Karskustöö sünnitab eugeenikaliikumise
Estonian abstinence work constructing the eugenics movement

Summary/Abstract: Estonia between the two world wars was among the few societies in Europe to have a strong eugenics movement (eugenics society was established in 1924) and to accept eugenic legislation (Sterilisation Law from the year 1936). The roots of the eugenics ideology reach into the pre-independence era, when, in the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century the Estonian national discourse was notoriously biologized owing to the so-called small nation’s self perception, highlighting, and both the quality and quantity issues of the "national body". The birth of the eugenics ideology in Estonia can be linked to the developments in the local abstinence movement. The latter, which emerged in the 1880s, became by the early 20th century medically oriented and dominated by the leaders of the national movement who tried to use the initiative for political goals. The latter aspect gave the movement a paternalist accent, alienating the national elites from the masses involved in the movement. There was also a gap within the ideological framework of the movement itself, taking place between the proponents of the so-called direct and indirect anti-alcohol work. The first, representing mainly the modest and liberal section of the national elites, stressed the people’s free will and personal choice. The second wing, deriving from radical intellectuals, many of which later turned to solidarism, favoured the imposing of limitations and regulations by the society to keep people away from alcohol. This approach was criticized by the liberals for the paternalist approach it was containing, rendering human beings to plainly biological entities. This also played an important role in the increasing significance of the anti-alcohol movement in supporting the emergence of a eugenic society. The Estonian eugenics movement and the ideology it was carrying reached its peak in 1934 when the state followed an autocratic/totalitarian path of development. The concept supporting antidemocratic developments was “national entirety”, the latter containing a notorious degree of solidarist (biologized) approach. It was the era when the parallel histories of eugenics and the temperance movement started to move apart - the eugenics ideology being preferred by the state as it placed its own interests, rather than the interests of individual citizens, to the fore.

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