ELIIDI KRIIS EESTI ÜLIÕPILASSELTSIDE KULTUURIKRIITIKAS AASTAIL 1937–1940
THE CRISIS OF THE ELITE IN THE CULTURAL CRITICISM MADE BY ESTONIAN STUDENT SOCIETIES IN 1937–1940

Summary/Abstract: The majority of the members of student societies (in Estonian “selts”) were dissatisfied with internal political developments of the 1930s in Estonia that put restrictions on democracy. The authoritarian regime that was being established tried to restore balance in the society among other things also by means of increasingly promoting members of fraternities to positions in the structures of the Ministry of Education and the University of Tartu (UT). Restricting the autonomy of UT that started in the autumn of 1936 served as a final impetus for launching the cultural magazine Akadeemia (Academy) in 1937 as the organ of the Union of Estonian Student Societies. On the pages of this magazine and in the periodical article collections published by student societies a discussion was held about various dimensions of “the crisis of the elite”. That discussion went on until the liquidation of Estonia’s independence. The authors were overwhelmingly alumni of student societies. The number of active authors was not large, but it comprised well-known and respected persons in Estonian society: researchers and lecturers of UT mainly from the fields of national sciences, the humanities and law, public prosecutors, long-serving diplomats and commentators on public affairs. Oftentimes the authors belonged simultaneously to several of the aforementioned categories. Some of them – especially representatives of the senior generation – had participated in politics in the era of democracy when they had stood for left-wing nationalism with social emphasis. The cultural critics who had been educated academically in the Republic of Estonia were connected to the humanities in UT and they supported the harmony of nationalism and democracy. They were all united by the ideals of the rule of law, democracy, nationalism and social activism. The participants of the discussion were in most cases members of the alumni associations of the student societies Veljesto, Eesti Üliõpilaste Selts (Estonian Students' Society), Raimla and Põhjala. In the debate held by student societies the main symptoms of the critical narrative were the alienation of intellectuals from the people and the crisis of the political leadership. As genuine democracy was not restored in Estonia, the said crisis continued – in the opinion of the student societies – until the summer of 1940. According to many authors, an important source of the intelligentsia’s problems was student fraternities (in Estonian “korporatsioon”) with their undemocratic spirit. Their members were allegedly at first politically passive, then involved themselves in the political movement of Vabadussõjalased (the League of Veterans of the Estonian War of Independence) and eventually rendered support to the authoritarian regime for financial reasons. However, the student societies considered themselves defenders of the democratic spirit.

• Details
• Contents