ABSTRACT
In a republic long plagued by ethnic discord between native Estonians fearful of losing their culture, and immigrant Russians resentful of the ethnic Estonians' higher living standards and hostility toward outsiders, no topic had been so assiduously avoided in the press as the daily problems between ethnic groups. The poor relations between Estonians and Russians in the country stemmed, according to Kallas, from the unequal language requirements placed on the some groups. Native Estonians could not cope in their own country without Russian; Russians had no need to learn Estonian. Hint was especially disturbed by the fact that the language question had been turned into a political and ideological issue, in which concern for the mother tongue had at times been equated with the political crime of nationalism. Hint concluded that only legal guarantees could assure the continued existence of the Estonian language and, thus, the continued existence of the Estonians themselves.
