That Small Nations Might Be Free

Reimagining Estonian and Northern Irish Pasts and Futures

Abstract

This article compares Estonia and Northern Ireland as two small nations shaped by contested sovereignty, colonial legacies, and competing national identities, using personal reflection, historical analysis, and counterfactual narratives to explore why their paths diverged so dramatically. Through adapted newspaper articles that imagine Estonia experiencing a Troubles-like conflict and Northern Ireland pursuing independence through a Baltic-style mass movement, it examines how state responses, international legitimacy, demographic structures, language, religion, and geopolitical circumstances shaped both societies’ trajectories. Rather than arguing for direct equivalence, the article uses comparison to challenge assumptions about Eastern European exceptionalism and Western normality, suggesting that the success or failure of national movements is often determined less by their aims than by the political structures confronting them. In doing so, it argues that area studies can provide powerful tools for reinterpreting one's own society, revealing overlooked colonial dynamics in the British Isles and offering new ways of imagining the past and future of small nations.