Estonian Military Ready for War with Russia?

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The country of Estonia is on NATO's far east flank. Some say they've come under cyber attacks from Russia. In this video we will run an analysis of Estonia's Military capabilities.
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[@Taskandpurpose]

Hey Spare Parts Army thanks for watching I'm curious to know your thoughts on Hybrid Warfare, is it a big deal or more BS designed to inflate defense budgets? Go to bit.ly/3Mc0Ky3 to download Age of Origins and redeem code uUaREJ to redeem an exclusive $60 gift.

[@wolverinexo6417]

I don't think military defense matters. Estonia is in NATO and therefore is not vulnerable.

[@mrpersonguy6932]

Could you Please do Latvia

[@tylerb4235]

You're an American that's what we do take shots at China and Russia

[@ChR1St0p4eR]

Russia is performing an operation. Russia is not targeting civilian populations, and within that operation they are forming a balanced attack for the demilitarization and de-nazification of the Ukrainian soil. If Estonia harbors Nazi sympathizers and actors then they too are fair game.

[@chacdogful]

Since you did this pretty well. Can you tell people why there are “Nazis” in Ukraine?? You will have to study 1932 1933 Russia. Then to ww2 then to now. Show why there are so many pro German thinking people in Ukraine. Thanks.

[@bjornsvalling1066]

Pls note that Estonia is not only a member of NATO, but also has bilateral defence agreements with Finland and Sweden.

[@BuriBuster]

And Common defence treaty of the EU

[@Adenrux0]

RIP Estonia.

[@gigacanno750]

No one wants to fight Finland and Sweden, especially at the same time.

[@rhetc.9785]

Weird video right! I am disappointed

[@cactusjack1943]

​@@Adenrux0 Estonia has lasted longer than Ruzzia. Ukraine ended Vova's dream of empire.

[@davidmurphy563]

"There have been deep tensions between Russia and _[insert practically any country here]_ going back hundreds of years"

[@SnoW-pk9zo]

Ain't different from the us anyway

[@vottak5964]

As any cool European country should

[@rhetc.9785]

@@SnoW-pk9zo who is us?

[@imperialofficer6185]

False. Russia has been an ally to the free world since before it called itself that, from at least Peter the Great's time up until 1945. FFS, there's a statue of John Paul Jones next to the Russian Admiralty HQ in St Petersburgh

[@hullukana214]

@@rhetc.9785 United states

[@TheBourbonWrench]

I was in the first wave of troops “deployed” to Estonia during Operation Atlantic Resolve in 2014. Most people probably don’t even realize the US has been doing this. The Estonians were some of the fiercest fighters I’ve ever come across. They are a small country yes. Can they take anyone head on? Probably not. But I’ve never seen defenses like those fools made. It was insane. I truly feel like they’d bury in and hold their country on their own when it comes to defensive fighting; the fact that they also have other ally countries is the icing on the cake. They take their craft very seriously, and it’s truly an honor to have be training along side of them for what might truly turn into reality. Looking back on it, i remember always questioning WHY we were in Estonia. Our leadership relayed zero information as to why we were even there. It was when we were able to communicate with Estonian troops did we realize the severity of the situation, and how serious they took it. I have a patch from an engineer guy I traded with, and I cherish it to this day. Most of them were conscripts, but were equally willing and READY to fight and die for their country. It was a truly humbling experience, and an absolute honor to have trained with them. I’d go to war, fight, and die for them any day, and I know they’d do the same for me. 11b, 1/2CR, Estonia 2014.

[@matikramer9648]

Thanks

[@triibustevonkass9100]

Thank you.

[@jessekohler6000]

Thank you for your service and sharing the valor of another! Respect to you and all mentioned above.

[@92powerdiesel61]

I was a part of operation Atlantic resolve in Poland both before and after Russia started their invasion.

[@VunderGuy]

Cool. They'll got bombed and shredded by arty even more than the Ukies are. And the Russians are still playing with the kid gloves against the Ukies. Against people who aren't Slavs they feel sympathy and empathy for, you could have the most skilled infantry in the world making up your entire army, but you're still going to be shelled into shock.

[@ZiggyBoon]

The reality of being a Russian neighbor is that if you want to be an independent country you need to maintain a strong military defense & fairly high level of constant readiness, or not be an independent country.

[@beardnick1748]

all small countries are dependent, except North Korea.the illusion of freedom.

[@deanfirnatine7814]

A good argument to utterly destroy Russia and China so their neighbors can finally stop worrying about invasion by orcs.

[@sreebuszeebus1343]

The reality of being a country with oil is that if you want to be an independent country from the US you need to maintain a strong military defence & fairly high level of constant readiness, or not be an independent country.

[@sreebuszeebus1343]

@@kvltbeats319 i am pointing out the hypocrisy and double standards you westerners have

[@tommyfortress7515]

@@kvltbeats319 i see 2 or 3 reasons. 1. Hes trying to make a point russia is not the only bad guy 2. Hes a pro russian supporter or troll.

[@flex-5213]

As as an ethnic russian from Estonia, that bronze statue was a joke, i was there and it seemed more like theatre than people actually upset, except for some really old people, but thats beside the point. Estonia is an independant and culturally way different country from Russia and has no intrest in giving up its independance to becoming Moscows pawn again. Glad i was born there.

[@lino9222]

So now you are USA pawn They will not shed blood for you.

[@C0urne]

Wasn't Russian state media pushing outright lies about the events? I remember seeing clips of that in some video. How the statue was according to them scrapped when it was just removed from the old location.

[@flex-5213]

@@lino9222 dunno how being part of NATO makes Estonia a US pawn, but regardless, anything is better that becoming a Russian puppet state, the fate of those countries that never got under its thumb is depressing.

[@volvogoodtruck1117]

@@C0urne Yeah, it's a bullshit story. It is true that there were some demonstrations, but they were also apparently organized by pro-russian cells. In essence, what the Estonian government do, was that they just moved the statue to a proper burial site - so that it wont be in the city center.

[@benbaselet2026]

@@C0urne They always do.

[@thathumanhayden2979]

I've visited Estonia once. My mom was teaching there for a while, and I got to spend six weeks there. Lovely country. The old-town of Tallin was breathtaking, and the bus service was amazing compared to ours. The museums were great and there was never a dull moment. There was this restaurant in the old-town area that had elk soup and meat pies. I still remember how it tasted! The people were great too; everyone was very nice. One time, a very drunk Russian-speaking man offered me some vodka from a plastic bottle while I was riding the bus. 12 year old me was not eager to take up his offer. Those are some of the best memories of my early life and I am hoping to go there again some day!

[@snapdragon6601]

Vodka straight out tha plastic bottle! What a Russian thing to do! LoL! 😆

[@eduardpeeterlemming]

Its Tallinn

[@salesmancom-ec9dv]

As a estonian,some of the old drunk russians offer vodka to anyone.

[@arthas640]

Elk is amazing, so much better than venison. I like moose s bit more but bith are amazing

[@bigsm0ke420]

Those drunks are a national treasure for us, way better than any stand up comedians in the world.

[@GigAHerZ64]

Tiny corrections to the intro of Estonia: * It got its independence on 1918 and had independence war against Russia & Germany at the same time until 1920. * The Russian population in Estonia was about 2% * Estonia was forcefully occupied by the soviets during 2. WW * During occupation, russification went so far that Estonians were almost made a minority. It was under 60% of the population already.

[@twplayer1999]

estonia doesnt get 180 million dollars in military aid from the US, thats for all 3 baltic states and that equipment has to be US made so it only gives jobs to americans

[@SuperSokol7]

Russification is a bad thing and western "useful idiots" should stop promoting it.

[@HagarJ2le]

This reply is exact and historically correct!

[@KohaAlbert]

Actually, there were about 5% Russians in pre-WW1 Estonia. This had increased to about 10% till pre-WW2...

[@moviemaster00000]

And the capital is not Tilland 😂

[@gspaulsson]

One big lie peddled by Moscow is that Russian speakers are "ethnic Russians" dying to be reunited with the Russian motherland. Russian-speaking Estonians are no more Russian than French-speaking Belgians are French. After 32 of independence, democracy, peace, prosperity, and membership in the EU and NATO, Estonians whatever their language do NOT want to be ruled by an autocratic megalomaniac with 19th-century imperialist ambitions who will send them to die in pointless wars. Thank you Red Army for chasing the Nazis out, but you outstayed your welcome long ago.

[@josephfox9221]

except there is a substainal minority by the Walloons to rejoin France. about 20ish percent during a poll in 2010, This isnt a fair poll cause it was after famous deadlock that belgium but it still shows a lot.

[@GigAHerZ64]

Just to make sure it's correct - soviets did not chase the Nazis out. We had Estonian flag flying for 3 days before soviets came and took it down. They didn't liberate us in any way - they only came to occupy.

[@tsaptsap]

There was recent survey in Estonia with results something like 25% and pro putin?

[@hullmees666]

@@GigAHerZ64 it was correct. that there was a bufferzone between them for a short time doesnt change. nazis retreated from the advancing soviet army and to not get encircled. no need to misinterpret history like the russians do.

[@selfworm]

@@GigAHerZ64 "soviets did not chase the Nazis out" And why do you think the Nazis left Estonia? Because too many Estonian were collaborating with them? The Germans left because the USSR was defeating them.

[@ivarstikums]

Chris makes video about Lithuania, now Estonia. As Latvian representative I feel in danger about your next video 😂

[@kodiak64]

I lived in Latvia for 5 years (until January this year)... I felt great urgency to return to the UK when I saw what was about to happen in Ukraine. A few days after I left, Putin made a statement saying the dissolution of the USSR was "illegal". In plainer words, he was saying the Baltic states (plus Ukraine & Moldova) have no right to exist, so presumably he intends to retake them too at some stage.

[@stefandinu6389]

@@kodiak64 well there's a bug difference,those countries are now part of nato. Also the war in Ukraine isn't exactly going to plan for putin

[@toddmetzger]

I lived in Latvia for some time. I loved my time there. Aside from some of the issues of citizenship of some people who were still of the generations who were inbetween Russia and the Baltics, but had citizenship in none...it seemed strange to me being from America. The biggest threat, besides the cold weather coming in off the sea, was and always has been Russia. Even though many there speak Russian, it was how I communicated most of the time, most don't want much to do with the Russian government. Even while I was there people hesitated to speak Latvian at times, even with native speakers. They had to be encouraged that speaking their country's tongue was okay. Now that is fear that was scarily ingrained from the time of the USSR. I loved my time in Latvia, beautiful people, land, everything but that cold weather.

[@cactusjack1943]

​@@kodiak64 Vova has been saying such things all along. He believes it.

[@cactusjack1943]

​@@toddmetzger I believe Latvia has the biggest Russian minority of the Baltic states and was the most infiltrated by Russia. Lithuania has the smallest amount of Russians. The KGB were everywhere in the Baltics.

[@martenkahr3365]

Missed the mark quite bad on the Estonian Air Force. As Estonia lacks the GDP to ever be realistically able to maintain a combat-capable air force, one of the two core functions of the Estonia Air Force is training up a large body of pilots and ground crew in fundamental techniques that would allow them to quickly be retrained for other aircraft. The other is handling the logistics and maintenance for the airbases that host rotating air missions from other NATO countries. In the event of war with Russia, the trained reserve pilots and crews would be sent to larger NATO countries to form squadrons using the surplus equipment of other air forces, similar to how many Allied squadrons in Britain during WW2 were made up of exiled pilots from occupied continental countries. The border patrols and other missions described in the video are little more than safe training exercises for the Estonian pilots. Actual identification and escort of airspace violators from Russia is carried out by the armed aircraft of whichever NATO air force is currently being hosted in Estonia, not by the Estonian training aircraft.

[@TheLaualamp]

Didn't really miss the mark, just didn't dive into it that deep. Can't expect to get all the details out of a 12min video, but alas we're Estonians so we have to complain.

[@rebralhunter6069]

@@BocaoZ how so?

[@johnkoperski9704]

Modern military aircraft are obscenely expensive and complex compared to B of B aircraft. Would there really be a pilot shortage in the event of a long drawn out worldwide shooting war or would pilots quickly outnumber aircraft?

[@julianshepherd2038]

Estonia has a tiny population.

[@alexwalker2582]

@@johnkoperski9704 Given the amount of armoring there typically is around the cockpit of a combat aircraft I suspect we would see pilots outnumbering aircraft in a long world-wide war. A lot of western countries utilize US aircraft, and US aircraft take a ridiculous amount of time to create these days because of how much manufacturing of a lot of the parts has moved out of the country (though, admittedly, this does lower the cost somewhat), exponentially increasing production time and creating the potential for disruption of that production by attacking shipping. I am honestly terrified of the thought of my country going toe-to-toe with a near-peer competitor, because I strongly suspect we would wind up losing in the long term due to how much of our manufacturing has moved to other countries.

[@odoylerules360]

2:20 I really like the aesthetic of "average hooah infantryman tries to struggle through genuinely complex geopolitical situations". That kind of humility is extremely valuable, please never ever lose it.

[@AKKK1182]

I think a rather important factor you left out of the history section is that even though Estonian lands were formerly occupied by Russian Empire, there were relatively few russians living here prior to WW2. It was only during the Soviet occupation when they deported masses of Estonians to siberia nad brought russians to replace them. Before WW2 there were some 3,7% russians living here, after the occupation in 1989 it was almost a third - 30,3%. And we can see this happening in occupied Ukraine as well.

[@greggreg2027]

The coastal job market influx also helped. And military cities. It was not all subtractions. A lot of multiplying was also happening in the half century between flags.

[@gsentinel7948]

Seems like a lot of Russians don't want to live in Russia.

[@AKKK1182]

@@gsentinel7948 Yes they refuse to go back because they know it's a sh**hole, yet they keep spouting pro-Kremlin propaganda.

[@elisterr9913]

@@greggreg2027 Jobs, maybe. Afterall, Estonia was the richest and with the highest GDP of all the CCCP regions (including Moscow). But you really underestimate the deportation and killings of locals and specially locals of high importance. Aswell as the forceful import of Russians from abroad. During all this time the two worlds stayed pretty much apart. The annexators vs the estonians. The culture destroyers vs preservers. Even today you have 20% of the country that has lived here for 3 generations and who don't speak Estonian and don't have Estonian friends. Now more than ever as Estonians have been free for three decades and young Estonians do not speak or value the knowledge of russian language, thus... Estonians don't understand the russians either.

[@KohaAlbert]

@@elisterr9913 I don't agree with that 20% of local population not speaking Estonian Actually majority of Estonian-Russians are bilingual (or even multilingual) And majority of them are Estonian nationals. And notably many of them are perceived by Estonians as fellow Estonians - to the point that they occasionally have to remind to those same Estonians that they too are Russians ... You have easier to think of them as Estonians, who happen to have Russian background and speak Russian language at home, maybe also, while not necessarily, they practice some Russian or Orthodox traditions. "Russians in Estonia" is actually very mixed bag of people with very varied and conflicting worldviews -- bottling them up as one unitary monolithic people group, simply because of their native language and place of origin, provide very misleading depiction. I can only imagine how humiliating and tiering it may feel that you are being under constant observation like some kind of a labrat, simply because of your ethnicity and because of just a fraction of people you happen to share your language with are vocal Putinists and, most importantly, against the local nationhood. Division, especially the "Russian vs Locals", aren't really on ethnic basis, but ideological. "Ethnic based hatred" is pretty much purely fruit of Kremlins propaganda of doubt, divide, and agitate - and not just Russians are eaten up this "look, they hate us". Actually there are: Estonian-Russians; Russians entirely assimilated with Estonians; Russians in Estonia; Sovetniks in Estonia (pro "restored SU"); Russian irredentist (so called "imperials"); Putinists in Estonia; Russian jingoists/supremacists; ... This list is hierarchical, last has lowest percentage. I have met Russians in Estonia, who are easily much more anti-putin than any Estonian I have ever met. But they get to doubt the other way around: "shall Estonians care to join me when tanks start to roll into my home at Narva?"

[@micumatrix]

I think Estonia has highest digitalization grade of the infrastructure and government in Europe. Makes sense that Russia attacks this way.

[@salesmancom-ec9dv]

And all of it is more outdated than russian army XD (i am a estonian, only well working digitalized stuff is the self checkout wich still is on windows 7)

[@estoniabro6582]

so much that there is a free wifi zone across national parks, and Internet acess is a human right in estonia

[@hdrotciv]

@@estoniabro6582 i used to live with an Estonian in Denmark. He had a card that he plugged in and was then allowed into goverment websites. This was pretty impressive for even me as a dane. He also always talked about how Estonians hated Russians and was perm banned on league of legends. Damn i Miss Ain :(

[@pikicar1512]

high digitalization ratings are based on the ability for citizens to interact with government bodies using the internet (like percentage of gov websites and how much things ypu can do online without visiting a government office, how easy these websites are to use etc.), not the digitalization of vital infrastructure that can be hacked. i bet that there are still analog controls for important infrastructure.

[@kubagra456]

@@salesmancom-ec9dv You realise that most of "digitalized stuff" that is supposed to do one specyfic set of tasks (such as self checkout) usually run on Windows XP or 7 as both of them run overall faster (due to simplicity)? Using older system when you don't need to use its features is good thing (unless you want your self checkout to be gaming PC with hardware that can't run on older systems)

[@alaingabriel1710]

Hey, you forgot to mention that the Estonian language doesn't have Indo-European roots like our languages in the Americas or even like the slavic languages. It's related to Finnish and like Finnish it is completely alien to the other surrounding languages. This means that the former Russians still living in Estonia have this extra obstacle between them and the government. It also means that this is an important factor for Estonian nationalism.

[@pxcs7559]

Tbh Baltic languages too

[@TurkishHedgehog]

Both Finnish and Baltic languages are Altaic languages. That makes them related to Hungarians, Turks etc. As a matter of fact, practically you only need to learn vocabulary to speak one another. Grammatical diffences are minor.

[@ForageGardener]

@@TurkishHedgehog only vaguely related to magyar and turkic languages. Finno Ugric they call it

[@lacciful]

@@TurkishHedgehog Wrong, Finnish & Estonian are not "Altaic" languages, that shit is just a theory that turks like to spew out for some reason, it's Finno-Ugric language

[@chrise842]

@@TurkishHedgehog and Latvian and Lithuanian are not at all part of that language system. Merely the Estonians are part of the finnougrian system which isn't turkic.

[@Ryo-sd9rx]

Absolutely Estonian sovereignty is of paramount importance.

[@bighands69]

Then Estonia needs to massively include its defence force participation and get more of its population involved. It needs to spend about €4 billion per year on its military with an initial investment of about €20 billion to build out its air force, air defences and increase its general armaments.

[@user-iw3uf4nf4p]

@@bighands69 Impossible to ask out of a country with a gdp of 36 billion. Of course we here in Estonia need to increase the effectiveness of our air defenses (new air defenses might be purchased soon) and get more people envolved (which is something we are also doing by increasing the amount of conscripts who serve each year), but with a country of our size it is impossible to run an air force it is just too expensive.

[@geertvanschaik7976]

I was in Estonia in 2013 and I was flabbergasted by the atmosphere there which is much more Scandinavian than East-European. In my mind Estonia is an unrecognised Scandinavian country even if it is not really Scandinavian. I can imagine the Estonians will do whatever it takes to not be overwhelmed and ruled by East-Europeans again. NEVER AGAIN! And after the Russian invasion in Ukraine I can only imagine they will get every support they need, if it ever comes so far.

[@SideKickStudios]

It's funny you should say this, but as it seems, early Estonians had very active trades with pre-vikings and viking era scandinavian peoples, which means there may be some reason to why Estonians might have a scandinavian vibe to them :D

[@MrJuwarra]

truth to be told.. we ARE east Europeans. Slavic people are only migrants from south central Europe. Finno Ugri tribes ruled lands from Baltic Sea and northern Scandinavia to the Ural mountains and near to Caspian Sea and old Scythian and Sarmatian tribes. All until Slavs migrated first to where Kievan Rus was formed and then to north, occupying our brother cultures. Finns, Estonians, Sami are basically only ones left that are still vital cultures. All the rest are practically destroyed and russified by Russian imperialistic/colonialistic expansion. And yeah, on the coasts of Baltic sea, especially as Scandinavians also sailed deep into these early Russian occupied lands by the rivers.. so yeah, our culture got quite intertwined and influenced by Scandinavian Germanic one from early medieval times.

[@MrJuwarra]

@@basilmagnanimous7011 demographics can not be the deciding factor. small peoples must have their right for existence too. Age of empires should be over. colonization should be over. That is what has been decided in UN. sadly it is clear that Russia fights to bring colonization back. Estonians are happy to be small people in a country where most of the land is empty nature. We don't want over crowdedness. And honestly, entire world needs less people

[@MrJuwarra]

@@basilmagnanimous7011 what are you talking about. We DO care about our culture and our people. Estonians have always been a small people and always survived. We like it that way. We DO have technology and industry. Estonia is very innovative people. And our population size is exactly as it should be. To you it may look like a desert. To us this is the comfort zone. You know that world is over populated. Problem is not the small population of Estonians Problem is the overpopulation of other nations and their tendency to waste world's resources, their tendency to destroy all the nature. And as i said, in UN the same values are agreed upon. The world should not anymore live like it is 18th century. Might is not right. Every people, every culture has a right to live.. no matter how small. Actually, if you look the history.. empires never last. Large populations ARE a problem, because large population causes the lack of unity. Large populations only slowly destroy themselves from inside. Estonian people have lived here longer than Russia even existed and we have survived. Survived all the occupations of Germans, Swedes, Russians. And we will survive also to the future when your great populations are history. Estonians have always been industrious and innovative people. During Soviet occupation, Russians liked to lie to themselves and others that they brought civilization here. Actually, Estonia was rapidly developing contrary before Soviet time. Soviet colonial empire was what started the stagnation and degradation. And still, even during that time, Estonia was more industrious, more rich and more developed than practically any place in Russia outside few of their largest cities. And even now, same is true. Estonia, especially considering the size, population and lack of resources, is doing far better than your theories of "demographics being the destiny" would let to be true. Our people and our nation IS very much oriented to the future and to the development, unlike Russia who still is stagnating and slowly crumbling from its own weight.

[@user-zy1vp2sw9c]

Yes. We hate it when we are referred to as Eastern Europeans. Not because it would be bad as such. But that word has such negative connotations, and they are simple not true about Estonia. Also, it is important that Eastern Europe would relate to Slavic in most heads. And it is the core part of our identity that we are NOT RUSSIAN or Slavic. Personally, I think we are not Scandinavia. Scandinavia is basically heaven on earth, with really amazing living standards. We are not there at all, not even mentally. We also do not think of ourselves as Baltic. We simply feel nothing towards Latvia and Lithuania. They are our neighbors and we share common tragedies in the recent past and we share common threats today because Russia is still right here. But that is all. Our languages are in no way related. I do not know a single Latvian or Lithuanian writer, musician, composer, politician, actor etc etc. And they do not know ours. Estonia is just Estonia. We are not really a part of anything. But yes, definitely we are not Eastern European. This is an insult to us. And also if someone says that we were part of the Soviet Union, is an insult. Because we were not a part of it, we were occupied by it. Very different things.

[@jaagup]

Awesome, all the Estonians immediately here, when Estonia is mentioned in the title. Terve eesti kohe kohal kui video pealkirjas on Eestit mainitud.

[@hokkerville]

See on lausa kohustuslik tegevus internetis

[@KarelKannel]

@@hokkerville Karel approves

[@BernardvonSchulmann]

Hey, evne us baltisaksa are here!

[@indrekpartel5697]

A couple of things. Estonia has one of the best (if not the best) mobilization systems in the world. We have about 25k men in our quick reaction reserve which is to be formed within 24 hours and on top of that we have the main reserve of 90k people. On top of *that* we have the Defence League. Per capita, this is one of the most militarized societies in the world, being able to dish out 100k trained troops out of a population of 1.3 mil. The entire society is built up with this in mind. We have flash drills for the reservists at least once a year where some units get an SMS and they mobilize within hours to be sent off to do some tasks. On top of that we have (some of) the biggest land exercises in all of NATO every single year, where all the conscript units are working together with the active duty, reservists, Defence League and various NATO countries. These have land, sea and air components and the last one finished a couple of weeks ago and had over 15k participants and that's just the military. These drills also include things like police, hospitals, crisis workers, everyone with a truck or specialized vehicle etc. Everyone has some role to play and these things are drilled every year on a societal scale. Basically the whole country is like a big QRF. As for the naval part, we're set to get land to sea missiles within the next two years and the navy already has the capability, in cooperation with Finland, to completely block off the Gulf of Finland and St. Petersburg with sea mines. The Air Force is primarily for air surveillance and for keeping the largest air base in the region running with multiple NATO countries being in 24/7 readiness to intercept Russian aircraft from it. Last year there were over 300 such scrambles.

[@marguskiis7711]

It would be good, if it is true. But sadly, not.

[@malumnexus7919]

Quick question. Would Estonia be willing to take in a certain people from (broken up to avoid getting this comment deleted) Sou thAf rica? Aside from the language barrier, they will have a lot in common and quickly become some of the most loyal and valiant members of your country in terms of your military. For the most part, they will likely keep to themselves and stick to farming if given the opportunity.

[@MisterRedFox]

@@malumnexus7919 I would welcome fellow christians to come live here peacefully and manage their own farms. There's a lot of land to cultivate and to export as goods to the rest of EU. The winters here are cold and dark though, so not too many would stay here. That's one of the reasons why population is so low.

[@malumnexus7919]

@@MisterRedFox You'd be looking at a maximized estimeated 4.6 million population boost, just to warn you. As for them leaving, maybe 10% at most, but the vast majority would remain loyal to a fault for helping them out of that horrible country. They would single handledly boost your economy exponentially after about a 10 to 20 year period. They would fit right in, and even adapt their now banned Kommando System, further boosting your military and law enforcement capabilities at their own expense. They know how to run things very well. The will end up being quite racist against non-Europeans though, especially after what they've been subjected to. You will hear a lot of horror stories from them because of what they've had to go through.

[@malumnexus7919]

I was absolutely sure that my recent comment would've gotten removed, lmao! I hate this bs...

[@tankart3645]

I think that one thing you forgot to mention or didn't know about is the inner Estonian Military Industrial Complex. This plays an big part in the defense, and in weapons development. It consists of more than 100 companies, and produce 70-80% of all Estonian military equipment. And some companies in it have partnership deals with the EU, and have brought us stuff like unmanned tanks, and are likely to change the battlefield in the next upcoming years. (Also the Estonians keep an tight eye on the Russian military bases to the east. And have noticed that the 76th Guards Air Assault Division based in Pskov, has nearly reduced in size by half. The Estonian Russian border is now the emptiest it ever has been from military forces, and the Estonians hold currently an numerical supremacy in the close region. This might change in the future as Russia will probably try to rebuild it's army and fortify it's forces in Pskov, but huge changes like build up of troops from other regions definitely will be noticeable. Add to that the fact that Estonia is able to mobilize 230 000 people/soldiers most with good training, in 24h if needed. Then an surprise attack by Russia wouldn't really be as effective. Looking at how long it took for them to build up an proper force before the 2022 attack/invasion of Ukraine.)

[@Taskandpurpose]

I usually cover each countrys military industrial complex, I didn't do much research into that for Estonia, wish I had. thanks for the heads up!

[@salesmancom-ec9dv]

24hrs is too bold

[@tankart3645]

@@salesmancom-ec9dv Not for Estonia. It's designed to the core to be mobile and fast to react. It's also generally small. People are well trained and they know what do to, in case they are called upon, every year thousands of people go trough practice. And if you are in reserve or in the para-military, you have to commit something like 72 or more hours of one year on those duties, and keep yourself fit enough to pass certain test, both psychical and mental. The system has shown that it works, and they plan to expand the reserves by 50k something, to addition to the current forces available. Those who are in these programs take it very seriously, a lot of them store their gear even at home, just in case.

[@salesmancom-ec9dv]

@@tankart3645 yeah my father does aswell. But in practice it would be hard to impliment.

[@tankart3645]

@@salesmancom-ec9dv from my experience this is allready implemented, and the system has been and is constantly being tested. To iron out the flaws and make it more perfect.

[@lmyrski8385]

So, yes, I understand why you greatly abbreviated Estonia's long complicated history with russia. Estonia was captured from Sweden in 1710 and became part of Imperial Russian Empire...along with Finland and later much of Poland. They gained their independence when the Russian Revolution broke out right after World War I. In 1940 the Soviets invaded. In 1941 the Germans kicked them out. In late 1944 the Germans got pushed out. The reason there are so many russians in Estonia has to do with the russian's policy of resettlement to russify conquered lands as a way of preventing rebellion. Although some russians settled in Estonia in the Imperial period or even before in the case of some of my ancestors, in 1940-1941 and in 1944 and after, Estonians were forced from their homes with no notice and deported to far off areas of the Soviet Union, while ethnic russians were trucked in to live in their homes. The Estonian "Forest brothers" fought a long insurgency against the Soviets after WWII, but the rebellion waned under brutal crackdowns and the realization nobody in the west was going to risk helping them once the Soviets got the A-bomb. Many of the children of the russian interlopers now resent that Estonian is once again the national language and while they enjoyed an elite status under Soviet control they now feel like the outsiders they really are and continue to make themselves by failing to assimilate. My family over there intermarried with Estonians, fought for Estonian independence, even being highly decorated and regarded as national heroes, and although they can still speak russian and attend russian orthodox services, they are for all intents and purposes proud Estonians of mixed russian descent. This is not the case with many russians who reside near Narva and an area of Tallin. Many of their parents and grandparants were part of Stalin's re-settlement, or were ethnic russians who kept from assimilating with the Estonians to preserve their privileged status as russians. Now they resent the fact that the majority has a say and that they are a minority, and they know their ancestors caused great suffering upon the Estonian people. As in Ukraine, Russia tries to stoke resentment so it can claim to be their savior. Estonia is at threat, to say otherwise is stupid. Cuba is a poor analogy here, there is no US equivalent to Estonia. As regards the monuments, it is not like the Confederate monuments in the USA erected by fellow Americans over 100 years ago. These Soviet statues were erected by a foreign oppressor that murdered hundreds of thousands of Estonians in recent history and caused generations of suffering and destroyed families. The Estonians are being much more generous than people in the US have been towards Confederate statues, many of which were disrespectfully abused and illegally destroyed as authorities looked the other way. In Estonia, although some vandalism occurred, the statues were respectfully removed by the authorities and re-erected in cemeteries that contained soviet war dead which is perhaps a more appropriate place for them than in squares where the soviets destroyed Estonian statues to erect their own.

[@floringrigorian7530]

Yes Task and purpose it is time to take a task and educate yourself. This is minimum that you ca read and maybe understand. Again do not be an useful.

[@de_sodavibe9822]

Estonian were forced to live in far off east of nowhere land? This is sounds like how Russian displaced Ukrainian and Tartars before ww1.

[@rsmith02]

Abuse and destruction is the most respectful thing that can be done to Confederate statues, erected decades after the Civil War as a message reminding African-Americans their oppression would continue.

[@MattiasLuha]

@@de_sodavibe9822: 30 000 Estonians were deported in two waves: 1941 and 1949. 3% of the populations: everyone has a grandparent or a great-uncle / great-aunt in the family who was deported. The first 1941 deportation also explains why so many Estonians joined the German Nazi army: Germans were bad, but Russians were a lot worse. This ofcourse was only a small portion of the total "heroic acts" of the Soviet Russia and Stalin: 6 mln in total were deported... and Russians still hold the statues of Stalin in honour. Stalin's soviet regime killed more people than Hitler's Nazi regime. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_transfer_in_the_Soviet_Union

[@beardnick1748]

Already in the first years after the revolution, the Soviet government took a course to reduce the role of the Russian language as a single national language and the so-called policy of korenization - "nurturing" national identity and a new cultural elite, strengthening the role of national literature and local languages in young national republics. This was done in order to get rid of the legacy of tsarism, which created just a single cultural and linguistic space.now the post-Soviet states are trying to extol anti-Russian nationalists as heroes for freedom from sausage, money and other benefits of civilization, which the Soviet Union generously gave to all non-Russian republics.the USSR is the antipode of modern Russia, Russia is a capitalist criticize Russia and not the USSR, grandfathers therefore treat the USSR well because they saw what was what became.

[@devincorns409]

One of my favorite KZbin creators is Artur Rehi, who is Estonian.. I learned a lot about this country over the past few years.. and I sympathize with them. They’re part of NATO of course so, they should be fine.

[@Machetero1240]

Alas there is a big chance nato won’t help in case Baltic states come under direct attack. Baltic guys understand that and help Ukraine with everything they’ve got because Narva, Etc can be next.

[@monkeydank7842]

He could do a reaction video on this video.

[@angrydragon4574]

@@Machetero1240 Not if the US has anything to say about it, and they do.

[@AumariUniversity]

Were you apart of the Estonian KZbinr Cup/Hat compeition 😂

[@marguskiis7711]

He is bullshiting a lot.

[@Taistelukalkkuna]

Go Estonia, and Go Kaitseliit. Greetings from Your Drunk Northern Brothers. =D

[@volvogoodtruck1117]

Have seen the Finnish Defence Forces in action - they are very professional. Also, I greetings from "Viinarannasta" :D

[@therealyewest4417]

Mine perkele

[@SideKickStudios]

Drunk northern brothers maybe, but absolute legends at kicking russkis ass, for sure! Greetings from Eesti! :D

[@somonels4008]

The conflict between russia and the Estonian/Latvian/Livonian lands has never been about a russian population, it has never existed there. Pre-WW2 it was under 8% in both Estonia/Latvia. Could elaborate, but don't think it's very relevant for an overview. What have existed are finno-ugric tribes, which is what the Kiavan-Rus expanded into. Nowadays they are mostly dead or close to it. The world calls Afghanistan a graveyard of empires, we call russia a graveyard of cultures.

[@amedv]

Have you ever read any history books, pal? No? I didn't think so. Try them! They are great! You will learn about British Empire, for instance, Opium Wars etc. Or what happened to Native Americans in *both* North *and* South America. Then, there is Tamerlan, Hunns, Mongols, Romans... Seriously, try it.

[@byloyuripka9624]

@@amedv what are you on about? original comment was pertinent, aleksander here in left field

[@amedv]

@@byloyuripka9624 It was about "graveyard of cultures". The whole human history is a graveyard of cultures and singling out Russia for that is that stupid.

[@user-iw3uf4nf4p]

The video is about russia​@@amedv

[@amedv]

@@user-iw3uf4nf4p It's not about the video, it's about this comment.

[@adamfrazer5150]

Cappy your Channel has changed. You bring so much more to your content, and you yourself, I think your Purpose has evolved and your audience is grateful.

[@adamfrazer5150]

(Ahem) shaky. 😬

[@comfortablynumb9342]

My answer is that if the majority of the people in a territory want to be a country and the majority of the world recognizes the place as a country, it's a country. And they should have the right to security and peace. The idea that Estonia can "provoke" Russia is a little silly to me. Clearly Estonia isn't going to invade Russia or attack. If they don't want problems with Estonians Russia should leave Ukraine. There are probably Estonians fighting there now.

[@Mitjitsu]

The problem with alliances is that it can embolden smaller countries to antagonize bigger ones. Thinking they won't do anything back, because they have another big country who'll come to their aid.

[@cactusjack1943]

Putin wants empire so he'll say any stupid thing.

[@avendite7206]

@@Mitjitsu And the problem with the bigger ones is thinking they can do anything they want with little to no repercussions. The "problem" you described is not a problem. Its a solution, to equalize ground the two countries talk with each other.

[@theobserver7092]

Are you just posting shits without factual basis? Aren't you aware how these Baltic states have been antagonizing its Russian population for some time now?

[@sethback]

Sorry but Russia should only be afraid of US and China. The only ones bordering them that can actually attack them. All the other talk about Ukraine Estonia or any other country bordering them is pure politics to invade them.

[@BirdDogey1]

My son went to Estonia on leave. He loved it. The country has really embraced tech to build its economy.

[@greggreg2027]

Tech is our only export. Everything else is on import. Any embargos hit us hard every time.

[@overodog]

Thanks for the more in-depth look at the whole situation in the Baltic. Keep up the good work.

[@RD22TT]

As a veteran expat living here in Estonia this video is pretty on par with the situation. I do have one critique though you mispronounced every city in the video.

[@jr3213]

Cappie is horrible at pronunciations. Great videos but he needs someone to help him with the names

[@euansmith3699]

I hope that outsiders, like myself, don't get a lot of practice in pronouncing the names of Estonian cities; like we have had with Ukraine. Stay safe! 🇪🇪

[@modarkthemauler]

As a Estonian, that just added the right kind of humor to an otherwise serious matter.

[@RD22TT]

@@modarkthemauler I definitely found myself laughing and remembering the struggle I have with Estonian.

[@dcbradfo657]

After the way Artur Rehi comically butchers the Western names of his patrons, it's only fair.

[@AttitudeAdjusterAA]

should mention that a large % of russians has not been living in estonia for 100s of years, even though confrontations have. Prior to ww2 the russian ethnic % was quite low.

[@salesmancom-ec9dv]

Cuz soviets sent rich russian men here, they wanted our phosphorus

[@luchianno]

Yeah, that's quite an omission there

[@cactusjack1943]

​@@salesmancom-ec9dv and by Russian standards, the Baltic states are "Western" (which they are with long ties to the Hanseatic League) and provide a better quality of life.

[@ProgressiveConservative]

Yeah also most of northern and western Poland had a huge amount of Germans living there prior to world war 2, and now there are practically none. Shit happens.

[@Talishar]

The USSR purposely planted Russians throughout the other Baltic states under their control to normalize the local populations to the Russian presence and occupation. It's the same thing the Chinese did when they purposely moved ethnic Han Chinese into all of their territories that were traditionally of other ethnic minorities. Do you think the Uyghurs issue in China was an accident? It was designed and manufactured that way decades ago in an effort to get rid of the non-ethnic Han. You see it with the Russians today. They claim it was the local Ukrainians in the East purging Russians when it was the local Russian populations rising up and being violent because many of them are Russian plants that were put there since the old Soviet days. Even on Russian State TV, they've declared that Ukrainians aren't a real people and deserve to get shelled and destroyed as lesser, non-humans and should accept the Russian invasion and purge as the lessers that they are.

[@bedtimestories4927]

Great video and very well made. Really in depth without being a documentary. Bravo👏🏻As of now we are getting new anti ship coastal battery systems that can hit ships in St.Petersburg harbor so theres that. Thanks for making this💪🏻

[@rnzafdude]

Mad respect for including perspectives even if you didn’t agree with them, Cappy!

[@Kuzis_]

You have done these analyzes for the 2 of 3 baltic states. Are you planing to do one for Latvia as well ?

[@Big_Tex]

You can just replay the video and imagine he says “Latvia” each time instead of “Estonia”.

[@csmlouis]

@@Big_Tex but cheaper beer.

[@Taskandpurpose]

yes the Latvia video is coming in the next two weeks we're editing it now !

[@euansmith3699]

@@Taskandpurpose I hope that the temperature drops where you are based. You were looking pretty overheated in this video. I don't imagine that makes working easy. Thanks for your output

[@malumnexus7919]

@@Taskandpurpose Can you do one on Sou thAf rica? Tensions are rising there between the Communist state and the people that formerly ruled the country.

[@madfjuuri]

One of our guys said something along the lines "russia might reach Tallinn in 3 hours, but they will all die here". In case of another invasion its either that or estonians will cease to exist. No more occupations.

[@matsv201]

Yea.. and they would get suport from both finish and swedish airforce with in hours. Sweden and Finland have per capita one of the largest airforce of any country. And also very high redyness level

[@marguskiis7711]

Better you should get real. Dreaming is free but reality is more useful.

[@marguskiis7711]

In the real life Russians would take Tartu first and within a day. Tartu is massively vulnerable and a way too easy to take.

[@jerseyshoredroneservices225]

"Give me liberty or give me death"

[@theeddorian]

@@marguskiis7711 That is what the Russians thought about taking Kyiv. And look where they are now.

[@Pcart867]

Keep up the great work on the videos. Very informative and fun to watch.

[@jimb.942]

Thank you for a more balanced report. It is refreshing

[@hokkerville]

Interesting video. As a Estonian it's was little bit weird to watch.

[@comfortablynumb9342]

But do you agree with the information in the video? I'm curious, not being ugly. Cheers from North Carolina.

[@rhetc.9785]

Right! Feels weird from someone in the U.S.A. also!

[@volvogoodtruck1117]

@@comfortablynumb9342 From Estonia and can provide my PoV. I am a reservist in the defence force as well.

[@hokkerville]

@@comfortablynumb9342 I am member of Estonian defense league. We had war games against NATO forces in Estonia. We did pretty good to certain point. Estonia can't win against Russia alone that's why we joined NATO. Its not my job to die for my country but to make sure that Russians will die for their country.

[@salesmancom-ec9dv]

I agreee with anyone who thinks we should capture st. Petersburg again (for the funny)

[@natopeacekeeper97]

Once you have lived under Soviet-Russian occupation, you never want to go back. That's one reason Ukraine is fighting so hard to remain independent. It's also a reason countries like Estonia and Poland are preparing to defend themselves if Russia begins heading their way.

[@nich7622]

Please share your experience of living under Soviet occupation, mr. Craig Finley which you appeared to know so well. I'm all attention.

[@SupraRacers]

@@nich7622 Craig Finley is 100% right! I'm etnic latvian and will fight against russian orcs till I die! In soviet times we were thrown out of our home, some relatives was sent to Syberia etc. Ask every estonian, latvian and lithuanian what they think about USSR and russians. Answer will be almost 100% same!

[@nich7622]

@@SupraRacers Excuse me, but your answer is biased. I’m from Siberia myself and I can tell that it is one of the most beautiful places n the world. (Lake Baykal for example). I’m aware of harsh places like GULAG, but that is just a small part of Siberia. You also called russians ’orcs’ and that tells me a lot about your intelligence. You didn’t get my sarcasm either. Those ‘orcs’ has much higher education than you. I will leave you in your imaginary world, poor soul.

[@janisbite7350]

@@nich7622 So you would not mind to be sent to some distant territory against your will? To some vastly different climate in train full of people meant for transporting cows. With just your clothes on?

[@janisbite7350]

@@nich7622 And before you ask how i know, my grandmother was sent to Siberia

[@Sicari42]

Always strive for objectivity. It is paramount. Keep on keepin' on my dude.

[@punisher77phuq]

Showing arguments for both sides is the only right way of making an argument. Carry on the good work mate

[@majorgg66]

That's not a Pepsi Sea, it's actually a lake. :) And cool you made a video about Estonia. I watch you all the time. :)

[@m2gistetalu]

Peipsi lake

[@euansmith3699]

@@m2gistetalu Sea? Lake? I took the Peipsi taste challenge, and I couldn't tell the difference.

[@EDKguy]

Refreshingly fed by The New Coke River

[@euansmith3699]

@@EDKguy Does that flow from the Kola Peninsula?

[@BernardvonSchulmann]

It is called Peipsi See in German. I saw that some of the maps were German language ones from before 1940

[@normmcrae1140]

The excuse of "protecting people of your own ethnicity" is ALSO EXACTLY the same excuse that Adolf Hitler used prior to WW2 - Especially for the Sudetenland and Austria. Even (to some extent) Poland - Particularly in reference to Danzig - later Gdansk.

[@josephfox9221]

or the Turkish invasion of Cypress, or that time I got in a bar fight cause my cousin was about to lose

[@garstenray2832]

Cappy your reports are always awesome keep going brother

[@brianford8493]

Fantastic analysis Army ... keep your head in defilade ✌️

[@volvogoodtruck1117]

Trust me, if I were one of these occupiers and I would end up somewhere in an Estonian forest - I wouldn't be very calm.

[@greggreg2027]

You can still find WW2 barbed wire. But the thermal scan scout drones will make short work of manned positions.

[@granatmof]

Things I know about Estonia before the video: they have a kick ass internet infrastructure and a government who went paperless in the early 2000s. For whatever reason, this one fact made me respect Estonia more than anything else.

[@ATRestoration]

We also have most start-ups per capita in the world.

[@chrise842]

Paperless is tyranny!

[@vsynk-hk3ph]

@C hris E bro what

[@KarelKannel]

This paperless government was my company's project. I remember prototyping at weekend to present idea at Monday.

[@marguskiis7711]

It was "kick ass" 15 years ago. No it is pretty mediocre compared to other European countries.

[@tboneslaydog3316]

bro is grinding out videos. love your work dog

[@OleOlson]

It's the empathy and non-propaganda presentation by Chris that makes this channel a must-subscribe

[@chebrets]

"if Estonia provokes russia by buying new anti air missile systems" - it's so easy to provoke russia, you just need to improve your country's DEFENSE

[@fuzer4047]

Also surface-to-surface missile that will arrive in 2023 for the navy

[@chebrets]

@@fuzer4047 be careful, you can provoke russia by breathing and writing this comment

[@greggreg2027]

@@fuzer4047 We don't even have missile cruisers for those things! Its all gunboats.

[@tomriley5790]

"Provking" a country by buying weapon systems to help prevent you being invaded very Russian (or at least KGB)

[@realsimonwest]

Thanks to NATO Estonia can breathe more easily. For the first time in history we actually have an effective deterrent against invading forces. A couple of small clarifications about us gaining independence in 1990 though - that's just when we changed our name back to Republic of Estonia. The actual declaration of independence from the USSR happened on the 20th of August, 1991 after ca 50 years of Soviet occupation and it was actually our re-independence. The OG independence day is the 24th of February 1918 which is the date from which we officially count the age of our country. Currently in 2022 Estonia is 104 years old. We were celebrating our independence day when news came about Russia invading Ukraine.

[@greggreg2027]

Yeah, the next years "I'll be sleeping in on vacation day" will be "fun". If it was not for pride month we would still be escaping Ukranian flag on every corner. You can imagine what happens when that date is globally assigned to the invasion and not our independance.

[@newolku]

Yeah it sucked the fun out of the independence day. I dont think i have seen people as depressed as they were then

[@bighands69]

Absolutely not. Estonia needs to get out an get active that means increasing its military expenditure and getting more of its population into military defence services.

[@realsimonwest]

@@bighands69 Absolutely but as a small country of roughly 1.3 m people there's only so much we can do so it's good to have an extra layer of deterrence. I'm not advocating for complacency.

[@ThePatriotParadox]

So many hot topics I just wanna keep commenting every few minutes, this is the best new channel on TV

[@konstantinasnavardauskas4495]

Greetings to Estonia from Lithuania! 🤝

[@cuubik]

Hey, very good video I'm from Estonia and was a conscript, and now a member of the Defense league!

[@Gaming4Justice]

I think by now I have heared all the different wrong ways to pronounce the name of our capital Tallinn. Nice video although some parts were a bit more questionable like the hills in the south. They aren't that big and there are roads that go through, past or around them. I have had some training in the southern section and while crossing natural terrain might be littlebit more difficult, there are still plenty of roads. As for the soviet statues, that's where the difference is between ethic Estonians and Russians for I do not know any Estonians who think to themselves that it was good that they were here and came here. Now with the invasion of Ukraine, a lot of talks have started in all regions to take down all those statues and many of them have been painted over illegaly and stuff like that. As for the defence league, it may be cheap but it is effective for the people there often take part in military excersises. Many of them are also reservists who want extra training.

[@joachimvonribbentrop1956]

I admit that I am 100% speaking out of my arse here, but I think even small hills cause significant problems for an advancing army. Speak the Truth on youtube has daily updates on Russian positions in Ukraine and the hills there are really causing difficulties. Also, when I Hearts of Iron 4, my armoured units suffer when attacking into hills and get a really nice defense buff when defending. Just a couple thoughts.

[@drdelewded]

They named a character Tallinn in the new season of Picard.. at least they pronounced it english "right" on that.

[@millevenon5853]

America should annex the Baltics for safe keeping.

[@hullmees666]

@@joachimvonribbentrop1956 yes. southern estonia is a nightmare for armour. mass light infantry would probably push through quite easily considering the advantage russia has in manpower and firepower.

[@joachimvonribbentrop1956]

@@hullmees666 light infantry running through unfriendly terrain and with no armour support. I guess it would be cool to see the Battle of the Somme recreated in the 21st century. I think you have a career in military strategy in your future, young man!

[@dernopenope2005]

Great video, pls keep your awesome content up ma man

[@belisarius1453]

Nice to see you finaly taking into acounts other side view

[@numericbin9983]

The conscription system in Estonia looks very familiar to the one in Finland, no ? In addition to the 2 other Baltic nations, Finland has also a defense treaty with Estonia Glad to now that we're not the only speed bump in the world ! Haha Greetings from Belgium

[@hardrockuniversity7283]

Glad to see you getting more sophisticated in your geopolitical analysis. It is complex.

[@TOMAS-lh4er]

Do they use American-made tanks ???

[@hardrockuniversity7283]

@@TOMAS-lh4er I have no idea. I think you want Cappy. My guess would be Russian or German.

[@TOMAS-lh4er]

@@hardrockuniversity7283 Thanks !!!

[@deconklin659]

Hi, I was in my kitchen fixing something to eat when I heard a familiar voice. It was you on Newsmax. I think it's really cool seeing you make your comments outside your KZbin world. Keep up the great work. Not bad for a private. Keep your powder dry.

[@john.rc.3274]

The world is getting very small and very complicated. Thanks for all the work you do shining a light on what's going on.

[@autarchprinceps]

"Do you think Estonia has the right to be its own country or should Russias security concerns trump that. It is not an unfair question to ask." - Whatever happend to self determination? Yes it is a very ridiculous question to ask. Estonians don't want to be part of Russia, therefore they don't have to be. Russia doesn't get a say. And no the US doesn't get a say what happens in Kuba either. It's bad enough for Russian nationalists to spout such nonsense, but to hear this kind of twisted & perverted excusism from a Western person, is just so dumb. Other people need to stay conquered because otherwise Russia feels bad. If they were individuals, we'd be calling that entitled Karen logic. They don't have (as many or good) ports. Well sucks, but China doesn't have to give Mongolia all the territory from them to the sea, just because they are landlocked, and Russia isn't even. Parking all those nuclear submarines in Murmansk doesn't make the Nordics feel good either. I think Russia should have to give all that territory to them to enhance their security. What kind of logic is that?

[@JorensS]

Had to scroll too damn long to find someone mentioning this. This man speaks the truth, children!

[@thebigmon]

“Right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.” -Thucydides 400 BC. Like it or not, Russia has a say on the future of Estonia.

[@eljanrimsa5843]

Do you think Grenada has the right to be its own country? Or Panama? Or Haiti?

[@ChesterChi3]

Private Cappski argues that anything that makes Putin feel sad is a violation of international law.

[@ObliviousPenguin]

Yes.

[@bloodworthmagic]

The real reason Russia objected to bordering countries becoming stronger, is not fear of invasion invasion from them. It is that it would be more difficult, complicated or impossible for Russia to conquer them.

[@magtafcmdr8621]

Not to mention the instability within Russia this encourages. Stable, prosperous democracies within view of the Russian people represent the most serious threat to Putin's power.

[@chrise842]

Ice free ports and naval access, access to Europe, huge russian minorities, ...

[@marguskiis7711]

Believe me, its pretty easy to conquer Estonia now. Sadly. I can describe you the real way how it will be.

[@charliegerrie]

Full historical breakdown on task and purpose let's go!

[@bjornokant4075]

Really liked this video. Would love to see one about Finland and Sweden someday!

[@mccalltrader]

I will absolutely go to war for Estonia The stoneys had our back in iraq, and I won’t forget that, ever

[@sharwama992]

BTW what were y’all doing in Iraq 🤡

[@anthonymolina7416]

@@sharwama992 looking for nukes 😂

[@AK-qy5iw]

@@sharwama992 I know what Estonians were doing there. Helping NATO so NATO and mr. McCall here would help us when we need help.

[@user-nq4qs2yc5d]

I think Iraqis should help the Russians in Estonia

[@AK-qy5iw]

@@user-nq4qs2yc5d help them do what exactly? Russians are quite openly racist nation so be my guest. Try it.

[@garymccann2960]

NATO has not forced abyone to join. Russia uses force. If Russia focused on prosperity for it's people they would not need force.

[@avendite7206]

I'll hijack this comment just to mention The Warsaw Pact - Soviet response to NATO. The difference is, The Warsaw Pact is the only alliance pact where one member attacked other allied members. :) That is usually what you get if you align with Russia.

[@OSTemli]

How many coup done by nato ?

[@Emperoroleary]

@@OSTemli only a few, but didn’t you forcefully turn eastern europe into your puppets? haven’t you destroyed many languages? if the soviets were so nice then why did some people welcome the nazis before they knew what they were, the soviets were just as bad

[@user-nu3vz9tw2p]

very funny. ))

[@harbinger7476]

I am estonian and i am very grateful for covering our country

[@MrCurtishanner]

I love the light and fluffy analysis. I come here for humor and a lighter approach, so don't get too deep into your analysis. Keep it fun.

[@haanjamiis]

1:17 Estonia was occupied. Estonia REGAINED it's independence in 1990. It was independent before the occupation. 5:56 For Estonians having a monument of Russian soldier 200 meters from city center is the same as for russians having a monument of nazi soldier 200 meters from Red Square. Don't see many of those in Russia. For some countries 1945 was the end of the war. For us it ment another 45 years of soviet occupation, repressions and murders. 6:45 Not billions, but millions (few millions in US$). Some windows were broken and some female hygiene-ware was looted. (not kidding google: "kokk zenja bronze night").

[@greggreg2027]

And we all got punished by not being able to by alcohol after... 8pm?... in supermarkets to this day.

[@sair2001]

you can buy alcohol til 10pm

[@digidon1we]

Also you should blame them for the abolishing of the serfdom in Baltic nations and Poland in 1815; from introducing the right of writing a Constitution for themselves in an IMPERIAL Russia whereas Russians didn't have any till 1918. And I guess Soviet government should also be blamed for building an entire economy for the estonians especially those high-priority naval ports which was mentioned in the video. Guess the history will never thank the russians for doing something good for such an ignorant tribals.

[@sair2001]

@@digidon1we ok LOL seethe

[@digidon1we]

@@sair2001 As expected. No way in denying the reality. Glad that you could understood that

[@juliusbernotas]

That story of statue of Russian soldier cannot be compared to riots in America against Confederate statues. Imagine if there was a statue honoring Nazi soldier in Israel and ethnic Germans living there were upset about its removal. That's absurd, but proper analogy.

[@superdupermax]

Estonia held parades to honour SS ... yeah... nice example you got there

[@juliusbernotas]

@@superdupermax we are all nazis and russophobes. Russians liberated baltic states and we are all so ungrateful. Poor russia.

[@superdupermax]

@@juliusbernotas dude. They literally held parades honouring SS. Other Baltic states didnt. Estonians did... for some odd reason. Getting butt hurt because they supported the side that lost in the war, then got occupied for it and treared a certain way for is hilairous. They literally supported the side that tried to ethnically cleanse all the slavs... and when lost started being whinny bitches about when the tables turned. Same as bandera scum in Ukraine. Literal "a zaaaa shooooooo".

[@superdupermax]

@@juliusbernotas well. Lookt here... Bunch of Estonian MAMBA MRAPS ended up in the KRAKEN Battalion. Wanna gander what sort of tattoos and funny patches they wear? 🤣

[@vikstankus1743]

Good report, and bravo Estonia.

[@Smiffe]

Yes Chris. I clicked that link from the other video about BTR and ended up here :P

[@Chiller01]

I think Estonia’s official military rifle is an LMT MARS-L AR15 type of firearm. LMT make some of my favourite firearms so at least the infantry will be superbly equipped with 5.56 assault rifles.

[@drdelewded]

close.. they use the LMT R-20 Rahe

[@greggreg2027]

There is no official military rifle. You fight with whatever you are given.

[@paweld]

The reason why no, we don't have to consider Russia's security concerns, is because we know, and they know, and everyone knows that we (NATO, EU, "the west", who ever) don't want to invade them. All we want is for them to start being a normal country.

[@sharwama992]

“All we want is for them to start being a normal country “ maybe for the civilians in the west yes but for the United States I doubt they just don’t want a country that would threaten its influence in the world

[@paweld]

@@sharwama992 The US specifically has a whole lot of internal affairs to deal with right now. I'm sure they don't need the distraction and would also be quite happy if Russia didn't invade random countries whenever they saw an opportune opening.

[@nidz3876]

@@paweld You do realize that Putin was pro west in the beginning and he wanted to join NATO and EU? US wouldn't allow that because they need the enemy, only that way they can keep their defense industry and petrodollar.

[@TheMaratrix]

What is a normal country? Placing a NATO missile defence in Eastern Europe to protect Europe from Iran? As long as NATO does not place any military infrastructure in Baltic states they are no threat to Russia. How Belgium and Switzerland can have multiple national languages and Baltic states can not? Is it normal to impose law that limit rights of any ethnic population in a country?

[@paweld]

@@TheMaratrix That's exactly it. Belgium doesn't need missiles to defend itself from the Netherlands, and the Netherlands has no plans to invade Belgium. Yes, the Netherlands once owned parts of Belgium, and yes in some parts in Belgium there's a Dutch speaking minority that is inconvenienced by the those who speak French, and yes we're running out of space here and could use more land, but invasion is never a consideration. That's what I mean by "normal" countries. We find solutions to problems without resorting to pillaging and rape and murder. With Russia, it's different. If the Baltics had no missiles, there'd be no Baltics anymore.

[@callenclarke371]

Fantastic Content Chris! Keep it coming!

[@murrayg]

Appreciate the effort Chris to offer some balance here, all I would add is that it doesn't have to be either/or (it isn't). Estonia can be legit worried about its sovereignty, and see hyping the threat as a useful revenue stream or boost to prominence on international stage.

[@BeGunNer]

I dont think you've been unfair to Russia. If anything, you've been too kind to Russia as you've left out the 50 year efforts to Russify Estonia (incl. education, non Russian exportations and settling Russians in Estonia during USSR)

[@Elbuarto]

Your effort into presenting both sides of the argument is appreciated. It's always a good idea to understand how your opponent thinks.

[@rocksteel44]

...GREAT VIDEO BRO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@DiabeticDawg]

Such a phenomenal channel

[@TheNewAgeViking]

As someone with Estonian ancestry on both my father's and mother's side, I really appreciate this overview of how it could look with a Russian invasion of Estonia, it has brought some peace of mind. With the invasion of Ukraine, I briefly considered joining the foreign legion, being part of the Danish Home Guard, I at least have some experience with military-style shooting and infantry fighting. Ultimately I decided not to, mainly due to not having that close a personal connection with Ukraine, and having just started Uni I would not want quit at the start of my second semester. However the situation might have been different had it been Estonia that had been hit, part of me is certain that I would have left to help fight. My best wishes goes to the ones fighting in Ukraine, you are braver than most, and may you come back alive.

[@SteelersHigh77]

You should have Estonian Soldier on to discuss this topic. Look him up, he's a fellow KZbinr (I'm paused so if you mention him at some point, my apologies). Just think he would be a good bit of insight from a citizen and soldier of the nation.

[@solarfinder]

Man, I love that you called out the Strong Arm comment. Most of the countries that are of focus today have large populations with little to no voice. Growing up in the heart of the Regan Cold War Rhetoric, I feel the people have usually gotten a raw deal through manipulation and violence.

[@user-ue2zo7ie1z]

Hi! Great video! Please, make a video on Bulgarian military in the current political situation and the war in Ukraine! :)

[@TheBenghaziRabbit]

just waiting for Artur Rehi to chime in within the comments

[@nodarikirtadze8220]

If you ask me, Russia's security concerns are invalid, because NATO has never shown any aggression or ill will towards Russia

[@ScrotusXL]

Dude, one day you will be a top lecturer at an exclusive/world renowned university in military and strategic studies. You talk the talk of someone who has done their homework and gone to night school. Keep it up Chris👍😃

[@petesheppard1709]

Good overview! Thanks

[@gregortidholm]

This nuanced content is something many other channels lack. Great work and intressting conclusions. Thank you for your hard work making these uploads!

[@bababooy9370]

Great video, but in the start where you said that the tensions going back hundreds of years was because of the large russian minority isn’t exactly true. The large russian minority was created by the russians during soviet and imperial times and the previous tensions were mostly due to russian expansionism

[@MjSchreiber806]

Glad someone mentioned him. I knew a lot of the things in this video from him. Great channel.

[@BernardvonSchulmann]

Pre 1940 there ethnic Russians made up about 8% of the population. Few of those Russians survived because they were seen as a danger by Stalin

[@drdelewded]

Yeah that kinda irked me. Russians in Estonia before soviet times integrated with Esto culture within a generation.

[@desmondchia6316]

Avoiding conflicts on your homesoil would be a win. Any kind of conflict happening on your homesoil, no matter the outcome, is a loss.

[@ejw4326]

Thank you very much for presenting both sides to this conflict. Thinking this through is distressing. Do you go with the heart, or the mind?

[@BernardvonSchulmann]

Just pointing out Estonia became independent February 24th 1918. The government was forced in exile in 1940. 1991 (not 1990) was the end of the Soviet occupation which was, by international law, illegal the whole time.

[@johnsch1988]

West law not international

[@HeadhuntexGamer]

@@johnsch1988 Occupation, nobody liked to be under Russian control.

[@johnsch1988]

@@rupsikas1950 haha nice joke

[@MrJuwarra]

@@johnsch1988 United Nations isn't only the west

[@johnsch1988]

@@MrJuwarra haha nice joke

[@rapaern2716]

as an estonian i approve this

[@Mynt135]

Jouuuuuuuuu

[@jamesstuckey2732]

I don't know why you got out of the military, but they're definitely worse off for it. I'm glad you did though, because now I get to watch your videos. you remind me of my older brother in that you seem like one of those guys that is just good at everything, or almost everything, you try. thanks and keep it up

[@ViljarBauman]

As Estonian and ex professional soldier i can say accurate and informative video.

[@KillersFromTheWest]

Cap apologizing for taking cheap shots at Russia had me kinda sad. Specifically the Russian government and military, not citizens obviously.

[@tipGasm]

Wanting to be less opinionated and more neutral makes you sad?

[@sharwama992]

Why tho the Russians are human don’t forget that .

[@greggreg2027]

@@sharwama992 Separating people from there politicians is everywhere these days. Just take a look at the Estonian prime ministers latest stunt - purge all centrists for being centrists and in opposition of her.

[@deltavee2]

@@sharwama992 Except for the Orcs. 🖕 Not referring to Russians in general, just the torturing genocidal invaders.

[@guaposneeze]

Russia's "security concerns" aren't a hill of beans, legally or morally. It basically amounts to justifying taking something with the fact that you wanted it. Yeah, we know that Russia wants to dictate what other countries do. No, that doesn't justify trying to dictate what other countries do. You don't get to dictate what happens in other countries, no matter whether or not you really really wanted to. Any even if you pretend it was some sort of serious argument... How many countries has Estonia invaded lately? Or Latvia? Or Poland? Or Ukraine? Or Georgia? Oh, none of those countries have actually been invading their neighbors at all? On the other hand, all of those countries do have legitimate security concerns because they have a border with a country that has been invading neighbors quite recently. And no, whattaboutism like "The US invaded Iraq" doesn't justify anything Russia has done. Imagine trying to that defense in court. "Honest judge, I did steal that man's dog. But I swear, hand to god, that I had previously seen a story on the nightly news that somebody else stole something completely unrelated. Case closed."

[@explainatorylore799]

problem about this whataboutism is while Russia is not going to escape it's consequences, But the US never faced any for it's illegal actions. even France and Britain suffered for aggression but not US. none from US ever ended in hague.

[@roadent217]

@@explainatorylore799 "But the US never faced any for it's illegal actions. even France and Britain suffered for aggression but not US. none from US ever ended in hague." And that's terrible. But it also has nothing to do with Russia's current aggression.

[@JozefK78]

Exactly!

[@kochamboga3230]

@@explainatorylore799 True. We don't justify USA actions on the World. To be honest USA is not less imperialistic than Russia. However, here in Middle-East Europe they do great job. Nobody want's to be in Russia influence zone for a reason. This reason is very simple: Pooverty, extreme corruption, fear, tyranny. Biggest Russia fear is not NATO military agression. Putin is not stupid. He knows Russia can't be taken. This country is just to big and has to many Nukes. What Russia fear is the West life style which brings richnes, vacation on tropical islands, modern cars, technology etc. That's what most people want. Russia can't offer anything of that so to keep the status of "global empire" they must use terror and propaganda. They must create an enemy (West) and shows Russia as a victim to mobilize it's people. Russia needs this war, NATO don't because NATO is much better option anyway. The same story was in Cold War. Soviet Union compare to West was worse in literally everything. So to keep everything together they had to use terror.

[@lolnoobus]

@@roadent217 It has. Because if one can, other also can.

[@ScrambledLamb]

Those "cheap shots" along with your self deprecating sense of humour is what's awesome about your video's. Please put them back in.

[@lesroquel]

Capi I recommend you get together with Artur Rehi. He's an Estonian KZbinr who is also an active member of the Estonian Army, he can probably give you some deeper insight about the Estonia Vs Russia situation.