Estonia commemorates the Tartu Peace Treaty
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On 2 February, Estonia commemorates the Tartu Peace Treaty that ended the Estonian War of Independence, established the country’s eastern border and obligated Soviet Russia to recognise Estonian independence – the fact the Soviet Union ignored only 20 years later.
The Tartu Peace Treaty, signed on 2 February 1920, was the treaty that ended the Estonian War of Independence that had started in November 1918, a few months after Estonia had declared independence on 24 February 1918. It all happened in the final months and the aftermath of the First World War when, after the capitulation of Imperial Germany, on 28 November 1918 the Soviet forces entered Estonia with the aim of reoccupying the newly independent country. The war lasted for a year and two months with the Estonian forces consisting mainly of volunteers, and also help from Finland, the United Kingdom and the so-called White Russians – staunch anti-communists that foug