Orthodox Christian icon in Estonia: the factor of General's Yudenich north-western army


Let us discuss how here, in Estonia, could end up such a substantial amount of Russian antique items, and specifically, the Orthodox icons.

One of the reasons for that is that the city of Tallinn (former Revel) used to serve as an important transit point for the thousands of Russian immigrants who were leaving the "red" Russia in 1918-1920. And of course, it was possible because of a well-known fact of Estonia gaining its independence in 1918.

Consequently, the majority of the Russian immigrants continued their way further to the west, and other parts of the globe, while some settled here for several years or permanently.

And in this respect, an especially tragic page of lives and destinies of those people was the story of the General's Yudenich North-western Army, an army which played the crucial role in defending the newly independent Estonia from Bolsheviks' invasion.

When, in the autumn of 1918, the advancement of the Red Army quickly seized the territory of "independent" Estonia that was the General Yudenich who forced the Bolsheviks out of its territory.

Several officers of the North-western army in Estonia, 1918
Several officers of the North-western army in Estonia, 1918

And already in the 1919, the North-western Army writes its title into historic books by an attempt to invade the "red" Petrograd (ex. St. Petersburg). In a gratitude for banishing of Bolsheviks forces out of Estonia, Estonian army promised to support Yudenich in his attack on the capital, but unexpectedly, left the front, and made the flanks defenseless against the Bolsheviks' counter-strike.

So, by the middle of November of 1919, the West-North Army was thrown off the walls of Petrograd, and was quickly fleeing to the boundaries of the new republic of Estonia, their starting point in the assault on Petrograd.

However, the remains of the army and white-army sympathizing civilians were not allowed to cross Estonian territory. "Defeated, fully demoralized "whites" were thrown to the Estonian border" writes Lev Davidovitch Trotsky in his book "My life", "as soon as they crossed it, they were disarmed by the government of Estonia.

No one then wanted to care about them in Paris or London. Something that was the North-western Army of Antanta was now dying of hunger and cold. In fact, the backstage negotiations of Estonian government and the Bolsheviks were taking place already in October, during the heat of battles for the Petrograd.

The army of Yudenich was simply sold off. The price of its murder was a purchase of sovereignty for Estonia. The Russians were disarmed and interned into the concentration camps. Yesterday's allies, who freed Estonia, got packed into the concentration camps under open sky, or unheated barracks, at best. Frazzled to rags, wearing only what remained in the battles, lice-ridden, half-starving, without any medical aid, they were convoyed to the hard works, such as: tree falling, highway and railroad repair."

Interned soldiers of North-western Army in 1919
Interned soldiers of North-western Army in 1919

In a course of my research work, I often visit the old Tallinn houses, there in 1919-1920 used to live Russian immigrants, including many officers, seeing their carefully preserved sanctities, - Orthodox Christian icons, thanks to a concerned attitude of home owners and their descendants.

M.Rurik