An abbreviated Table of Contents

ESTONIAN Experience and Roots
(book description)

by Sigrid Renate Maldonado
(biography)

(ISBN 0-9653936-0-7)

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TABLE OF CONTENTS (abbreviated)

PREFACE

CHAPTER I

General comments / Orientation

We all have ancestors ..... even ethnic Estonians have them
Geographical location of Estonia
Map # 1: Northern Europe
Ethnic Estonians

Origins of ethnic Estonians
Researching family histories, including those of ethnic Estonians

Mixed ancestry (one of many different cases)
Languages in Estonia (1st 40 years of the 20th century)

CHAPTER II

HISTORY & S O C I A L C O N D I T I O N S of Estonians

Times of Ancient Estonian Independence

Political divisions, lands inhabited by Estonians
First (passing) contacts with other peoples
Rome's involvement

1208-.... Times of German "Brethren of the Sword" in Southern Estonian lands

Map # 2: Estonian Ancestral Lands - Counties by 1208

1219-.... Times of Danish rule: Northern Estonian lands & then also in Saaremaa

....-1236 Rule of the German "Brethren of the Sword" (continued) comes to an end

Medieval way of fighting wars

1237-.... Times of the "Teutonic Order" or "OLD LIVONIA"

Different social classes of Estonians created by their occupiers from 1201 on

Danish rule (continued)

Rule of the "Teutonic Order" or "OLD LIVONIA" (continued)

....-1346 Danish rule over Estonians (continued) comes to an end

1346-.... Times of "OLD LIVONIA" over ALL lands inhabited by Estonians

Slavery in the feudal sense: The lower social classes
Latter part of the Middle Ages: There were 8 towns in Estonian lands
Reformation (starts 1517 far away, in Germany)
Guilds
1558 "Russian - Livonian War"

....-1561 "OLD LIVONIA" (continued) comes to an end

Times of occupation by diverse foreign powers

Western part of Estonian lands: Back in Danish hands
East & center of lands inhabited by Estonians: Invaded by Russia
Northern part of lands inhabited by Estonians: "Given" to Sweden
Southern part of lands inhabited by Estonians: "Given" to Lithuania
Result of all these treaties and wars, before 1570

1580-1620s Northern Estonian lands as part of the Kingdom of Sweden (continued - in a way)

Livonia under the KmP-L (Southern Estonian lands cont'd being part of this Livonia)

War between Sweden and "Poland-Lithuania"

Danish rule (continued) over Saaremaa and Muhumaa

Swedish rule (continued)

Wars (more!) between Sweden and "Poland-Lithuania"
Start of the "30 Years War", an European religious / political struggle

Swedish "Estonian Prov." & Polish-Lithuanian "Livonian Prov." in SWEDISH hands

Surveys done by Sweden
Social conditions, Swedish Livonia, from 1635 (to 1668)
Schooling - a beginning
1630-35 "Swedish War"
War: Sweden against Denmark

1645-1710 Times of SWEDISH rule over ALL lands inhabited by ESTONIANS

Another land grab by the nobility
"30 Years War" comes to an end
Map # 3: All Swedish "Estonian Prov.", plus "Livonian Prov."
Social conditions, Estonian & Livonian Provinces, since 1645
Schooling starts in earnest ... ever so slowly
Estonian towns (Guilds & forts) under Swedish rule
Repossession of estates by the Swedish government
Social conditions, Swedish Estonian & Livonian Provinces, around 1690s
The "Great Northern War"

1721-1917 Times of ALL ESTONIAN lands as part of the RUSSIAN EMPIRE

Surveys of the nobility
The "7 Years War"
Start of the French Revolution
By 1800: Estonian counties
Social conditions under (in) the Russian Empire, early 1800s
The "Franco-Russian War"
The "Crimean War"
Social conditions: Feudal era ends in the Russian Empire
Map # 4: All Estonian lands under the Russian Empire
Guilds cease to exist in the Russian Empire
New Social "realignment" among peasants
Russo - Turkish War
Start of the Song Festivals
Industry
Estonians living in Russia
The "Russo-Japanese War"

CHAPTER III

Estonian History from 1905 on

Bolshevik Revolution in the Russian Empire...(its end was approaching)
The war called "World War I": 1914-1918

Times of Republic of Estonia = INDEPENDENCE of ESTONIA

"War for Estonian Independence" and further Estonian (political) evolution
Map # 5: The boundaries of the Republic of Estonia
Independence, peace and nation building
Map # 6: The political divisions within the Republic of Estonia ('til 1941?)
The Republic of Estonia had 11 counties ('til 1941?)
The war called "World War II": 1939-1945
Estonians in Siberia
New Baltic independence movements and regaining lost independence

CHAPTER IV

GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH: ethnic Estonian Roots in ESTONIA

Ethnic Estonian family history research

1) Two important points
1.1) Serfdom (for many Estonians, a difficult subject)
1.2) Family names
2) Different kinds of archival records during serfdom
2.1) Registers of permits
2.2) Freedom registries
2.3) Farm surveys
3) Estonian names during serfdom and soon after emancipation
3.1) Lower classes of town dwellers
3.2) Peasants and their names
4) Other records during & after serfdom in Estonia while part of the Russian Empire
4.1) Social "status" registry
4.2) Trade Guilds
4.3) Courts
4.4) Land records
4.5) Civil servants
4.6) Surnames and family groups
5) Translations of surnames after 1918
6) Female ancestors = foremothers
7) Estonian historical records and Latvia
8) Other ethnic groups
8.1) Baltic-Germans
8.2) Descendants of Swedes
8.3) Descendants of Lithuanians and Poles
9) Churches in Estonia and their Records
9.1) Lutheran
9.2) Orthodox
9.3) Catholic
10) Civil records
11) Nobility in the Russian Empire
11.a) Non-hereditary nobility
11.b) Hereditary nobility
12) Dates, conversion: Julian into Gregorian Calendars
13) Land reform of 1919
14) Passports
14.1) Passports during the Russian Empire
14.2) Passports during Independence
15) Census Records
16) 20th Century main Migrations Out of Estonia
16.1) During the 1920s & early 1930s
16.2) 1939
16.3) 1941
16.4) Disorganized exodus
17) German Citizenship for former Estonian nationals
18) Military records
18.1) During Swedish times
18.2) During Imperial Russian times, 19th century
18.3) During our XXth Century
18.3.1) World War I
18.3.2) War for Estonian Independence....
18.3.3) World War II
19) "Brethren of the Forests" = Estonian freedom fighters
20) For many: another = a 2nd Migration, this time: Flight as WWII was ending
21) "Landmannschaft" and the "Heimatsortskartei"
22) Estonians & Latvians as POWs of the Allied Forces after WWII
23) Military Occupation of Germany (IIIrd Reich) by Allied Forces
23.1) Refugee Camps
23.2) Maps / records of the 4 Occupation Zones
24) Diaspora / Emigration soon after WWII
24.1) Passports issued by Consulates in Exile
24.2) Passports issued to Stateless Persons
25) Passenger lists
26) Years later, for many, one more Migration
27) Some KGB Records opened for research
28) Genealogical society
29) Cemeteries as Estonian family history tools
30) Languages in historical records of Estonia
30.1) Russian: Patronym as middle name
30.2) Estonian language
31) European historical - social "baggage" lingers on
32) Eastern Europeans' tendency to be secretive about their backgrounds
33) Past, future and family history

Appendixes

Appendix I: After WWII: DPs / Refugees

Appendix II: Estonians in USA

Appendix III: Lutheran Church in the Republic of Estonia

Map # 7: Lutheran Provost Districts, Parishes, etc.
The 13 Provost Districts
Lutheran churches in Tallinn (Provost Districts # 14, 15 & 16)
Alphabetical lists of places named in the map of lutheran districts
Estonian place names from the luth. district map & their German equivalents
German place names & their Estonian equivalents from the luth. district map

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ILLUSTRATIONS, NOTE & footnotes // About the INDEX below

INDEX with some CHRONOLOGY

J Thank you for reading the above.

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"ESTONIAN Experience and Roots"

by Sigrid Maldonado

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