Päewaleht, Manifest kõigile Eestimaa rahwastele (Manifesto to All the Peoples of Estonia), front page, Tallinn
Front page of the Tallinn daily Päewaleht, Monday 25 February 1918, led by the black-letter headline 'Manifest kõigile Eestimaa rahwastele' (Manifesto to all the peoples of Estonia), which proclaims an independent democratic republic, lists civil and minority guarantees, and closes with 'Long live the independent democratic Estonian republic!' and four lines of verse invoking God and the fatherland. The tell is that closing: virtue slogans and a hymn-like invocation set after the concrete clauses.
- Date
- February 25, 1918
- Period
- First World War
- Made by
- Päewaleht (Tallinn daily newspaper), printing the Manifesto of the Estonian Land Council's Council of Elders and the orders of the Estonia Salvation Committee
- Country
- Estonia
- Medium
- Newspaper pages
- Issuer type
- Media
- Leader
- Konstantin Pats
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Techniques
- Glittering generalitiesTransfer
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- DIGAR Estonian Articles (National Library of Estonia), retrieved October 2, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (published 1918, before 1931, so US public domain; Estonian copyright expired)
Päewaleht, Tallinn, 25 February 1918, digitised by the National Library of Estonia (DIGAR)
Text on the object
[masthead:] Päewaleht Nr. 22. Esmaspäewal 25. weebruaril 1918 Manifest kõigile Eestimaa rahwastele. Eesti rahwas ei ole aastasadade jooksul kaotanud tungi iseseiswuse järele. Põlwest põlwe on temas kestnud salajane lootus, et hoolimata pimedaist orjaööst ja wõõraste rahwaste wägiwalla-walitsusest weel kord Eestis aeg tuleb, mil „kõik piirud kahel otsal lausa lõõwad lõkendama" ja et „kord Kalew koju jõuab oma laste õnne [illegible]". Nüüd on [illegible] aeg käes. [...] Sel saatuslikul tunnil on Eesti Maapäew kui maa ja rahwa seaduslik esitaja, ühemeelsele otsusele jõudes rahwawalitsuse alusel [illegible] Eesti poliitiliste parteidega ja organisatsioonidega, toetades rahwaste enesemääramise õiguse peale, tarwilikuks tunnistanud, Eesti maa ja rahwa saatuse määramiseks järgmisi otsustawaid samme astuda: Eestimaa tema ajaloolistes ja etnograafilistes piirides, kuulutatakse tänasest peale iseseiswa[illegible] demokratli[illegible] wabariigiks. [...] 1. Kõik Eesti wabariigi kodanikud, usu, rahwuse ja poliitilise ilmawaate peale waatamata, leiawad ühtlasi kaitset wabariigi seaduste ja kohtute ees. 2. Wabariigi piirides elawatele rahwuslistele wähemustele, wenelastele, sakslastele, rootslastele, juutidele ja teistele kindlustatakse nende rahwuskultuuriliste autonomia õigused. 3. Kõik kodanikuwabadused, sõna-, trüki-, usu-, koosolekute-, ühisuste-, [illegible] ja streikidewabadused, niisama isiku ja kodukolde puutumatus peawad kogu Eesti riigi piirides määramata maksma seaduste alusel, mida walitsus wiibimata peab wälja töötama. 4. Ajutisele walitsusele tehakse ülesandeks wiibimata kohtuasutusi sisse seada kodanikkude julgeoleku kaitseks. Kõik poliitilised wangid tulewad otsekohe wabastada. [...] Eesti! Sa seisad lootusrikka tulewiku ees, kus sa wabalt ja iseseiswalt oma saatust wõid määrata ja juhtida! [...] Kõik kodumaa pojad ja tütred, ühinegem kui üks mees kodumaa ehitamise pühas töös! Meie esiwanemate higi ja weri, mis selle maa eest walatud, nõuab seda, meie järeltulewad põlwed kohustawad meid selleks. Su üle Jumal wa[illegible]gu Ja wõtku r[illegible] õnnis[illegible] Mis ial ette wõtab ja, Mu kallis isamaa! Elagu iseseisew demokratline Eesti wabariik! Elagu rahwaste rahu! Tallinnas, 24. weebr. 1918 Eesti Maapäewa Wanemate Nõukogu. Eestimaa Päästmise Komitee käsk nr. 1. Eestimaa rahwale ja Eesti sõjawäele. Eesti Maapäewa Manifestiga on Eesti iseseiswaks wabariigiks kuulutatud ja walitsemise kõrgem wõim Eestimaa Päästmise Komitee kätte antud. [...] Tallinn, 24 weebr. 1918 a. Komitee K. Päts. J. Wilms. K. Konik Päewakäsk nr. 3. Enamlaste wõimuwalitsus on lõppenud. Kuulutame tühjaks kõik käsukirjad, [...]
[masthead:] Daily Paper [Päewaleht] No. 22. Monday 25 February 1918 Manifesto to all the peoples of Estonia. The Estonian people has not, over the centuries, lost its urge for independence. From generation to generation a secret hope has lived in it that, in spite of the dark night of bondage and the rule of violence of foreign peoples, a time will come once more in Estonia when "all the borders will blaze up brightly on both ends" and when "one day Kalev will come home to bring happiness to his children" [last word illegible]. Now the [illegible] time has come. [...] At this fateful hour the Estonian Land Council, as the lawful representative of the land and people, having come to a unanimous decision on the basis of popular rule together with the Estonian political parties and organisations, relying on the right of peoples to self-determination, has found it necessary to take the following decisive steps for determining the fate of the Estonian land and people: Estonia within its historical and ethnographic borders is proclaimed from today [an] independent democratic [illegible] republic [word endings illegible]. [...] 1. All citizens of the Estonian republic, regardless of faith, nationality and political outlook, shall equally find protection before the laws and courts of the republic. 2. To the national minorities living within the borders of the republic, the Russians, Germans, Swedes, Jews and others, their rights of national-cultural autonomy are guaranteed. 3. All civil liberties, the freedoms of speech, press, religion, assembly, association, [illegible] and strike, likewise the inviolability of the person and the home, shall apply without limit throughout the territory of the Estonian state on the basis of laws which the government must work out without delay. 4. The Provisional Government is charged with setting up, without delay, judicial institutions for the protection of the citizens' safety. All political prisoners are to be released at once. [...] Estonia! You stand before a hopeful future in which you can freely and independently determine and direct your own fate! [...] All sons and daughters of the homeland, let us unite as one man in the sacred work of building the homeland! The sweat and blood of our forefathers, shed for this land, demands it; our descendants oblige us to it. Over you may God keep watch [partly illegible] And [partly illegible] blessing Whatever you ever undertake, My dear fatherland! Long live the independent democratic Estonian republic! Long live the peace of peoples! Tallinn, 24 Feb. 1918 Council of Elders of the Estonian Land Council. Order No. 1 of the Estonia Salvation Committee. To the people of Estonia and the Estonian armed forces. By the Manifesto of the Estonian Land Council Estonia has been proclaimed an independent republic and the supreme power of government has been placed in the hands of the Estonia Salvation Committee. [...] Tallinn, 24 Feb. 1918. The Committee K. Päts. J. Wilms. K. Konik Daily Order No. 3. The rule of the Bolsheviks has ended. We declare void all orders [...]







