The Beginning of the Singing Revolution
In June 1988, hundreds of thousands of Estonians—up to 300,000 by some estimates—gathered for five nights in Tallinn, the capital city. They came together to sing politically risky or forbidden folk songs. Meanwhile, similar festivals took place that summer in Latvia and Lithuania. This “Singing Revolution” became a crucial step toward independence for the Baltic states from the Soviet Union, which they ultimately achieved in August 1991.
The Soviet regime aimed to sever people’s ties to their national identities. Although officials allowed certain folk songs they deemed harmless, Estonians hid other symbols of identity to preserve them. For instance, many people used references to “Estonia” instead of “the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic” and observed pre-Soviet holidays in private. Those who remembered these traditions shared them to remind other Estonians of their heritage and inspire them to protect it. With glasnost bringing more openness, they finally had a safer way to express their identity.
Cultural Symbols and Organized Resistance
The song festivals greatly strengthened the growing resistance movement by tapping into powerful symbols of folk culture. For example, many attendees wore traditional dress and sang songs that emphasized Estonian identity. Under a regime that promoted cultural uniformity as a form of control, these gatherings allowed Estonians to stand together openly as Estonians—not just Soviet citizens. Moreover, standing among 300,000 compatriots lowered the individual risk of taking such a stance.
The Estonian Heritage Society (Eesti Muinsuskaitse Selts), an unofficial group, organized the festivals. By taking advantage of glasnost’s openness, they promoted national celebrations and revived essential pre-Soviet symbols, like the blue-black-and-white Estonian flag and the national anthem. These symbols became powerful tools in the nearly bloodless fight for independence in the Baltics. Ultimately, they inspired a national movement that led to freedom.
The Singing Revolution drew on cultural traditions that were particularly deep in the Baltic countries, including public song festivals with a history that went back formally more than 100 years and informally for many centuries. Other cultures may have similarly strong traditions of song, dance, theater or other forms of art or symbolic expression. Families of the disappeared, for example, have used a traditional folk dance learned by all Chileans and danced in pairs. When a spouse danced with a missing partner in a traditional paired dance, others could visualize the missing person and his place in the family and community. When you want to mobilize large numbers of people, the challenge is often making them feel safe enough to speak out and providing assurances that they will not be alone. The organizers of the song festivals were counting on safety in numbers: The presence of hundreds of thousands of fellow singers offered some measure of safety for participants, though by no means was that safety assured.
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