“Look how they massacred my boy…” – Don Corleone

Sweden-Norway was a stone’s throw away from Estonia and from Kuressaare castle on Dagö they could keep a keen eye on Estonia and the Gulf of Riga. They had kept an eye out on the relatively calm rebellion that had been ongoing for nearly 3 years and debated whether it would be independent or not, and wagers were placed between soldiers and officers, but many hid their wallet inside their coat when they heard the news of that the Russian republic came to restore order, then many more as Estonia declared itself independent. Was the wager still on when it was no longer a joke?

The Estonian provisional government under Ludwig Knochenmus had likely been around for at least a year although no official declaration had been made, or that was at least what many assumed because of the well-organized defence placed against the Russians. And just like Poland they had suffered by the hands of the Russians who massacred their people upon their demanded to be released, and when the request came to intervene and protect the Estonian rights one Swedish official told king Oscar “A distant echo for help spreads across a Europe riddled in revolt, and I fear that we might be the only ones to hear their voice. Concrete actions must be taken to strengthen the stability of the Baltic region, but must be done tactfully in order to show a sense of mutual respect between our nations. The Russians massacre upon the Estonians is merely them venting their own failures and disappointments upon a defenceless people, above all, this can be nothing more than an extension of their fear of change. A fear of losing a position, a prior right to rule, something they all threw out along with their mad tsar. We cannot sit idly by as they again massacre a defenceless people.”

A Swedish delegation was sent to Kuressaare castle where he would then be escorted by a ship from Livländska Flottiljen, HMS Manligheten, to Reval where the Estonian provisional government had located their capital. After hearing what the Estonians had demanded, liberty and independence, did Gustaf af Nordin send one letter to the Russian commander in Estonia and yet another to the Embassy in Moscow asking for a short ceasefire to negotiate with the Estonians with Sweden as a middleman to prevent further bloodletting.

It was suggested that negotiations be held at Narva.