National defence is essential for a nation's survival. The Baltic States, who regained independence during the dissolution of the Soviet Union, found themselves in a situation with no plans, means or capabilities for military defence. There were deficiencies in knowledge and experience, there were no examples to follow – national defence had to be re-invented. By today, this has become history, which allows us to study former events, alternatives and choices from the perspective of military history. The aim of the conference held by the Estonian War Museum is to explain and explore the meaning behind the story of restoring national defence, find new points of view and make generalisations.

Having restored their statehood in August 1991, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania had no conscripts to call up, no laws for the organisation of the armed forces nor headquarters or commanders. In Estonia, the first steps were taken by a public initiative. The Estonian Defence League, which had played an important role during the creation of the Republic of Estonia in 1918, was re-founded on 17th February 1990. Two weeks after the restoration of statehood, on 3rd September 1991, the Supreme Council of the Republic of Estonia decided to restore the Estonian Defence Forces.

On 4th October 1991 the Estonian Government announced the obligation of military service for men born between 1965 and 1973. The first units were restored in the following spring – the Kuperjanov Infantry Battalion and Kalev Infantry Battalion. The first task of the military organisation was to supply the conscripts with equipment and weapons.

The armed forces of a democratic state operate within a specific legal framework and under civil control. The Ministry of Defence had to develop the principles of national defence. Initially, these originated from the traditions maintained during the Estonian War of Independence and before WWII, but also from Finlands example. Thus, the compulsory military service for men became one of the footings of national defence. One of the main reasons for the "silent surrender" in 1939–1940 was the lack of cooperation between neighbouring states and with major democratic powers. The 1990s saw a search for possibilities of cooperation with close neighbours, such as Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, and the Scandinavian countries.

One of the outputs of the defence cooperation between the Baltic States is the Baltic Defence College, a joint higher military education institution of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, which was established in 1998 for the preparation of staff officers. Close cooperation with NATO began in 1994 when Estonia joined the NATO Partnership for Peace (PfP) programme. Ten years later, Estonia became a full member of NATO.

The conference endeavours to analyse all topics related to the restoration of Estonian national defence. These include the development of national defence theory and concept, formation of the defence forces, creation of air defence and navy, development of the Defence League, international cooperation and steps towards NATO, participation in peace and foreign operations, procurements of armaments and equipment, etc. The most interesting specific questions are the restoration of units, story of the development of conscription, development and training of new Estonian officers, political and military command of national defence, defence cooperation between the Baltic States, withdrawal of Russian troops, setting up the infrastructure, etc.

We are also interested in presentations, which discuss the respective developments in Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia or explore the transformation of national defence in former Warsaw Pact countries in Eastern Europe or the transfer of German Democratic Republic's defence domain to Bundeswehr.

The conference is held by the Estonian War Museum – General Laidoner Museum.

The conference languages are English and Estonian. Estonian presentations will be translated into English. The length of presentations should be up to 20 minutes.

The abstracts of presentations (up to 4000 characters) in English or Estonian should be sent to the email address conference@esm.ee by 31st March at the latest.

The academic articles written on the basis of the presentations will be published in the Estonian Yearbook of Military History in 2014. Estonian War Museum – General Laidoner Museum will cover the costs of speakers transport and will take care of their accommodation and catering. -------------------------------------------------------------------------

Contact:

Toomas Hiio

Mõisa tee 1

74001 Viimsi

Harju maakond

Estonia

conference@esm.ee

URL: http://www.esm.ee