CREECA BALSSI Lecture: Why Estonia Should Exist

For many centuries, Estonians have stubbornly lived on the same small piece of land on the edge of the Baltic Sea, and have endured incredible hardships: subjugation by various large powers, serfdom, war and attempts at eradication. How did these people, now an independent nation of 1.3 million, survive and keep their identity, earning the right to speak their own language and govern themselves? One hundred years ago, individual Estonians figured out how to create a nation.