the Soviets had annexed Estonia , the academy was reorganized into an infantry school for the Red Army . The Estonian National Defence College was restored on March 17, 1998. Before that, officers received training in the Defence College of the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences . Since 1998, there were two curriculums - one provided vocational higher education for officers who would mainly become platoon commanders,

6723-424: Was for reserve officers and cadet classes were for regular officers. Training of officers changed again in 1935, when all officers began to be trained in aspirant and officer classes. Graduates of the aspirant class received reserve officer training, while in the officer classes, postgraduates of the aspirant class received additional training to become regular officers. In 1936, the School for Non-Commissioned Officers

6806-530: Was formally compulsory, in practice, the teaching and learning of Estonian by Russian-speakers was often considered unnecessary by the Soviet authorities. In 1991, with the restoration of Estonia's independence , Estonian went back to being the only official language in Estonia. Since 2004, when Estonia joined the European Union, Estonian is also one of the (now 24) official languages of the EU . The return of former Soviet immigrants to their countries of origin at

6889-602: Was to be occupied by the Soviet Union. The Estonian government decided to give their assent to an agreement which allowed the USSR to establish military bases and station 25,000 troops on Estonian soil for "mutual defence". On 12 June 1940, the order for a total military blockade of Estonia was given to the Soviet Baltic Fleet . Given the overwhelming Soviet force, in order to avoid the bloodshed of entering

#483516