Revolutionszeit und Bolschewikenherrschaft in Tartu/Dorpat um 1917-1919 aus deutschbaltischer Sicht

Abstract

The two phases of Bolshevik power were dramatic times for the local Baltic German population. The first struggles began with the First World War, the government started to treat them as a threat to the local security, also the existing resentment of the Estonian and Latvian populations didn’t help their situation. The peak point of their suffering came with the returning of the Bolsheviks in November of 1918. The Great War was a moral dilemma for most of the Baltic Germans. By creating an antiGerman narrative and excluding them more and more from the daily life, the Russian Empire caused the loss of the Baltic German populations loyalty themselves. The Central Powers became heroes, who pushed the Communists out of Tartu. But with the collapse of the western front and the November revolution in Germany the occupation of the Baltic region remained short lived, which was very disappointing for the Baltic Germans. Without any hopes for new saviors they had three options – to flee the city, to fight back against the Bolsheviks or to remain in the city and hope for the best. The second phase of the communist power in Tartu was more violent and for many it seemed like the end of the Baltic Germans in the region. With the success of the Estonian and the White armies during the Independence/Russian civil war, the Bolsheviks were driven out of Tartu on the 14th of February 1919.