Treaty of Tartu (Russian–Estonian)

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Tartu Peace Treaty (Estonian: Tartu rahu, literally "Tartu peace") or Treaty of Tartu was a peace treaty between Estonia and Russian SFSR signed in February 2, 1920 ending the Estonian War of Independence. The terms of the treaty stated that Soviet Russia recognized the independence of Republic of Estonia de jure and renounced in perpetuity all rights to the territory of Estonia. The treaty established the border between Estonia and Soviet Russia and regulated the return of Estonian people and property evacuated to the Russia because of the World War I. Russia also agreed to pay Estonia 15 million gold rubles, a proportional share from gold reserves of former Russian Empire. The treaty was signed by Jaan Poska on Estonian side and Adolf Joffe for the Soviet Russia as well as by other representatives of both parties.

Tartu Peace Treaty is regarded as the birth certificate of the Republic of Estonia. The treaty was also of utmost importance to Soviet Russia being its first international treaty. Some members of the Entente opposed the treaty with the intention to keep Soviet Russia in international isolation.

After signing, Soviet Russia failed to fulfill several points of the treaty, e.g. the museological collections of the University of Tartu are not turned in even today from Voronezh^[1] and the migration of Estonians was obstructed^[2].

[edit] See also

• Treaty of Tartu (Russian–Finnish)
• Text of the treaty in wikisource

[edit] References

• Which Continuity: The Tartu Peace Treaty of 2 February 1920, the Estonian–Russian Border Treaties of 18 May 2005, and the Legal Debate about Estonia’s Status in International Law