Bronze Soldier of Tallinn

The monument was originally erected by Soviet authorities in Estonia to the liberators of Tallinn who entered the city on 22 September 1944. German Army units in the city retreated rather than seeking to defend it. By the time the Red Army entered Tallinn, they were entering an already-empty city with an independent government, hence occupying Tallinn. The Bronze Soldier monument replaced a preceding wooden memorial – a one-metre-high, wooden pyramid, about 20 cm in diameter, of a plain blue color crowned by a red star – that had been blown up on the night of 8 May 1946 by two Estonian teenagers. The two girls, 14-year-old Aili Jürgenson and 15-year-old Ageeda Paavel destroyed it, in their own words, to avenge the Soviet destruction of war memorials to the Estonian War of Independence. Both were later arrested by the NKVD and sent to the Gulag. == Building and design == The Bronze Soldier monument, with its figure of a soldier against a stone background, was created in 1947 by Enn Roos and supervising architect Arnold Alas. On the other hand, Palusalu's daughter, Helle Palusalu, has claimed that her father served as a model for the statue. Roos's denial could have been motivated by Palusalu's having defected from the Soviet military and thus having fallen into disfavour with the Communist Party. Burial site On 25 September 1944, the remains of two Soviet soldiers were buried in the centre of the Tõnismägi hill, with additional remains of Soviet soldiers reburied there in April 1945. Furthermore, the archaeologists performing the digs confirmed that no more burials have taken place on the grounds of the monument. The Russian embassy and other former USSR states were asked to provide DNA samples for the identification of the buried bodies. Those persons who can be identified were to be turned over to their relatives for reburial. The initial DNA analysis revealed 11 male and 1 female among those 12 found at the site. DNA profiles of all 12 were turned over to the embassy of the Russian Federation in Tallinn. == Relocation ==

According to historian Alexander Daniel, the Bronze Soldier has symbolic value to Estonia's Russians, symbolising not only Soviet victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War, but also their claim to rights in Estonia. Most Estonians considered the Bronze Soldier a symbol of Soviet occupation and repression following World War II. In 2006, the conservative Pro Patria Union petitioned the Tallinn City Council to demolish the monument, which saw the Estonian president in January 2007 vetoing a bill which would have allowed for its destruction and instead ordering its removal from the city centre. In February 2007, Estonian nationalists unsuccessfully attempted to place on the statue a wreath made of barbed wire decorated with a plaque saying "Murderers of the Estonian People". Amid political controversy, in April 2007 the newly elected Ansip government started final preparations for the reburial of the remains and relocation of the statue, according to the political mandate received during the March 2007 elections. The government claimed that the location of the memorial at a busy intersection in Tallinn was not a proper resting place, which led critics to accuse the government of pandering to Estonian nationalist groups. Disagreement over the appropriateness of the action led to mass protests and riots (accompanied by looting) lasting two nights, the worst Estonia has seen. In the early morning hours of 27 April 2007, after the first night's rioting, the government decided, at an emergency meeting, to dismantle the monument immediately, referring to security concerns. By the following afternoon the stone structure had been dismantled as well. As of the afternoon of 30 April, the statue without the stone structure had been placed at the Defence Forces Cemetery of Tallinn. An opening ceremony for the relocated statue was held on 8 May, VE Day. (Significantly, Red Army veterans celebrate Victory Day a day later, on 9 May.) During June 2007 the stone structure was rebuilt. Relatives have made claims to bodies of four of the war dead. Unclaimed remains were reburied at the military cemetery, next to the relocated monument, on 3 July 2007. On 27 April 2007, alongside the riots, there was also a huge and coordinated cyber-attack on Estonian institutions, including its Parliament, banks, and newspaper agencies. Although the Estonian government blamed Kremlin, no direct evidence could be produced. == Vandalization in protest of the Russian attack on Ukraine ==

On 12 April 2022, the Bronze Soldier entered the news again, when protesters of the Russian attack on Ukraine ground one of the medals off its chest. This came in the context of a governmental ban on symbols of Russian militarism and public meetings which incite violence, leading up to the anniversary of May 9. == Gallery ==

File:BronzeFlowers2007 1.JPG|Flowers and police at the old location of the monument, 9 May 2007 File:BronzeFlowers2007 2.JPG|Flowers at the old location of the monument, 9 May 2007, with the excavation tent in the background File:BronzeFlowers2007.JPG|First Victory Day at the new location, 9 May 2007 File:BronzeNewFlowers1.jpg|Second Victory Day at the new location, 9 May 2008 File:Bronze Flowers.jpg|Flowers on the old site of the monument 9 May 2008 == See also ==