Estonia and international relations in the 1920s and 1930s
The 19th century system of international relations was called European concert, which was a multi-polar system, as the powers were more or less balanced. Cracks in this balanced world appeared due to the emerging two hostile camps from the last quarter of the 19th century; World War I was proof of the crisis in international relations. A new system was sought, which was realised after World War II as a bipolar one.
The Republic of Estonia was born at the moment when the previous system was about to disappear, and something else was sought to replace it. Unfortunately, no constant system of international relations developed between the 1920s and 1930s. Estonia was a small country, especially considering its defensive strength, but also in terms of its economic capacity and the size of its population. All this inevitably shaped the Estonian foreign policy.
When a balance of power (the existing system of international relations) is threatened, big countries, as a rule, side with the weakest to preserve the balance. Small countries, on the other hand, tend to prefer the principle of imbalance and support the likely winner. This is why Estonia failed to shape a consistent foreign policy orientation, i.e. it continually relied on cooperation with one specific big country.
In addition, the foreign policy of the Republic of Estonia as a small country was geographically limited, whereas big countries operate globally with far-reaching aims. In the inter-war period, Estonia placed its bets on regional cooperation with Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and the Scandinavian countries. In the 1920s, such cooperation was mainly focused on joint defence policies, and economic and trade relations. In the next decade, the emphasis was placed on the political and cultural areas, as well as cooperation between non-governmental organisations. However, this kind of regional cooperation failed to achieve significant results for Estonia.
Typically of the foreign policy of small countries, Estonia greatly valued legality and moral aspects, emphasising the special role of international law. For example, in the 1920s, Estonian politicians supported international initiatives to ban aggression, and took an active part in the disarmament movement. Estonia joined the Briand-Kellogg Pact, which excluded war as a political means. Estonian politicians were active in the Pan-European Movement and prepared to join one of the goals of this movement – the European Union. International law means relying on international organisations and associations, a situation in which small countries hope to take advantage of the opportunities and influence offered by international law. In 1921, Estonian managed to join the League of Nations, participating in all plenary meetings and other international conferences. Estonia relied on the belief that all written agreements, including the Tartu Peace Treaty and non-aggression pacts, were firm guarantees of security.
As a small country, the Estonian foreign policy preferred defensive unions or neutrality. Estonia announced its intention to stay neutral as early as its 1918 Declaration of Independence. Throughout 1918, members of the Estonian foreign delegation refused to give in to pressure from Great Britain and France and declare war on Germany. During the Tartu Treaty negotiations, the idea of declaring Estonia forever neutral was supported. In practical communication, Estonia tried to follow an impartial line. Neutrality was legally declared the official Estonian foreign policy in 1938, although there were no opportunities to actually realise this neutrality. The same thing occurred regarding attempts to form a joint Baltic defence league.
