"Exactly 32 years ago, the world was watching the ‘Moscow coup attempt’ unfold.
It’s a story usually told from the russian perspective: Soviet hardliners wanted to seize power & reverse Gorbachev’s reforms, but were defeated by Yeltsin & his supporters.
But events were also unfolding in the Baltics - usually presented as a minor subplot to that coup attempt.
Well, one positive from these past few year is that more people than ever before around the world are realising they’ve only been taught the russia-centric version of history - and there are so many incredible stories about russia’s neighbours that have been overlooked until now.
In reality, the Moscow coup attempt was the subplot.
Because the key catalyst and key outcome of it was the fact Eastern Europeans were breaking free from Moscow’s occupation. And arguably, the most consequential events of the ‘Moscow coup attempt’ happened here in the Baltics.
To us, it was the culmination of the Singing Revolution that had been underway for several years.
Lithuanians, Latvians, and Estonians were defying the attempted crackdown on re-independence and instead proceeding with the nullification of the nazi-soviet pact. Lithuania and Latvia had already both formally declared the continuation of their independence - yet faced violent reprisals from Moscow.
As chaos unfolded during the August coup attempt by soviet hardliners, Estonians seized the opportunity - exactly 32 years ago at 23:02 on 20 August - to follow their Baltic neighbours and formally declare the continuation of their independence and order occupying troops out.
Unlike today, there was no time to celebrate. Soviet paratropers were quickly dispatched to seize the airwaves and sever Estonia’s communications with the world.
It was the same playbook already used against Lithuania and Latvia where soviet forces had recently attempted coups by first attacking broadcasters & publishers - while murdering unarmed civilians in the way. That included the murder of 13 civilians during the soviet seizure of the Vilnius TV Tower.
This was ordered by Gorbachev - the guy hailed internationally for supposedly allowed the peaceful breakup of the soviet union. 🤷♂️
So the Estonians knew what to expect.
That’s what this picture shows. It’s ordinary Estonians ready for the battle of Tallinn’s TV Tower. They knew what happened in Vilnius. They all knew they could soon be killed.
But the Estonians had some surprises planned.
Firstly, the Estonians had figured out the comms channels that the soviets were using for their attack on the TV Tower. They launched an unprecedented information counterattack, jamming the soviet channels. It caused immense confusion among soviet forces around the TV Tower waiting to hear what they were supposed to do.
Also, Estonian defenders had secured the control room of the TV Tower. They used a box of matches to jam the only lift, ensuring that soviet troops would have to all come up the fire escape. When they reached near the top, Estonian defenders informed them that if they proceeded any steps further, then the tower’s fire suppression system would be activated. That would rapidly de-oxygenate the tower and kill both sides inside.
Both knew the Estonians would die for their freedom but nobody wanted to die for the already dead soviet union.
The soviet troops went back down, and the rest is history. It helped set off a chain of events that caused the collapse of the soviet empire. This is just one of many stories that it’s time for the world to hear about more.
Funnily enough, it’s believed that the fire fighting system didn’t actually work. It was a communist system, after all. 🙂"
