105th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia
Stefan Hiienurm
February 24th marks the 105th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia.
On February 23rd, 1918, in the wake of the Russian Revolution, the Manifesto to the Peoples of Estonia was proclaimed from the balcony of Endla Theatre in Pärnu. The manifesto declared Estonia a sovereign nation, and the crowd below erupted into a rendition of what would later become the national anthem, Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm (My Fatherland, My Happiness and Joy). The following day, on February 24th, the manifesto reached Tallinn and was published, and so the Republic of Estonia was born.