Mahtra Uprising

Mahtra Uprising 

or war in Mahtra; a peasant uprising in northern Estonia in 1858.

The Mahtra uprising was sparked by the publication in late April of new regulations for peasants in Eestland Province. In late May and early June peasants of 18 estates refused to carry out the so-called auxiliary corvée. Two companies were sent to suppress the Mahtra uprising, but on June 2 half a company was routed at an estate in Mahtra by a peasant force of 700 to 800 men. Ten peasants were killed and 11 wounded. In late July and August the disturbances spread to the whole province and even to Hiiumaa Island. The uprising was suppressed by large armed forces. The Mahtra uprising formed the subject of the trilogy War in Mahtra (1902) by the Estonian writer E. Vilde.

REFERENCES

Krest’ianskie volneniia v Estonii v 1858g: Dok-ty i mat-ly. Tallinn, 1958.
Kahk, J. “Krest’ianskie volneniia 1858 g. v Estonii.” Istoriia SSSR, 1958, no. 3.
Kahk, J. 1858, aasta talurahvarahutused Eestis—Mahtra sōda. Tallinn, 1958.