After the re-occupation of Estonia in 1944, thousands of people went into hiding in the woods in fear of repressions carried out by the Soviet authorities. Thereafter, the resistance movement, in other words the ‘forest brother movement’, gradually took shape. Needless to say, one part of the resistance struggle was (counter)propaganda, which boosted the morale of Estonians and appealed to the people to join the struggle against the occupying authorities.

The quantity of self-published forest brother literature is large and highly varied, yet on the background of it all, one document clearly stands out due to its broad scope and the high degree of its generalisation. Hence in this case, Ideological Grounds of the Forest Brother Movement, the seminal text, so to speak, of the Estonian forest brother movement, is under consideration. The initiator of the drafting of this text was Richard Saaliste, whom the government in exile of the Republic of Estonia had sent to Estonia in 1946 to gather information. Erich Jerlet wrote the main part of the text.

Ideological Grounds of the Forest Brother Movement is a multi-layered document. Since it was written in three parts separated by approximately one-year intervals (1947–1949), and as it discusses various subject areas, it can be interpreted in many ways: as ideological principles, as a strategy, as tactical guidelines, as the formulation of the nature of the forest brother movement, as a chronicle of the forest brother movement, and other such interpretations. Generally speaking, it is a manifesto of the resistance movement. It formulated the reasons for the emergence of the movement, the nature of the forest brother movement, and its more general and longer term objectives.

About half of the document’s full text analyses the international situation. Its main thesis is that the outbreak of war between the Soviet Union and the democratic countries of the West was imminent. In the course of that war, armed resistance against Soviet rule would have begun at the same time.

In addition to boosting morale, the document also contains a number of practical suggestions on organising, maintaining liaison, military preparation, propaganda, and other topics. There are barely any appeals for direct practical action against the Soviet regime in the Ideological Grounds. Instead, the document’s key words seem to be discipline, conspiracy, and the physical and mental equilibrium of forest brothers. In other words, this is no armed resistance handbook, but rather survival guidelines. There was no shame in being killed by bullets fired by state security agents but at the same time, needless death was not an honourable outcome either. In order to bring one’s longer range objectives to fruition, one had to first of all survive.

In summary, the Ideological Grounds is first and foremost a motivational speech, which stressed that ‘Estonia is not alone and the democratic Western countries stand behind us,’ at the same time providing forest brothers with motivation and practical suggestions for continuing their struggle.

Nowadays it definitely is valuable source material primarily for researchers studying the (counter)propaganda and motivation of forest brothers.