page_title: Estonian War of Independence
section_title: Final battles and peace negotiations
hierarchical_section_title: Estonian War of Independence / Course of the war / Final battles and peace negotiations
caption_attribution_description: Estonian Army High Command in 1920, from upper left: General Major Ernst Põdder, Dr. Arthur Lossmann, General Major Aleksander Tõnisson, Colonel Karl Parts, Colonel Viktor Puskar, Colonel Jaan Rink. From bottom left: General Major Andres Larka, General Major Jaan Soots, Commander in chief General Lieutenant Johan Laidoner, Admiral Johan Pitka and Colonel Rudolf Reiman
context_page_description: The Estonian War of Independence, also known as the Estonian Liberation War, was a defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies, most notably the White Russian Northwestern Army, Latvia, and the United Kingdom, against the Soviet Western Front offensive and the aggression of the Baltische Landeswehr. It was fought in connection with the Russian Civil War during 1918–1920. The campaign was the struggle of Estonia for its sovereignty in the aftermath of World War I. It resulted in a victory for the newly established state and was concluded in the Treaty of Tartu.
context_section_description: Soviet Russia had been attempting to conclude a peace since the spring of 1919. On 25 April 1919, Hungarian Communists offered to mediate a settlement between the Bolsheviks and the Estonians, but Admiral Cowan threatened withdrawal of support to the Estonians unless they rejected the Hungarian offer. The Russians then publicly broached the subject of peace talks in a radio broadcast on 27 and 28 April. On 5 June the Estonian Commune was abolished. A subsequent broadcast by the Russians on 21 July led to the British journalist Arthur Ransome sounding out the Commissar for Foreign Relations Georgy Chicherin on the subject of peace talks. As a result, the Soviet government made a formal offer for negotiations on 31 August 1919. The Estonians accepted on 4 September, and delegations started talks on 16 September. Estonia then proposed to stop the negotiations until Latvia, Lithuania and Finland have agreed to participate in joint negotiations.
  In the autumn, the Northwestern Army launched operation White Sword, a major effort to capture Petrograd. With the arms provided by Britain and France, and the operational support by the Estonian Army, Estonian Navy, and Royal Navy, the Northwestern Army began the offensive on 28 September 1919. Estonia supported the Northwestern Army due to the demands of the Entente. The Estonian forces made joint naval and land attacks against the Krasnaya Gorka fort, while the Estonian 2nd Division attempted to destroy bridges over the Velikaya River and the Estonian 3rd Division attacked towards Pytalovo. The Northwestern Army approached to 16 kilometres (10 miles) from Petrograd, but the Red Army repulsed the White Russian troops back to the Narva River. Distrustful of the White Russians, the Estonian High Command disarmed and interned the remains of the Northwestern Army that retreated behind the state border.
  The 7th and 15th Soviet Armies advancing behind collapsing White Russian forces continued to attack the fortified positions at the state border near Narva. The first clashes took place on Luga River on 16 November, starting the conclusive battles with 120,000 Soviets facing 40,000 Estonians. After repeated attacks, the 7th Red Army managed to achieve some limited success. At the end of November, the situation on the front calmed, as the Soviets needed to replenish their forces. In order to pressure Estonia in the peace talks, intensive Soviet attacks restarted on 7 December. On 16 December, the situation became critical as forward units of the 15th Red Army crossed the Narva River. The next day, an Estonian counterattack pushed the Soviets back. The Estonian high command actively reinforced the 1st Division at Narva during the battles, sending in the headquarters of the 3rd Division. General Tõnisson became commander of the Viru Front. After suffering 35,000 casualties in heavy battles, the Red Army was completely exhausted by the end of December.
  On 19 November, the new government of Jaan Tõnisson decided to restart talks with Soviet Russia, even without the participation of other Baltic States. Negotiations began on 5 December, with the main point of dispute being territorial issues. Talks continued through December, with both sides pressing their territorial demands, while heavy fighting continued at Narva. The peace treaty was finally concluded on 31 December 1919, and the ceasefire came into effect on 3 January 1920.
caption: The Estonian Army High Command in 1920  Names  From upper left:   General Major Ernst Põdder  Dr. Arthur Lossmann  General Major Aleksander Tõnisson  Colonel Karl Parts  Colonel Viktor Puskar  Colonel Jaan Rink  From bottom left:  General Major Andres Larka  General Major Jaan Soots  Commander in chief General Lieutenant Johan Laidoner  Admiral Johan Pitka  Colonel Rudolf Reiman
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "GIMP 2.8.22", "Image DateTime": "2019:11:02 18:02:17", "Image ExifOffset": "146", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "306", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6897", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0210", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2218", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1260"}